Yuan Bo Ba-wan

Review

Yuan Bo Ba-wan is on Sanmin Street in Wuri, about a one-minute walk from Wuri Station. Supertaste and UpToGo both say it has close to eighty years of history and is a shop many locals make a point of visiting in the morning, and a 2022 Supertaste piece on Wuri snacks also features it.

Its calling card is the plum-sauce ba-wan: on top of the usual ba-wan sauce, the shop adds its own plum sauce, with a clear plum aroma and a sweet-sour edge that cuts through the richness. The skin is springy and firm, and the filling is dense, made with pork foreleg, shiitake and bamboo shoots. Both the plum-sauce ba-wan and the yi noodles cost NT$40; the noodles are bouncy and tossed with minced pork, bean sprouts, mashed garlic and spring onion for a savoury bowl. There are also meatball soup, pork blood soup and blanched greens to round out a Taiwanese brunch.

Media almost unanimously name the plum-sauce ba-wan as the must-order. Most diners find the skin soft and chewy and the plum sauce refreshing; others feel the plum flavour is too faint and the meat filling a little small, so it comes down to taste.

Hours are roughly 6:30am to 2pm, closed Thursdays, and it gets stuffy inside around noon. It is easy to reach by train or metro, and Taichung MRT Wuri Station is within walking distance; drivers will need a nearby car park.

It suits anyone curious about a different take on ba-wan. Pair one plum-sauce ba-wan with a bowl of yi noodles or soup for around NT$80; if you are wary of sourness, taste first before asking for extra plum sauce.