A long-established Taiwanese restaurant in Tainan — “Chicken, Pork Tripe, and Turtle Soup” is only available by reservation!

Text and photos by /San Gao Eats Asia

I had lunch with a friend from Tainan, an old classmate from university. Asha is a well-known long-standing Taiwanese restaurant in Tainan. I made a reservation about a week or two in advance. Perhaps because it was a holiday, the only available seats were at the time they opened at 11 AM. The restaurant entrance is located in a narrow alley, with just enough space to park about two cars in front, so if you’re driving, you’ll need to use a nearby designated parking lot.

We were seated on the first floor, right next to a glass display case holding ingredients such as sausages and cured meats. The service staff were quite friendly and gave brief explanations when serving dishes, such as how to eat them or how to portion them out. On the table, there were already side condiments for the cold sliced meats, like the yellow mustard that was wrapped in plastic wrap beforehand.

When it came time to order, the menu included English and Japanese notes alongside each dish. The prices weren’t particularly cheap — if you weren’t in a large group, it was a bit hard to order. While there were single or double-person set meals, even those cost around 800–900 NTD per person. Of course, it’s better to come with more people for more options and variety.

I specifically mentioned I wanted a small portion of red rice cake (600 NTD). The server emphasized repeatedly that the portion was very small. I figured I’d just get it for the taste anyway. In reality, it really was shockingly small — four people had one tiny portion each and it was gone.

The Chicken, Pork Tripe, and Turtle Soup (1,200 NTD) requires advance reservation. Since I’d never had it before, I’d made a reservation well in advance. The soup portion was quite generous — it should be enough for five or six people.

<五品综合拼盘NT$780>
Asha started out with cured sausages and meats, and many customers here order this signature dish. Although the price is indeed high, this dish made me feel like it’s a reflection of street food elevated to fine dining. When it comes to authentic local flavors, broadly speaking, Taiwanese cuisine is one thing, but I believe it’s the regionally traditional Taiwanese snacks that are truly unique — once you leave a certain place, the flavor changes. That’s also why I often write about snacks.

The five-item combo platter includes squid with bamboo shoots, boiled sausage, fish balls, wild mullet roe, and shrimp fritters, with a sweet-and-sour Taiwanese pickled vegetable in the center to cut through the richness. Asha’s fish balls have a delicate and smooth texture, refreshing with a well-balanced level of sweetness and richness that’s easy on the palate. The squid and bamboo shoots were okay as they were; a little mayonnaise goes nicely with them too.

The boiled sausage is also called “powder sausage” here. I’ve seen so-called powder sausage in Yilan, Hsinchu, and Taichung (known as “fen lü”), which is typically made from sweet potato starch and has a very chewy, springy texture. Asha’s version is different — it has more of a sausage-like meatiness but is still boiled, with red yeast rice added. It has a unique flavor when eaten with some sauce.

The turtle roe was grilled just right and tasted great — it had the right chewiness and aroma. (I prefer it with apple slices.)

The small shrimp fritters, wrapped in pig’s omentum and then deep-fried, mainly feature the flavors of shrimp and pork. The seasoning was slightly less sweet than expected, but overall, it was pretty good.

<红?米糕NT$600>
I heard this is one of their signature dishes. Aside from what I mentioned earlier about the small portion size, perhaps my expectations were a bit too high — it tasted pretty good, but just generally so. It had a bit more moisture, but each bite of rice clearly carried a concentrated aroma.

<鸡仔猪肚鳖NT$1,200>
This bowl alone was enough to fill everyone up. There was a large piece of turtle shell in it, too — it’s something that appeared in the movie “The Soul of the Chef.” Traditional methods involve chopping the turtle and tripe, stuffing them inside a chicken, and simmering everything together. There are also layered cooking styles like tripe-wrapped chicken or chicken-wrapped turtle — I’m not sure if they still do it that way now.

I quite liked this soup. It had a subtle herbal aroma, and while its distinctive flavor was hard to describe, all the ingredients — pork tripe, chicken, and soft-shelled turtle — were cooked until very tender. I tried turtle (soft-shelled turtle) for the first time; it has a lot of collagen, and the meat itself has fine fibers and a slightly sweet taste — it was quite delicious. I heard eating turtle is said to have aphrodisiac effects. Personally, I think it might actually be true…

Even though this meal wasn’t cheap, it was worth it just for the Chicken, Pork Tripe, and Turtle Soup.

Asha Restaurant
Address: No. 7, Lane 84, Section 2, Zhongyi Road, West Central District, Tainan City
Business Hours: 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM, 4:30 PM – 9:00 PM (Closed Mondays)
Phone: 06-2256789

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