The long-established Jiangsu-Zhejiang cuisine restaurant with a stellar reputation | Must-try specialties: Spare ribs with rice and vegetables, glutinous rice balls!

Photos & Text byXiao Hu’s Dream Food Blog

In Taipei, there are many old restaurants like Cai Wanxing, and plenty of them have good standards and flavors. But not many are worth a second visit. What’s so great about Cai Wanxing? To put it plainly, it just hits the spot—specifically, my “tiger” stomach’s spot.


I found out about Cai Lixing through an introduction by Brother Xia and his wife, who live far away in New York. Anyway, not long after that meal, my group of foodie friends and I went back several times. On one occasion, we even organized a ten-person group to try some dishes that required reservations.

At Cai Lixing, there are two must-try specialties: glutinous rice balls and spare ribs with rice and vegetables. But personally, I’d recommend the plain rice and vegetables more—the reason being that the sweetness of the vegetables really infuses into the rice. Even though sometimes the rice can get overly soft and mushy, as for the spare ribs, I always feel they’re a bit on the dry and tough side.


The hundred-layered pickled mustard greens is something I gradually came to love for its simplicity—it’s the dish you see in the top right and definitely a must-order. Cai Lixing’s version is flavorful enough, thanks to the unique aroma of the pickled mustard greens, with a faint hint of bitterness, and the soft, silky texture and bean flavor of the tofu skin-like element. There aren’t too many competing flavors, allowing these contrasting tastes to either meld or clash in your mouth.


This steamed pork with rice flour was something I didn’t get to try during my first visit with Xiao Dao. It has a stickiness that you don’t often find in typical steamed pork dishes. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s wrapped in very thick lotus leaves, but the texture isn’t as mushy, and the appearance is relatively firm and attractive, with a larger portion size too.


The pork belly inside is cut very thick. When you bite into it, the tender, fatty part along with the outer steamed layer and the sweet potatoes all come together in your mouth, offering three distinct textures of melt-in-your-mouth goodness. The sweetness also comes in waves, attacking your taste buds. Whether in terms of texture or flavor, it’s the best steamed pork I’ve ever had—absolutely a must-order and highly recommended.


This pot of Dongpo pork was jokingly referred to by our foodie group members as the greasiest ever. In terms of appearance, the glossy, golden sheen is indeed striking, especially compared to other braised versions that tend to look dark and murky.


When you actually eat it, the fatty parts may not seem excessively excessive, but they melt in your mouth quite quickly. The “greasy” sensation accelerates accordingly, and even I, who usually loves oily food, almost couldn’t handle it by the end. Also, the lean meat part, which is often the hardest to get right, is somewhat soft and tender in parts, while other bits are a bit dry and chewy.


To counter the excessive grease, many restaurants usually serve it with some gua bao (steamed buns). The ones served at Cai Lixing might be the biggest, whitest, and softest I’ve ever had.


The clean white gua bao, filled with slices of Dongpo pork that have a good ratio of fat to lean, somewhat alleviates the discomfort of the grease with the sweet aroma of the dough. For those who dare, adding a few slices of garlic sprouts makes it even more delicious.


The stir-fried spinach has a wok hei (breath of the wok) that I really love. It doesn’t just taste like plain greens—it has a touch of oil fragrance that makes it much more enjoyable. Of course, some might find it not refreshing enough.


The zongzi (sticky rice dumpling) looks somewhat like a Chaoshan-style zongzi, and the texture is quite similar—soft and sticky.


Similarly, it’s stuffed with spare ribs, and the fat near the rib bones adds a bit of emulsification effect when chewing, preventing the spare ribs from being too dry or tough. It’s quite tasty. Although I might still prefer the Four Happiness Dumplings more, I’m not sure if that’s because the Eight Treasures Sweet Zongzi secretly earned extra points by having sweet fillings (laughs).


When I was a kid, the word “Ningbo” would always appear in front of rice cakes. Ningbo rice cakes are relatively harder and firmer. If you want them softer, you have to slice them thinner. I remember the old Ningbo granny near my childhood home who could fry rice cakes like a pro—that memory stuck with me for decades until I eventually forgot the taste. But unexpectedly, Cai Lixing brought it back to life. The slightly saltier sauce completely revived the memories in my taste buds—and even the smile of that Ningbo granny.

The softened rice cake, paired with cabbage soaked in the broth and shredded pork, all scooped up in one bite—it might just be the nostalgic, happy taste of olden days in my mouth and mind.


This sautéed shrimp is one of the dishes that must be reserved in advance. When it was served, everyone gasped at the beautifully stacked tower of shrimp.


The first impression was “sweet”—or maybe I should say the oily sweetness is simply enchanting. The tenderness, with almost no resistance from the shrimp shells, also left a deep impression. When chewing, the shrimp shells and meat offer distinctly different levels of sweetness and aroma, paired with a slightly sweet sauce and chopped scallions. It’s insanely delicious. I think if no one stopped me, I could probably finish half the plate by myself—even though I’ve never been particularly passionate about shrimp.

Calling it the dish I recommend most at Cai Wanxing wouldn’t be an overstatement. Absolutely amazing.


This claypot fish head is also a dish that needs to be reserved. When it’s served, you can’t immediately tell how impressive it is. But once you take a big spoonful, you’ll find the ingredients inside are so plentiful that ten people wouldn’t be able to finish them (though of course we packed the leftovers).


Seeing the abundance of ingredients and the color of the broth, some might wonder, “Is this soup even drinkable?” The answer is yes—and it’s delicious. It’s rich but not overly salty. Though you might not be able to distinguish every individual ingredient’s freshness and sweetness, it creates a wonderful harmony on the taste buds.

In the past, I almost never ate the fish in claypot fish head dishes. One reason was that I wasn’t a fan of fish to begin with, and the other was that a lot of the fish either had a bit of a muddy taste or were cooked until they were soft and tasteless. But the fish head at Cai Lixing is clearly fried longer and crispier, so the broth doesn’t seep in and ruin the tender, springy texture of the fish too much. Just looking at the intact pieces of fish you scoop out tells you something. The fish skin is lightly coated with the already delicious broth, and the fish itself still has a fresh, sweet taste and firm texture—not bad at all.


Even I, who never used to eat fish heads, found myself eagerly digging and picking at them with chopsticks. Maybe this was the first time I truly experienced the deliciousness of a fish head. Super tasty, especially the part near the fish’s chin and eyes, where there’s a bit of gelatin and the fish is tightly bound with the broth—that part is insanely good.

Finally, there’s Cai Wanxing’s equally famous dessert: red bean soup that’s rich, pure, and not lacking in sweetness. It’s tasty, though it’s pretty much the flavor you’d expect.


Maybe the glutinous rice balls’ wrappers at Cai Lixing aren’t the finest, smoothest, or tastiest I’ve had, but their sesame filling with a hint of oil fragrance is definitely among the best I’ve tasted. According to Brother Xia, that’s also one of the reasons his wife loves them so much.

[Cai Wanxing Old Shop]

Address:No. 16-6, Fuzhou Street, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
Phone:(02) 2351-0848
Business Hours:11:30~14:00 17:00~21:00
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