More shaved ice at 木町 (Mu Ding)

What the hell, I'm stuck in the terminal for another 30 minutes or so... why not bang out another quality (har har) post in the mean time? Anyway, in another one of my random walks, I somehow returned to 師大 (Shi Da)... and what do I do when I go there? Night market of course! I forget what else I ate that day, or rather... I do, but I'm not prepared to post about it... yet. In any case, I went to a combo shaved ice and Japanese restaurant. Wait... what? Yeah, Mu Ding, or uh... 'wood best' if translated directly, is some messed up fusion restaurant that serves both desserts as well as the traditional Japanese rice/noodle dishes. It's menu has a dizzying array of curries, katsus, and omelet dishes, complemeneted only the fairly unique selection of shaved ices. This trip was all about dessert, so I didn't even bother with the savory foods this time (I did on a later trip). The store looks nice. Seriously. You know the swanky feeling you get in those hipster coffee joints near Union Square? Yeah, it has that kind of vibe. Plastic florescent colored tables complement more plastic chairs. The signs are decked out with mood lights, and the store front looks like something straight out of an NYU fairytale. All this makes me further believe... you shouldn't judge a book by its cover (er... shaved ice place by its decor?).


Uh... I'm still really lazy, so instead of listing prices, I'm simply going to link a picture of the menu (click for giant goodness). Remember... 33 NT to the US dollar, so no more than $3 for the most decadent of ices... wtf are you doing midtown (here's looking at you... Cafe Zaiya)?


On this trip, I went with the 紅豆某綠茶冰 (matcha green tea red bean ice) . It's truly an amazing creation if you see it. Matcha green tea powder is mixed into water to produce an incredibly strong green tea... then frozen... then shredded thinner than a traditional shaved ice. Topped with a generous serving of red beans and condensed milk, it will make your heart hurt, but your taste buds happy. As for the gross looking plop of stuff... that's actually 芋頭牛奶冰 (taro milk ice). The taro looks disgusting, but was amazingly soft and delicate that you could cut it with just your spoon. Dunked in syrup and more condensed milk, this isn't a dessert I would try to have too much of either (unless I wanted to become myouterfatty again that is...). Would I go back? Probably not... there are other ice stores in the area (wink wink to come) that are much better. However, if your legs are too tired from exploring, or you can't find the others (wtf is wrong with you?)... then this place certainly isn't terrible. The green tea is kinda unique. The point is, I would eat there again... but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to others.