This is one of the best meal we had in Taiwan!
“Walls” built from longan tree trunks greeted us as we alighted from our cab on our first day in Yilan.
This is the place where our tour guide brought us for our lunch and it is lined with plenty of logs too.
Close up of the logs outside the restaurant.
Can you guess what we will be having for lunch?
I did not know that these are from the longan trees until watching the video that is constantly looping in the restaurant.
Side View of the restaurant
Entrance of the restaurant with a huge mascot
With such a huge mascot, you should have guessed that chicken is the main dish that we are here for!
The chicken here are roasted in huge earthen jar like what you see above.
Close up of the earthen jars that looks like they were formed after some volcano eruption!
Top view of the jar without the chicken
View of the jar with the chicken inside. Each jar holds only one chicken!
It is a very labour intensive job which requires good skill and knowledge of the cooking technique!! The staff had to open up the jars one by one to check on the chicken!
And to rotate it every now and then to make sure that the chickens are evenly roasted!
Not forgetting to ensure that the flame to roast the chicken is right by adding longan logs at the appropriate time!
WOW! I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the Roast Chicken!
A glimpse of the interior while waiting to place our order
Although it was 2pm when we were there, there was still a queue before us but we did not have to wait long. Not knowing what to order, I left the decision making to my sister and the tour guide while I went trigger happy around the restaurant! 😛
The restaurant’s menu with its specialty Wen Yao Chicken 甕窯雞 and Spring Onion Chicken 油葱鸡 screaming at you in Chinese! 😛
At the ordering counter was a display case of the seasonal vegetables that you could add on to balance your meal
This really caught my eye! I have seen it on TV but never did I expect to see it here so when my sister asked me if I wanted it, the answer was a definite YES!
View of the interior after placing our orders and choosing our table
Everything is self help here. You take your disposable cutlery from this corner of the restaurant and if you want to take away any food, plastic bags of various sizes are available. There is free soup that you can self service here too.
The pot of pipping hot free soup 焢窯脆筍湯 that our tour guide took for us to share. There were plenty of fresh bamboo shoots in it and it tasted quite nice.
Our dishes arrived very quickly after we sat down and before long, our table was almost full!
My Must try Sea Grapes 海葡萄, NT200 comes served with a sauce that you can dip it in.
I have totally no idea what it tastes like and how to eat it!
Close up of the sea grapes. Really looks like mini bunches of grapes right? So cute…
Picking up a bunch and still wondering if it will burst like tobiko in my mouth… and it does! So interesting! Taste wise, there were some taste of the sea (of course since it came from the sea!) and basically nothing after that as it disappears in your mouth!
Dipping it in the braised sauce give it a more rounded flavour that goes very well with the hot spring rice!
Totally thrilled to be able to taste this during my first time in Taiwan! 😀
Spring Water Kang Kong 温泉空心菜, NT130
As the name implies, this vegetable was grown using water from the hot springs that this area is famous for, resulting in much bigger hollows in the stems. The kangkong is crunchy and I could taste a hint of sweetness in it. Feels so healthy chomping on it! Nice!
Stir Fry Three Star Spring Onions 三星炒葱, NT170
Three Star Spring Onions is a local specialty that you will definitely see in Taiwanese Food Programs. My first taste of it and found it so so only. Perhaps it was overshadowed by so many other interesting dishes available.
Stir Fry Cat’s Ear 炒猫耳 , NT200
I have no idea what this vegetable is but it does looks like cat’s ears and hence its Chinese name. It is a little crunchy and the cooking style makes you reach back for more!
Another interesting dish – Stir Fry Wild Ginger Flower 炒野姜花, NT200
Salted Garlic Prawns 香蒜盐 虾, NT 230
With all the vegetables and only one meat – chicken, we decided we should have a seafood to go with our BYO Sake. However, with the number of interesting vegetables, this dish was really neglected! LOL
The specialty that we are here for – Wen Yao Chicken 招牌宜蘭台灣古早味火山爆發甕窯雞, NT650 sold in no other size but whole.
The plate was huge and the chicken looks tiny in comparison but what is size compared to quality? These are free range black chickens! It was served with a pair of gloves for you to tear apart the chicken without blistering your hands as the chicken was served still pipping hot!
Close up of the chicken marinated with a lot of spices and roasted using the most traditional method using Longan Tree Trunks that gives it an additional fragrance.
A service staff came to help us take the chicken apart.
The mutilated chicken but still nicely plated
Served with the chicken are some mushrooms and garlic that had been roasting together with the chicken
The oil that was collected during the roasting process. Dip your meat in for the extra smoothness.
A pepper that has a very unique chinese herb flavour that goes very well with the tender chicken meat.
The drumstick that I had which was so juicy and feels so shiok just bitting it like that!
The chicken is so well roasted that the fat beneath the skin has all “melted”, leaving behind a crispy layer of skin.
Midway through our meal, we decided that we should try the “Three Cups” Century Egg 三杯皮蛋 NT170.
“Three Cups”Chicken are common place but “Three Cups” Century Eggs is a first. An interesting dish where the century eggs are deep fried before quick frying it with 1 cup of soya sauce, 1 cup of sesame oil and 1 cup of dark soya sauce and then topped with basil and cut chillis. You probably can guess where the name of the dish came from the portions of the seasoning used. : )
View of the whole restaurant taken from Google StreeView.
Our meal came up to NT1980 (~SGD86.90) for 5 pax which I feel is pretty value for money given the number of dishes we had. Probably the most shiok meal we had in Taiwan, eating at a restaurant with a table FULL of food!!!! This place is a must try when you are in Yilan as you will not able to find this traditional cooking method which retains the flavours of the chicken in Singapore. The myraid of vegetables available are an eye opener too!
Weng Yao Chicken 台灣古早味甕窯雞
No 7, Section 7, Jiaoxi Road Jiaoxi Township
Yilan County, Taiwan 宜蘭縣礁溪鄉礁溪路七段7號
Opening hours 營業時間 ： Monday – Friday 一-五 10am – 10pm
Sat & Sunday 六-日: – 9am – 11pm
Tel 電話： (+886) 0918-717-288
Website: http://www.0918717288.com
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E5%AE%9C%E8%98%AD%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E5%8F%A4%E6%97%A9%E5%91%B3%E7%81%AB%E5%B1%B1%E7%88%86%E7%99%BC%E7%94%95%E7%AA%AF%E9%9B%9E/225659337528556aD
