Traditional Taiwanese breakfast in Tainan: plastic bag-packed black tea with milk and classic batter-based egg pancakes

Text & photos bySir San-Gao

After enjoying a delicious meal of fried fish belly and garlic rice at A-Xing Milkfish for breakfast on the second day in Tainan, I wanted something cool to drink. I looked up a nearby grocery store on Wenhe Street that sold old-school drinks and rode over on my T-bike to check it out.

The next morning after breakfast, on another spontaneous whim, I had a fairly substantial meal of beef soup at Xiluo Temple. On the way back, as I rode past the intersection of Changbei Street, I caught a whiff of an incredibly fragrant aroma. It turned out to be from a seemingly ordinary breakfast shop. Having had traditional snacks for breakfast during every previous visit to Tainan, this enticing smell suddenly revived my appetite. I decided to take an egg pancake back to the hotel with me~

This grocery store reminded me of scenes from my childhood—the kind you rarely see nowadays—where they’d lift the lid of a big metal box, inside of which were compartments holding different chilled drinks, like those old-fashioned “champagne grapes” and such. It gave off a strong sense of nostalgia, something seldom seen up north. As I took a closer look, I noticed that the photo taped in front of the drink cooler wasn’t that of Cai A’ga?

The owner packed the black tea in a plastic bag and inserted a straw. If you ordered black tea with milk, they’d pour in some President brand fresh milk, adding a generous amount that made the flavor quite milky, though you could still faintly taste the robust tea base. Actually, I preferred drinking the classic black tea on its own—it had a rich, sweet aroma and wasn’t overly astringent.

Going back to the egg pancake from the next morning—I ordered their signature original flavor one, but they just handed me one that was already cooked, packed in a box and taken from a cooler. Though it was still warm when I got it, the experience inevitably felt a bit diminished. Five minutes later, back at the hotel, I opened it up to find it was a traditional batter-based egg pancake. These kinds of egg pancakes are actually pretty common in Taoyuan.

The pancake had a thinner, more delicate batter crust with a bit of chewiness. The slightly charred aroma from frying was quite nice. The accompanying garlic soy sauce was a bit too salty, so just a little drizzle was enough. It would definitely taste better if eaten freshly made in the shop.

Daquan Grocery Store
Address: No. 13, Wenhe Street, West Central District, Tainan City
Business hours: 8:00 AM – 1:00 PM, 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM (closed Sunday evenings)

Specialty traditional rice balls and custom egg pancakes
Address: No. 113, Changbei Street, North District, Tainan City
Business hours: 6:00 AM – 11:00 AM (closed on Sundays)

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