It’s hard to resist basically anything that’s deep fried. If you batter something and then deep fry it until it becomes golden and crispy, it becomes inherently appealing. That’s just science.
Some dishes that you eat while traveling are good, but they take you out of your comfort zone. The taste or the texture is unfamiliar, and you need to eat a few bites to even decide what you think of it.
On the other hand, there are dishes like the grilled pork rice at Yongle Shao Rou Fan. It doesn’t ask anything of you but to enjoy it.
I showed up at Qiu Jia Xiao Juan Mi Fen about ten minutes after it opened, and the place was already packed. Suffice it to say, the place is quite popular; always a good sign.
I think there might have been other stuff on the menu, but this place is known for one particular dish, and that’s what everyone was eating: squid noodles.
One thing I’ve noticed about the food in Tainan: it’s noticeably sweeter than the cuisine in Taipei or Taichung. Most of the things I’ve tried here have been at least a little bit sweet.
Ah Song Gua Bao is a good example of this: they sell pork buns, and they’re distinctly sweeter than the version I had in Taipei.
There are several street vendors in Tainan that sell freshly-fried doughnuts that they advertise as being made with millet flour.
I don’t need a whole lot of convincing to try a doughnut, especially one that’s fresh from the fryer.