Popular street snacks at Tainan Dongmen Roundabout: pork floss sesame sauce noodles & rich red bean ice!

Text & Photos /San Gao Eats Chinese

Besides the many street snacks, Tainan has plenty of noodle shops too. Old Huang’s Plain Noodles beside Dongmen Roundabout has been on my list for ages. This time in Tainan for three days, I finally managed to squeeze in lunch here, and afterward, I could swing by nearby Sun Brand Ice Cream.

Old Huang’s Plain Noodles used to be on You’ai Street but moved to its current location about 10 years ago (next door to Yuanhuan Ding Cai Zong Zong, which sells rice and meat zongzi). It’s a 50-plus-year-old shop run by the owner, Auntie Xiu, so there’s a small sign outside that says “Originally from You’ai Street, Auntie Xiu.” The business hours have changed—now they close at 5 PM, so you can’t come for dinner.

Their signature dish is sesame sauce dry noodles. A foodie veteran once said this was his favorite sesame sauce noodles. In addition to sesame sauce, they also add minced pork, not just the sauce alone, along with some baby bok choy and slightly thinner plain white noodles. The more common mixed version you see these days is fried sauce + sesame sauce + minced pork—I don’t think I’ve ever had that combo before.

The minced pork isn’t the typical diced fatty pork you often find in Tainan; it’s more ground meat but not all lean. The texture isn’t dry. It’s cooked with the usual rock sugar and shallots, giving it a slight sweetness. The sesame sauce is smooth—not overly thick or sticky—and has a fragrant aroma that blends well with the mild sweetness and soy sauce flavor of the minced pork.

The noodles are on the thinner side but quite elastic. It’s a really tasty bowl of noodles.

I also ordered a bowl of shredded pork soup noodles with pickled mustard greens. They added quite a bit of minced pork on top too. As for the side pickles, the flavors were lighter. I didn’t find them particularly special, so I won’t go into detail. The spicy dried fish bits were pretty hot—I prefer my spicy dried fish to have a bit of sweetness. These were mostly just spicy, and I ended up not finishing them.

After a simple lunch, I walked a short distance to Sun Brand Ice Cream. Business was booming. Since I had to rush off to my pre-booked visit to the Chimei Museum in the afternoon, I opted to take it to go and eat in the car.

Sun Brand’s signature item is red bean milk frost. Milk frost, as the name suggests, is made from fresh milk, with a fine, sandy, frost-like texture—different from the soft, fluffy feel of shaved ice. Drizzled with well-cooked, rich red beans, it’s sweet enough and delicious.

I got a scoop of mango ice cream—pretty big for one scoop. It wasn’t flashy, but it was very tasty. The mango flavor really came through—it was just as good as the red bean milk frost.

Old Huang’s Plain Noodles
Address: No. 38, Section 1, Fuzheng Road, West Central District, Tainan City
Business Hours: 6:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Sun Brand Ice Cream
Address: No. 41, Section 1, Minquan Road, West Central District, Tainan City
Business Hours: 10:00 AM – 9:30 PM

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