I just mentioned that a cheap Michelin-rated restaurant is basically guaranteed to have a line. Well, Lin Dong Fang is (relatively) cheap, and it’s Michelin-approved, so yeah, there was a line.
I spent about half an hour waiting to get in, and it was absolutely, positively time well spent. It was so good.
Lin Dong Fang specializes in beef noodle soup, a Taiwanese specialty that typically features noodles, ultra-tender braised beef, and beef tendons in a very flavourful beefy broth.
It’s incredible. The beef is absurdly tender and absolutely packed with flavour, the tendon basically just melts in your mouth, the thick noodles are chewy and satisfying, and the broth is perfectly spiced and intensely beefy.
Plus, each table has a little tub of chili paste, and this stuff is basically pure magic. It adds a nice kick to the soup, but more importantly, it has a very toasty, rich flavour that sets it way apart from your standard hot sauce or chili oil.
I wasn’t going to order anything else, but then I noticed that the menu featured the following note on the hua gan (which is tofu cooked in beef stock): “This is our signature dish. You can’t miss it.” Well, jeez, I guess I’m ordering that too. How could I not?
Anyway, it was quite good — the tofu had a nicely chewy texture, and soaks up the flavour of the beef stock like a sponge. It compliments the soup quite well.
Location: No. 4-3, Andong Street, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491
How to find it: It’s on a small side street just off of Bade Road. Also, there’s almost certainly going to be a line-up, so it’s hard to miss.