Lynda's Taiwan-logue

< Visited in Mar 2019 & Mar 2017 >

The "Miss Qin" in Miss Qin Soybean Milk 秦小姐豆漿 refers to Qin Fei Fei 秦菲菲, an old time Taiwanese celebrity who has since made local breakfast her business (and a successful and popular one at that). An eatery that popped up when I searched for traditional breakfast, it's highly favoured by locals, as well as Japanese tourists (armed with their travel guides). Where the Japanese travellers venture, despite their language barrier, you know this place must be worth checking out. 

Located in a humble but bustling neighbourhood, unlike Fu Hang Soybean Milk 阜杭豆漿 housed on the second floor of a market, I actually prefer Miss Qin Soybean Milk 秦小姐豆漿 over the latter, for their taste, service and overall ambience. 

Every table at the humble looking shop (typical of traditional Taiwanese breakfast places) was occupied or waiting to be. A decent queue persisted while I was there. As with any other popular breakfast shops, do excuse the staff if they appear impatient or curt - in the name of operational efficiency and helping to speed up everyone's turn at enjoying a good breakfast. Having said that, the service standard here is actually good - from personal experience and what I read in blogs. (I often see online griping about "poor service", especially by tourists whom I feel could have made more effort in prior research, e.g mode of ordering, what to expect, etc. I definitely have not encountered much unpleasant service, after due diligence to better understand "protocol"). The menu is only in Chinese, so if you don't read or speak the language, it's advisable to do some prior research.

<Below> These pork balls 狮子头 may not be a breakfast item in my opinion, but is a signature here. You can enjoy them on their own, or as a filling in other breakfast items. On my second visit, I made this my must-try and I wasn't disappointed. (Would be a delicious dish with porridge or rice too, I feel.) 

<Below> This lady on the left, in a bright coloured blouse, is Miss Qin Fei Fei 秦菲菲. Together with a few other ladies working hard in the kitchen, I considered them very patient and cool, considering the persistent queue and how every customer had a long order list.  

Quick note on traditional Taiwanese breakfast, common items include
- 豆浆 soybean milk, which may come in variations of chilled or warm, less or no sugar, or flavours such as almond, sesame, black soybean, etc.
- 烧饼 (loosely translated) chinese flatbread or baked pancake
- 油条 dough fritter
- 蛋饼 (loosely translated) omelette pancake
- 饭团 rice roll, typically containing dough fritter, chicken/pork/fish floss, egg (omelette/hard boiled) and pickle
What you'll see on the menu are then variations of or different flavours of/fillings in the above, as well as other buns, pastries, noodles, congee, etc. Note that different eateries will have different signatures (you may even find an eatery selling only one or two of the items). 

My first visit was a take-out for two persons on our trip's last day before setting off for the airport. Minus the top left beverage from Starbucks, our orders were (from top):
- Soybean milk
- Rice rolls (with/out egg) (yes, x4! We ate half for breakfast and had the other half while waiting for our flight.)
- Omelette pancake
- Chive pancake  

<Below> 韭菜盒 Chive pancake, containing glass noodle & egg

<Below> 蛋饼 Egg pancake (my perennial favourite, in its original flavour even when there are variations of this with different or additional fillings). I love the smooth, slightly chewy "pancake skin", and the sauce (酱油膏). 

<Below> 饭团 Rice roll. 

<Below> 饭团加蛋 Riceball with omelette (we kept this to eat at the airport before our night flight - dough fritter was still crunchy and overall palatable even when consumed at room temperature)

The second visit was a dine-in for brunch.   
Left - 烧饼+蛋+狮子头 chinese flatbread + egg + (well marinated) pork balls
Right - 杏仁豆浆 almond soya milk 

Had a pickled radish pastry 萝卜丝饼 & spring onion pastry 葱花大饼 to go - making a good afternoon tea snack the same day. Both were tasty, but the former was surprisingly good if you like pickled radish (that isn't too salty). Quite regretted not buying more, or to also try the other pastries. The four items totalled less than NTD100. 

If I have time for only one breakfast place, Miss Qin Soybean Milk 秦小姐豆漿 is definitely in my pocket list.

====================

Miss Qin Soybean Milk | 秦小姐豆漿
Address --- Yan Ji Street, no. 7-6, Songshan District  松山区延吉街7-6号
Nearest MRT Station --- Taipei Arena 台北小巨蛋 (G17), green line, then an approximate 10-mins walk (I had cabbed there from Taipei Main Station, which took about 20mins)
Opening hours --- Mon-Fri, 5.30am-8pm | Sat & Sun 5.30am-2pm. Be prepared some items may get sold out before 2pm. (I was there before 10am and some of the shelves looked half empty.)

檢視較大的地圖

====================