Zhongshan District

it's no longer at this address. in its place is san formosa coffee ... which is quite good

Used to go to the location in Zhongshan, but that one closed down. This restaurant tastes just as good, but decor is not as upscale as the Zhongshan district one and definitely a lot more cozy. Also, staff uniform, etc. not as upscale. Everything is still as good though. Buns and shao lon bao are comparable to Ding Tai Fong. Highly recommend. Also, within 5 minute walk distance is Daan Forest Park. Eat alot and then go walk it off there! :)

4.6 stars... if there is a predecessor to Dingtaifung then this is it. Well KaoChi is still going strong but it's got nothing on DTF in terms of popularity. In fact I needed to whisper DTF when I'm at KC. Established in 1949 the founder brought the now famous XLB and fried buns from Shanghai to Taiwan. This is easily couple decades before DTF started selling XLB in 1972. Enough about history, let's talk about the food, decor, and service. First and foremost, KC takes the 小籠包 XLB by a hair in comparison to DTF so it's definitely a must try here. The juice and the skin are simply amazing! The Wuxi pork ribs are a bit less sweet then we expected it because generally speaking Wuxi pork ribs are definitely on the sweeter side. Maybe it's an adjustment to suit the clientele in Taiwan. The squash with mushrooms and bamboo fungus, which is a delicacy in Chinese food history, definitely is a hit and highly recommended. It's seasonal so I'm not sure if it will be around depending the time you visit. The pan fried buns are also excellent. It's definitely on the healthier side as the famous 小杨生煎 XiaoYang in Shanghai (known for pan fried buns) is definitely much more oily. The decor at KC is always known to be on the higher end side. It was the place to eat if you're willing to splurge in the past, like 30+ years ago. Nowadays this tradition continues EXCEPT I find the value much much better in comparison to DTF. For the same amount of food I paid 1300NT or $40 at KC that I would have paid 1800NT or $60 at DTF. In the US the food price along with tax and tips will easily double the amount I just quoted. Last but not least the service is excellent as there isn't any pretentiousness with the servers. This will now become a go to place for me in the future. Haven't said this before, if it wasn't for Yelp I would have forgotten about this childhood favorite place. So thanks Yelp!! Lol

Quality authentic food! Highly recommend. The new location seems to have fewer seatings but 生煎包 is just as good.

This is a good alternative if you don't want to wait in the long line at the original DTF. It's located just around the corner. Their XLBs are just as good but the skin is slightly thicker.

Kao Chi is a nice Shanghai style Chinese restaurant which sits on a super convenient location. Restaurant is not too busy and kind of cozy. Food is good but a little pricy considering prime location. Service is good and English no problem here. Besides usual xiao long bao they have nice selection of dishes. My favorites are braised pork belly with bun, ong choy with garlic, house fried rice among others. I don't ever recall having a bad dish when I stick with meat dishes. For seafood there are better alternatives around here and I would go there.

So apparently, Kao Chi was the Din Tai Fung before Din Tai Fung. Back in the day, a journalist was wanting to write about the famed soup dumplings here, but they wouldn't let him jump the line. DTF saw the opportunity, grabbed the journalist, the journalist loved the soup dumplings there, and the rest is history. It's kind of tragic for Kao Chi, because it's around the corner from DTF, and while it used to be the most popular place, it is far from it now. The line for DTF is probably 10x longer than the line at Kao Chi. Kao Chi is known for the soup dumplings, but it's also known for the pan fried dumplings. This location is less packed than the one on Yongkang Street, so we had no wait for lunch. (Neither of them are nearly as busy as DTF though.) Also, this location is pretty spacious and is more of a nicer dining experience vs. the packed and loud atmosphere at DTF. The pan fried dumplings are really the reason to come here. You can watch the kitchen staff make it as they oil each iron pan, cook the buns, and let a crispy exterior form on the bun. Other good entrees are the stewed tofu and seafood with crab egg and the steamed shrimp and pork soup dumplings.

This place is really underrated. It has the best soup dumplings i have ever tasted. I dare say that they are even better than Din Tai Fung. Unlike Din Tai Fung, their other dishes are also delicious. This place is much more than just soup dumplings. Their mapo tofu is amazing. It has a strong, yet not overpowering taste. And its also made with beef and not pork, so if you love mapo tofu than this will be a tasteful modification for you. Their braised pork is also worth a taste.

We visited this place when we were looking for something different from Din Tai Fung and it was nearby our hotel. The service was ok, the food better than average and the location quaint. I enjoyed the style, the texture and the choices of dumplings they had here. The menu did have an English option and the restrooms upstairs were clean. The service was slow, the food took a long time to arrive and it was if the kitchen was understaffed. We would finish one set of dumplings and wait a decent while for the next set to arrive. The place wasn't busy either, so I don't know what was up. The bar had a few regulars sitting at it, all expats but aside from that the place was simply another food joint.

If you're in Taipei, you've almost certainly heard of Din Tai Fung. However, Kao Chi has not turned into a household name for foodies across the world. That's both good and bad: good because you won't have to queue up for hours to snag a table here, and bad because they really should be recognized for the deliciousness of their food. We came here with three full bags to grab lunch before heading to the airport. The staff very helpfully gave the two of us a four-person table with ample storage space, so that made the bag situation very manageable. Tea (on the house) was immediately served. We decided to go with the greatest hits of Kao Chi: xiao long bao, pan fried pork dumplings, dan dan noodles, and radish buns. The menu has English names for everything, so ordering is easy for non-Mandarin speakers. We also split a tall bottle of mango beer, which was extremely refreshing. Everything was to die for. The xlb was possibly the best I've ever had. The pan-fried buns were delectably gingery. The dan dan noodles had a hint of numbing Sichuan peppercorns, which I loved. And the radish buns were unlike anything I'd ever had before. Do yourself a favor by skipping Din Tai Fung for Kao Chi. You'll never regret it.

This place is definitely one of my favorite places to eat. I think it's on par with ding tai fung if not better Make sure to order soup dumplings and the fried buns here along with the veggie fried rice. Frankly everything on the menu looked really good but could only fit so much food with 4 people. The service was also great with the waiters and waitresses close by in case you needed anything - sauces, water, bowls, etc. Making another trip here before I leave!! Hopefully they open one in the US

Food is ok. A little bit salty. The manager, though, had an attitude problem. She had no patience at all. I would give 2.5 stars for the food quality, and manager's attitude bring the rating down to 2 stars. 食物偏鹹。經理的服務態度有些差，總是眉頭深鎖，非常不耐煩，不是一個理想的用餐環境。

The xiao long bao is very good, but I think this place is still pretty pricy, especially by Taiwan standards. In addition, they charge a 10 percent service fee, which is not cool.

Growing up in the US, I could never find any restaurants that served good soup dumpling or bao zi - any kind of Taiwanese tapas/dim sum food. So, when I moved back, I found myself going to Ding Tai Feng quite frequently, so much that it became a regular staple of my diet here. However, after a while I felt like i wanted to find another place, just as good, so I could have some sort of variety. Tried out KaoChi with my grandma one day, turns out, they have quite excellent service and food. My favorite would be their Shanghai 水煎包 due to its crisp bottom from the hot wok/iron pan and tender and soft skin. The meat is juicy and doesn't burst out causing any sort of mess. They have a lot of other great tasting dishes like their 蟹殼黃 which is like a tiny savory puff pastry with scallions and chives. Overall, I would definitely recommend this restaurant, as it rarely disappoints.

Food is tasty, services are good but kitchen is slow, we waited over 40 minutes for our dessert and had to pack them to go.

So, everyone has their neighborhood hangover brunch spot. This was mine for two and a half years. I like to think that this fact speaks volumes about who I am. Soup and dimsum. The 水煎包 are legit. Other Shanghainese classics that are easier on your poor, abused tummy than Ippudo down the street. The whole experience is hassle free, and the atmosphere makes you feel like you are absolutely brimming with dignity. What more could you ask for at 11am on a Sunday?

We stumbled on this place totally by accident. Originally was looking for another dumpling joint, one that's pretty famous and well known, but the line was stupid long. So we came here and boy was it delicious. We only ended up by getting 2 orders one of the pan fried dumplings and another of crab egg and pork. They were delicious, absolutely amazing.

We did a set meal for 3-4 people, and it was much more food than we could finish. 1. Pickled vegetables: with cauliflower, celery, etc. This was a red color, as if it were in beet juice. It's an interesting take on pickles 2. 生煎包 (sheng jian bao): theirs had a really flavorful pork filling without being too fatty. I wish it had more of a crust on the bottom 3. Beef: stir fried, cooked medium, very flavorful; it came with broccoli on the side 4. Fish filet with wine sauce: tender, flavorful. It came with 山藥, which is hard to get in the US 5. Spare ribs (無錫燜子排): these were very tender, and the sauce was awesome 6. Soup (砂鍋什錦煲): with lots of cabbage, shrimp, etc. By the time this got here, we were way too full They also gave us a steamed cake for dessert (相思豆鬆糕). One complaint: Water is available only by the bottle. Otherwise, it's very clean, well air conditioned, has interesting old school Shanghai style decor, and they take credit card.

I was passing by on the way to the MRT in Taiwan after attempting to go to 肥前屋 for Eel Over rice. Sadly, I got there during happy hour and they were closed. Fortunately while I was walking back to the 中山(Zhong Shan) MRT, I came across this hidden gem. Being of Shanghainese descent, I had to give this place a shot. The decor on the inside was nice with a very contemporary feel. The wait staff was very courteous. So I ordered common dishes to check the quality of the foods that I am use to. I looked over the menu and decided to get 蟹粉小籠包 （Crab Meat with Pork Steamed Buns), 蘿蔔絲包 (Radish Bun), and 雪菜炒年糕 （Snow Vegetable Fried Rice Cake). After a short wait, the first dish that came out was the 粉小籠包 （Crab Meat with Pork Steamed Buns). Of course it was hot when it came out so the first thing one has to do is prep the sauce. In a small sauce dish they provide some shredded ginger. First thing to do is put some soy sauce over the ginger followed by the vinegar. After a few minutes of cooling down, the buns were ready to be consumed. Gently picking up the small money sized pouch, I delicately dip the morsel in my prepped sauce. Then using the soup spoon a my chopsticks I poke a hole for the soup to come out. Trust me you don't want to eat it with the soup in it. many a times when I was young i made that mistake and burned my tongue. While the soup was leaking into the soup soup, I can smell the aroma of the pork and crab mixture. Mouth watering and savory, I drink the soup. Heavenly taste hits my tongue and I am satisfied. Then after drinking the soup, I proceed to put the bite sized morsel into my mouth. Biting down releases the contents onto my tongue. The taste and texture was very good. I was satisfied with this dish. Next comes the 蘿蔔絲包 (Radish Bun). Picking up one of these buns with my hand, I take a bite. The contents consisting of shredded radish and small salted shrimp was delicious. I could not say the same with the outside layer as it was way too dry. A higher quality version of this would have a moist middle layer and a semi crispy outside layer. They lost me on this dish. Finally the 雪菜炒年糕 （Snow Vegetable Fried Rice Cake) came out. Taking a few spoonfuls onto my bowl, I continue in my investigation into the quality of this easy yet sometimes not well prepared dish. Unfortunately, this dish was a bit disappointing. The rice cake was a bit mushy and not on the el dente side. I had to pack it to go and was fortunate later on to find a begger who probably needed a meal. I would have had some more dishes that are Shanghai dishes, however, my stomach real estate was occupied. Hope you enjoyed my narration. Take care.

Conveniently located right around the corner from the okura prestige. As an American tourist my review will be biased. They have menus with pictures and English translation. In my opinion the servings are on the smaller side since the majority of the time meals are family style. Somewhat of a cliché but for the most part everything we ordered was good to excellent.

Shui Jian Bao (Pan Fried Bao Zhi) is the signature dish, which was less than perfect today. The dough was not uniformly shaped, the juice leaked out from the thin side and thick side was no flavor when bitten. The soup was still good and rice cake with crab was the the best.

Dumplings are so much better than Ding Tai Fung! My new go-to whenever I'm lucky enough to be in Taipei. If you are ever in Taiwan, make your way to this place and try the xao lum bao's, you wont be disappointed.

Best food I have had since arriving in Taipei. Highly recommend the sweet and sour chicken as well as the pork dumplings. The service was polite and very fast. Clean restaurant with delicious complimentary tea. I know there are a few of these in Taiwan and I assume they are just as good. It's located in a fun part of town. I will go back again.

fantastic - dumplings were great! would go again for sure, the vegetables were fresh and tasty. the turnip cake was fresh and amazing! Definitely try here if you are staying at the Okura - its fast, clean and cost 23nz dollars for three dishes. we left feeling full and satisfied. staff are attentive and friendly.

Food is delicious but the service is quite inconsistent... May be because they are really busy. The soup dumplings were great.

Location is good. The food are decent. Very kids friendly ~ the service is ok yet could be better ~ definitely go back next time