If you’re nearby the Nanjing Sanmin area, and in the mood to eat something local, then you should seriously check out Qi Steamed Dumplings.
The restaurant serves a rich variety of tasty Taiwanese food while specializing in steamed dumplings. They even named their restaurant after them!
In recent years, they’ve become pretty well known in the area from the amount of praise from Taiwanese foodie bloggers.
They are located in a low-key alley in Nanjing Sanmin (green line), about a 5-minute walk from the MRT exit 1. – Since you may find it tricky to find them, we’ve added directions on the map.
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1. About the Restaurant |
On every visit, we’ve always found the restaurant pretty clean and well organized. This means you can expect them to swiftly clean up after a finished table to be ready for the next customer.
This is because it can typically get crowded around lunch and dinner time. However, despite it being a busy restaurant, we’ve never needed to wait longer than about 10 minutes for a table. – That said, there were occasions we had to share a table with others.
They have a simple selection of drinks in the refrigerator – mostly teas, soft drinks, and even alcohol if you like Taiwan beer. – You’re allowed to help yourself to a drink, just let them know at the end when paying your bill.
The dipping sources section is for the steamed dumplings which are also in a buffet style. Once you’ve got your table, make good use of the wait time by preparing your dipping sauce.
The restaurant recommends that the steamed dumplings should be eaten with the source and shredded ginger.
Each time we visit Qi Steamed Dumplings, we usually order a varied range of Taiwanese food depending on our mood. This is because, no matter what we order, it always compliments our favorite selection of dumplings.
It’s worth noting that everything you order comes as soon as they’ve cooked it.
What we ordered
Please bear in mind that they don’t speak much English, and their menu is only in Chinese. Therefore, we suggest showing them the pictures of what you like from this blog – they should understand that you want to order it.
Dry tomato noodles ($75)
This is actually their dry tomato noodles – we had to check since it has a lot of soup. The tomato had a naturally mild sweetness to it without the feeling of any impurities added.
The noodles were surprisingly not very soft, and the portion wasn’t too much.
Corn soup ($35)
The corn soup had a somewhat thick texture, but the taste was flavourful and creamy. Again, the portion size was perfect and didn’t leave us feeling too full for our dumplings.
Shrimp steamed dumplings ($125)
They arrived at our table piping hot and all giving off steam!
These shrimp steamed dumplings are by far the most popular, and there’s absolutely no wonder why. Even with all the wrinkles and the thinness of the skin, it’s the exposed red shrimp that make them look so beautiful and delicious!
Each of these dumplings contains a full shrimp with juicy pork, leaving you wanting more after finishing the first set.
Cabbage steamed dumplings ($75)
We also ordered a set of cabbage dumplings that go very well with the pork. The dipping sauce and ginger really do get the best taste out of them.
They also serve Kimchi dumplings ($75) known as Koran Spicy dumplings are another popular choice.
All their dumplings are filled with pork and come in sets of 8. If you’re here just for the dumplings, you may not feel one set is enough since they’re relatively small portions. So with that in mind, it’s probably worth ordering more than one set.
Our total cost for this occasion came to $310 for the two of us. A fairly inexpensive meal for two considering how delicious and fresh the food was.
When you’re finished, simply leave everything on your table and go back to the cashier. They keep your bill at the cashier, so you just need to inform them of your table number, and if you had any drinks or side dishes from the refrigerator.
Worth visiting?
It’s a pretty decent steamed dumpling restaurant that we often visit when we’re in the area. We recommend it to everyone!
Will we go back?
We already have a number of times. It’s just a shame they’re not open on the weekends.
Qi Steamed DumplingsHours: Telephone: 02 2760 1935 English address: No. 3, Alley 4, Lane 123, Section 5, Nanjing East Road, Songshan District, Taipei City Chinese address: 105台北市松山區南京東路五段123巷4弄3號 Closest MRT: Nanjing Sanmin (exit 1) |
🗓️ Updated: February 2021 – Taipei.Expats
