Recommended by local residents in Wanhua: a 50-year-old store serving signature meatball soup and shiitake braised pork rice

Text & Photos /Xiao Hu’s Food Dreams

If, I mean if, there’s a restaurant that’s super famous—or one you’ve been longing to try for ages—do you unconsciously raise your expectations and standards? Maybe even hold it up to scrutiny with a mental magnifying glass? I do, at least when it comes to this place, a Wanhua-local favorite that I had to visit four times before finally getting a seat. That’s how it is.

And if, also if, you’re a fan of meatball soup or braised pork rice, chances are you’ve heard of “Da? Meatball Soup,” or maybe even tried more than one spot. There are others with similar names too, like 【Hu’s Food Chaos】【Xinpu Station】New Da (Jinding) Meatball Soup. But according to the Wanhua local who recommended this place to me, this is actually the original of all the “Da? Meatball Soups”—oh, or rather the chaotic one... Anyway, the mother store. All the others branched out from here.

Well. Actually, none of that really matters to us, as I always say. What customers care about boils down to just two things: whether it tastes good, and how much it costs. Everything else? “Chicken” talk (A).

The dining space is pretty clean and comfortable overall. There’s air conditioning in summer, and you don’t have to brave the cold wind in winter. As for the menu, for a snack shop, they offer quite a variety—but most of it consists of dishes everyone knows well.

The shiitake braised pork rice and the meatball soup were absolute must-orders. I also usually get an extra piece of “Q meat” whenever I see it—I mean, I’m kind of a “Q meat newbie” myself.

Also, I usually don’t add shiitake mushrooms to my braised pork rice, even though I’m a “Guo-er” (braised pork enthusiast). But when it comes to braised pork rice, I never let anyone mess with—or even try to influence—my pure love for it. However, the friend who recommended this spot insisted I order the “shiitake braised pork rice.” First, because braised pork rice with shiitake is pretty rare, and second, because it’s this shop’s signature dish. There’s even a theory that adding shiitake to braised pork rice started here. But again, none of that’s the point.

Alright！The first bite, through my magnifying glass, was “meh”—or maybe “tasteless.” Readers might say, “But it looks so dark, how could it be tasteless?” Then let me correct that: it was “lacking aroma,” or rather, it didn’t have the oily fragrance I expected. Instead, it had a slight hint of saltiness. And for the first time, I actually thought braised pork rice with shiitake tasted better—even if I couldn’t tell whether that was a pro or a con. At that moment, I actually wanted to order another bowl of plain braised pork rice (no shiitake).

But, as I mentioned earlier, I came here with a sense of pilgrimage and high expectations, so naturally, my standards were a bit higher. So all that isn’t to say it wasn’t tasty. I’ll just say that I’d still rather head to my usual fave spots nearby, like those featured in 【Taipei MRT Eats】【MRT Longshan Temple Station Eats】, and write about Xiao Wang’s Clear Soup Pickled Melon Pork—Black Gold Braised Pork Rice instead.

This piece of Q meat looked pretty good, but the first bite brought a faint, unidentifiable off-flavor… though extremely subtle. Even so, its melt-in-the-mouth texture was still pretty decent. The first time, I didn’t finish the Q meat.

A friend said this place’s meatball soup is pricey. When I saw the price, I thought it was okay—after all, it’s Taipei, the land of sky-high prices (lol). But at 45 NT$ and the portion size in the soup, it’s not exactly cheap either.

First off, the broth was clearer than I expected. The natural sweetness of the radish was way more appealing than the flavor of bone broth, and there was also a surprisingly strong scent of cilantro that I didn’t anticipate. The radishes were juicy, bursting with juice with each bite—pretty tasty, though nothing beyond what you’d expect in terms of texture and taste. As for the meatballs, I’d say they’re worth mentioning. They’re fairly sweet and firm, without too much of that annoying starchy taste. At the very least, they’re pleasing to the palate, and the immediate reaction is that they’re delicious.

Da? Meatball Soup
No. 63, Huaxi Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City
Phone: 02-23025073
Business Hours: 10:00–20:00

"Xiao Hu’s Food Dreams
If “eating” is just about filling your stomach, then “food” would be awfully boring～～"