[Zhongxiao Fuxing/忠孝復興] San Ho Yan 叁和院台灣風格飲食參和院

1. [Zhongxiao Fuxing/忠孝復興] San Ho Yan 叁和院台灣風格飲食參和院
2. Rating: 8 out of 10
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4. Address: 台北市大安區忠孝東路四段101巷14號  
5. No. 14, Lane 101, Section 4, Zhongxiao East Rd, Daan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106
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   Phone Number: 02-2731-3833
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   Opening Hours: 11 am - 1 am
8. I strongly recommend this restaurant if you are looking to try a taste of Taiwanese food. 
9. The restaurant takes authentic dishes in Taiwan and gives it a new splash of creativeness resulting in more innovative dishes but with the same great taste.
   
   The price is reasonable for the portions and quality that you get. It is not as pricey as other restaurants which specialise in Taiwanese foods therefore, I thought it was a great find.
   
   Reserve beforehand because it is a really busy restaurant so if you don't want to queue then definitely reserve!
   
   Directions: Come out of Zhongxiao Fuxing Exit 4 and keep walking for around 5 minutes. You will see a Tian Ren Bubble Tea shop and that is where you turn left into the alley and you will find San Ho Yan.
   
   Now...onto the dishes :)!
   
   
   We had three people and ordered around 8 dishes, it was more than enough and we were completely stuffed afterwards!
   
   
   [Fried Turnip Cake in XO Sauce 叁和院秘製XO醬炒蘿蔔糕] - $227
   

   

   
   This dish is slightly spicy because it's cooked in XO sauce. XO sauce is a spicy seafood sauce. For those of you who can handle your spice, I definitely recommend to order this dish. The XO sauce gives the turnip cake an extra burst of flavour and I think this dish complements rice very well. 
   Note: For those who are allergic to shellfish, check with the waiter beforehand to see if you will be able to eat the XO sauce!
   
   
   [Steamed Bread 南瓜虎皮&墨汁斑馬刈包] - $17 for one
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11. One of the creative dishes from San Ho Yan. Steamed bread is normally completely white however, at San Ho Yan, they have packed other ingredients such as pumpkin (to get that orange colour) and squid ink  (to get the black lines on the steamed bread) to create this zebra-styled steamed bread. 
    I think the other ingredients give the steamed bun a more aesthetic look and pumpkin is healthy for you too! The taste of the new ingredients are not that heavy so you don't have to worry about it impacting the taste of the other foods that you put into the steamed bread.
    
    You can pair the steamed bread with mostly any kind of meat but my personal favourite is to pair it with pork stuffing!
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    [Pork Stuffing 東坡肉] - $287 (For 2-4 People)
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14. Pork stuffing is marinated in a soy-sauce like sauce to get its flavour. This dish comes with pak choi as well and it tastes amazingly good! Pork stuffing is composed of half pork meat and half fat. It might sound really unhealthy because of the fat but trust me, pork fat is actually really tasty and you can always make an exception once or twice a month, right?
    
    I would recommend eating this dish with either the steamed bun or rice as it goes great with both! We had it the traditional way - with the steamed bun.

You will get three toppings alongside the steamed buns and those are the extra flavourings that you can add when you put the pork inside the steamed bun.

I would recommend adding the peanut powder onto the steamed bun with the pork stuffing to add some sweetness into the taste. This is a great dish to order because you can share it among 2-4 people and if you can't finish it, you can take it home and have it with rice!

San Ho Yan have really captured the traditional taste and I really enjoyed this dish!


[Mapo Tofu - 麻婆豆腐] - $187

Mapo Tofu is spicy and should be paired with rice or else it might be too spicy for some people! I think their mapo tofu is pretty good and it has the right amount of spiciness with the tofu being marinaded really well in the sauce.

In some other restaurants, the tofu might taste bland because the sauce hasn't fully reached inside the tofu yet, but at San Ho Yan, this isn't a problem at all. It was a big portion (even though this picture doesn't make it look that big, but it definitely was) and can be shared among 2-4 people as well.


[Steamed Barbecued Pork Bun - 刺蝟叉燒包] - $137

This was the cutest thing that I have ever seen! San Ho Yan reinvented the normal fried char siu buns into cute hedgehogs, it almost made me not want to eat it! I thought it was a fresh take on fried char siu buns and made it a pleasant surprise to eat. That taste was great and the spikes on the hedgehog gave it an extra crunch. However, it was just slightly oily but otherwise, it tasted great! Definitely recommend to order when you are there!


[Pork Belly on Rice - 參和院極品豚丁飯] - $27

For me, I thought the pork belly on rice was very average, it didn't have the taste that I was looking for and I found that the meat was slightly hard to chew. I compared it to other places that I have tried and it wasn't as good. Therefore, I would recommend that you just get the white rice to pair with your food!

[Sanho Rice Cake Roll - 叁和年糕捲】 - $87

I love sweet rice cake so this dish was right up my street. I loved how it was shaped like a spring roll but it was actually a sweet inside. At first, I kept thinking that I was going to taste a salty dish but when it turned out to be sweet rice cake, I was even more overjoyed! If you have never tried sweet rice cake before, I would definitely recommend that you try this dish! 

It has a chewy texture and it is not that sweet so you don't have to worry about it being too sweet for your teeth. It was one of my favourite desserts at San Ho Yan!


[Creamy Custard Bun - 叁和院金沙包] - $87

The creamy custard buns did exactly as its name suggests. It had creamy custard on the inside and looked like a bun on the outside. I love creamy custard buns because they balance the right amount of sweetness since the custard is sweet while the bun outside isn't therefore, it won't be too sweet on your teeth.

These creamy custard buns were piping hot and were great to eat because sometimes, in other stores, the buns are lukewarm when it comes to your table and that in turn causes the creamy custard inside to harden, therefore, San Ho Yan's creamy custard buns did great in this respect.

Be careful when taking a bite into these buns though. Always make sure to take a small bite because the creamy custard inside will come oozing out and you may burn your tongue so watch out for that!



[Red Bean Rabbit Bun - 紅豆白兔包] - $77

The red bean buns were made in the shape of rabbits and they had cute pink bottoms which would entice children and adults alike to eat. By the time we got to this dish, we were all completely stuffed and satisfied, but I couldn't resist my temptation to eat one! I thought the red bean buns were pretty good but I have actually had better elsewhere. However, despite saying that 3 red bean buns for $77 is actually a pretty good deal since in other restaurants which sell dim sum, the price is more.

Red bean buns shaped in rabbits or peaches are pretty common in Taiwan since it is a tradition to eat them on birthdays. The ones shaped in rabbits can be found in supermarkets while the peach shaped ones are more likely to be found in traditional markets.


[Overall Thoughts]

The restaurant has a great feel in general because it is very nicely decorated. I will take pictures and update my blog when I go back next time to show you guys the feel of the restaurant!

I thought the food was great for the price and it is very reasonable compared to other restaurants selling Taiwanese food! It is very filling as well, we all came out of the restaurant with a food coma :D.

This is a place that you can go with family or friends because you can try more dishes if you have more people.

Definitely recommend this restaurant so give it a try and I promise you won't regret it :)!

I hope you guys liked this post, if you liked it, please comment below or share this review. I will post more good restaurants soon!