Yusheng: This is the original location. Where it all started. I have been coming to this location since the 70s.
Yusheng: The absolute best Taiwanese-style breakfast in the city. Line starts forming at 5:30am, can get pretty crazy long. But well worth it. The savory soy milk is out of this world.
Yusheng: You have to eat at least one spicy hot pot since that is Taiwanese people's favorite dish. It's popular all year round even in 100 degree humid summers. There are many good mala hotpot places in the city, this one is my current favorite.
Yusheng: This is a BBQ corn cart near Shida Night Market. It's so good. It's done the way I remember from childhood. Most BBQ corns aren't done this way anymore.
Yusheng: Yet another XLB if Ava still wants them. This one is fairly standard, but it's like half the price of DTF at 90% of the taste.
Yusheng: Best guabao (Taiwanese pork bun) in the city. It's what those fancy New York pork buns wish they could be.
Yusheng: Of course you will be visiting night markets and this one is the biggest one by far.
Yusheng: Maybe consider this as a second night market to visit. Way less touristy and less "famous" than Shilin or Yaohe.
Yusheng: My favorite beef noodle place in the city. It's super no-frills and local and not covered in any guidebooks I would imagine. But it's so good.
Yusheng: Japanese-style unagi rice box. Crazy lines too. It's like 8 bucks for one, how much is it in NY now? 10 years ago when I left they used to go for like 20.
Yusheng: I recommend another Taiwanese breakfast place below because it's more famous and it has the best savory soy milk but this one is actually my favorite. I've been going there since I was a child and this one is another one of those super local places that only people who live around there know about.
Yusheng: You have to get 鹹酥雞, which is all over the city. It's deep fried stuff that you pick out from a table full of stuff. This one happens to be my favorite, but it's not going to be near anywhere you would be so probably you'll end up getting this from some random place, perhaps in a night market.