August 17, 2017

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[Taipei] Famous restaurants at Taipei’s Yong Kang Street include Din Tai Fung and Kao Chi. Two similar Chinese restaurants serving Xiao Long Bao and dumplings, with a different fate.

In reality, Kao Chi came before Din Tai Fung, about 8 years prior. It started as Shanghainese street food stand, and has now a 3-storey flagship store and branches around Taipei including Fuxing South Road and Zhong Shan North Road.

You won’t miss the striking red colours of the greyish building, with curious onlookers watching cooks prepare the dumplings from scratch via the open kitchen.

It is hard not to compare the two, and my Yong Kang Street walking tour guide mentioned that fate changed when an important media feature which was initially offered to Kao Chi went to Din Tai Fung instead – which has since set its foot prints in many countries.

Compared to DTF, Kao Chi was less hyped-up, with not so many tourists crowding around the entrance, but still reasonably filled.

For a Chinese restaurant, it was not as noisy, and servers were generally helpful (one gave good help when I asked for directions to the train station.)