Taiwan, Part XVII - Mu's Beef Noodle Restaurant

Beef Noodles are such a big part of Taiwanese local food scene, that there is even an annual Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival dedicated to it. So one day I set out to try a place that's the Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou's favorite - Mu's Beef Noodle Restaurant.

Mu's is a small hole-in-the-wall kind of place, located across the street from Taipei Medical University's front gate. Even with 2 floors, the space is very limited. I arrived shortly before noon, and walked down the steep staircase to the basement. Ninety percent of Mu's menu are various beef noodles and soups. When you order noodles, you can choose thin or home-made thick noodles, they will also ask if you'd like green onions and cilantro. I love tendons, so I ordered the Half Tendons and Half Meat Noodles (large NT$190, small NT$170) with thick noodles. The tendon was melt-on-your-tongue tender without disintegrating. The meat was also very tender, but not as outstanding as the tendons. I would probably just get all tendons next time. The broth was flavorful without the taste of MSG. The noodles were just the right level of al dente for me.

Another specialty at Mu's is the dry-cooked layered pancake, which comes with the Shredded Pork (NT$150) / Beef (NT$160) in Peking Sauce, or stuffed with beef (NT$100). Since I've already ordered beef with the noodles, I went with the shredded pork. The pancake was so flaky and light. Since there is no oil, you only taste the natural sweetness of the flour. While the pancake is quite large (it’s folded into quarters on the plate), it's so good that most people would just eat it by itself, end up finding the one piece that comes with the dish insufficient, and order another one (NT$40). A friend told me to request the Shredded Pork in Peking Sauce cooked with some chili. The sauce was sweet, salty, and mildly spicy. This would be perfect with rice too.

The food is served really quickly at Mu's. The place gets filled up just as fast. When I arrived at 11:40, it was still half empty. However, when I left at 12:15, not only the place was packed, there was already a long line waiting. (That's when I took the picture of the outside.) Don't get discouraged, it's totally worth the wait. If I had more time, I'd definitely visit Mu's again.

Mu's Beef Noodle Restaurant (穆記小吃牛肉麵斤餅店)
Address: 239 Wu Xing Street
地址：台北市吳興街 239號 ( 台北醫學院正門口附近 )
Telephone: 02-2723-9372, 02-2722-2707
電話：02-2723-9372、02-2722-2707
Hours: 11 am - 9 pm
營業時間：11:00～21:00