Right when you walk in, you’ll see all kinds of side dishes in the display case

This rou zhou isn’t mushy porridge — it’s rice in pork-bone broth with every grain separate, plus you cong su and dried shrimp for flavor. Inside are rou geng and tofu skin bits (the little rou geng aren’t in every bowl!).

They use pork belly with fat and lean meat and marinate it by hand. Unlike the bright red hong qu shao rou you usually see, this one has a more natural color. It’s fried so all the fat is cooked out, and the golden pieces feel really light and crispy when you pick them up with chopsticks.

This hong shao rou is known as one of the top three shao rou in Taipei! The thin, crispy, fragrant outside crunches when you bite it, but it’s not hard to chew. The fatty parts aren’t greasy, and the lean parts stay tender and not dry at all. It’s great on its own, and even better dipped in their special miso sauce.

The second-generation owner (or maybe the founding grandpa) is 83 years old and still helps out in the shop. After so many years of hard physical work, his back has become bent.