Taipei-Style Hong Kong Café Restaurant！Chef’s recommendations: steamed rice with cured meats and chicken macaroni

Text and photos byOld K

We came here purely to escape the rain XD. While riding our bikes past Songjiang Nanjing Station with Meijie, it started raining, so we quickly parked the bikes and looked for a place to take shelter from the rain.

It had been a while since we had dim sum^穑?So we decided to come to this place.

The interior decor is pretty similar to other cha chaan tengs

There are some pictures of recommended dishes and a menu on the walls, with so many choices it was hard to decide. Main meals are mostly over 140 NTD, which is a bit pricey, and adding a drink would push it over 200 NTD. But lucky for us, there are lunch and dinner set meal deals to choose from. The set includes your main dish plus a choice of a drink or soup. Opting for a drink instead of soup saves you about 30–40 NTD, which is not bad. Old K went with the Hong Kong-style steamed rice with cured meats set (220 NTD), and Meijie chose the pork chop, egg, and soup macaroni set (190 NTD).

Old K got an iced lemon tea which was just okay—pretty standard lemon black tea. Meijie got a hot "silk stocking" milk tea, and she said it was quite tasty.

Pork chop, egg, and soup macaroni (set 190 NTD including drink)
The macaroni in soup was something both Old K and Meijie had never tried before. With such a unique name, we naturally asked the staff what it was. Upon hearing it was macaroni cooked in chicken broth, Meijie felt reassured and ordered it XD. The soup tasted a bit like chicken noodle soup, and of course, it was delicious chicken noodle soup. Can you imagine chicken noodle soup with macaroni in it XD?

The macaroni had a nice chewy texture, and it was full of flavorful broth. So you’re basically enjoying the macaroni while also sipping on the soup—it’s really quite unique and enjoyable.

The pork chop was tender yet springy. Since it was soaked in the soup, it also absorbed the savory flavors, making it really delicious. Old K thought that if he had ordered a Macau-style pork chop bun, it would’ve probably been great too.

And of course, the most tempting part was the semi-cooked egg

Hong Kong-style steamed rice with cured meats set (including drink, 220 NTD)
Next up is the Hong Kong-style steamed rice with cured meats that Old K ordered. Having not had steamed rice in a while and seeing the chef’s recommendation, he naturally went for it. But when it arrived, Old K wasn’t too happy—the top was covered in tons of cabbage. Couldn’t they have used bok choy or Chinese broccoli instead XD? And the bowl didn’t look very big either—he was worried he wouldn’t get full.

But once you scoop away the cabbage, you’ll find the cured meats and sausages underneath.

Let’s start with a bite of the rice. The rice is infused with the sauce, and the cured meats and sausages are well-steamed—salty, sweet, slightly oily, and absolutely delicious.

The sausages may look fatty, but they don’t taste greasy at all—probably because the fat has melted into the rice. All you get is the savory sweetness and springiness of the meat. Delicious

The liver and intestines are quite tender in texture, with a rich flavor, and there’s no fishy taste at all — this one is pretty good too.

The last dish we had was the cured meat. I initially thought it would be quite salty, but it wasn’t, and like the cured sausage, it’s not greasy either. The skin part has a nice chewy texture, the lean meat isn’t dry, and it’s easy to chew. All three are delicious — no wonder they’re chef’s recommendations. Old K liked them.

K’s little tip: By sheer coincidence, we found a pretty good cha chaan teng, and everything we ordered was tasty. It’s the kind of place we’d like to come back to. As for the dim sum, the honey toast, French toast, dry-fried beef chow fun, and XO sauce stir-fried radish cake are all things I’d really like to try. Friends who enjoy Hong Kong-style cuisine should definitely give it a go.

K’s personal rating (out of 10, higher is better)
Taste: 8.2
Value for money: 7
Dining environment: 5.5
Price: 6

Nathan Road Cha Chaan Teng
Address: No. 7, Lane 123, Songjiang Rd., Zhongshan District, Taipei City
Phone: 02-2500-6784
Business hours: 11:00–14:30, 17:00–21:00 (Closed on Sundays and public holidays)

Lao K
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