to save the best for last, a dessert place that is like no other:: SFT juice and ice. it has the most amazing shaved ice. there is only one location and that is in Shilin Market.
the first time i came here was with my cousin around 10 years ago and since then i’ve been telling everyone about was the ribbon-ice that is smooth and delicious. i was so excited to go there again and it was just as amazing as i remembered.
between the six of us, we tried five different flavors: green tea ice with red bean, ice with mango pieces, cappuccino ice, peanut butter ice and ice with aloe. my favorite was the green tea with red bean and the cappuccino. iceoh my goodiness – i was in heaven!
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have the best shaved ice at SFT Juice & Ice in Shilin Market in taipei, tw
while walking through shi da night market, my niece pointed out an ice cream sandwich shop and after having an amazing ice cream sandwich at 
now tea is a staple but is there a way to shake it up? yes, indeed and in taiwan, they do. here comes tea with fresh fruit. oh my!
tea is big in taiwan and while there are many tea places, it’s nice to know a chain that has really good tea.
open since 1984 by his parents, mr. hsu continued the business of making these raw-fried buns with thin fermented dough filled will Dongpo’s pork and cabbages. unlike steamed soup dumplings, these dumplings are fried but hot juice still oozes out after you take a bite. oooooh yeah!
a fun restaurant my family took us to was an italian vegetarian called Sufood. it is an 8-part set for NT $380 – which is around $14 US. a ridiculously cheap price for the extravagant meal to come! it’s so good and a fun place to bond with family!
the first banquet we went to when arriving taiwan was at a seafood restaurant and it blew away any american asian banquet i’ve ever been to! this 12-course meal started with:
so in one episode of 
the xinyi location is still busy today. on any given day, you walk by the restaurant and there is a crowd of people waiting in front of the store as if to catch a glimpse of a celebrity inside. i guess you can say there is a celebrity: the dumplings! a group of workers can be seen through glass windows making the xiao (little) long baos (dumplings). when you finally make your way in, you may be led to the dining area or a private room in one of several floors in the restaurant. when you sit down, the wait staff asks you what languages are spoken at the table. s/he returns with the “guide to enjoy a xiao long bao” laminated card(s) in the languages requested to make sure you have the most pleasurable eating experience — without burning your tongue — as some novices might do. but enjoy them you do! the dumpling skin is thinner than the soup dumplings at joe’s shanghai but the little dumplings are just as flavorful and soupy … if not more so!
