I had heard about Dong Yi Pork Chop described by a friend as “old school Taiwanese classics”. It piqued my interest, and even on looking at the outside of the restaurant with that big chandelier and the red lanterns – I got the feeling it was going to be pretty weird and wonderful inside…
So, if you ignore the bin bags to the right side, and focus on the decorations you can see from the outside, you’re going to get sort of an idea of how it’s going to go down inside.
I’m going to walk you guys through this menu at Dong Yi Pork Chop from right to left, top to bottom:
Main meals (price updated):
排骨 飯。麵 $170
pái gǔ fàn/miàn
Pork chop with either rice, or noodles
雞腿 飯。麵 $170
Jī tuǐ fàn/miàn
Deep fried chicken leg with either rice, or noodles
魚排 飯。麵 $170
yú pái fàn. miàn
Deep fried fish with either rice, or noodles
排骨 雞腿 魚排 乾麵 $170
pái gǔ, jī tuǐ, yú pái。 gān miàn
pork chop, chicken leg or fried fish with noodles (dry)
牛腩燴飯 乾麵 $180
niú nǎn huì fàn gān miàn
Brisket beef with noodles (dry)
咖哩飯 $170
gā lí fàn
Curry with rice
Soup and snacks:
當日附湯 $20
dāng rì fù tāng
Soup of the day
魚丸湯 $50
yú wán tāng
Fish ball soup
貢丸湯 $50
Gòng wán tāng
Pork ball soup
泡菜 $40
pào cài
Kimchi
油豆腐 $50
yóu dòu fu
Stewed tofu
滷蛋 $15
lǔ dàn
Hard boiled egg
Extras:
麻油雞。飯。麵 $200
Má yóu jī. Fàn. Miàn
Sesame oil cooked chicken with either rice, or noodles
燙青菜 $50
tàng qīng cài
Cooked vegetables
蝦仁棬 $70
xiā rén juān
Deep fried shrimp rolls
I didn’t take many pictures inside Dong Yi Pork Chop, but safe to say I was grinning whilst eating. This place is just a blast from the past. I’m from England, so not even a blast from my past. But, what I imagine is a blast from the past for pretty much any Taiwanese aged 30 or above. It really is quite a special place.
This would definitely be the ‘must-have’ dish at Dong Yi Pork Chop. It’s called a pork shop restaurant, and this is the pork chop. Expect the pork to be battered and fried to perfection, fragrantly battered, juicy meat, and great accompaniments in the rice bowl with veggies and gravy. This also reminded me of my other favourite pork chop in Taipei. For this kind of deep-fried pork, I would strongly recommend you to eat in instead of taking out, so the pork would stay crispy and juicy.
So, whilst the pork chop is delicious, I do think the chicken leg is better at Dong Yi Pork Chop. It’s crunchy, it’s juicy, it’s meaty, it’s flavourful. It basically ticks everything off for what you’d want in a deep fried chicken leg.
In your accompanying rice dish, you’ll find a sizable portion of rice, plenty of stewed pork gravy ladled on top, and some veggies stuck on the side, too.
In addition, you gotta order the 蝦仁棬 deep fried shrimp rolls at Dong Yi Pork Chop. They’re damn good, and accompanied by some pickled cucumber which helps to cut through the grease somewhat. They’re good perfectly, and packed with flavour.
If you are a fan of this kind of traditional classic Taiwanese style food, click here to get inspired!