Ellen's 食&旅誌

2006.11.05

Though this restaurant is called Muggles, it has nothing to do with Harry Potter =)

I have invited parents to come try out the new restaurant with me for more than 2 years but never make it! Because my parents still prefer to cook and dine at home, unlike me who loves to try out new restaurants once awhile.

It's rare that my dad suggests to dine out today, and I can pick whichever restaurant I want :D Of course I'd pick some restaurant not too far away, and easy to find parking space.

After calling the restaurant making sure they do have a valet parking, we decided to try it tonight.

This is a restaurant my colleague Michelle recommended. If i remember it correctly, it's when I just moved back to Taiwan and start working at this company, and still quite unfamiliar with restaurants in Taoyuan City. Michelle recommended this restaurant to me, and said it has pretty decent Szechuan food. Can't wait to try it out!



This restaurant is located right at the intersection of Da-Xing West Rd(大興西路) and Jing-Guo Rd(經國路). It's right underneath a hair salon and not so obvious in sight. But the big logo sign reminds people it's existance.


Perhaps, if no one told me there's a such restaurant here, I might drive by this place 5 times a day without noticing it for years.



Simple dining sets

The restaurant offers new renovated Szechuan food. Names of the dishes are all quite interesting, for example: Hei-Lu-Lu (黑嚕嚕, means extremely black) or Tao-Da (討打, means ask to get beaten) or Shou-Jin-Jian-Au (受盡煎熬, means been tortured for a long time)..etc! In the menu, there is no explanation of these names or what ingrediants been used in the dish, therefore you better ask the waitor to explain it for you.

Parents ask me to order the dishes, so I order a few which sounds "safe". The chef sure cook FAST! 5 minutes after I place my order, first dish has been delivered to our table.



"Flies' head" (蒼蠅頭), Stir-fried Chives and minced pork. Though it doesn't seem hot and spicy, it sure tastes very spicy! But it tastes great with the steam rice. Oh, if you are afraid the dishes might be too spicy for you, please remember to tell the waitor to make it mild.



Rice is NT$15 per bowl, not too expensive, but the volume is not a lot.


The name "Flies' head" is given because this dish uses black beans and looks just like flies' head! If you don't look at the dish closely, you might really think there's flies in this dish!



Stir-fried Vegetable with marinated Tofu. Not sure if it's the vegi, the texture of the vegi is kinda too soaky and soft. The taste is okay.


One of the famous tofu dish "Lao-Pi-Nen-Rou"(old skin and fresh meat, 老皮嫩肉) is delicious but lacked of some more flavor. Spot this dish called "Lao-Pi-Nen-Rou III" on the menu, and wonder what this is. The waitor said, this is just like Lao-Pi-Nen-Rou except it's cooked with San-Bei (三杯) flavor! For a heavy flavor lover like myself, definitely would try the III version.



Lao-Pi-Nen-Rou III looks much better than the original version, especially it smells much better with the essentiate of the herbs.


Lao-Pi-Nen-Rou is not meat. It's steamed egg cut into cubes and fried. The outside skin is chewy and the inside taste just like Tofu, hence the name =) It's a very interesting dish. Wish San-Bei flavor, taste much better.



Spare ribs, home style. Portion is just right, but the spare ribs got lots of huge bones :P


It's sweet and sour flavor. I am sure many people who is used to western chinese food will definitely LOVE this dish, because of the sauce. The difference between this dish with traditional sweet and sour dish is that this one does not use ketchup. The flavor is just right. Totally my type of food =) The meat is tender and juicy, very delicious!



This one has a very funny name called "Bomb the Ambassy" (轟炸大使館). It's actually deep fried pig intestine. Too bad it is not crispy enough.



Muggles restaurant offers home made Plume Juice, NT$120 a bottle. If you cannot finish it during the meal, you can take home.


Plume juice is more like a concentrated juice. Add ice cubes or water as you like.


Some people said this restaurant is much better than KiKi's in Taipei City, but I have never tried KiKi's yet, so I cannot tell if it's the truth. Base on the dish I had tonight, everything taste good, except the vegi is kinda too 'old', and the pork intestine is not crispy enough. But the flavor is about right and goes very well with the rice. I am sure you might love it too, if you like heavy flavors.


The diner costs us NT$1330 for 3 people.


Muggles 麻瓜煮味
49, 1-Sec Da-Xing Road, Taoyuan City
TEL:(03)357-3398