Taipei food courts!!

The food courts found inside Taipei's many glorious shopping malls are truly amazing!

It may seem strange to cover food courts in a street food blog. After all, I usually pick independent vendors who are authentic, cheap, and often hard to find. But food courts in Asia - and especially in Taipei - dish out fantastic pan-asian cuisine. While food courts in the U.S. conjure images of ubiquitous fast-food chains, there's nothing schlocky at all about food courts in Asia. They are oftentimes beautifully designed, with comfortable seating and artistic decor, and the food they serve is usually first rate!

One of my favorite food courts in Taipei is the one that sits below Q Square department store near Taipei Main Station. Typically for Taipei, Q Square is connected to a series of other shopping malls by a labyrinth of corridors and escalators. I didn't find it until having visited several of the connected malls. Taipei's underground built environment is a real maze - but entirely logical for a city that's subject to frequent typhoons during the summer.

There is usually no English menu, but most of the vendors have picture menus so you can just point to the picture of the dish you want.

Since it is a food court, there are no servers, but there is an army of attentive, tuxedo-clad bussers who clear your plates for you as soon as you're done.

Another of my favorite food courts lies beneath the Eslite Shopping Mall near Taipei City Hall. That's where I chose to have dinner tonight.

You can find almost any type of Asian cuisine in these food courts: Malaysian, Szechuan, Sushi, Vietnamese. But one of my favorite stalls serves finely prepared vegetarian food. It's a healthy option here in a land where greasy (though delicious) food is often the norm. 

And it's also particularly cheap. This whole plate cost about $4.00 USD.

Tonight, after enjoying my vegetarian dinner, I decided to indulge in one of my favorite Taiwanese deserts: shaved ice with fruit! This mango shaved ice, with mango sauce drizzled over top, is probably meant for two. But since it only consists of fruit and shaved ice, it's really pretty healthy - even if you eat a giant bowl.

If you're ever in Taipei, and once you've done a few of the night markets, I suggest you go check out the fabulous food courts. They're one of Taipei's culinary wonders that is truly not to be missed!