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Published: August 7th 2007
I've decided to write an entry on my observations of Taiwanese eating habits as of thus far. First and foremost-no one cooks their own food. Lots and lots of families seem to have their own little food shop/stand, yet everyone eats out for almost every meal. It's kind of annoying having to eat out for every meal or eat somewhat gross cafeteria food. Before coming to Taiwan, my mother read somewhere an observation someone made-It may look gross, but it will most certainly taste good. For the most part this seems to be true. I've tried to stick somewhat to foods I am familiar with, but if I have no Chinese speaking guide with me this is not usually possible. If a shopkeeper sees you (a foreigner) come into their shop by yourself, they often come over to talk to you. They will say a lot of very hurried things in Chinese-probably non of which you will understand-and you just smile and nod. When they pause for a breath, you ask them what is good to eat. Last time I did this, the shopkeeper picked something out for my friend and I and even showed it to us. There was nothing in it I was familiar with except for a bit of blood sausage. It was somekind of hotpot (literally a pot of food over a small fire that sits on the table with you) that wasn't too bad except for the stinky tofu at the bottom of it. Stinky tofu tastes bad and smells even worse. I find the smell nausiating, like many foreigners-yet many people here like it. Defiantly an acquired taste.
The next biggest difference in Taiwanese dining is that waiters do not have the same job as their American counterparts. They hand you a menu and you mark off what you want to eat and then hand it back to them. Before they do anything with the order though, you have to pay them. Not a bad idea, making customers pay first. Then you wait until your food is ready and it is served to you. Another thing is that you cannot simply drink water at any food establishment. They usually have a giant jug of tea (cold tea) for you or you can order other tea or fruit drinks. No water.
Cold tea is very popular here, as it is so hot. There are countless fruit/cold tea stands. I usually order something that has characters I recognize even though I have no idea what it is and I have yet to get a bad cup of tea. The other thing is that cold tea you order always comes in a paper cup and they seal plastic over the top. Then you take a pointy straw and poke it through the plastic. It's acutally pretty handy so you don't spill. I wish the US did stuff like that.
On a random note-you always have to have sanitizer and a small pack of "tissues" with you. These packs of tissues, which you can get cheap anywhere, are multipurpose. It's your supply of napkins, papertowels, and most importantly-toilet paper. Very few places supply toilet paper and soap. You also don't throw TP in the toilet-you throw it away in a trash barrel (yuck). The theory being that the pipes are old everywhere and can't handle it. It makes no sense, but I won't argue.
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Dad
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Hi Meg,I take it that Tofu will not be a request you make of us when shopping.How tall are these malls?Anything I would be interested in?