Moon Moon Food (Qingdao)

Review

Moon Moon Food was founded in 2012 by CEO Lai Yong-sheng, who wanted a place where more people could eat his mother Lin Bao-gui's home cooking. The Qingdao branch, on Qingdao East Road near National Taiwan University Hospital, has been a Taipei Michelin Bib Gourmand pick for years, and the brand has since opened in Jinan, Zhonghe, Guangfu and Bade, several of them next to hospitals. Sources don't clearly say which shop came first, but Qingdao is the most reported and the one on the Bib Gourmand list.

The signature clam and chicken soup uses fresh free-range-style chicken legs; the bones simmer for at least eight hours, and broth and meat are cooked separately, so the soup is clear and sweet and the leg stays springy rather than dry. In a 2022 report both the clam chicken soup and the free-range chicken leg tonic soup were NT$170, while the Qingdao-only lingzhi and white shouwu chicken soup, with a light herbal scent and lots of cabbage, was NT$240. Bowls are large enough for two to share. There are also chili-oil dry noodles, braised pork rice, milkfish belly and air-dried braised snacks.

Diners most often praise the sweet chicken broth, the generous clams and fair prices, and the numbing, spicy chili-oil noodles; reports note that several business leaders and a Korean pop star have been regulars. Complaints center on the small room, long peak-time queues and tight seating, and some find the braised snacks and sides ordinary; the soup is the real star.

Hours are 11:00–14:00 and 17:00–20:00 daily, with no reservations. To skip the line, arrive before the 11 a.m. opening or around 2 p.m. You scan a code and order on your phone before sitting down, and you collect your own utensils at the front. It is a five- to ten-minute walk from NTU Hospital or Shandao Temple MRT stations, and parking nearby is hard.

It suits anyone wanting a warming bowl of chicken soup, people caring for a patient or a family member just out of hospital, and fans of light home-style Taiwanese food. First-timers can order the clam chicken soup with braised pork rice or chili-oil noodles; groups of two or three can add braised snacks or milkfish belly to share.