Dawan Matou (大灣碼頭): Taiwanese stir-fry and seafood, 5 minutes from City Hall Station

The Songlong branch of 大灣碼頭熱炒生猛海鮮 is at No. 1, Songlong Rd. in Xinyi, across from Songshan High School, about a 5-minute walk from Exit 1 of City Hall MRT. Dawan Matou has two branches near City Hall; this post is about the Songlong one.

熱炒 (re chao) restaurants are Taiwan's casual stir-fry places: many small dishes cooked fast over high heat, shared at the table with beer. This one opens at 5 pm and stays open until midnight, until 1 am on Fridays and Saturdays, and is closed on Mondays. It gets lively, with lots of people coming for beer after work, so call ahead for a big group.

I came here for dinner in June 2018 and ordered a full table, from sashimi all the way to fried noodles. All the photos in this post are from that night.

The signature is 金牌脆皮雞, gold-medal crispy-skin chicken: shiny golden skin that crackles, and tender meat cut in big pieces, with a small dish of salt and pepper for dipping.

地獄肥腸, "hell" pork intestine, is pork intestine stir-fried with dried chilies, onion and scallion in a thick, spicy sauce. Great with rice.

The full name means stir-fry and live seafood, and there are fish tanks in the shop. Our sashimi platter had tuna, cuttlefish and raw shrimp on ice and shredded daikon, with a few calamansi.

The soup was clams with glass noodles: a clear broth with plenty of clams.

Fried dishes go best with beer. The pork ribs are fried crisp and covered in fried garlic, garlic slices, scallion and chili. Another plate is battered and fried typhoon-shelter style, then topped with a big handful of fried garlic crumbs and scallion.

農家小炒, the farmer's stir-fry, is fish cake, stinky tofu, sweet potato and green beans, fried and tossed with salt and pepper. Order it if you want a bit of everything. For something lighter, sliced pork is laid on bean sprouts and topped with a thick sauce.

Luffa is cooked with clams, dried shrimp and garlic, in a broth full of flavor. June is bamboo shoot season: cold green bamboo shoots, cut into chunks, come with mayonnaise and colored sprinkles.

Finish with fried rice or noodles. The fried rice has egg, pork and scallion; the noodles come with cabbage, onion, carrot and pork in a little sauce. Plain rice is free, if you would rather have it with the dishes.

Looking at these photos makes me hungry again.

Dawan Matou is about 5 minutes on foot from City Hall Station and open until midnight, so you can still eat after a late day at work. Our monthly rooms near City Hall Station start at 30 days, come furnished, and you can move in with just a suitcase.