Check out these 2 most well-known Taiwanese beef noodle soup in Taipei, and find out which one is the tastiest!

 

If you ask Taiwanese people about their national dish, I am 110% certain that they would unanimously scream: BEEF NOODLE SOUP!

It may sound exaggerated, but there’s nothing that can match the awesome taste of Taiwanese beef noodle soup. That unique and lethal combination of chewy egg noodle, tender beef, and fragrant broth make it a perfect and unrivaled comfort food.

Moreover, it’s affordable, ubiquitous and guaranteed it will make you full, happy and energized. 

Nowadays, there are many varieties of beef noodle soup available out there, but in Taipei, there are 2 beef noodle soup joints, which are most well-known and highly regarded as the quintessential Taiwanese beef noodle soup: YONG KANG AND LIN DONG FANG.

In this post, I’d like to make an attempt to review these 2 delicious beef noodle soups. I hope you will be tempted to taste them yourself and have a final pick which one you think is better. I will compare both noodle soups based on 4 criteria: appearance, taste, price, and service.

So without further ado, here is the Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup Showdown: Yong Kang vs. Lin Dong Fang!

 

Which Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup Is Yummiest: Yong Kang vs. Lin Dong Fang?

 

Yong Kang Beef Noodles

Address:

No. 17, Lane 31, Section 2, Jinshan South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106.

How to get there:

take MRT Red Line to Dongmen, Exit 5. Walk 5 minutes to the location.

What to order:

the mixed meat and tendon noodle soup!

 

#1 – Appearance

At first glance, Yong Kang beef noodle soup looks really enticing, and immediately make my mouth watered. The broth looks thick, fragrant and has a deep red color, which may come from mixing chili pepper into it.

The portion of the meat and tendon are also very generous. There are 5-6 chunky slices of meat and tendon, and it looks like that they have been cooked to perfection in that red beefy broth.

Yong Kang uses a thin egg noodle for its beef noodle soup, which may make a perfect sense, as a thinner noodle may be able to absorb the broth even better.

#2 – Taste

My first taste was the broth, and it was heaven! That red broth is beefy and is indeed a bit spicy due to the chili. And as expected, the thin egg noodle is soft and chewy, although it does become soggy pretty quick when I left it too long in the broth.

The star of the bowl was the meat and tendon though. They’re juicy, falling-off-the-bone tender and very flavorful!

#3 – Price

At Yong Kang, there is only 1 bowl size available, so you cannot choose between small or large bowl. A bowl of Yong Kang beef noodle soup with mixed meat and tendon costs 245 NTD, and the one with only meat costs 225 NTD.

#4 – Service and ambiance

Yong Kang is not only regarded as one of the best beef noodle soup joints; it is one of the oldest too.

As such, the place is honestly quite old and rustic. Nonetheless, it does look cozy, fun and quite clean. This place is also quite family-friendly, as some of the guests seemed to bring their whole family to eat at this place.

I came during the dinner time and had to queue for about 20 minutes. The service was quick and ordering in English was very easy, despite there is no English menu.

The noodle soup came out about 10 minutes after I ordered. And despite the long queue outside, I did not have the feeling that I was pressured or rushed to eat and leave.

 

Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodles

Address:

No. 4-3, Andong Street, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491.

How to get there:

take MRT Brown or Blue Line to Zhongxiao Fuxing, Exit 5 and walk 15 minutes to the location.

What to order:

the mixed meat and tendon noodle soup for sure!

 

#1 – Appearance

Unlike at Yong Kang, the broth at Lin Dong Fang is transparent and clear. It seems that Lin Dong Fang tries to keep the taste of pure beef broth in its noodle soup.

The portion of the meat and tendon are also very generous. But instead of being sliced in chunks like at Yong Kang, the meat is thinly sliced, displaying beautifully the lean tissues that run through the meat.

Lin Dong Fang also uses a thicker egg noodle than Yong Kang.

#2 – Taste

When tasting the broth, I was really pleasantly surprised! I thought that clear broth would be a bit bland, but it actually was packed with flavor! The broth is super beefy and unlike at Yong Kang, it’s not oily at all.

And the thick egg noodle was cooked to perfection. It was still al-dente, chewy, and more importantly does not get soggy quickly.

Those thin slices of meat with lean tissues in it were the BOMB! They’re insanely tender and have a unique texture due to a mix of lean meat and those soft tissues. The texture of the tendon was equally soft and almost melted in my mouth.

In my opinion, Lin Dong Fang has made a flawless orchestra in a bowl. The broth, the noodle, and the meat: all of them combined made a darn good bowl of beef noodle soup! And FYI, I ended up finishing that entire bowl within less than 10 minutes. 

#3 – Price

At Lin Dong Fang, you can choose between small and large bowl. A large bowl of Lin Dong Fang beef noodle soup with mixed meat and tendon costs 240 NTD, and the small one costs 170 NTD.

#4 – Service and ambiance

Lin Don Fang’s place has recently undergone a major renovation, which makes it now look very spacious, pretty and clean.

It’s a very tourist friendly restaurant too, as there is English menu available and the waiters also speak English very well.

I came around lunch time and had to queue for about half an hour. Once inside, the service was however quite quick and decent.

The noodle soup came out about 10 minutes after I ordered. And despite the long queue outside, there was no pressure to rush as well.

 

Other Delicious Alternatives – Recommendation from locals

Beside Yong Kang and Lin Dong Fang, there are few other great beef noodle soup joints, which the locals exclusively recommended to me.

So if you feel like you’re still craving more beef noodle soup, make sure you go check these places out!

#1 – Liu Shandong Beef Noodles

Classic beef noodle soup located close to Taipei Main Station

Address: No. 2, Lane 14, Section 1, Kaifeng St, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100

#2 – Niou Dien Beef Noodles

Another traditional beef noodle soup located close to Ximending

Address: No. 91, Kunming Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108

So, what’s your verdict? Which one will you want to taste first?

 

Please do not hesitate to share your experience. Do you like this post and want to receive some more awesome street food tips regularly? Please make sure that you subscribe for my email updates. And also check out my other blog posts for many more helpful tips for traveling. See you in the next blog post and until we Greet again!