There are about a dozen or so moments of my time in Taiwan that often pop up in my mind. One such moment involved the picture above. It is a "beef bake" from Costco. If you don't know what it is, it's most like a steak and cheese. To be honest it's not very good, but as you will read, it can be like heaven.
In Taiwan there really are not many food choices. Now there are tons of restaurants, but not many choices. Meaning there are maybe six or so types of restaurants; lunch box, buffet, hong kong, and varying types of noodle places, dumplings, hot pot. so while there may be 40 restaurants in one neighborhood, there are really only six different types of food choices. That and there still not being much difference between those six choices, means you are practically eating the same thing every day.
Needless to say this can be maddening. In my own neighborhood there are six places that I usually eat at, and five of them sell essentially the same thing. Ugh.
Now that it's set up, enter the beef bake. Many years ago, I was at work one day and a coworker brought in some beef bakes for us. I had it and it tasted amazing. At the time I was dying for a decent sandwich, and something to save me from the same things I eat day in and day out. This was also when I was first in Taiwan so there weren't as many foreign food places to choose from either.
I can still remember the taste, how it was like an angel saving me from the daily hell that was my food torment. I was so excited, especially when he said it was from a place nearby. I was a bit saddened when I later learned that it was from Costco. This was bad news because at that time it was pretty impossible to get to Costco without a car.
It's funny how my life has changed. That beef bake at that time might have been one of the top things I ever ate. At that moment it was the perfect thing. Now I live ten minutes from a Costco, and I hardly ever get this as it's not so good, and the sodium content is through the roof. Granted every time I'm at Costco and I don't get one, it reminds me that at least Costco tells you how much poison is in their food, and how we have no idea how unhealthy the food at Taiwanese restaurants is.
