In Taiwan I usually get the same questions over and over again..."Where are you from?", "Why choose Taiwan?", "You are so great, and have so many amazing qualities, what do you think is the best thing about you?", etc.
In response to the last question, I usually say, "Well beautiful, rich lady, with a heart of gold, I think my best quality is that for any dish you can think of, I know the best place in the city to get it." And yes I mean dish, not food. I don't believe there is a best overall place for Mexican, or Japanese, or what have you, but there are places that have the best burrito, or japanese pork, or ice cream, and whatnot.
This database of mine is the result of almost nine years in the city, and actively researching online, as well as hitting the streets and just walking down small alleys to see what's there. I also think foreigners have an advantage as it's easier for us to get tired of Chinese/Taiwanese food everyday and thus want to search out more "exotic" meals.
However I'm kind of annoyed at both Taiwan and myself that I still don't have an answer to the question "What is the best burger in the city?" If you will recall, I used to have one, but that one changed their meat and started adding a lot of pepper to it, ruining the taste. Then I found another "best burger place" but that place closed down when the owner had to go back to Canada.
That was over two years ago, and still no new best burger place. New ones have opened up, but they haven't been anything special. And with the more popular places opening up more and more locations, their quality has started to go down. If anything I think the state of the burger in Taipei is worse now than it's ever been.
One bright spot is that a very tiny burger joint opened up near my house. it's not spectacular, but it's ok, and it being near my house and relatively cheap for a dedicated burger spot, means it can pacify my craving for when i need a "real" burger. But still there is no place that I can stamp my seal of being the best. Step up to the challenge Taipei!
Pictured above is a burger place that a friend took me to awhile back. It wasn't bad, but the reason I took the picture is that it's actually in an area that I used to go to a lot for a project I was involved in. It's not an area that has a lot of places to eat, so it was kind of sad if i had to eat around there. Years later would I find out that this burger place was there all along. If only I had walked just a bit further down one street, I would have found it. So the picture is a good reminder that if you just keep walking a bit more, you never know what you will find.
