Taiwan is full of delicious things to eat.

And while you can choose from a variety of Taiwanese favorites like xiao long bao and stinky tofu, there’s one dish that might top the list of most beloved and most sought after Taiwanese foods:

Beef noodle soup.

When I was in Taipei, I went to  a restaurant called Lin Dong Fang (林東芳牛肉麵), one of the most well known and well respected names in Taiwanese beef noodles in Taipei.

Lin Dong Fang (林東芳牛肉麵) beef noodles
When you approach Lin Dong Fang (林東芳牛肉麵), you can smell that beef!

Lin Dong Fang (林東芳牛肉麵) – Taipei, Taiwan

Not too far away from Homeyhouse hotel where my wife and I stayed* during out visit to Taipei, one day for lunch it was finally time to walk over to Lin Dong Fang and devour our first bowl of Taiwanese beef noodle soup.

There are a lot of beef noodle restaurants in Taipei, some other famous spots include Yong Kang and Tao-Yuan-Street.

But after doing quite some research and reading up on Taiwanese beef noodles, I felt Lin Dong Fang would cater to my style of street food love, and it wasn’t too far from where we were staying.

I knew the restaurant was going to be packed out for lunch, and so we arrived quite early, right around 11 am so as to beat the lunch rush – which we luckily did.

Beef noodles in Taiwan
Only video can show how beautiful that bubble was…

Eternal boiling animal parts

Throughout my noodle eating career throughout Asia, I’ve come to the conclusion that often the scarier the boiling pot of animal parts at the front of the restaurant, the better tasting bowl of noodles.

Lin Dong Fang’s was pretty frightening.

Just look at at that.

A giant metal pan full of white chunks of fat and tendon, not only boiling in a dark colored broth, but it was boiling in a way that the chunks were actually jiggling.

It was scary and beautiful.

(To get the extent of the boiling, be sure to watch the video below)

Lin Dong Fang beef noodles in Taipei
The outside view of the restaurant

The restaurant

Lin Dong Fang was exactly the type of restaurant I love so much. It was kind of a permanent street food stall, housed in an old-school building and pretty makeshift.

The main kitchen, where the beef was brewing and the bowls of noodles were being assembled, was on the left hand side.

Then there was a small main eating room to the right, and there were another couple small eating rooms down the sidewalk that looked like they were right in a hole-in-the-wall.

We got a seat in one of the hole-in-the-wall spots, which included a little blue painted room with a bar eating counter surrounding the walls.

Perfect beef noodle slurping conditions.

menu at Lin Dong Fang
Menu posted on the wall

Lin Dong Fang menu

I didn’t notice an English menu at Lin Dong Fang, but there were a few boards up on the wall within the restaurant written in Chinese.

Basically the main decision you need to make is if you want the big or small size of beef noodles. I chose the big size, served in a metal bowl. But the small size was pretty big as well.

The next thing you need to decide is if you want both red meat and tendon, or one or the other. The typical thing to do is get half meat and half tendon.

Next, along with Taiwanese beef noodles, they also had some side salad types of dishes. The salads were stacked up on a table in the dining room next to the kitchen, and you could grab your own or ask for them.

To supplement my bowl of beef noodles I had a bowl of green vegetables and a bowl of wheat gluten, one of their specialities.

best restaurants in Taipei
I think mustard greens?

Vegetables

The vegetables, which I think were mustard greens, were either boiled or stir fried with a hint of sesame oil.

They were good, nothing special, but good to have some vegetables to change up the starchy noodles and beef.

Price – 30 TWD ($0.91)

Taiwanese wheat gluten
Wheat gluten side dish

Wheat gluten

The entire time I was eating this, I thought it was tofu. But after reading this other excellent blog post about this restaurant, I learned it was wheat gluten.

It tasted, both in texture and flavor, almost identical to tofu.

I honestly wasn’t expecting the wheat gluten to be so flavorful (it looks pretty standard and plain), but I was surprised how good it was. It was really juicy, like a sponge that had soaked up a bunch of salty flavored broth.

The wheat gluten made a good and refreshing accompaniment to the beef noodles.

Price – 30 TWD ($0.91)

Taiwanese beef noodles
Taiwanese beef noodles – large size

Beef noodles

Enough of the side dishes, the real reason to come to Lin Dong Fang is for their beef noodles, and like I mentioned above, I went for the large sized bowl.

I also ordered my noodles with half meat and half tendon.

The noodles were flash blanched, then added to the bottom of the bowl, followed by the chunks of tender tendon and the slices of beef, plus a handful of green onions, and finally a dousing of the eternal brewing beef broth.

Before adding any condiments to my soup, I tried the meat and broth plain.

The soup broth had an incredibly smooth flavor, not too beefy and not too gamey tasting, but just a really clean meat flavor, and a slight aroma of Chinese herbs.

I’m not sure of which Chinese herbs were added to the soup, but they claim it’s one of their secret ingredients.

The soup broth was honestly good enough to be eaten with no additions or any extra condiments at all.

But I’m a little crazy when it comes to condiments; If there are condiments on the table I will use them. And I can never hold back from chili.

Price – 240 TWD ($7.30) for the large bowl

chili paste
Chili paste condiment

Chili paste condiment

Noticeably sitting on every table was a chili paste condiment filled into a plastic cup. I thought it looked a bit like peanut butter.

There was also a container of red chili sauce as well.

Adding a couple scoops of the chili paste to the broth of my beef noodles enhanced it even more. It gave it just a bit of heat, and a smokey dry chili kind of flavor, which was fantastic.

The red chili sauce was a little on the salty side, so I did use it to dip pieces of tendon into, but it was a little salty to eat too much of.

beef noodles in Taipei
I’m still dreaming of that beef!

Let’s talk about the beef

Just looking at the slices of beef, it doesn’t really look all that tender, right?

I wasn’t really expecting the beef to be extremely tender. I was wrong.

Taiwanese beef noodles
Flaky and tender beef

For my first bite of beef I decided to one-bite an entire piece, which was actually cut quite thick and was a pretty significant bite.

I could hardly believe how tender it was. Literally fall-apart tender, and bursting with flavor. It wasn’t mushy at all, but almost flaky like firm fish.

eating tendon
Tendon in the beef noodles

The tendon, which is not typically my favorite cut of meat, was still good, though I preferred the meat.

The tendon could have been boiling and brewing for days, as it was incredibly soft and tender as well. The texture was of course a bit on the wiggly side as tendon is. But along with being wiggly, it was almost creamy.

Taipei street food
The noodles

The noodles

We’ve covered the broth and the beef, and the final component of any bowl of Taiwanese beef noodles is of course the noodles.

These were not just your typical noodles, both because of their freshness and because of their perfectly cooked texture.

First of all, they weren’t too starchy, but quite smooth and hearty. But the real bonus about the noodles at Lin Dong Fang was that they weren’t overcooked but instead were nice and chewy.

Since I take a lot of food photos everywhere I eat, I’m quite used to eating soggy, soup saturated noodles.

But after taking probably at least 5 – 10 minutes worth of photos, the noodles sitting in the broth still remained chewy and not stuck together.

I don’t know what they do to their noodles, but they are somehow unexplainably good.

best Taiwanese beef noodles in Taipei
Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodles (林東芳牛肉麵), Taipei, Taiwan

Watch the full video of this meal here:

(If you can’t see the video, watch it on YouTube here)

Conclusion

One of the must-eat dishes in Taiwan is Taiwanese beef noodle soup.

To get a taste of this iconic Taiwanese favorite, I went to Lin Dong Fang, a long-time hero in the Taipei beef noodle serving industry.

With its medicinal aromatic broth, tender chunks of both beef meat and tendon, and slightly chewy not overcooked noodles, Lin Dong Fang truly excels in serving awesome beef noodles. The atmosphere of the restaurant is fantastic as well.

Since I was trying to eat as much of a variety of Taiwanese food as I could during my visit to Taipei, I didn’t get to eat too many different bowls of beef noodles, but I can say this is so far the best bowl of beef noodles in Taiwan that I’ve had.

If you love beef noodles, you’ll love this place!

Also, be sure to check out my Taipei Travel Guide for Food Lovers!

Lin Dong Fang (林東芳牛肉麵), Taipei

Address: No. 274 Bade Road, Section 2, Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan
Open hours: Monday – Saturday from 11:00am – 6:00 am
Prices: The big sized bowl of beef noodles is 240 TWD ($7.30) – not a bad price for everything included in the bowl, the normal bowl I believe is 170 TWD ($5.17)
How to get there: The restaurant is located on Bade road, about halfway in-between Nanjing Fuxing and Zhongxiao Fuxing Station. I think it would be about a 5 – 10 minute walk from either of these stations.

Are you ready for some beef noodles!?

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

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  • vishal kaushik

    3 years ago

    Thanks for share Mark!!

  • Fran

    6 years ago

    Hi Mark. Such a great review on the beef noodle. I’m thinking of taking my chance on trying this place but I’m just worried since I’m not a fan of cinnamon, is the taste overpowering or leaves an after cinnamony taste ? Either way, I’d still love to try it and just hope my tastebud doesn’t reject this beautiful dish. ????????

  • Justin

    8 years ago

    Mark,
    I just discovered your website recently when looking for Thai recipes. Though I loved Thailand when I visiting last summer, my heart belongs to Taiwan. Just seeing that bowl of beef noodle soup makes me crave it even more! I haven’t been to Taipei, but I spend about 2 months in Kaohsiung and Southern Taiwan.

    Thanks for sharing your adventures. I love to cook and believe eating your way around the world is best way to connect with the people.

  • Michelle

    8 years ago

    Hi Mark! I found your blog today and I loved it. I lived in Taiwan for 3 years and the food is amazing… just watching at your videos make me wanna go back there again 🙂 I like the way you describe food and places…keep posting videos for all the food lovers. Hugs.

  • NJ

    8 years ago

    Mark – HUGE thanks for the find and recommendation. My wife and I looked for this place while we were in TPE last week and it was well worth the wait (about 25 minutes in line!). This is easily one the best beef noodles we’ve had (only second to a hole-in-the-wall we found in Beijing, I’ll dig that out if you’re interested). Thank you, and keep exploring!

    • Mark Wiens

      8 years ago

      Hey NJ, so glad to hear you enjoyed it so much. Yah, if I visit Beijing I’ll let you know, thanks!

  • Jing Wen

    8 years ago

    Hi,

    I believe the dish that you are calling “wheat gluten” is actually a form of tofu made from soy beans.

    JW

  • WeiWei

    8 years ago

    Looks so Ono (good)! Making me miss my hometown. Hope you enjoyed your time there.

  • momogrosir

    8 years ago

    oh my god. i really want to try this noodle beef. i see you eat and it make me hungry. mark, please spare your time to visit indonesia too.

    • Mark Wiens

      8 years ago

      Thank you for reading. Yes, we will try to visit Indonesia soon!

  • Charlie

    9 years ago

    Hi Mark Wiens
    It seems delicious beef noodle in Taipei,Hope you will visit China mainland in the future as well if possible,here we have a great many wonderful food.
    In additional,tks for your hard working and great job,hope will have chance to see u in future
    Thumb’s up

    Charlie

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hey Charlie, thank you very. I’d love to visit mainland China in the future.

  • Dell Everson

    9 years ago

    I have loved all your vids I have watched
    Wish I could do wut you do it’s a fantastic way to live and all the food
    Looks T-Riff ! ! ! ????????????????????????

  • Celia

    9 years ago

    Hi Mark,

    I am from Taipei and I will be following your travel guide when I visit Taiwan next week (moved to Australia 11 years ago). Great work!

  • Chandan

    9 years ago

    Mark new design looking stunning as I see its custom design have you still you using genesis framework?

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hey Chandan, thank you very much. Still putting some touches on it, most of the framework is in place. This is no longer Genesis, but a full custom design from a developer. When I finish everything, I will write a full post about the new site. Thanks!

  • Jay Dee

    9 years ago

    Wow, you made it to Taipei, cool! My home base 🙂 Place sounds good, looking forward to reading the others.

  • Victoria Roth

    9 years ago

    I got this Taiwanese recipes noodle soup on YouTube and tried it, it turned out pretty good. It went well with Friends and a game of Mahjong ( it’s a tiles game that most Taiwanese people play ). My soup could never be compare to the beef noodle soup at Lin Dong Fang but it had to be for now until I make it over there. Thank you for your suggestion.

    Victoria.

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hey Victoria, ah cool, so glad you made it and it turned out well, thanks for sharing!

  • Matthy

    9 years ago

    Hi Mark,
    I am following your Vlogs for some time now, and i am wondering, when your camera is being fixed to get more actual Vlogs.
    I would love to see more frequent episodes.
    Thanks for your great job
    Greetings from Germany
    Matthy

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hi Matthy, good to hear from you, thank you for following and watching, really appreciate it. My camera is still being fixed, they said 1 more week. But hopefully will be getting a new camera too. I will do my best to keep making more vlogs. Thank you for your support!

  • Britt

    9 years ago

    That noodle soup looks to die for! Yummy!

  • Izy Berry

    9 years ago

    Great post!! The food is very importan when you travel !! thanks for all the infor that you give us

  • Top Secret

    9 years ago

    Two things I observed from this beef noodle soup video. First off, the use of metal bowls and chopsticks just don’t work for me, personally. I’m sure it’s good for the business, as they tend never to break, so they can take the wear and tear from daily usage. But I won’t want to eat from metal utensils. Second, the condiments. Just being out in the open, they easily catch bacteria, germs, and what not from all people using them…….so that’s a no-no. Wonder why can’t they use something that has a closed lid instead? Other than that, those beef noodles looked as they said, good and delicious. Keep the videos coming…….

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Thank you for the observations. Yah, definitely the condiment could have been in a lid-tight container, especially since it’s a busy, constantly full restaurant with lots and customers. I think the metal bowls might be a new thing, because I was looking at some old pictures and they had ceramic bowls – also maybe the smaller size was served in a ceramic bowl as well.

  • Bruno Gambini

    9 years ago

    These beef noodles seem delicious! And just like you saída on the vídeo, to me, looking at the first time, that chilli paste condiments looked exactly like peanut butter. And to me, it was good there were no animals parts in the broth, except the beef itself and tendons. I known these parts add flavor to the recipe, but I am not so used to eat them.

    A question: have you ever gotten sick because of something you ate? You try many diferentes kinds of food! That’s amazing!

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hi Bruno, thank you very much, glad you like the look of this dish as well. Luckily I’ve been very fortunate to not really get sick from eating the different foods I try!

  • yuna4real

    9 years ago

    So glad that you are visiting Taiwan~we all welcome you~!!
    hoping you can enjoy everything in Taiwan !!
    and thank you for the sharing !!
    Bon voyage !!

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Thank you very much Yuna. We have already left Taiwan, but spent almost 2 weeks there, and really enjoyed it!

    • yuna4real

      9 years ago

      ^_______^ !!

  • Wayne Liew

    9 years ago

    “A giant metal pan full of white chunks of fat and tendon, not only boiling in a dark colored broth, but it was boiling in a way that the chunks were actually jiggling.”

    I agree these are signs of good food. Gosh, I can almost use the same sentence to describe a bowl of good good bak kut teh (a soup made of pork meat and bones, usually eaten with rice), a Chinese cuisine that is famous in Klang, Malaysia.

    I’ll give this noodles shop a try when I visit Taipei next year. The noodles are often forgotten when someone comments on a bowl of beef noodles, and I’m reading a compliment here. Hahaha… I’m seeing the option of ordering a bowl of beef soup without noodles on the menu. Do you think the soup will be too salty if it is served without the noodles?

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hey Wayne, good to hear from you, thanks! And cool you’ll be traveling to Taipei next year as well. The soup broth wasn’t too salty, so I think it would have been good as a soup with just the meat in it as well – would have tasted great with some rice!