Guide to Matsu Islands, Taiwan: another must

Matsu Islands 馬祖列島 On the far east coast of the Taiwan Strait, just off the coast of China’s Fuzhou city lies the Matsu Islands, and archipelago consisting of primarily 5 inhabited islands. It is part of Taiwan. While not as close to China as Kinmen, it is still very close and you can see the…

Guide to LanYu, Orchid Island, Taiwan: The most unique outer island

This post is a continued catch up post of the various trips and “re-discoveries” I had in Taiwan during my 6 months COVID hideout there. I had previously posted about Green Island. At the end of August 2020 I had a chance to venture out to the other Southeastern outer island, one of Taiwan’s most remote…

Street Food Guide to Tainan, Taiwan 台南小吃懶人包

Tainan in Southwestern Taiwan is a historic city/county. Its where the Dutch set up their colony in Taiwan and where the Qing Dynasty established the island’s capital when they took it over from the Dutch. The city has many important historic sites from the Dutch Colonial Era, the Qing Dynasty and Japanese Colonial Era. It…

Guide to Green Island, Taiwan

I have just returned to the United States, sadly, after spending a wonderful 6.5 months back in Taiwan as a COVID refugee. During my time home, I was able to expand my Taiwanese horizons and visit many new places. Taiwan has been a COVID safe haven and domestic travel this year has boomed. One such…

Review: Sinasera 24, Changbin, Taitung, Taiwan

Intro As mentioned in my previous post on AKAME in Pingtung, Taiwan, on this trip back home I have traveled outside of Taipei to dine at a few restaurants. Another one is a full destination restaurant: Sinasera 24. What I mean by that is that you go there for the meal but you also stay…

Review: AKAME, Contemporary Indigenous Taiwanese; Best in Taiwan?

Intro Ever since I returned to Taiwan in March of this year to take refuge, I have been eating nearly nonstop. From new and old favorite street stalls and hole in the walls. To attempting to eat at most of the new haute/ tasting/ creative type restaurants that have popped up in the last 4-5…

NY Times: Restaurants That Harness the Bounty of Taiwan

The New York times recently published this great article highlighting some of Taiwan’s excellent farm-to-table haute-cuisine restaurants that have really elevated Taipei’s dining experience as well as diversified its options. “Taiwan offers possibilities for farm-to-table dining that don’t exist in Singapore and Hong Kong.” What an incredibly true statement. There are five restaurants the article…

American BBQ in Taipei: Baba Kevin’s V. Mighty Quinn’s

I lived in St. Louis for 4 years and travelled across the American Midwest/ South and sampled the best BBQ I’ve ever had across famous BBQ cities such as Memphis, Kansas City, Houston/ San Antonio, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, and St. Louis. So naturally when I returned to Taiwan one of the few American dishes that I…