One of the best signs of good food when you travel is a big crowd.

And preferably a big crowd that’s standing around on the street or sidewalk, some waiting in line and others already happily eating scattered around.

Located in the busy shopping district of Ximending, Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodles stall is even busier than its surroundings, and for any food lover, it’s a snack opportunity that you wouldn’t want to walk past without checking it out.

You’re about to have some goopy goodness.

Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodles
This is the spot you’re looking for

Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodles

If you take a walk down Emei Street in the heart of Ximending in Taipei, there’s no way you’re going to walk past Ay-Chung Rice Flour Noodles without stopping in your path and wondering what’s going on.

The restaurant, which is kind of like a street food stall within a permanent building, is busy from the moment they open until the moment they close (when I ate here and took the photo above, it was about as empty as it gets since it was just as they opened).

There are no tables or seating space at Ay-Chung Rice Flour Noodles, you simply place your order, get your bowl of noodles, serve your own condiments, and then you can proceed to either take your noodles anywhere you want, or more commonly, stand right there on the street and start slurping.

Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodles
You can either order large or small

The menu

The menu is about as easy as they come – you can either choose large or small.

I got a large.

After paying my 65 TWD at the cash register, I then took a couple steps to the left where the big pan of sticky rice noodles all mixed up was being dished out, and they handed me my large bowl of Taiwanese flour rice noodles (yes, flour rice, not rice flour).

There was a self service toppings station, including vinegar, pureed garlic, and chili sauce, all of which I generously applied to the top of my bowl of noodles, and then happily joined the others in standing around the side of street while eating.

Taiwanese street food
What are flour rice noodles?

Rice flour noodles

Honestly speaking, before you taste your bowl of Taiwanese flour rice noodles, you’ll really wonder why so many people are there eating.

To me, it really didn’t look all that good.

I could understand a line for beef noodles… but for a bowl of brown looking sticky goopy noodles?

What could be the attraction?

Taiwanese street food
Noodles, gravy, and pig intestines

Before trying the rice noodles with all the toppings I added, I had a bite of the pure noodles and gravy.

With just my first bite, I immediately knew what all the commotion was about, and why there were so many people gathered around at all times to eat rice flour noodles.

The noodles were extremely soft and silky, without any sort of graininess whatsoever.

The gravy was thick and salty, with a strong flavor to me that tasted like a combination of smoked fish and beef jerky.

After doing a bit more research, I found out that the soup base is made primarily with bonito flakes, which are Japanese smoked skipjack tuna flakes – hence the reason the bowl of noodles had such a delicious smoked fish flavor.

Taiwan food blog
I added some chili sauce, pureed garlic, and vinegar

Within the mix there were bits of salty cured pig intestines, little fatty bites that just sort of switched up the soft rice noodles into chewy intestines, and they were perfectly chewy.

The texture of the soft strands of rice flour noodles blended in with the gravy so well, that it was almost hard to distinguish the noodles from the gravy – it all just slid in my mouth – I think a baby could have eaten it.

Additionally, I added all that pureed garlic, chili sauce, and vinegar to my noodles, which added a nice sour component, as well as a boost of chilis and fresh raw garlic which enhanced everything.

There was also a small handful of sliced cilantro added to each bowl of rice flour noodles which provided an extra touch of fresh crispness.

Standing on the side of the shopping street in Ximending, slurping down my bowl of rice flour noodles, I couldn’t have been happier.

Taiwanese rice flour noodles
This is the crowd just as they opened on a weekday… imagine at a peak time on a weekend.

If you have a few minutes, watch the full video of this Taiwanese snack:

(Or watch it on YouTube)

Conclusion

Ximending is the busiest shopping and hang-out area of Taipei, and while there are plenty of things to do, having a bowl of Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodles should be at the top of your list (that is, if you love food).

Also, check out my Taipei travel guide for food lovers here!

After ordering and paying, you can then take your bowl of flour rice noodles, garnish them with vinegar, chili sauce, and pureed garlic, and stand around with all the other people and slurp down your bowl of goopy noodles.

It’s such a simple bowl of noodles, just a bunch of thick gravy, thin strands of noodles, and bits of pig intestines. But somehow, the smoked tuna flavor of the gravy, and the smooth textures and lightness of the noodles, along with the extra chili and garlic condiments, made it such a delicious snack.

As popular as it is, it remains a gem in Ximending.

Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodles

Address: No. 8-1, Emei St., Wanhua District, Taipei 108
Open hours: Monday – Thursday from 10 am – 10:30 pm and Friday – Sunday from 10 am – 11 pm
Prices: Large is 65 TWD and small is 30 TWD (I would recommend the large… because it looked like the small bowl was just a few bites – and you’re going to want the big bowl as soon as you taste it).
How to get there: Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodles is located in Ximending on Emei St. Take the MRT to Ximen station, get out on Exit 6, and the restaurant is just a 1 minute walk from there.

14 comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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  • basket random

    1 year ago

    Great, so delicious!

  • vishal kaushik

    3 years ago

    Great writing. Keep it up!

  • Lucy

    7 years ago

    Hi Mark,
    I was just wondering, what is the difference between rice flour noodles and flour rice noodles?

  • Paket Umroh

    7 years ago

    The food looks tasty and delicious. Moreover, added the sauce as in the picture

  • Jared Moore

    7 years ago

    Hey there! I had a trip planned for Taiwan and found out about this place through you. It was delicious! Thanks for the good recommendation! I’m going to link to you through my blog post about it; your food recommendations are just spot on.

  • Annie

    8 years ago

    Glad you got to try Ay-Chung’s noodles on your second time in Taipei! This is a must have every time I go back to TPE! There are other shops which locals think are better. Didn’t try the other shops, but I will when I’m back in a couple of months! There’s a also a fried chicken (SANDAIME TORIYOSHI) place a few shops from Ay-Chung (corner of that complex). Best fried chicken I ever had! It goes well with the noodles for a meal.

    • Mark Wiens

      8 years ago

      Hey Annie, thank you very much for sharing. Fried chicken to go with it sounds delicious!

  • Izy Berry

    8 years ago

    Amazing and you are right everywhere when you see a big crowd is because something good is happening

  • Bryan H

    8 years ago

    Hola Mark

    Dam that soup looks marvelous lol
    I am very curious to see maybe one day if you can do a vidéo showing
    the recipe of that soup buddy.

    • Mark Wiens

      8 years ago

      Hey Bryan, thank you, glad it looks delicious. I’m not sure if I have any recipes, but I can try to look one up, and if I try cooking it, I’ll let you know.

  • Jim Joseph

    9 years ago

    They kinda look like long grain rice a roni, lol anyway i have enjoyed reading all your blogs and really enjoy your video’s, I had found you on you-tube by accident and glad I have I can’t get enough of your video’s and you leave me drooling from one episode to the next. my question is this, have you given it any thought to try, South America, Africa, Europe or the Middle East? , safe travels always. your friend Jim

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hi Jim, great to hear from you, yah that’s a good comparison. Thank you for watching our videos. Up until now, we’ve mainly remained in SE Asia and branching into greater Asia due to budget, but things are going well at the moment and I’m hoping we can do some more traveling to other continents. We do have some videos from Africa, but none yet from Europe,Middle East, or South America, but would love to visit. Thank you Jim!