Yong Kang Beef Noodle

Visit: Dec. 21, 2011
Address: 台北市大安區金山南路二段31巷17號
Number: (02) 2351-1051

After a few months of anticipation, I finally went to go try the yong kang beef noodle soup. I have to say, it was quite a disappointment.
I ordered the 紅燒牛筋麵, 粉蒸排骨, 豬耳朵 and finally 烤麩. The dishes all arrived at the table promptly after ordering. The restaurant was a little bit cramped and filled with foreigners for some reason.

紅燒牛筋麵: The beef tendons I have to say was good. It was extremely tender and juicy. The noodles however, had no texture to it. They weren’t exactly hard or soft, they were just…there. When I ordered the noodles, the woman warned me that the noodles would be a little spicy…but I was greatly let down by the the lack of chili :( I guess I should’ve told her I wanted mine spicy. but I had to share this with a friend, so I didn’t want to be rude. The soup was okay, but I felt that it lacked a bit of dimension in there. Overall, this was an extremely mediocre dish.

粉蒸排骨: Once again, this was not stunning in any way or form. I regret to inform that my grandma’s 粉蒸排骨tastes better than the one I had today. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good. The meat lacked the texture, but the taste and the seasoning was all there. The yam on the bottom could have been steamed for just a bit longer because when I had it, the middle was still a little bit hard.

豬耳朵: This was good, not great. The portions for the side dishes were surprisingly large though. I’m a huge fan on 豬耳朵 in general and I loved the amount of garlic and chili that was in this dish. I would have liked a little bit more spiciness to it, but that’s just me. As much as I liked the dish, I would definitely not recommend anyone eat this before an important meeting or interview.

烤麩: This was a little too oily for me to handle. When I bit into it, i felt my mouth fill up with oil and honestly, it was a little nasty despite the nice seasoning. However, I felt that the wood ear and bamboo also in the dish was not as thoroughly marinated as I would’ve liked it to be.
Overall, this was just a very mediocre beef noodle store. I feel like I’ve heard about this place a lot, but when I asked my friend, he didn’t even know that this was famous. So hum… don’t really know what’s going on.