Tainan Travel

Minimum expense per person (even for a child) is NTD600. The entree choices are all overly greasy. I would have liked to sample two or three dishes but not five....we left almost half of the food on the table. the service was slow considering the number of waitresses standing around. I understand that it was the locals’ favorite place and every table was filled with family reunions which whom the waiting staff are familiar. In general, I fond it overrated and overpriced,

The restaurant is rightly proud of the heritage of serving every President for many years. The crab sticky rice was very good and shrimp pork liver and date rolls were perfection. The sweet and sour seafood soup was also wonderful as were the cold prawns. Another highlight was the almond tofu sweet soup for dessert. Highly recommended.

A Xia Restaurant (阿霞飯店) has been called the best “Local Flavored Tainan Restaurant”, established nearly 60 years ago. And it did live up to its reputation as we 6 visited here today. We made an early reservation (11AM) because of no table available at 12 noon or after! We reserved the followings: 1. 6-assorted plate (六品併盤, $32, delicious); 2. Steamed Mud Crab with Glutinous Rice (紅蟳米糕, $40, the most famous dish of A-Xia, truly mouthwatering); 3. Boiled Shrimps (鹽水活蝦, $27, fresh and “chewy”); 4. Stir-fried Fresh Eel (阿霞生炒膳魚, $27, yummy, yummy, yummy!); 5. Braised Shark-fin Thick Soup (傳統紅燒魚翅, $30, luscious); 6. Fried Pork Liver Roll (炸豬肝卷, $4.00 for each small dish, tasty, but I can’t appreciate much the “liver” savor); 7. Sweet Soup with Almond Tofu (阿霞經典甜湯, $2 for each bowl, tasteful) We enjoyed the lunch and the friendship very much!

It is worth a visit to this restaurant to sample Tainan cuisine. It is surprisingly pleasant and clean. The service is excellent. The ladies tried their best to speak English with us with great big genuine smile. Highly recommend the steamed crab with sticky rice! Sea ell is also well known local dish in Tainan but I consider it a acquired taste. The dishes are on the sweet side but please do keep an open mind when try out the dishes.

The restuarant offers nice and typical Tainan food. Although it is a bit sweet for our taste. The dishes are really big, so order the small ones if you want to try more.