Gastro Monkey // 美食家

I have to say, this was my first time going to Tainan on my own. Every other time, I went with family and they just took me around to eat. They warned me before during those trips that Tainan people don't like it if you speak Mandarin; and that's all I speak. And by "they," I mean the 本省人 (benshengren - literally translates to people of the province). My family is considered  外省人 ( waishengren - literally translated to outside province people, basically, outsiders) . Taiwan has a very complicated history. If you're interested, there are online resources, random books here and there, and this fantastic YouTube channel Taiwan Bar . Well researched and has cute animation to go with the history and contemporary topics, I highly recommended watching a few to learn more about Taiwan. We arrive at the Tainan Train Station at night. It's dark and muggy outside. I'm not a huge fan of getting a cab from train stations because you don't get to choose who you...

I just get in these moods where I crave Taiwanese food with a fierceness. Mostly, I blame Facebook. Facebook likes to remind me of my "memories" which is filled primarily with pictures of food. I always take a lot of pictures while I'm there even though I've been so many times, like it will make my stay longer, or like I can keep Taiwan with me while I'm in the States. It's frustrating though, having Taiwanese restaurants in the Bay area that usually just aren't the same. I'm definitely willing to drive to the Bay to get my Taiwanese food fix, but it just really makes me want to buy another ticket home. Luckily, my friend introduced me to Tai Kee. While I might not think that all of the food is as good as it is in Taiwan, the wonton soup is. The flavor of the soup - clean and full, the texture of the wonton wrappers, and the filling. It's almost like i'm in Zuoying at my favorite wonton shop having a bowl. The pricing is pretty good too. B...

I follow a fair amount of Japanese people on Instagram, and being a beer lover, when I saw posts of a beer with a frosted top, I had to try it for myself! I thought it was only available in Japan, so I had put it on my list of things to try when I eventually went. While researching locations in Japan, I saw that there was a location in Taichung! That settled, I hopped on the bus and made my way over. There is a bus stop just in front of ChungYo Department store, and from there, Kirin is just a few blocks away. It's a tall skinny building with a few floors. Before coming here, I'd only ever had their regular beer. Seeing that there was an option for a darker beer, I thought I would give it a try. While dark, it was rather flavorless, but the novelty of the frosted top was interesting. The best part of my snack was the squid.  Fun thing to note if you like taking pictures, they have a Kirin wall with hats and other photo booth items you can use. Address: ...

I spent about a month living in Chiayi in 2014. Much more free time than when I was in Longtan (I want to say "stationed" as choosing Longtan would be too nice of a version of that story), and I had the use of a scooter. I was able to get around better, especially with Chiayi being a many times bigger than Longtan.  Always on the lookout for a nice cafe to sit in, the Banana Cafe fit the description. Quiet and with coffee that was pretty good, I actually went there at least once a week. They have a banana mocha that is pretty good, with actual pieces of banana in it. The food is also pretty good for a random cafe in the outskirts of Chiayi. I tried the pasta toast, pictured below and liked it. It's a good snack. Don't expect to be full from eating it. On another occasion, I had the omelette. It had mushrooms and cheese and was fairly good too. If you need a place to study that is spacious, has wifi, and A/C, then this is the place! Otherwise, there's always t...

I have a working list of places I want to eat in New Orleans, but Shaya was not on it. I was just excited to be able to cross Atchafalaya off my list this trip! But, when I was told to look up Shaya because it's the best in New Orleans without serving New Orleans style food, I was intrigued. Looking at the menu, everything sounded good. It was so hard to pick what to try. At the restaurant, we all ordered drinks to get settled and try to narrow down our selections. I ordered "The Fuzz" - rye whiskey, peach shrub, Peychaud’s Aperitivo. Definitely recommended! Not pictured, but also ordered was the baba ganoush, tershi, wood roasted brussel sprouts, and THE best pita bread I've ever had. It was so light and fluffy. All of the other pita bread I'd had before this was hard or flavorless. The baba ganoush went really well with the pita. That, the tershi, hummus, and the avocado toast stood out the most. The kebabs were good, but didn't taste anything out of the ...