Taiwan travellogue, Day 2 Part 3 (Raohe Street night market)

After returning from our visit to Shifen and Jiufen, we decided to head to the Raohe Street night market (饒河夜市) via the MRT. As we exited the Songshan station, we were greeted by a daunting flight of stairs leading up from the underground station to street level. Groaning at the thought of climbing more steps, especially after our Jiufen adventure, we set out in search of an elevator. It didn't matter that the ascending elevator was facing the opposite direction from our intended destination; we were more than willing to ride it just to escape the confines of the underground station! And pretty soon, we reached the eastern entrance to the Raohe Street night market. As to be expected, even on a weekday, the place was packed with people. 

We walked the whole length of the night market which, stretching from east to west, is about 500 or 600 metres. First going down the right lane of the night market and coming back by the left lane, thereby, theoretically, covering all the food stalls along the route. I was told that there were also more food stalls along the side lanes but by and large, most were located along this main stretch. Our food adventure began with some hot Fuzhou black pepper buns (福州世祖胡椒餅). These buns are stuffed with pork, green onions and black pepper, which are then cooked on the inner walls of a charcoal-fired clay and brick oven, much like an Indian tandoori oven from back home.

We ordered a bento of grilled beef fired with a blow torch, but what impressed us most was this stall that served beef tendons that had been stewed to perfection. So succulently soft and without any beefy taste. We wandered into a shop and ordered a bowl of oyster rice noodles and a small bowl of glutinous rice. It surprised me how delicious a simple bowl of rice, well seasoned and cooked, can be. And finally, what we ordered was some oyster takoyaki coated with bonito flakes.

There were lots more food stalls that looked interesting but did not exactly appeal to us, including one that sold something that looked like Penang's roast pork, but it could have been prepared by some other method. We did not try it. Ultimately, we decided that there were too many stalls selling similar foodstuff.