Are you still in the excitement of watching the Fight of the Century - McGregor vs. Mayweather? It's time to relax now. And... who knows? Maybe you are hungry from this mind exhausting experience? 

So maybe it's time for the Fight of the Culinary Masters!! Follow me and let me show you the most famous and representative food of the Taipei city .... the .... BEEF NOODLES (niú ròu miàn)!

If you had come to Taipei before, then you must have heard this wonderful cuisine (for those interested in its origins see here). For me, beef noodles is like the king of Chinese noodles. When I was a kid, we only ate this when there was something to celebrate since beef was really expensive at that time.

Okay, say no more. In this post, I have collected two great stores serving beef noodles. All photos are mine. All noodles were eaten by me and my wife. These two are the best of those we had during the past 6 months. The first one is genuinely from Taipei - Lin Dong Fang. Awesome beef noodles. The second one, Duan Chun Zhen, is actually from Hsin-chu (yeah, the place that produces a lot of the world's IC chips) but they have expanded to many cities in Taiwan including Taipei. Brilliant beef noodles. 

各位好！住在台北，住在台灣，沒吃過牛肉麵，不要說你來過這裡！來來來，今天為你們帶來兩大牛肉麵絕世高手的對決！這可是我們夫妻倆過去半年吃過的牛肉麵的前兩名啊！我知道你們只想吃，廢話我就不多說了。

今日兩大牛魔王分別是：來自台北的『林東芳牛肉麵』大神，以及源自新竹的『段純貞牛肉麵』大王！大家熱烈掌聲歡迎！

---

Let the Fight Begin! 開打了！上麵！

---

Lin Dong Fang / 林東芳牛肉麵

LDF Beef Noodles may not give you a good first impression -  the store is shabby, the kitchen and the kitchenwares, well, isn't really tidy up to a high standard. But it is always packed with customers eagerly waiting to be served a great bowl of noodles.

When it's finally your turn and you are given a small seat, maybe the table is shared with others, and after you order ... the beef noodles is here and with some side dishes... That's when you understand all of this - why this store is always packed and why the waitresses can rudely rush you to order fast.... The braised beef noodles is just outrageously delicious!! So are all the side dishes... Their spices and the specially made spicy beef oil compliment the noodles perfectly... Somebody give me another bowl!!! :~~~~~   

好的！這間不起眼的路邊簡陋店面，你如果經過一定十分不解：為什麼這麼多人在路邊排隊？看起來，嗯，並不是那麼的乾淨整潔捏，是有多好吃啦！那就排下去速速看吧。看看那兩桶應該是紅燒牛肉吧，實在是好像不可口啦！

好不容易排到了，入座可能還得共桌。忙亂的點完後，小菜上桌，嗯！十分可口呢！每道都好吃！什麼？到處都在點熱花干，那趕緊要一份！跟著牛肉麵一起上來了！鐵碗看起來怪怪的。但好香哪！喝點湯，媽媽咪呀！這是什麼神牛肉麵啊，也太好吃了吧！那牛肉入味又軟嫩，入口即化。旁邊的辣牛油跟辣椒，跟這麵條真是絕配啊！一口一口呼嚕呼嚕不停... 噢，那花干也是真的太好吃了啦，難怪人人都點... 人牛一體，滿身大汗之後，終於可以思考...

這店果然厲害。只賣紅燒，沒有清燉，但可以選牛肉、牛筋或半筋半肉。厲害的店家，都是賣很簡單的菜單的。太強大了！請不要換新店面好嗎？換了以後一定會更多人的，那我要排更久怎麼辦哪！~~~~~

---

Duan Chun Zhen / 段純貞牛肉麵

DCZ Beef Noodles, on the other hand, looks so modern and organized. This store we went is in a shopping mall at the heart of Taipei main station. DCZ looks like a professional chain store and actually they are too. They started from a small store in Hsin-Chu but keeps growing to its scale nowadays. They have 10 stores in Taiwan at the moment. 

Most of the time, this kind of food chain won't be great. They might be good, but seldom great. The logic is simple - they have great location and that's enough for them to profit, no need to work on their food so much. But obviously DCZ isn't the case. 

We ordered a beef noodles and a stewed chicken noodles along with some side dishes and two drinks. Again, everything was great, and especially the beef noodles!! The red soup looks so beautiful and delicious and it is delicious  if you like this kind of numbing spicy from its Sichuan pepper flavor. We love it!! Unbelievably tasty with its flavory Chinese sauerkraut. The chicken noodles was great too but we were here for beef noodles. The side dishes were all high above average quality. Even the two drinks were good. Awesome store. Nice environment. Reasonable prices. What else can you ask for?

段純貞牛肉麵，源自新竹，擴展到全台。這間店位於台北車站京站百貨的地下樓。自然是現代化的乾淨明亮店面，還帶有很有設計感的中國風。通常這類店都頂多蠻好吃，不會真的"太好吃"，因為地點好的關係，店家不需要真的太認真提升食物品質，也可以大賺特賺的。

但段純貞顯然不是，或者說企業經營管理非常好，能夠讓食物維持在極高水準。由於其在新竹名氣響亮，我們半信半疑地進去吃，五體投地的飽餐一頓走出！我們點了麻辣牛肉麵跟雞湯麵，配合滷味拼盤與飲料。牛肉麵精緻美觀，紅色湯頭誘人，麻辣味道剛剛好，配合煮得很透的牛肉與清爽的麵條，實在是一晚不過癮！還別說那酸菜，也非常好吃！我們都喜歡四川花椒的麻辣味，所以真的很過癮。雞湯麵也很棒，剛好可以讓舌頭休息一下，搭配重口味的牛肉麵。

小菜每道都很好吃，完全沒有美食街餐廳的馬虎感。飲料兩杯，雖然包裝有點太過路邊攤，但其口感還是相當不錯的。我們都對於這間店的表現感到十分驚艷，沒想到這新竹之光這麼厲害！看看那擺小菜跟飲料的櫃子，就可以看到企業管理的細緻。

吃飽了，逛街去！

 

---

Okay... So... Who is your winner tonight? Next time when you come to Taipei, you will be the judge! 

看完這場對決，你比較喜歡誰呢？哈哈，光用看的真的太為難你們了！下次你們到台北來，一定要去吃吃，鹿死誰手，就等到時候你再告訴我吧！

---