Hangzhou Xiaolong Bao 杭州小籠湯包 & Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall 中正紀念堂 @ Let's Go To Taipei

Welcome back to my Taipei post!
Hope you enjoy reading my previous Taipei posts!
In case you missed the previous posts, you can check it out at the #Taiwan label on the right as I already labeled them all there.
So today is just a short one about what we have done on the forth day in Taipei.
One sunny morning without any plans, Matt suggested we should have Xiaolong Bao for our lunch.
Xiaolong Bao is one type of steam bun which are not heavy on it's pastry skin that filled with tasty meat and flavour soup inside.
Most of us were wondering about this suggestion as Xiaolong Bao actually is not a typical Taiwanese food, also it is definitely not in our to eat list too.
But at the leisure of time, we just went along with his suggestion.





We walked from our apartment to Hangzhou Xiaolong Bao 杭州小籠湯包, which took us about 15 minutes and so.
The restaurant is easy to find, because it is located just the back side of the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.
If Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall is one of your bucket list, I would suggest you to have some Xiaolong Bao for your lunch or dinner. :)
 

It was about 1pm when we arrived there, and we had to wait at least 15 to 20 minutes here for a table.







The interior is very pleasant and clean.
They used wooden low stools and tables as one of their deco to create a kind of ancient feel.
I can see there were many tourists like Japanese inside the restaurant, probably because they had also read online reviews about this place too. :)
 

The kitchen can be seen from the restaurant.



Different Appetizer 小菜 are available at the shelve and this is all self-service.
Make sure you pick up some plates while you grabbing the soy sauce and ginger for your Xiaolong Bao.



Here's what we picked from the shelve.
Each Appetizer is @ TWD50, and the portion of each plates are big,
Our most favourite is the eggplant!



Sweet and sour soup @ TWD50 that I ordered from the menu.
Full of ingredients in the soup such as bean curd, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, eggs etc.
It has a perfect balance of spicy and sour, yet I find the taste is more peppery though.



Mixed Vegetables and Meat Pot Stickers 三鮮鍋貼 @ TWD160 is very nice and crispy.
The pot stickers fill with pork, leek shoots and shrimp, then fried till they have delightful golden hue. 
It comes with their special in-house sauce, but in fact eating without any sauces is another good option too. 


Here's the main dish, Xiaolong Bao 小籠包 @ TWD150.
There are 8 pieces in a basket, and we ordered 2 baskets for 5 of us. :)
The Xiaolong Bao was very good because the skin that wrapping the meat was very thin, and the soup inside was also rich, flavourful and sweet.
Becareful with your first bite as the broth was very hot and the hot soup flows out from the skin very easily.



Marinated Beef Wrap 大餅卷牛肉 @ TWD150 is filled with beef tenderloin, cucumber and green onions.
I didn't take beef; but Kay said if you like beef, you should try it!



Red Bean Pancake 豆沙鍋餅 @ TWD140 was the dessert after we finished the main courses.
The pancake covers lots of red bean paste and I really like the sesame topping which add the crunch to the pancake.



We like the food here, not only it's delicious, but we also find the prices are quite affordable too.
Anyway, after I came back from the trip, I online searched about this restaurant.
I found many people were comparing Hangzhou Xiaolong Bao with Ding Tai Fung; most of the reviews comment that Hangzhou Xiaolong Bao has much better food than Ding Tai Fung.
Also, the price at Ding Tai Fung is much expensive.
So, if you are a fans of Xiaolong Bao, do check it out yourself!


Hangzhou Xiaolong Tang Bao 杭州小籠湯包
No. 17 Er Section, Hangzhou South Road,
Zhongzheng District, Taipei Taiwan
台北市中正區杭州南路二段17號
Opening hours: 1130am - 930pm (daily)





Since the Hangzhou Xiaolong Bao is situated opposite the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall 中正紀念堂, we just across the road and have a short walk inside the memorial hall and the green city garden.





It's nice to visit here again!
It's my second visit here after the past 10 years!





But this time, I had different kind of fun at this attraction because I have my best friends with me.
Best friends make good times unforgettable, and no words to describe how grateful I am for them!





Here's a brief information about the memorial hall.
The memorial hall is a museum which documented Chiang Kai-Shek's life and career and exhibits related to Republic of China-era Chinese history and Taiwan's history and development.
A large statue of Chiang Kai-Shek which located at the main hall is the main attraction to visit, also there will be a guard mounting ceremony takes place in regular intervals.





There were so many tourists during our visit, I think because we got the right timing for the guard mounting ceremony which takes place every hour starting from 9am.
Each ceremony lasts for about 15 minutes.
After we paid respect to the historical great leader, we had our relaxation activities. #hehe
The most funniest one was both Stella and Matt running up and down at the white stairs. #laughdieus





Even though it was noon on a hot day, we had a great time together.
It's such a pity Chuen couldn't come along with us as he gonna wait for his client call at the apartment.
Btw, we had a wonderful dinner at Yang Ming Shan on that evening before the 3 guys leaving the next morning.
So ya, don't forget to stay tuned on my next post ya!

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