Ming Kui Breakfast

Review

Ming Kui Breakfast is at No. 390 Zhengqi Road in Taitung City, about a two-minute walk from the Zhengqi Road tourist night market, and media describe it as Taitung's first Western-style breakfast shop. Crowds arrive as soon as it opens each morning, with takeaway queues on weekdays and weekends, and many tourists even ask their guesthouse hosts to order for them the day before. It is one of the names most often found on Taitung breakfast lists.

The signature is condensed-milk French toast, made much like Hong Kong-style French toast: bread dipped in egg, pan-fried until fragrant and drenched in condensed milk, rich with egg and crisp outside, soft inside. Those who like sweet and savoury can choose the meat floss version. There are also roast pork and egg burgers, pork chop and egg burgers and club sandwiches, and the signature drink is longan milk tea. A diner's post records French toast with fresh milk tea at about NT$65, very friendly prices.

Fans praise the French toast, the fast service and the low prices, and the roast pork or pork chop burgers are often recommended; visitors from abroad also find ordering easy. Complaints include thick-sliced French toast that some find too sweet (the thin slice is more balanced), weak milk tea, hard-to-find seats at peak times, and an open-front room with no air conditioning that gets hot in summer.

It opens from about 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and closes once breakfast is done. Weekends from 8 to 10 a.m. are busiest, so arrive before 7 to eat in, or phone ahead for takeaway. The 30-plus-year Mei Er Mei breakfast shop next door makes a good backup when it is full. Roadside parking is limited, so walking over is easiest if you stay around Zhengqi Road.

Good for travellers staying in Taitung City who want a true local breakfast, and for families with children. First-timers should get the thin-sliced condensed-milk French toast with a drink, adding a roast pork and egg burger if hungry. If you dislike sweetness, ask for less condensed milk or choose the savoury meat floss version.