Taipei: Sin Chao Rice Shoppe — A Hit with My Parents!

 When you travel with parents, finding a place that checks all the boxes — comfort, good food, good value — can be tricky. But on our  trip to Taipei we struck gold with Sin Chao Rice Shoppe.

Tucked away like a cozy secret, this charming little spot serves up hearty Taiwanese meals that hit the spot. The moment we walked in, my parents nodded approvingly — ambience was calm, clean, and welcoming, with just the right balance of modern touches and homely warmth.

My dad, who usually raises an eyebrow at trendy places, actually said: “Wah, this one not bad ah.” That’s basically five stars from him.

It's located in Breeze Xinyi, which is awesome because you can always do some shopping before your meal, and more shopping after ! 

We started off with their Kung Fu Chicken Soup, and as someone with a Cantonese background, I grew up having soup everynight with my dinner and I love my soups. This one really hit the spot — rich, nourishing, and full of goodness. I actually felt stronger after drinking it (not kidding — like a gentle energy boost in a bowl). My parents, who are usually quite particular, were impressed from the very first sip.

For appetisers we had tomato crystal jelly and amaebi which was so refreshing! Eggplants and chilli chopped with century egg sauce was also a hit with my family. Not so much for me as I was never a century egg fan. 

We had sauteed bamboo shoots with matsusaka pork. 

And i absolutely adored this soft shell crab dish. It was so good, we ordered 2 sets just so that we could all have more than 1 piece! 

Another hit with all of us is also the pesto seafood shrimp cake. 

One of their signature dish is the cold smoked squid that came with a smoke show of its own !

 

We ordered white water snowflake vegetable because it's a new vegetable to us. And boy were were impressed ! It was light, crisp, and subtly grassy, it was refreshing and cooked just right. A small but memorable detail that made the meal feel a little extra special. My mother was so impressed by this vegetable that she went to the shops and bought a packet back to Singapore to cook. 

For mains we ordered 2 rice - mullet roe fried rice with seared scallops that had thumbs up approval from everybody !!

As well as USDA Prime ribeye fried rice, which was also good! But I guess didn't really wow us away because back in Singapore there's a restaurant called New Ubin that also does a really good beef fried rice ( heart attack fried rice ) 

Overall, the portions were generous, the flavors nostalgic and yummy and most importantly the prices very wallet-friendly — always a bonus when traveling as a group. 

I've already recommmended this restaurant to a couple of group of friends who have all nothing but praises for this restaurant. 

A definite must try !!