Tiger Noodles is a firm favourite of a lot of Taiwanese not only just in winter time, but with the popularity of this Taipei restaurant continuing to boom year after year, you”ll be genuinely glad to eat these spicy noodles just north of Dongmen station off Yongkang Street at any time of year. Having gone through a renovation a couple of years ago, it’s looking clean and tidy from the outside to the inside.
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The menu at Tiger Noodles
The menu at Tiger Noodles is extremely easy, because all of the main dishes are $230. You get your choice of beef 牛 (niú), lamb 羊 (yáng) or pork 豬 (zhū).
Within the choices of meat, you get to choose whether or not to add garlic sprouts : add = 加蒜苗 jiā suàn miáo or not 不加蒜苗 bù jiā suàn miáo.
In addition, you can choose the strength of the chili starting with 微辣，小辣，中辣，大辣 in order of strength – lowest to greatest.
If you’re ever struggling to read a menu or wondering how to order, then check out my other post about how to read a menu like a boss in Taipei:
Below are some of the spices you’ll find near the small plates as you walk in to the restaurant itself.
Be warned that those red/brown colored ones are invariably (and these ones were) really spicy. Go for it if spice is your thing. Hopefully spice is your thing, otherwise maybe Tiger Noodles is not quite the place to be, as most if not all things here on the menu have some level of spice.
Next to the sauce are all of the delicious small plates. You’re not going to go far wrong with any of them, but my personal recommendations would be the aubergine/eggplant, tofu skin, and the seaweed below. The aubergine/eggplant has that silky smooth texture with a slightly resistant skin on it, soaked in a salty sauce. The tofu skin is chewy yet firm, with a nicely strong tofu flavour coming through.
This seaweed is fresh, dressed with sesame oil, and helps to cut through some of the spice of the soups that will follow. This is probably a good choice, as you’re not really getting any vegetables with that bowl of spicy broth that is about to get put down in front of you. Go for this seaweed to balance it out, or maybe even the Taiwanese pickled veg (Taiwanese kimchi).
Beef Ramen Noodles (low spice)
牛加蒜苗 (微辣) niú jiā suàn miáo (wéi là)
We ordered the beef soup with 拉麵 lā miàn which are hand-made noodles, usually of medium thickness. This is the low spice version – 微辣. The soup itself was slightly salty, mildly spiced and hugely flavorsome. The noodles were cooked leaving a very nice bite and the beef was ample and sliced really thin. It seems that the beef was added at the last minute, as it was very lightly cooked and almost pink around the edges. There’s a great handful of green onions scattered generously on top of the beef, which manage to impart flavour throughout the dish.
In terms of spice, expect a tiny amount on the tip of your tongue, but nothing much more. This is the equivalent of showing the chilli to the soup, swishing it around a few times, then taking it out. It’s fine if that’s what you want, but don’t expect a face full of spice from the 微辣 offering.
However, do expect depth upon depth of flavour from the broth. And also expect some hidden gems underneath all of those noodles (see the pics below for more details).
Lamb Ramen noodles (spicy)
羊加蒜苗 (小辣) yáng jiā suàn miáo (xiǎo là)
You should know by now that lamb is my thing. The thinly sliced lamb meat is brilliant and has a great taste of lamb that you may have been wanting for a while. Let’s face it: beef, chicken and (especially) pork are huge players in the Taiwanese meat market. Whereas, lamb isn’t. (Consequently, if you love lamb as much as me, then this hotpot place near Minquan W Road station is an absolute must!).
There are a good amount of bean sprouts adding more depth to the dish, and the slightly higher spice level in the dish is great. One thing I would say about the spicing is: I have a good spice tolerance and I love spicy food. Yet, the 小辣 was even pretty spicy. It was delightful, but I cannot imagine the 大辣 dà là (big spice) option! The fact that it is spicier does not detract from the flavours at all. But just be prepared to have a mild sweat on.
Having made reference to it above, these are the hidden treasures that you are likely to find inside the noodles and soup. Duck blood, with tofu skin. They both sound horrible, but you’d be remiss to not give them a go. The duck blood is jellied and has that mild taste of blood mixed in with some fragrant spices from the broth. It’s rich, and it’s good.
The tofu skin is chewy and has a good, strong tofu flavour. It has that chewy, yet soft texture to it, and is a welcomed addition to the dish.
Overall, the main dishes were really very good at Tiger Noodles: the broth is well-balanced on all fronts, the meat is cut nicely thin but retains a bite, the noodles are also cooked very nicely, the scallions keep it fresh and clean and the rice cakes are tasty and add great texture. The small plates are also quite good and taste nicely fresh.
The bottom line
Is it worth it? Yes. I like Tiger Noodles a lot.
How often do you go? I would like to go once a month, but I probably go once every 2 months. Maybe more in the colder days of winter, but it’s definitely a great place all year round.
Is there anything else good on the menu? The 葱油餅 spring onion pancake is my secret item that I ALWAYS go for when eating here. Why? It’s so damned good when you dunk it into that broth. Yes, you will be very, very full by the time you walk out, but it’s all worth it.
Taipei Restaurant – Lao Deng 1949 老鄧擔擔麵, 70 years of delicious traditional cooking history!
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