The food of a place has an inseparable relationship with the cultural environment.
Tiantai can be said to be a mountain city with the spirit of immortality. It is the birthplace of the Tiantai Sect of Buddhism and a Taoist resort. In addition, many people on Tiantai are originally from Henan, so they also brought their pasta-making skills with them. Coupled with acquired fusion and mergers, a unique food culture has emerged.
After understanding these backgrounds, it should not be difficult to imagine the flavor of the small town of Tiantai. There are a lot of vegetarian and pasta dishes, the taste is mainly salty, and the cooking method is not complicated, so the original taste and texture of the ingredients are more vividly reflected.
I would like to share with you the "food map" I collected on the rooftop.
The left side is similar to the Xincheng District. Larger restaurants and shopping malls are here. The menus in restaurants also include rooftop specialty snacks. It is suitable for a group of people to have a dinner together. By the way, order two special snacks to try. One taste.
The right side is similar to the old city, a truly authentic specialty snack concentration camp, including a pedestrian block, suitable for friends to stroll and eat leisurely, and discover the treasures of old shops in nooks and crannies.
Next, let’s go from the new town to the old town. Let’s talk about the good things I ate on the rooftop in terms of shops! Rooftop Xujia Snacks?
Don’t be fooled by the name of the store. When I found the entrance of this store with the mentality of going to eat at a stall, I was surprised. It is a very impressive restaurant.
The self-service tea is a pot of hot soy milk, which is the first time I have encountered this. The mealtime business is very good, almost every table is occupied but there is no queue, which is great. The menu of this restaurant is super rich, with almost all kinds of dishes available. Of course, the specialty snacks are worth introducing.
Battered Latti
The batter is dragged into the pan into pancakes, wrapped in various fillings: shredded potatoes, mustard greens, eggs, dried vegetables, tofu, etc., and then stacked It’s done. Does it sound simple, bland and uninspired? But after taking one bite, I shouted "It tastes so good".
I ordered the tofu batter latte. You can imagine the overall flavor of Shandong multigrain pancakes stuffed with green onion and tofu. The shell is crispy and fragrant, and the filling is simple, just tofu paste with a fresh and salty onion aroma.
The more I eat multigrain pancakes, the drier they become, but the tofu filling of this latte just makes up for it. When you bite into it, you will find the crunchy pancake shell, soft tofu paste, and... If there is a vague aroma of egg, you really can't help but take one bite after another. Don't forget to eat it while it's hot.
Lu La Fei
It cannot be said that it is exactly the same as Lu La Tai, it can only be said that it has nothing to do with it! It is actually a soup made of starch, into which you can add diced bamboo shoots, mustard greens, peanuts, oil soak... a bowl of paste that is equally delicious and fragrant. Very suitable for breakfast.
I feel like this dish has something to do with Henan’s spicy spicy soup, but the taste is simpler and more refreshing, so you won’t get tired of eating it. I can’t help but use the cliché “mom’s taste” to describe it, because it’s really like the noodle soup midnight snack my mother made for me when I was hungry when I was a kid.
Since Xujia Snacks did not pay me any advertising fees, I would also like to recommend its nearby competitors (Duanshui Master). They are all shops with rich menus and where you can eat a variety of specialty snacks in one stop. Yuqingzhai
Yuqingzhai is said to have been built in 1931. It is a famous time-honored restaurant and can be said to be an internet celebrity restaurant. It is located in a pedestrian street in the old city. It is recommended that you go there for dinner and then take a stroll.
Dumpling tube
In a dumpling tube, there must be more than a dozen ingredients, such as meatball cake, chicken cake, pork liver, fat meat and other meat dishes, day needles, fungus, Vegetarian vegetables such as vermicelli, shredded bamboo shoots, and vegetable stems are rolled up on the latte skin in a certain order and then fried.
I call it the luxurious cylindrical paste latte with luxurious ingredients, it’s delicious! The crust is crispy and the fillings are rich, satisfying in one bite. The taste is also consistent. It is obviously very simple, but it is delicious.
Bianshi
It is a bit like wontons, but the skin is thinner, and it is filled with diced radish, peanuts and wild rice. You know, I am a carnivore who always only wants "meat" when going out to eat! But flat food won me over.
It is very refreshing, and it tastes very healthy. You can eat a lot without feeling guilty at all. It can be steamed, souped, or fried.
My favorite way to eat it is deep-fried and dipped in soy sauce and vinegar. The moment I tasted it, the position of Xiao Long Bao in my heart was precarious. And this one can also be meaty, it’s up to you to choose.
Xiuyuan Steamed Cake
Another delicacy that seems ordinary, but is actually an "intangible cultural heritage" on the rooftop!
Made purely from glutinous rice, the taste is said to be soft and delicate. It was once used to entertain distinguished guests. But I didn’t try it. This portion looked so good that I couldn’t hold it in. Friends who have tried it can speak up and comment. Lao Naughty Dried Vegetable Biscuits and Ox Blood Soup
This is a very famous local old shop, which can be seen from the fading of the signboard. There was no place to sit in the store, so I bought a prune pancake. When I bought it, I thought, there is no such thing as prune pancake, how can it be so delicious?
But the result is really delicious. It’s not that the taste is so special, but the fillings are sufficient. The dough is crispy on the outside and tough on the inside. It’s freshly baked and feels like it’s really made with care. Zhang’s ultimate pickle and vegetable pancake!
It costs 8 yuan a piece, so my friend and I each had half of it. I’m not greedy, and I was really unsatisfied after eating it.
Ox blood soup is also a specialty food on the rooftop. Old Naughty Restaurant has it, but there was no place to sit and eat it, so I didn’t try it (actually I didn’t dare). Large pieces of beef blood and white radish are stewed together in a soup. It's a huge bucket. I'll get you a bowl of it. If you like radish or beef blood, tell the boss yourself. It’s full of “flavor”, so those who like to drink water can try it. The old authentic wheat cake shop
It is also an irreplaceable time-honored brand in the hearts of locals. The wheat cakes are freshly made and made with optional fillings. When eating, you need to use three chopsticks, just like eating Western food. Use one to hold it up and two to pick it up. It is also called "rooftop pizza".
Make your own dipping sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, chili, it’s really delicious!
Although it sounds similar to glutinous rice cake, it tastes different. This pancake is soft, with a thick crust and a little bit of fried crispiness. Recommended fillings include pumpkin shreds that are salty and sweet, and shepherd’s purse meat fillings that are similar to the shepherd’s purse dumplings. Thick Ice
After talking about all the rooftop delicacies, I would like to end with an ice cream shop. It’s the last restaurant I’ve ever eaten at on the rooftop, and it’s also the one I most hope will soon be a nationwide chain!
When I was making a rooftop food guide on Xiaohongbook, I noticed this “Hou Bing” dessert shop that was always mentioned. I'm curious about mango ice and strawberry ice. Isn't this available everywhere? Is it because the decoration is good-looking that it is more popular on the internet? It wasn’t until I went there in person that I realized there was something really different about Houbing.
The fruit ice I have eaten in most dessert shops has the feel of a smoothie, like water + milk frozen and then broken into pieces. One bite will chill your heart and make your brain hurt. .
The thick ice is amazing, it feels like it is made directly from milk or thin custard and then shaved into chunks. The color is beige and the shape of the ice is like filaments. Because they are slender ice strands, they are gathered together in the bowl. They are in a fluffy and stacked state, and you will feel a "airy" feeling in your mouth when you eat it. That's right! It just feels like air!
When you take one bite, it feels like cotton, fluffy and soft. When the temperature in your mouth melts it slightly, it feels cool and refreshing.
The ice melts more slowly, and the melted liquid is only at the bottom of the bowl. Unlike other smoothies, which are basically just a puddle of water at the end, thick ice hardly melts. The flavors are pretty much the same, so you can just choose what you like. This unique ice is really worth trying. Summary
In the small county town of Tiantai, prices are low and taxis are cheap. The personality of Taizhou’s local cuisine is “unpretentious but with hidden surprises”. Although it looks inconspicuous, the ingredients themselves and its preparation seem ordinary, but it tastes really good. Each meal costs less than 50 yuan per person, and the cakes are basically only a few yuan. I really love it! I will definitely go again if I have the chance!