snacks/taiwanese: yong fung sheng (永豐盛)

date january 22, 2011

contact No. 111, Shida Rd., Taipei/02.2365.8619/台北市師大路111號

hours Tuesday-Sunday 07:30-23:00

price 15－30NT per bun

rating ♥♥♥♥ (4 hearts out of 5)

nearest mrt Taipower (台電大樓捷運站)

Ever see that really long line in front of that little store on Shida Road that has all the mantou (饅頭) in front? I’ve passed by it many times over the last few years and never stopped to get anything, but I always thought that it looked pretty tasty. After wandering around Shida Night Market, Stephanie and I decided to give it a try.

As usual there was a line. Even though it was 9pm there were still a lot of people waiting. Luckily, the line goes pretty quick. We waited under 10 minutes. A lot of people seem to get a lot of mantou to save for breakfast. I heard the woman say something about if you keep them in the fridge they keep for five days; no fridge, about two days (I think…).

They have many flavors of mantou on the menu from chocolate to taro to whole wheat to fresh milk. According to the menu the molasses, fresh milk and taro are their most popular flavors. I did not get mantou this time, but they looked delicious so I will be trying them soon. They also have many flavors of steamed buns. I got the pork bamboo bun (鮮肉筍包) for 20NT and Stephanie got the Yilan onion roll (宜蘭蔥花包) for 25NT.

The onion roll was pretty tasty. It was served steaming hot. The bread was nice and fluffy and there was a nice subtle onion flavor.  If you’re expecting something super flavorful, you’ll probably be disappointed. The flavor is pretty light and it’s not really salty if you’re expecting really savory.

When you bite into the roll, you’ll find a lot of green onion. Pretty tasty.

I love bamboo, so I had to try the pork bamboo bun (鮮肉筍包) for 20NT. It was pretty good. Like the onion roll, it was served steaming hot and the bread was nice and fluffy.  I was pretty satisfied with the contents of my bun. The flavor was pretty subtle, but subtle is good sometimes. I really like salt, but in the case of a steamed bun, less is more. The bamboo had a nice crunch, and the pork was seasoned just enough. I would get this again.

Overall, I like this place. It’s a great place for a cheap filling snack. Stephanie got also got some soymilk, but it wasn’t very good. It was pretty watery and considering how much good soymilk there is in Taiwan, there’s no reason to spend money on anything less than great. Next will be some mantou. So many flavors. Guess I’ll just have to go back multiple times.