STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine

Those who are residing in the West may find the name STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine pretty familiar — having previously been located within the air-conditioned Food Hub food court at an industrial complex named Enterprise Hub, STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine had recently moved out of its former premises and now operates as a standalone eatery within a shopping mall. Opening its doors of its new premises at Alexandra Central in January 2023, STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine occupies a ground level unit in the mall that is located in between Freshly Baked by Le Bijoux and Kumo Japanese Dining; in fact, the unit now occupied by STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine was one where Kumo Japanese Dining was formerly operating from. The interior of STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine is simply decorated, though one that does seem to be rather tasteful — whilst they had retained the design on one of its walls from the former tenant of the space, the entire establishment otherwise features a mix of wooden elements in its fittings while the furniture maintains a simple look with marble-esquires table tops and black metal stools; the walls featuring some street scenes of Taiwan. The menu at STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine in its new space at Alexandra Central is pretty much the same one which was previously served up at their Enterprise Hub location — the main dishes being split up into sections that are dedicated to Ramen, Rice, Mee Sua and Fried Rice, while items to share around the table are listed in the Big Chicken Cutlet, Egg, Taiwan Pancake and Snacks section of the menu. Being a standalone eatery now also means that STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine does serve up some beverages on its menu as well — this would include the Bubble Tea, Sour Plum and Wintermelon Tea, which are the only beverage options listed.

Being one of the items which we had ordered to share around the table, the Deep Fried Egg Plant with Pork Floss is an item which is pretty self-explanatory in its name. Essentially being strips of deep fried eggplant that is deep-fried and coming with pork floss being sprinkled atop, the Deep Fried Egg Plant with Pork Floss was a simple dish that was done well. The strips of Deep Fried Egg Plant was well-portioned; sized in a way that would ensure one to finish a single strip within two to three bites, the deep fried eggplant carried a crisp texture on the outside, whilst featuring moist and soft eggplant within — all this without being in any way greasy. The sprinkling of the pork floss provided quite an umami note with a variance of texture that gave the dish a flavoural and textural contrast, but what was not mentioned in the namesake of the dish would be the addition of plum seasoning that actually helped to elevate the dish a little. With the deep fried eggplant strips being seasoned with the said plum seasoning just like how one would do with the Taiwanese rendition of the sweet potato fries, it adds yet a sweet and umami touch that gives the dish an extra oomph that certainly set the impression right with us.

It could have been us being a little adventurous on the day of our visit to STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine; we found ourselves skipping on the more common dishes such as that of the Taiwan Braised Pork Rice, Fried Rice with Pan Fried Pork Cutlet and the Taiwan Mee Sua with Oyster only to go for items such as that of the Pork Bone Soup Spicy Fish Ramen, Spring Onion Shredded Chicken Rice with Shallot Oil and Taiwan Scallion Egg Pan Cake with Cheese and Caviar. Whilst we aren’t really quite sure what would be quite an authentic bowl of Spring Onion Shredded Chicken Rice with Shallot Oil to have considering that we have never been into Taiwan before, one issue that we have had with the Spring Onion Shredded Chicken Rice with Shallot Oil at STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine was the shredded chicken being a tad dry which pretty much stood out from all the other elements within the same dish — the item was fine otherwise with moist and pearly short-grain rice which is well-flavoured by some savoury braised sauce and the shallot oil. The other items we have had did fare slightly better than the Spring Onion Shredded Chicken Rice with Shallot Oil however. That being said, it does seem that STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine is able to bring the taste of Taiwan to the masses without us having to fly to Taiwan to enjoy Taiwanese cuisine; prices of dishes are also pretty pocket-friendly being listed at below $10 for all dishes except for the Taiwan Braised Beef Ramen Soup priced at $13.80. We are likely to return to STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine to give their more basic items such as the Taiwan Braised Pork Rice, Fried Rice with Pan Fried Pork Cutlet and the Taiwan Mee Sua with Oyster a try though — perhaps those dishes would be more representative of what STR TAO Taiwanese Cuisine has to offer.

One of the Taiwanese Must Have will be the Signature Braised Pork Rice. The mixture of braised pork belly, minced meat, braised peanuts and cabbage is decked up by a bed of pearl rice. The bowl was sprinkled with chopped spring onions and tucked with a dollop of chilli too. We added the braised egg 卤蛋 at an additional $0.80.

Personally, I love the herbal infused pork belly chunks that boasted a strong scent of cinnamon and star anise. What's more, they have a good amount of melt in the mouth fats and tender meat.

This hidden gem among the industrial estate is definitely worth highlighting especially for those who are craving Taiwanese food. Though the pricing may be steeper compared to other food in the industrial estate, I would say the price paid is worth the taste. The selection is of a good variety and I will be back for others.

Taiwan Braised Beef Ramen Soup.

Return to Str Tao Taiwan Cuisine stall for their deep-fried snacks. Ooh, both the crispy chicken cubes and sweet potato fries dusted with salt and plum powder are so yummy & addictive!
#burpple #burpplesg #stfoodtrending #straitstimesfood #sgfood #sgeats #foodsg #wheretoeatsg #whattoeatsg #strtaotaiwancuisine

The weather is getting cold and this bowl of hot beef noodle soup with rich, full-flavoured beef broth, tender braised beef and salted vegetables is the perfect soup season item that I love to slurp up to.
The other item on the menu that I’ll certainly return to order again is their deep-fried sweet potato snack coated with plum powder and salt which is amazingly light, crispy & super addictive! ❤️
#burpple #burpplesg #stfoodtrending #straitstimesfood #sgfood #sgeats #foodsg #wheretoeatsg #whattoeatsg #strtaotaiwancuisine #strtaotaiwanesecuisine