Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Come, come... restaurant? (來來現鈔飯麵)


The full name of 來來港式台式現鈔飯麵 (Lai Lai Gang Shi Tai Shi Xian Chao Fan Mian) is more than a mouthful that translates to 'Come Come HK/Taiwan Style stir fry rice and noodles.' In short though, 來來 simply means 'come come,' a short phrase that elicits (in me at least) heartwarming images of my grandmother yelling at me to come back inside for dinner time. Too kyoot. Located on 118th street in Taipei's 大安 district, is an unimposing, and honestly, kind of dingy looking mom and pop shop that serves stir fried dishes. You know it's legit when the mom and dad deal with the money, the kids take your order, and the grandfather cooks the food! Anyhoo, the inside looks beat up, with wobbly chairs, wobbly tables, and poor lighting. For all its inadequacies, the restaurant is packed with people who appear to be regulars, as they're all ordering without menus. It's both a massive turn off and at the same time eerily charming.

來來 Menu

As far as the food goes, everything's under 80 NT ($2.50) so everything's a good value. I chose the 干炒牛河 (gan chao niu he) which is basically flattened rice noodles stir fried with beef, onions, bean sprouts, and cabbage (on a side note, I always thought the first character was '乾,' but I guess not...). It's one of those comfort dishes I remember from my childhood that I'd get at dim sum because I wouldn't eat seafood. Their rendition was okay. The beef was well tenderized and marinated, the noodles were chewy and resilient. The vegetables... well, they were all there haha. The only thing I would gripe about (very minor complaint) was that the sauce was too heavy on the sesame oil. That's a debatable point, as I'm sure some would like it, but I was a bit annoyed. Basically, it's nothing I'd recommend, but I would go back if I were in the area. It's in a bit of a weird gray area in terms of how good it actually is, I think I just like the novelty of the idea. Oh, and the prices.


Esther said...

"Come Come HK/Taiwan Style stir fry rice and noodles" is the best name EVER!!!!!!!!!!!

Melissa Zhang said...

It's like that restaurant in NYC called "Eat here now". I mean, how could you /not/, after that convincing argument? And I'm a sesame oil fanatic, so I say pour it on. :p

Nicholas said...

@Esther hahahaha, there are so many restaurants with ridiculous names, #translationfail for sure. Although I'm pretty sure the English on the prepackaged food is just as messed up.

@Melissa ~Weird, I went to "Eat Here Now" because of the name too... oh and I normally love sesame oil too (as a replacement for virtually ANY oil for cooking), but this was like, swimming in a pool of sesame oil and accidentally inhaling it. Err... exactly like that.

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