Hidden gem in a back alley: tender intestines pancake with thin skin, topped with mildly spicy sweet sauce—deliciously smooth!

Photos & Text /Xiao Hu’s Food Dream Net

Sometimes when chatting with friends, they’d say to me: “Xiao Hu~~~ I just can’t tell or describe how good the food I’ve eaten really is.” I often counter with: “Then can you tell the difference between what’s good and what’s not?” Usually, they nod vigorously, wearing an “of course” expression.

Actually, that’s enough—or should I say, there’s hope (laughs). As for how good it actually is, just leave that to me to “brag” about. It’s just… there are times when even I run out of words. But when the food is genuinely delicious, and yet it’s just something you and I can easily imagine—that’s what we often call “tasty but ordinary,” or more precisely, tasty but within the realm of our imagination.

I’ve been writing food reviews for as long as this shop has been around. Since 2008, I’ve watched it pass me by, always thinking I’d come back someday when I couldn’t decide what to eat. Well, two or three years of thinking and procrastinating later, today I really couldn’t decide what to eat—and just happened to walk by and went in.


The reason I noticed it was naturally because I like intestines pancakes... but that was before I started writing food reviews, before I changed my eating habits. I’ve come to realize I didn’t really love them that much back then—it was just that I was used to certain eating habits and mistakenly thought I liked certain foods. So I didn’t eat them for a long time. When I saw the bright, vivid menu on the wall, I noticed one thing—a very special item: “Intestine Heads.”

I wonder if that refers to the ends of the intestines pancake? (Because some people, like me, really love those two ends.) I’ve actually eaten at some intestines pancake shops where they cut off the ends and sell them separately... I wonder if this place does that too? Or is it really just the intestine heads?


To be honest, the bowl of meatball noodles was probably my favorite and most surprising dish of the day. First, it’s meatball noodles, but they actually gave quite a lot of meatballs, and it looked great when served.

The soup had a nostalgic, familiar sweetness the moment it touched my tongue. This sweetness carried the light sweetness of bamboo shoots and mushrooms, along with the gentle saltiness of soy sauce that left a lingering aftertaste—absolutely delicious. It’s exactly the kind of good I was talking about earlier: delicious, yet the kind of taste you and I can both imagine.


The meatballs had a satisfying firm texture and chewiness. They were sweet and fresh, with a hint of cured saltiness and a touch of black pepper, and maybe even a slight hint of five-spice flavor. Though not as astonishing as the broth, they were still undeniably tasty.


The rice noodles were just rice noodles, but because they soaked up and clung to the broth I loved so much, they became exceptionally smooth and delicious.

This bowl was dry noodles, which my companions You Shang and Nong Zi didn’t think much of. At first glance, it just looked like it had one or two spoonfuls of relatively lean pork lard sauce.


But personally, I found the taste pretty good, though not amazing. And I did mind that the pork lard was too lean. Overall, though, the noodles had a bit of a bite, the lard sauce was still fairly fragrant, and even though the overall texture was a little dry, adding two spoonfuls of the meatball soup fixed that (laughs).


Finally, the star of the show—the signature intestines pancake. The shop offers two types: original and with peanuts. Which one did we choose? No need to explain, right? I just wonder if we could get half and half.

This intestines pancake didn’t have overly crispy skin—just one bite and you hit the glutinous rice inside. The glutinous rice itself was a bit softer than it looked, but considering its shape, it was probably steamed a bit too long, so while the sweetness of the glutinous rice was there, the texture was a bit lacking. Still, overall it was delicious.

As for the best intestines rings I’ve ever eaten, that would have to be the small, somewhat stubborn, slightly grumpy, a bit pricey but still very popular stall across from the Changhua Bank at Keelung Miaokou. When I go back to Keelung, Xiao Hu will share it with you all. It’s just been so many years—I wonder if it’s still there.

As for whether to add peanuts to your intestines pancake, it really depends on personal preference. I usually go for no peanuts, but I don’t hate them either. By the way, I really like this sauce—mildly sweet, mildly spicy, very smooth, with a hint of garlicky flavor that pairs perfectly with the intestines pancake.

 
[Shuanglian Alley Intestines Pancake]

Address:No. 20, Lane 25, Nanjing West Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City
Phone:02-2550-8765
Business Hours:9:00～18:00, Closed on Sundays
Xiao Hu’s Food Dream Net
If “eating” is just to fill your stomach, then “food” would be far too boring~~~