The neighborhood around Tienchin Street between Changan Road and Nanking Road is chock full of Japanese restaurants that are visible reminders that this area was previously home to much of the Japanese colonial administration. Now the narrow alleys are a favorite haunt of Japanese businessmen and tourists, as well as hip young Taiwanese.
Fei Qian Wu is not the oldest restaurant in the neighborhood, but it is easily the busiest, due mainly to its low prices and delicious roasted eel. As soon as its doors open crowds begin to converge so that about 20 minutes into its business hours there is already a line out the door and down the alley. With this kind of meal-time crunch, space is at a premium and it's common to share a table with strangers.
The cafeteria feel of the restaurant's seating arrangement extends to its service as well. A small legion of servers scurries about filling orders while others clear tables using clackety pushcarts. Food arrives at the table in no longer than five minutes from the time of ordering.
PHOTO: MAX WOODWORTH, TAIPEI TIMES
Despite the clear emphasis on turning high numbers of tables, not many shortcuts appear to be taken in the kitchen.
Most diners will make a special trip to Fei Chien Wu to eat its roasted eel, which is several cuts above the usual fare at similarly priced Japanese restaurants. A single portion of eel on rice with miso soup costs NT$140, while a double portion comes in at NT$240.
The double portion of eel would be plenty for one person, but it is well worth it to flesh out a meal with some of the smaller dishes on offer. Try the grilled squid, which is sufficient for up to four people or the shrimp and vegetable tempura. The best value must be the chicken kebabs, which cost only NT$20 a piece. The grilled and marinated mushrooms and seaweed are also refreshing choices for summer that cost NT$40 each.
This restaurant does not score high marks in the atmosphere category, but then it's the food and not the ambiance that has kept the store running for over 20 years. First-time visitors to Fei Chien Wu need not be dismayed if there is a line outside the restaurant. The owners see to it that the line moves quickly and the food will make the wait worthwhile.
Wedged between beef noodle soup joints and cobwebbed Chinese medicine stores, we find organic kombucha vendors and surfers sipping coconut milk lattes. Weaving through alleyways of orange-roofed temples, I pass an elderly man downing Taiwan beers road side. Opposite, a backpacker beer garden hosts sunburned foreigners sampling locally brewed IPA. The unusual juxtaposition reflects a decade-long change slowly crawling upon Waiao (外澳), a sleepy beach town in Yilan County. The locale is jostling between becoming the next surfers’ paradise and its traditional farming and fishing roots. Hospitality is second nature here; my elderly taxi driver describes how the tight-knit rural
More people close to Ko Wen-je and his party are being implicated in the ongoing corruption scandal The past few weeks have seen crisis upon crisis hit the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), raising questions about the party’s future viability. It is also a wild, unpredictable story that is fascinating in a train wreck sort of way. Much of it has not been covered, or only briefly covered, in the English language press. Indeed, so much has happened that my previous column (“Donovan’s Deep Dives: The TPP careening towards catastrophe”) was almost entirely about the period of Aug. 8 through Aug. 12. The first big piece of bad news goes back to July 26, when Hsinchu Mayor Ann
Taiwan might be a land of scooters, but Joshua Dyer arrives via van to the cafe where we’ve we scheduled to meet. “I have my surf board,” he says, “there are waves today.” Dyer packs a lot into life. As well as a passion for surfing and music — he plays guitar, and previously had a job scouting folk musicians from Yunnan for US tours — Dyer works full time at Taipei-based literature agency Grayhawk. “I’m employed by the agency but most of the work I do is for the Ministry of Culture,” he says of his role as the editor-in-chief of
Last week this paper published a translated editorial from its parent the Liberty Times calling for reconsideration of Taiwan’s nuclear-free stance (“The Liberty Times Editorial: Re-examine the nuclear-free stance”, Aug. 20, 2024). The editorial pointed out that fossil fuels still account for over 80 percent of energy production, renewables have been slow in coming and nuclear power may well be necessary. That same week Taipower received permission to begin work on a dry storage facility in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) for the spent nuclear fuel from Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant. The spent fuel rods will be removed in