天祥餐厅 (Tian Xiang Eatery) @ Hualien

tian xiang

It was a choice between Aboriginie cuisine and 天祥. Had I known it was an eatery with zi char, I would have opted for aboriginie food! Our hualien guide insisted that she only provided her customers with economical and good tasting meal options, well...here's a review of what proves to be taste is continents-apart subjective.
eatery

Packed for some reason and strangely, mostly Singaporeans.

cold zichar

Zichar.

menu

Or order off the menu and get them cooked on the spot. Choose to fill the plate with half dishes or full dishes and each plate cost NTD 60 if memory serves me well.

seaweed

Reeked of the sea, this seaweed looking cousin was crunchy and slippery.

cold cabbage

Cold pickled cabbage which served as a better appetizer than mains.

bamboo rice

Bamboo rice that was plain tasting save for the few scattered shrimps.
brinjal

Our request for the dishes to be reheated either fell on deaf ears or they do not believe in reheating till you see steam. Brinjal - okay at best.

pork cutlet

Pork cutlet that was way too oily for comprehension.

beancurd

A combination of beancurd strips and beancurd rolls, though neither struck a chord.
spinach x bittergourd

White bitter gourd and some taiwanese vegetable which tasted the best of the lot.

Service was horrible, hardly prepared for a crowd at all. The lady boss was frying her rice all over the place, out of sheer frustration and panic methinks. They may be better off selling prepacked meals.

I was dumbfounded with the guide's food expectations by the end of the meal. Surely there were more options in Hualien! The cabbie simply brushed it aside as Hualien had nothing delicious to offer. 扁食 and 公正包 that the Taipei cabdriver had told us to took out for? Disappointing food-expedition in Hualien.

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