Yi Jia Zi

Review

Yi Jia Zi is at No. 79 Kangding Road in Wanhua, right beside Monga's Qingshui Zushi Temple. A CommonWealth media outlet reports that it is in its third generation and first made the Michelin Bib Gourmand list in 2020; Michelin's night-market feature also names it as a snack stop worth visiting near Huaxi Street. Its signatures are braised pork belly rice and Madou rice pudding.

The braised pork belly has evenly distributed fat and lean, cooked until tender enough to nearly melt, with the sauce seeping into the rice. It comes with braised tofu, pickled cabbage, spicy dried radish and pickled cucumber, whose tang and saltiness cut the richness. The gua bao uses the same pork with pickled greens and cilantro. A blogger recorded the 2024 menu: pork belly rice NT$120, gua bao NT$60, braised egg NT$15, all a little higher than in 2022. There is also minced pork rice, rice pudding, rice dumplings and sha-cha pork blood soup.

Praise focuses on the deeply seasoned pork and refreshing sides, with an overall slightly sweet southern-Taiwan flavor; foreign visitors note the English picture menu makes ordering easy. Criticisms include sweetness that some find heavy, fat that becomes cloying in quantity and recent price rises; the rice pudding and dumplings often sell out if you come late.

It opens Monday to Friday 09:00–19:00 and Saturday until 14:00, closed Sundays. Mealtimes often mean a 20-minute queue; a blogger suggests phoning in a takeaway order before 11 a.m. to skip it. The nearest MRT is Longshan Temple Station, a bit of a walk away; the lanes are narrow, so take the MRT or a bus.

It suits anyone wanting a hearty bowl of braised pork belly rice, and makes an easy stop after visiting Zushi Temple or the Longshan Temple area. Solo diners can order pork belly rice with an egg; two people can add a shared gua bao and a rice pudding, plus sha-cha pork blood soup if you want soup. If sweetness bothers you, balance it with extra pickled cabbage and spicy radish.