There's supposed to be a rivalry between the Taiwanese and the mainlanders like myself. Legends call it hell-raising in intensity, a deep-seated nose-to-nose with emotions akin to the Hatfields and McCoys.
I don't get it. I don't see it, and mainland me is the first to admit that Taiwan is undeniably cool. I've been dying to go and dying to know...and dying to confirm what I already know: that the food is bomb. Michelin skips most of the mainland, and Taiwan has stars like the Milky Way on a no-moon night.
Best thing to ever come out of Taiwan? BOBA!!!...and pop stars. This Passionfruit Black Tea popping with beads of passionfruit jam is totally my jam, and the honey boba is just perfect.
The Taro Milk Tea is a cup of cream; creamy whole milk building on creamy mash taro mash.
The Beef Roll is a roll that rules all rolls. The pancake is chewy and thin, the beef is soy-sauced soft and marbled with melty tendinous tissue in an unadorned hoisin. The bready meat is hot, but the cucumber, cilantro, and scallions will hose it off.
Dan Dan Noodles are a damn good classic. These al dente noods are sweet with a drapey sesame-peanut sauce, hot with a dash of chili oil, quick with a cucumber and peanut crunch.
They rule the roll and surpass on soup, but no meal is complete without a rice bowl. The Minced Pork on Rice bowl is superior on the seasoning. The peppered pork makes a mouthful with a bite, and the soy-braised egg has serious sass.
If there is a rivalry, then Taiwan probably wins more often than the mainland wants to admit. I love me my mainland mash-ups, but Taiwanese cuisine has such a sleek and clean aesthetic, with a subtle yet prevalent depth and breadth of flavor. Pine & Crane houses Taiwan's best food, in one of its finest forms, all under the same cozy, stylish roof. Taiwanese food is awesome-sauce, rivalry be damned, and Pine & Crane if probably one of the best examples of it.
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