Meet the Icons of Taipei’s Renowned Street Food Scene | Eater
"A long-running, family-run breakfast stall famous for fan tuan — sticky purple or white rice wrapped around savory fillings. The signature version layers a fried dough stick, pickled turnip root, stewed egg, and pork floss, and can be made vegetarian or vegan on request; other popular variants include pork cutlet with kimchi, seaweed with burdock root, and a deluxe roll with pork cutlet, tuna, corn and more. The proprietor has operated at this location for over a decade, keeps the place busy with help from her children, and prides herself on the shop’s widespread local reputation (it even draws celebrity visitors). Long lines of Taiwanese customers are a regular sign of quality." - Chris Horton
Totally worth queuing for! Arrived to a queue already around the corner at 9:30am on a Sunday, not long after I started queuing up a staff started off asking everyone in the queue how many rice rolls they planned to order, and not long after he told a few people behind us that everything was sold out (and that was 10:30am!) so definitely come early to avoid disappointment!
Planed to order the signature purple rice roll but that was also sold out, so opted for the original white rice one but even so it was absolutely delicious - packed full of pickled veg, crispy flour roll, pork floss and salted egg - it was warm and full of flavours, especially the crispy flour roll was fried to perfection! One is enough to share between 4 so that is certainly a very filling breakfast!
Elijah G.
Google
The best breakfast i had in taipei by far. Got the surf and turf fantuan with mixed rice, and the combination works shockingly well. The rice is warm and well seasoned, with a crispy youtiao, tuna (i think), sweet corn, egg, pork floss inside
Takeaway only, went at 7am and there was a 20mins queue, but they attended to people fast (make the fantuan fresh)
Amanda L.
Google
Went there at 10am on a Thursday, surprisingly no waiting line. LaoBan was very friendly and helpful to explain the different options and flavors offered for their rice balls. I opted for their famed purple original, and the white sticky rice with salted yolk. Rushed back to my hotel with 2 piping hot breakfast Rice burritos that probably weighed half a kg each, and a cup of their almond milk. The taste didn't disappoint as,I was impressed by the abundance of stuffing inside. Fried dough, pork floss, pickled radish, and even a hard boiled egg. The purple rice was definitely more aldente while the white sticky rice was mildly sweet and chewy. Im So glad I found this little hole in the wall breakfast place, will be making it my regular stop every time i.visit Taipei from now on. !! 👍👍👍
Catherine Y.
Google
even though the queue is long, it is worth to try! they work wholeheartedly and the quality is so good! best for breakfast or brunch.
T C
Google
Soooooooo…… I really wanted to LOVE this but I only liked it at best. Would I come back? Probably not.
The wait is very long because they make it fresh person (which is great) but be prepared to wait. The line extends onto the main road so it’s a bit dangerous.
The actual fantuan…. Love the purple rice. Love that you can mix and match the rice. The filling was generous as in you get a lot but… because of that… it gets very dry. The toppings didn’t mesh together so it didn’t fall out but the flavors were good when you ate it together but just very dry.
I probably wouldn’t come back and wait 40 minutes for this.
Michelle
Google
Delicious!! I personally prefered the sea and land fantuan better.
The aunties are kind!
It’s very popular, expect lineups.
Austin A.
Google
The fantuan here is enormous! There wasn’t a long line, and the wait time was only about 10 minutes. It was freshly prepared, filled with an abundance of ingredients, and wrapped in flavorful purple rice. It tasted absolutely amazing. However, the drink was nothing out of the ordinary.
Jacqueline H.
Google
Delicious!! I had a Taiwanese friend help me order, but they had a English menu so they’re def welcome to tourists ordering. Highly recommend! The line got long pretty quickly after we came 9:30AM~ but it had a bunch of locals so we knew it’d be good!