Udon Noodles at 土三寒六

I grew up on the East Coast, where it does get hot during the summer, but it’s still been quite a shock to my system to experience summers here in Taipei. Every time I go out here, I have to prepare as if I’m about to trek across the Sahara Desert. Water? Check. Umbrella? Check. Handkerchief to wipe off the buckets of sweat gushing out of my glands? Check. Then my husband and I will set out, huddled under our umbrella and walking along in silence because even talking makes me hot and sweaty and I need to conserve my energy just to be able make it to our destination without getting heatstroke.

So you’d think the last thing I’d want to eat during the summer here is a nice, hot, steamy bowl of udon noodles, but I like the udon at 土三寒六 (tu(3) san(1) han(2) liu(4)) so much that I’d risk heatstroke for it. It’s good, and it’s cheap (a medium size bowl can range from NT90 - NT200, depending on what you get). Plus, they also have cold udon noodles, which are actually quite wonderful on a hot day.

I usually get the udon noodles with the spicy broth. Again, I know, not the ideal thing to be consuming when it’s almost 100 degrees out, but still. The broth has just the right amount of kick to it, and it comes with pieces of seaweed and pork. The udon noodles are that perfect “QQ” texture. (For those of you that don’t speak Chinese, “QQ” is that sort of texture that Chinese people like. It’s hard to describe, but it’s firm, with a slight bite to it - but not as much bite as al dente.) The reason is that they're handmade, so you really notice the difference.




The last time we were there, they had added some new dishes to the menu, so my husband tried some cold udon noodles with roe. He said it was sort of like a carbonara – there was raw egg yolk mixed in with the roe to create a sauce for the noodles. He liked it, but I get sort of grossed out by raw egg and I just don’t like egg yolk in general, so I only tried a bite.



There’s also tempura available, but they set it out cafeteria style and who knows how long it's been out there, so it may not be all that fresh once you take it. The nice thing though, is that they’ll heat it up for you. It’s perfectly satisfactory, but not anything special.



土三寒六 is great for a cheap (we spent around NT500), tasty dinner. And sure, you might get a little sweaty eating it, but what’s a little more sweat when you’re already drenched anyway?

土三寒六
Fuxing North Road, Section 1, Lane 126, No. 6
(02) 2775-4611