A daytime breakfast shop transforms into a Western restaurant at night, serving pasta for under NT$100

Text and photos bywisely

In the evening, I went to Ximending to handle some errands and picked up Little D after work. Then, we rode our motorcycles toward Wanhua to look for food. It had been a while since I’d explored this area, so I made a detour to Xichang Street. To my surprise, the stir-fry restaurant where we used to eat had moved, but luckily ‘Dongshi Shun Oyster Omelet’ was still there. Next door, a really interesting Italian restaurant called “MONGA 161” had opened. It seemed to be doing good business and the prices were cheap, so we decided to give it a try.

In such a nostalgic and very local-Taiwanese old street, the presence of this Western-style eatery felt really out of place. But upon closer inspection, I realized it actually operates as a budget breakfast shop similar to 85°C during the day.

Business in the evening was pretty good, with both the sidewalk seating and indoor tables fully occupied. The prices—less than NT$100—were indeed quite attractive, and the photos looked great too.

After ordering, when I saw the fried combo platter, I had a feeling—uh-oh. Their chicken wings, cheese sticks, and squid rings all tasted pretty average.

The peanut butter handmade burger also didn’t match the photos. Instead of fries, they served sweet potato, the burger patty was a bit overcooked and lacked juiciness, and the peanut butter—I’m guessing it was from Fu Ji—wasn’t great either. The side dishes were also nothing special. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Little D ordered the green pesto seafood spaghetti, which had a decent portion. In terms of flavor, the basil taste was a bit weak, and she even added hot sauce to enhance the flavor. I personally thought the cream sauce was stronger in flavor. The pasta was cooked okay, about on par with your typical NT$100 pasta.

The better dish was probably the white sauce chicken and asparagus fettuccine. The portion was slightly smaller and less creamy compared to the spaghetti, but the taste was still okay. The asparagus wasn’t great, but the chicken was tasty. I think this might be their strong suit in sauces, because other dishes ordered by other tables, like risotto, were also mainly white sauce-based.
Overall, this shop still operates more like a regular breakfast spot. I saw someone mention on Facebook that the service could use improvement, and I agree there’s room for that. Also, the mung bean milk we ordered tasted more like mung bean slush without any milk flavor, which was a bit disappointing.

MONGA 161 Italian Restaurant
Address: No. 161, Section 2, Guiyang Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City
Phone: 02-23883582
Hours: Monday to Saturday 10:00–14:30, 17:00–20:30; closed on Sundays
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/MONGA-161/101623503258181

Wisely

A Pisces man who documents food, travel, and life,
Who enjoys capturing the little moments in ordinary days.
Always fascinated by the rich and colorful stories of others,
He earnestly records his own daily experiences in his blog,
So that the footprints of life he’s lived and explored aren’t just left in his mind.

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