Craving for Taiwanese street food?  Take a ride to the new Sai Ying Pun MTR station to get a taste at Yuan is Here (阿元來了).   Located on Third Street, you won’t have trouble finding it – just look for a storefront with a large crowd.

Everything about this restaurant resonates the Taiwanese night market food scene, from the colourful signage to the cheap and tasty food served to you in a tiny space.

We’ve tried to go to this restaurant twice before and was scared off by the long queues.  One weekend we went for an early lunch and was seated at the back with a short wait.  We ordered the must-have Taiwanese-style braised pork rice and wasn’t disappointed.  I heard a bit of mixed reviews about the braised pork rice, but we personally thought it was a good ratio of fat to meat and liked that it was a bit on the moist side.

Hubby loved the stir-fry vermicelli that was cooked to perfection.  This simple noodle cooks easily when you cook it in soup, but stir-frying it is another story.  It isn’t a simple task to retain the moisture balance of the vermicelli when you stir fry it, too wet and it becomes soggy and too dry it sticks together.  Yuan does a good job with this dish.

The salt and pepper chicken was a pass for us, it didn’t have the crispy coating we were looking for and it tasted a bit stale.  The soy marinated egg and chicken wings were decent but nothing worth mentioning.

The bubble tea is something you shouldn’t miss out on as well – strong tea flavours with a perfect chew on the tapioca balls.

If you’re intrigued with this new Taiwanese joint, be prepared to wait in a queue and try to get there earlier because some of the items sell out and they close once they’ve sold everything.

Lunch Cost: $162 (2 ppl)
Address: 73 Third Street, Sai Ying Pun / Tel: 3579 2460
Website: http://www.facebook.com/yuanishere
Date Of Visit: Mar 1, 2015

The Bill

Taiwanese-style braised pork rice ….$27
Stir-fry vermicelli ….$30
Additional braised pork ….$10
Salt and Pepper Chicken….$35
Marinated Eggs and Wings ….$20
Bubble Milk Tea….$20 x 2