Hei Bai Mao Food Diner: A Fine Seafood Hole-in-the-Wall Eatery
On the exterior, Hei Bai Mao Food Diner exhibits its hole in the wall status as it proudly resembles a shoddy warehouse. Who would have thought that behind this questionable exterior, a big restaurant serving up the freshest selection of seafood would surface?
Our tour guide/driver Xiao Huang and my dad took charge of the food selection, while the rest of my family and I prepped our hungry stomachs for the feast ahead.
SASHIMI
We started off with an impossibly fresh platter of sashimi. I was a bit hesitant to bite into something raw, given that the place wasn’t the cleanest; but seeing the vibrant colors of the sashimi was enough to convince me to take that first bite. Definitely, worth the risk!
FRESH SEAWEED
I’m accustomed to eating bright green seaweed, which made me question the greying pile in front of me. Expecting a pickled flavor, I was surprised that the seaweed displayed a subdued savory taste. Slices of baby squid and crumbled egg whites helped elevate this appetizer dish to a tasty viand. The restaurant also has a mean Spinach with Mushroom dish that’s worth trying. Using three kinds of fresh mushroom, you’re sure this isn’t your boring old sautéed spinach dish.
CHICKEN WITH SCALLIONS
My ultimate pick me up food from Lugang Café would be their Chicken Topped with Scallion and Ginger Oil. I loved how it doubles as a cold appetizer, as well as a tasty pairing to a cup of rice due to its salty scallion garnish. Thus, I was ecstatic to see this dish served by this hole in the wall seafood restaurant. It doesn’t look as appetizing as the one from Lugang’s as the chicken slices were sloppily piled on top each other. The scallion garnish looked sparse as well. However, it surprisingly trumps over Lugang when you talk about flavor. The chicken slices exhibited the subtle fragrance of sesame oil, while the scallions took care of the savory flavor.
BABY SQUID
We ordered different types of squid dishes for our meal. The first would be a plate of tender baby squid cooked in olive oil and garlic. The squid pieces were perfectly cooked and boasted of lovely tones of smoky garlic flavor. The other squid dish featured boiled slices of squid which were simply topped with a tangy barbecue sauce. The nice thing about the latter dish was that it allows you to appreciate the freshness of the squid as the sauce was served on the side. The sweetness of the squid meat was balanced by the sharp flavors of the sauce.
SWEET AND SOUR EEL
The Sweet and Sour Eel was a revelation for me. Having been exposed to only unagi, my tastebuds were definitely intrigued by this different take on serving eel. Similar to the typical Sweet and Sour Fish dishes, the eel slices were initially deep fried before tossed in the sweet and sour sauce. The glaze they used was darker, stickier, and more savory. However, eating through the dish posed a challenge as the eel pieces were not thoroughly deboned. This issue became more evident in the White Miso Soup with Eel dish we ordered as we also had to watch out for stray bones that got tangled in the vegetables served in the soup. Nonetheless, it was a refreshing take on the classic miso soup. I loved that the soup didn’t have any fishy taste to it.
CUTTLEFISH BALL
To provide balance to the meal, we ordered two fried dishes. The first fried dish was a Shrimp Roll dish that looked and oddly tasted like kikiam. Wrapped in thin vermicelli rolls, the shrimp rolls had a nice crunch to them. The second one was more memorable. What looked like normal squid balls, turned out to be cuttlefish balls made from actual squid pieces bunched up together. Thus, the balls possessed a meatier bite as the squid pieces come in actual chunks. I was so addicted to it that I think I ate almost half of this plate!
Dish You Can Opt To Skip: Satay Noodles
Price Tag for the Entire Meal: An astoundingly affordable price of TWD 2500
Hei Bai Mao Food Diner
No. 51, Renhe Rd., Gongliao Dist, Xinbei, Taiwan
Date of Visit: January 1, 2017 with Wilson Chua, Lily Chua, Jared Chua, Jem Chua, and Xiao Huang
