It’s funny how distance and travel time are relative. I used to think that driving from KY to NJ and back during a four-day weekend wasn’t so bad (only twelve hours each way), but now the thought of going four and a half hours to Kenting seems like a looooong trip. Maybe it’s because Taiwan is so much smaller than the expansive U.S. of A. Likewise, living in the city has definitely changed my perspective on how far things seem. When I lived in Dashe, we had to drive to everything, so even the “close” restaurants were a good ten minutes by car. Now if I drive ten minutes to a restaurant, it’s “far;” only places we can walk to are “close.” Lee’s Restaurant is one of those ten-minute drives, but it is totally worth it.

We were first introduced to Lee’s as “a really good dumpling place,” and that it is! It also has an extensive variety of delicious Taiwanese cuisine; we’ve loved pretty much everything we’ve tried on several different occasions. There is lots of seating downstairs and upstairs, the service is fast, and the price is right. Charles and I had a HUGE lunch (with leftovers) there yesterday for 470 NT (about $15 USD). Check out my pictures below to see some of the delectable options on the menu as well as a few shots of the restaurant and us.

The restaurant front.

Shrimp fried rice.

Beef and green onion.

Fried hollow heart vegetable.

Fried cabbage.

Stir fried squid.

Happy eating.

Kung pao chicken (sweet & spicy).

Delicious dumplings (these are pork & shrimp, our favorite).

Happy eating.

Making dumplings out front.

Lee’s is located on Bei Ping Lu, which people call “Food Road,” where there are lots of other tasty food options and many tea/juice shops. Macu (a favorite drink shop from Dashe) has the most delicious passion fruit-orange-green tea, and that’s what we enjoyed sipping on yesterday to go with our delicious meal from Lee’s. There’s also a great 雪花冰 (“xue hua bing”–shaved frozen milk with fruit toppings) place on the street, so we usually hit that on our way out for dessert.

Passion fruit-orange-green tea.

Passion fruit bing.

Mango bing (to go).

Bei Ping Lu is practically on our way home from school or church, so it’s a perfect little stop when we’re craving delicious Taiwanese food. We highly recommend it!

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“Foreigner in Formosa” is a series of short posts about all the things I find winsome, intriguing, and delightful about Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa, meaning “beautiful island” in Portuguese). If you liked this post, take a look at some others in the series.