Most amazing restaurants are often the ones hidden somewhere without a sign.
I have to agree to that, especially in Asia.
But those ones without the signs often are the most expensive restaurants too.
That, is not entirely true.
After walking around the streets in Fangyuan, we drove to a place where locals called “Under The Tree.” (The place has no actual name, so locals gave it a nickname)
At a place where many do not have computers, no Barbie dolls, no dance clubs, no shopping malls, this is where many locals come to eat while chatting their time away.
You won’t find extravagant table linens or suited waiter and waitresses. There are no champagne or coffee here. You won’t even be served with a menu. What they have is simplicity.
After getting a nod from the owner as an acknowledgement of our presence, we sat down at an empty table and ordered.The owner prepared everything right there in front of us, as the kitchen is at the front of the shop.We could see the onion being chopped, food in the frying pan, the sizzling sound tinkled by our ears, and the smell of hunger just entices me with anticipation.
When the owner called us to get the food from the counter, I gladly took the plates with a smile.
Mmmm, the aroma of oysters and green onions embraced me, as I look at my fried oyster pancake and fried turnip cake. Want a closer look?
Ohhh….the fresh, juicy oysters and the green onions fried to perfection. Everything still retained its original taste, with no extra expense of salt nor pepper. The crispy crust outside completed the symphony. There are complimentary oyster sauce and spicy sauce on the counter if wanted.
“Under the Tree” has been around for 2 generations now, and the current owner learned all the tricks and trade from his father. His kids help out during the weekend, and the owner also let local kids, whose families have financial trouble, to help around the shop for extra cash. The most popular dish as you can see is their fried oyster pancake. Every morning after the harvest, oyster farmers would bring fresh batch of oysters to the shop. The owner then goes shopping for green onions, and begin to prepare the ingredients.
During the weekends, the place is packed starting from 11am with a waiting line up to an hour long (Mind you they close at 2pm for lunch hours!! ) Due to internet and blogging community in Taiwan that has been raving about food from the country side, people drive up to 2 hours a trip just to come to eat their oyster pancake. We were lucky we came on a weekday, and did not have to wait at all. While eating I watched other locals smile and talk about their family life…..no one is rushing, no one looks nervous or unsatisfied. The sun hugged the people softly yet with warmth.
Life can be simple when you want to be….right?
For people who gets to travel to Fangyuan/芳苑鄉 one day, Here is the address. You can copy & paste it into GPS or map, but if you show it to the locals (and the police there), they all know this place, and most likely will guide you to here. Food cost about $1 to $5 USD/ $35-$150 TWD, depends on what and how much you order.
“Under the Tree” = 芳苑鄉大樹下蚵仔爹
Fried Oyster Pancake = 炸蚵仔爹 (Taiwanese Dialect)
Address: 528, Taiwan, 彰化縣芳苑鄉仁愛村芳新路芳苑段26號/ # 26 FangXin Road, Jen-Ai Village, Fangyuan Township, Zhanghua, Taiwan.
Looks great! I love these types of places, especially in Taiwan where they seem to often specialise in just one dish. Do they serve other things there?
I think they serve noodles, soup, and other stir fry veggies next door. You can order from next door and bring the dishes to eat here too (I think they are owned by the same family). =)
I am not always a fan of Oysters, but the Oyster Omlettes on the East coast of Taiwan were delicious
I don’t eat raw oysters, but since it is fried on the outside, I was more than happy to try XD. Its sad because I am seeing less stands on the west side offering Oyster Omelet…hopefully I get to visit the east side later in the year.
These kinds of places are awesome – we’ve found a number in Thailand! Usually we don’t know what the heck we’re ordering/eating, but the food is always delicious and fresh. 🙂
D: I want to eat in Thailand one day….we always eat Thai curry here, but I want to see their actual street food.
You are so right! This is why it is critical to ask the locals where THEY eat.
😀 yea, most of the locals are really nice too.
its a bit harder, but sometimes I try to find if the country I am traveling to has a similar website to “Yelp” so I can find what are the popular places there.
How cool – looks really yummy! The only bad thing about places with no name is they’re hard for visitors to find, haha
yea, even Taiwanese people from another city had a hard time at finding this place at first, because many people online don’t even know the actual address. But since this is a small town, just mentioning “Under the Tree Oyster Pancake” and locals know.
What a cool looking restaurant and your pics made me salivate! I wish I could get something like that here. That looks FABULOUS!!!!!!!!
=D I think each country have their own good eats and special fairs and places for food. Like I discovered food trucks fair in San Francisco, and that satisfied my craving for street food. Who knows, may be you guys have something or event similar =)
Great find! Over here in Malaysia, we have a lot of food stalls like this. Some are called ‘By The School’ or ‘After the overhead bridge’ lol. Anyway, Gong Xi Fa Cai to you over there!
Happy New Year to you!! x_x its time for me to clean my whole house preparing for New Years. Do people in Malaysia celebrate a different New Year than the western 1/1 calender New Year?
I think its cool that some food stalls don’t need a real name, and they are famous. Just shows news spreads far and wide when food is good.
This is my kind of a restaurant and that oyster omelet looks outstanding!
Thank you ! I hope one day you get a chance to travel to country sides of Taiwan and try the yummy food down there =D
It looks just perfect – what a hidden treasure!
I know right =) Thanks to my mom and local elementary school teachers there…they recommended the place.
now THAT’S what I’m talking about!! that’s the kind of place I’d love to go!!!
I love places like these too! Although sometimes I am scared because some alley way shops are really dark, and you would wonder if some gangster gonna jump out when you walk in X_X
What a wonderful post! The pictures made me feel I was right there. And the food looked AMAZING! And all those onions….mmmmm……
2 generations. Family restaurants are always the best, aren’t they?!
Family restaurants like this one can stay “alive” for so long because they have their own special recipe and tastes that you cannot get anywhere else ^^ I think having all the chain stores around us has limited our choices in life.
It is amazing how many hidden treasures Taiwan has. It is definitely a great place to visit.