Taiwan Travelogue Day 2: Addiction Aquatic Development in Taipei
Being the foodie that I am, I researched pretty extensively on the topic before my actual trip to Taiwan. I can't settle for random "oh I'm too hungry let's just eat here" stalls anymore ever since a disaster in Hong Kong. Anyway, coming up tops from many many websites was this funny named hideout - Addiction Aquatic Development (AAD).
Just the size of these makes you want to lick your fingers already.
Alright alright here's how the entrance looks like.
Like what is up with its name?? Are you developing people to get addicted to aquatic food? Haha. Jokes aside, the Addiction Aquatic Development is a must see for tourists. It's a clean and eye opening experience to check out the wide variety of seafood. I need to emphasize that this is SO CLEAN!!! People are usually turned off by wet markets but this was air-conditioned, dry floors kinda comfort, enabling you to appreciate it much better. There's also a huuuuge sushi and sashimi area that's amazingly fresh which you can grab off the counter, pay, and devour at the tables outside.
They're worth it.
I wasn't feeling well even before I went to Taiwan due to some gastric flu problems, but I did not want to give up the chance to eat delicious sushi so we went ahead and got a number to try the famed sushi restaurant in the middle of the market. It's a bit troublesome to get to so just grab a cab. So cheap anyways.
It's just amazing to stare at them
The first segment would be all the live seafood waiting for you to grab into a basket and bring them home. Of course if you're there on holiday and you're living in a hotel... run along to the next segment where there's food to be had on the spot!
This stall had a long queue but I'm not interested in cooked food very much. This is like Taiwan's version of 'caifan' hahah.
This seafood joint is not for those who like to keep their hands clean. Pick your poison and sit by the bar as you peel off that juicy meat off your crab or lobster, completely fresh and perfectly marinated.
Then there's the sushi section.
Rows and rows of affordable sushi that taste as good as they look!! Don't believe me when I say it's affordable?? Check this out.
Tuna sashimi. At approx $28 sgd for this lot.
Japan grade salmon sashimi at approx $17
After you pass the takeaway sushi area, there's a sushi restaurant where a ton of people are waiting at. Since there were a bunch of people, we decided to give it a try. However we were told that it was going to be a looong wait (think 50 numbers in front of us or something) So we couldn't resist and ordered some while waiting for our turn at the sushi restaurant. There's quite a few areas to eat your packed stuff outside the AAD.
Yellowtaillll. Damn fresh cannot take it wanted to eat everything.
PSST! If you intend to eat there, I'd suggest you run past all the crabs/lobsters/sushi etc and grab a number to the sushi place, THEN turn around and slowly appreciate everything from the beginning. We had to wait 1h. No joke.
When it was FINALLY our turn, we took a look at the menu. Wah really quite ex. We were quite full by this time (no thanks to the earlier sushi) so we ordered the set.
Verdict? Don't waste your time. Buying off the counter is the same quality as the one in the sushi restaurant as they were all caught fresh the same day! The chefs aren't as skilled as the Japanese who put in extra effort in the seaweed, rice, and sauce, so it's better you save your time (and stomachs) and load up on the takeaway food.
Sharing some of the other pictures I took that day.
Ramen egg! Shiok!
Some of the shops don't have seats at all to save space!
Uni, anyone?
When we were done eating, we went next door to check out the fish market but it wasn't interesting =\ You're better off skipping this.
There are some other restaurants outside but they were yakitori places. Why come all the way here for yakitori!? Maybe you could check it out and let me know though.
Will I come back again? Definitely YES. However my trip was too time packed and we didn't have time to travel to this a little out of the way find. There is nothing to do around it.
Stay tuned for more adventures!
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