New opening: Lightly aromatic "Huadiao Chicken" dish must-tries include garlic spare ribs and Macau-style pork rib casserole

Text & photos byLittle Tiger's Dream Food Blog

To be honest, Wugu isn’t a place I usually frequent, but when I hear or smell the call of delicious food, I just can’t resist going to check it out. Not long ago, I heard that a really amazing Huadiao Chicken place opened near the Wugu Industrial Park. But since I’m not particularly interested in Huadiao Chicken, I never went. Thankfully, I ended up coming, which gave me the chance to share this wonderful spot—one that makes you want to add it to your list of favorite restaurants after just one bite. Our foodie group definitely had to come pay homage too！

My friend said he’s closer to “Luzhou Station,” but after checking, it seemed Qiantou Station was more convenient, so I ended up categorizing it as a Qiantou Station-area eatery.

Maybe because it’s newly opened, it didn’t seem like many people knew about it—about half full during mealtime. The overall vibe of the restaurant is a bit like an air-conditioned “mutton hot pot” shop, XD.

I’m not entirely sure if Huadiao Chicken is a Macau dish, but looking at the menu, there were some Macau-style dishes, like “pork rib casserole” and “clam” dishes, which reminded me of 【Macau Travel】【Macau - Xiawan Food】the delicious clams with baby bok choy.

The dishes were ordered by my friend, so I just snapped a few photos to give you an idea of the prices—they felt a little cheaper than Taipei on the whole.

Aside from hot pot dishes, there were also some stir-fries.

The signature clam dish felt similar to Taiwan’s clam soup. When I asked, they said they didn’t have clams that day, so they used clams instead.

The clams were quite sweet and fresh, but what was impressive was the flavor—the initial taste is the freshness of the clams, followed by the aroma of garlic and ginger, even with a slight tongue-tingling yet enjoyable spiciness. It’s a soup with quite a layered taste, which is pretty special.

Suddenly, my friend ordered three super huge oysters—the kind that could make you blush just looking at them.

My friend said you can eat them raw, but what’s more special is tossing them into the hot pot to cook. The broth is the same as the earlier clam soup, so you can just toss the oysters in after finishing the clams. To be honest, big oysters aren’t really my thing, so I didn’t try them, but the friend who had two said they were super fresh, sweet, and delicious—and even better cooked in the clam broth.

The spicy Huadiao Chicken came out as a whole hot pot set—that’s so cool. As soon as we lifted the lid, a faint wine aroma wafted out.

Then the waiter deliberately stirred it right in front of us, letting the fragrance keep relentlessly wafting into our noses...super fragrant. After stirring, he covered it with a lid and said we had to wait three minutes...come on…you just made it all “fragrant” and now you make us wait? Clearly trying to make us drool XXD.

No exaggeration—when it was opened, the Huadiao wine aroma became even softer, along with the chicken’s oil fragrance also rising. However, the wine aroma was stronger than expected, but the taste wasn’t too much. It looked oily but wasn’t overly so, and flavor-wise it felt a bit lighter than other Huadiao Chicken dishes I’ve had before.

If I had left after eating this, I probably wouldn’t have given such high praise. Because although it was tasty, Huadiao Chicken just isn’t my thing, and it’s not hard to find in Taipei—why go all the way to Wugu?

Just as I was thinking that, my friend ordered a dish that made me shut up…or rather, stopped my aimless pondering. To be honest, these fried ribs were really gorgeous, golden and shiny—just looked crispy and fragrant. It was clearly my kind of dish XD...that line was said by my friend.

Alright, sorry this photo came out blurry because I was too eager to eat...but as soon as these ribs hit my mouth, the crispy outer layer was absolutely captivating. Half a second later, the top layer of fat melted in my mouth, followed by a hint of wine aroma and a slight medicinal scent, plus a really unique garlic flavor. Then my mouth was filled with a mix of savory meat, oily richness, wine aroma, herbal scent, and garlic—then at the very end, there was even a slight “bitterness” with garlic notes. But weirdly, I loved that “bitter” flavor—it was insanely delicious, a “garlic spare rib” dish that I highly recommend and is an absolute must-order.

The Macau-style pork rib casserole came in a huge pot. Although the big bones were tempting, my eyes kept drifting to that white broth. I sneakily took a sip, and sure enough, it had a delightfully rich bone sweetness. Another sip brought a slightly salty richness that cut through the grease, plus the refreshing sweetness of the daikon—just the broth alone was amazing.

Next came the inevitable marrow-sucking session. Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of this, due to a traumatic past experience (super fishy), so I deliberately poured a bit of the soup into it before sucking. After one sip, there was zero fishiness. For the first time, I genuinely found marrow easy and pleasant to suck XD, so I went for a second one—and it was delicious.

I also picked up some meaty bones with lots of marrow and chewy bits, especially the softer, oily tendons, which were incredibly flavorful. Must-order, must-order, must-order.

When my friend ordered the sweet-and-sour spare ribs, I was a bit skeptical, thinking how good could sweet-and-sour ribs be in a place like this. But the moment it arrived, I shut up. First, the shine and aroma were super inviting. Then, just looking at the exposed bones told me the shop used quality ribs. By then, I’d already swallowed my saliva several times—who doesn’t love this dish?

After tasting it, both the flavor and texture of the ribs surpassed the visuals. The meat was sweet and tender, with a slight bite on the edges—absolutely delicious. The sweet-and-sour tang led the way, with the sweetness emerging between layers of meat flavor. I loved this dish to bits—it might be one of the top two or three best sweet-and-sour ribs I’ve ever had. If it weren’t for the mind-blowingly good ribs I had last month at 【Hong Kong Travel】【Tsim Sha Tsui Food】Peninsula Hotel - The Peninsula Grill, I’d call this one the best.

Here’s another dish that shocked me…who orders “pineapple shrimp balls” at a place like this? But after one bite, I shut up again—the shrimp were huge. According to my friend, they used grass shrimp, which were crispy and sweet. Even though the mayo was a bit overwhelming (XD), it was still really good.

Salt-and-pepper duck tongues. My friend loves them, but I personally didn’t feel much—I’ve never been a fan of duck tongues, XD.

Fish-flavored eggplant casserole—this is also a dish I often order at Chinese restaurants. But it didn’t have “tripe, tripe, tripe.” As I breathed in the aroma I love, I was crying inside. But thankfully, the lack of tripe didn’t affect my enjoyment. The flavor was just what you’d expect. If anything, it was a bit stronger and oilier than usual.

Boiled fish slices—I’m more used to beef, so this felt fresh. The broth had a mild heat that gradually built, plus the numbing spice I love—but not too strong. Overall, I thought it was pretty well done.

I’m not sure what kind of fish was used, but it was quite tender. Even though I feel like this cooking method doesn’t bring out the freshness of beef, let alone fish, my friend still insisted it was really good =)

The Legend of Huadiao Wine
Address: No. 60, Wugu Industrial & Commercial Road, New Taipei City
Phone: 02-22923066
Business Hours: 11:30–23:30

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