Taipei, Taiwan - 688 Beef Bowl - 2005 (MOVED)

RATING (* for Poor to ***** for Excellent)

Food: ****
Service:***
Ambience: **
Value: *

OVERALL: ***

688 Beef Bowl Website

GENERAL: Come here for the most expensive bowl of noodles you can find on planet earth. That's right, it's not in Tokyo, but in Taipei, Taiwan. If you don't feel like spending $90 on a bowl of beef noodles that can be finished in 20 minutes, something less expensive but will satisfy your taste bud.

FOOD: Outstanding, out-of-this-world beef noodles IF you know how to appreciate it. There are probably fewer than ten beef noodle places in the world that are as good. Granted that it's not quite a worldwide phenomenon like Ramen, beef noodle can now be found anywhere you can find Chinese people. This place is definitely a cut above 99% of them.

Like in any bowl of soupy noodle, it's about soup base, noodles, and meat. Soup base is as good as it gets here - extremely healthy too. Even if you order a cheap one for $6 (not cheap by Taiwanese standards though), the soup is great. Noodles are good, but not the greatest you can find. BEEF is where the meat is (dah!). It's cooked so perfectly that even the Japanese come to try to learn how they cooked it! I tried the $30 bowl, which serve four types of beef, and they are all thoroughly cooked (that's right cowboys, you won't find medium-rare here!), yet juicy and flavorful. It's both the beef (Japanese but not Kobe) they use and how they cook it.

SERVICE: Considering that it's located in Taipei, the service is not bad. Sometimes the owner will serve you, sometimes it's other less friendly individuals, and they're all quite efficent and courteous. Unlike in other beef noodle restaurants, this one you would have to wait for 10-20 minutes. One important note: The owner actually speaks fluent English - a rare thing to find in Taipei restaurants.

AMBIENCE: Not much of an ambience to speak of - but at it's at least clean and comfortable. The owner used to an engineer in Canada and you can tell from his taste in decoration (ie not much to speak of). It's location is also not optimal - kind of hard to find for first time visitors.

VALUE: This is where the debate starts. If you order the $6 bowl, you'd end up with something somewhat close to a $3 bowl elsewhere (except healthier due to the no-great policy here); if you order the $30 bowl (which I tried during my last visit) or one of higher price, you will like it, but it's DEFINITELY not good value. This place is for those who are CRAZY about beef and noodles and would have it at any price. Value, afterall, is relative.

BOTTOMLINE: If you happen to be in Taipei and want to try something basic yet exotic, stop by this place and don't think about how much are you paying for some noodles and 1/4 lb of steak meat. I guarantee you'll like what you're eating - just not what you're paying.

LAST WORD: Due to plenty of recent completition in the same area, business has not been that great. I'd recommend going during or close to peak hours so that the soup is nice and hot.