For those who know me personally, my second favourite cuisine of choice (after Japanese) would undoubtedly be Taiwanese. Having traveled extensively throughout the country, I can truly say that whilst my physical form has returned to Australia, my heart will forever remain in Taiwan (munching fried chicken in the night markets of Shilin). Sadly, there is a defined shortage of Taiwanese food (read as NONE AT ALL) in the Brisbane CBD area. With the closure of Re PIT in Elizabeth Arcade a few years back, I've been constantly left with unsatisfied cravings that have had to wait for my weekend trips to Sunnybank, so when I heard about the opening of Jia Ba Way, literally, are you full yet? from the highly respected Brisvegustation, I ran, not walked, all the way over to their lodgings on Elizabeth Street to get my fix.
As the name and signage suggests, they serve authentic Taiwanese food and drink. I was getting super hyped.
Heading in, it was order via counter service. The menu comprised of some classic traditional rice and noodle options, with my favourite deep fried side dishes.
Getting a number, I headed inside. The shop was surprisingly big, but filled up extremely fast, being full by the time I finished my meal.
My meal came out fairly quickly after. Yes, I ate this all by myself, because I couldn't bare to share it with anyone.
First up was the watermelon juice. As the drink to accompany my meal, it was sweet, refreshing and delicious. Having suffered the misfortune before of drinking watered down watermelon juice, I was thankful that this drink was 100% the real thing.
As a side, I ordered the deep fried king oyster mushrooms. These were lightly battered in tempura coating, and fried to a golden brown. Mushrooms inside remained juicy whilst the coating was wonderfully crisp. Portion size was also good value.
Last was my fried chicken noodle.
Compared to the mushroom as a side portion, the chicken was unquestionably small. WIth only four strips to the piece, it was a far cry from my beloved Hot Star. As with most Taiwanese Chicken, it was coated with potato starch before frying, resulting in a piece of fried chicken that tastes like its coated in potato chips, all the while retaining a juicy interior. Despite the size, I found the chicken to be very tasty, but would have preferred it larger.
When ordering noodles, I was expecting soup noodles, but they were actually dry noodles topped with pork mince, fresh veges, pickled veges and a tea egg. The noodles were tender, and mixed thoroughly with a soy based sauce which was highly enjoyable. The egg was thoroughly marinated with even the yolk infused with flavour and the vegies were also fresh. I really enjoyed the meal and will need to calm myself down from this hype and come back again with friends.
Taste: 9/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10
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