taiwan trip-food-best lunch

2nd installment of my food post in Taiwan..

this time is a lunch we had on the 5th day in Taipei.

we had MONGOLION BBQ!
its a style of stir frying meat and vegetables over a large, round, solid iron griddle that is as large as 2.5 m in diameter and can cook at temperatures as high as 300 °C or 572 °F. Originally from Taiwan, it is neither Mongolian nor barbecue.so why do they call it such???

Mongolian barbecue first appeared in Taiwan in the middle to late 20th century. Although the stir-frying of meats on a large, open surface is supposed to evoke Mongolian cuisine, the preparation actually derives from Japanese-style teppanyaki which was popular in Taiwan at the time. "Mongolian" barbecue is not actually Mongolian at all; for examples of genuine Mongolian food, see buuz or khuushuur. A barbecue in Mongolia is prepared quite differently.
Notwithstanding the historic facts, BD's Mongolian Barbeque claims that soldiers of the Mongol Empire gathered large quantities of meats, prepared them with their swords and cooked them on their overturned shields over a large fire, while a German restaurant chain with the same concept claims that the Mongolian soldiers cooked their meals on a heated stone.

....hence the very misleading name..

Typically, diners choose various ingredients from a buffet of thinly sliced raw meats and vegetables and assemble them in a large bowl or on a plate. These ingredients are given to the griddle operator who adds the diner's choice of sauce and transfers them to one section of the hot griddle. Oil and sometimes water may be added to ease cooking and the ingredients are stirred occasionally.

The ample size of the Mongolian barbecue griddle allows for several diners' food to be cooked simultaneously on different parts of the griddle. When cooking is complete, the finished dish is scooped into a bowl and handed to the diner.

*interesting facts from Wikipedia*

so this is all our food! its a all-you-can-eat style, and sadly i did not get to sample everything cos i got too greedy at our previous stop in Tamsui old street and indulged in some street food! but i did try out the mongolian bbq. my very first time, it was so fun!!

there were some typical Chinese food and some weird food, I'm also not sure what they are. not that adventurous to try and also not enough stomach space..
these are the ingredients for the steamboat, fishball, meatball, foo chook and all
inside the restaurant
this is how it looks from the outside. sorry i don't have the address...
and one of Taiwan's most popular desert, shaved iced with lots n lots of toppings! From beans to jelly! its totally up to you. i even added some fruits (dragon fruit ) into my concoction
they also serve food like fried noodles and fried rice, which was only so-so but the chili was super good!
and sushi! unfortunately it tasted funny. not nice at all :( don't know what filling they put inside but its definitely not the usual kind...
steamboat. one side is sichuan soup which was super hot & spicy! and the other was normal chicken broth...perfect for rainy days.but Taiwan was sooo hot...but it was good anyway

here is the real deal. the mongolian BBQ.

first get the meat
some vege..
drizzle some sauce
and give it to the cook which will stir fry, teppenyaki style for you...

and you will get this. every dish is different, depending on the ingredients you use.

a very unique lunch i have to say...and a very good one as well..

next post will be about Taiwan street food, a short one because we did not really get to try out much cos they feed us so much so everytime we go for pasar malam or some shopping area we're most of the time stuffed, nevertheless i shall post up everything we had :)