More katsu goodness at 大喜屋 (Da Xi Wu)

I'm pretty sure I have a quiz in a few hours, in the riveting subject of molecular phenomena. I suppose I could be spending my time looking over class notes and past homework assignments to learn the intricacies of statistical mechanics, but... why would I do that when I have so many blog posts left unfinished, sigh, priorities... I have none. Anyway, in progressing (more or less chronologically) to my next meal, I went to a place called 大喜屋 or roughly translated as 'Big Fortune House,' stupid, I know. What wasn't stupid though was how thoroughly incredible the food turned out to be. A little background on the restaurant, it's located in the alleyway that encompasses the open air section of 光華市場 (Guang Hua Marketplace), basically at the far end of the first street that sells electronics if you turn off 新生 (Xin Sheng). Okay, so I'm pretty terrible at directions, but I would guess most people in Taipei could find it. Anyway, it's a small store that clearly caters to students (gauging off the price), that sells katsu and ramen. Crazy right? 2 of my favorite things, super cheap... how convenient. Onto the food eh?


I'm going to preface this with a disclaimer, I don't remember the prices. I know it was really cheap since I never actually carry more than 200 NT ($6) on me at any given time, unless I'm planning on buying something. If that can order 2 full meals, then it had to have been cheap. First up was the katsu, which was pretty decent actually. I won't lie to you and tell you it was the most incredible meal I've ever had, but they take pork and fry the bejeezus out of it into something oily and delicious, pair it with rice (with special pork sauce to boot!), and give you choice of 2 vegetable sides. All for well under 100 NT. No complaints here.


Uh, I don't remember much about the ramen aside from thinking that the broth was really thick. I have no recollection of how the pork tasted, or how the noodles texture played into the equation, I just know that I didn't mind eating a bowl of hot soup noodles on a day that was probably well into the 30's... I mean degrees Celsius. Again, for well under $3, who could complain? In any case, the food at this 'house of luck' isn't overwhelming. It's just relatively simple food offered at an incredible price. Would I make a trip out of it? Probably not, but I did go back a few times when I went computer gawking.