[Taipei] Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodles 林东芳牛肉面

Categories: Taiwanese
Address: No. 274, Section 2, Bādé Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei | 台北市中山区八德路二段272號
Closest MTR: Zhōngxiào Fùxīng Station (忠孝復興站)
Hours: Mon-Sat, 11:00am – 6:00am (Yes, it's open all night long!)
Date visited: December 2013
Cost: ~NT$170-330
Thoughts: Everything was delicious and deserves a recommendation - a place worthy of repeated visits! I especially loved their beef tendon and famous hua gan/wheat gluten (花干) appetizer. I think it's worth the hype (as of 2014, at least) and yes, in case you're wondering, I prefer this place over Taipei's other well-liked beef noodle store Tao Yuan Street Beef Noodles (桃源街牛肉面).

02-27522556

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When beef noodle shops are as ubiquitous as doner kebabs are in Europe or coffee shops in Melbourne, it's not surprising that everyone has an opinion on where to find the best beef noodles in the city. Sure, of course it always also depends on personal preferences on saltiness and broth-type but usually there are legitimate reasons upon why some are more acclaimed than others. Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodle House 林东芳牛肉面 is one of the most popular beef noodle shops in Taipei. Finally, here I am to try it for myself!

Lin Dong Fang's store front and open kitchen faces the street, where you can watch the chefs make your noodles.

The menu isn't long but they have everything I want with my noodles. Small and large portions available for their beef noodles too! All appetizers are NT$30.

Their famous Hua Gan/wheat gluten (花干). A must! — **Their famous Hua Gan/wheat gluten (花干).** A must!

Lin Dong Fang's large half tendon/half shank beef noodle soup 红烧半筋半肉牛肉面 (NT$220).

Everything was delicious about this big savory bowl. The beef and tendon pieces were cooked to perfection and each bowl came with generous portions of protein. With a table of 6, we still ordered additional side dishes of beef and tendon to share because they were that good.

However, unlike most other beef noodle places, Lin Dong Fang doesn't give you the option to choose from different broths (eg. clear vs spicy). Everybody gets the same soup here. The broth mix lies somewhere between the typical red-braised spicy broth and clear broth. I loved it because it wasn't too salty but certainly flavorful enough for that umami taste.