I can’t say no to a pork sandwich. Whether it’s porchetta in Italy, leitão assado in Portugal, or gua bao in Taiwan, a really well prepared pork sandwich is a thing of beauty. It’s one of the best things in the world.
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.
Gua Bao (a.k.a. pork belly buns) are pretty huge in Taiwan, and having just eaten one, it’s very easy to see why.
There’s not a whole lot that you can absolutely, positively count on in this world, but here’s one thing: when a restaurant has this on display in their front window, I’m gonna be going inside that restaurant.
If there’s a more glorious sight in the world, I’d like to see it.
There’s a place back in Toronto called Porchetta and Co. that serves what was, up until now, the best porchetta that I’ve ever had. I had kind of assumed that it was porchetta perfection; I honestly didn’t think it could be topped.
It has been topped. Sorry, Porchetta and Co.: your porchetta sandwich is officially garbage.
So here’s a thing that happens a bunch in Portugal. You’ll head to a restaurant, all excited to try whatever dish they’re known for; you’ve walked a few kilometres to get there, and oh, what’s this? Yeah, they’re closed for the next three weeks. Apparently Portuguese chefs love to shut down for the month of August.
This recently happened to me (for the third or fourth time), and so I was wandering around looking for something to eat. I very quickly (and fortuitously) stumbled on a park that just happened to be hosting the Porto Food Festival.