Taiwan Beef Noodle Soup Tour Stop #5: 72 Beef Noodle Soup - 台灣牛肉麵導遊之五: 七十二牛肉麵 (Taipei, Taiwan)

七十二牛肉麵 (72 Beef Noodle Soup)

Yes, this is it! This is part 5, and the final chapter of my mini beef noodle soup tour of Taiwan. Although some of you guys might be sick of reading about beef noodle soup that's all the way in Taiwan, it was enjoyable for me to write about the cuisine from my home country. There's no way that I was going to end my tour without writing about my favorite beef noodle stop in Taipei.

七十二牛肉麵 (72 Beef Noodle Soup)

I was brought to 七十二牛肉麵 (I'll refer to it as 72 NRM (aka niu rou mian) on this post) by my friends on my second night in Taiwan. Already stuffed from an all you can eat hot pot lunch with my aunt and cousin and then snacks at KTV (Chinese karaoke), I was seriously questioning the idea of getting more food to eat. Yet, since I am on vacation, that doubt quickly dissipated, especially when I saw all the cow bones hanging outside. Oh ya, I thought to myself, this shit is going to be good.

七十二牛肉麵 (72 Beef Noodle Soup)

The interior was clean and quaint. And for all those that are afraid of the heat, like myself, this place does have air conditioning.

招牌牛滷花干 (Niu Lu Hua Gan)

We were first given this small bowl of the restaurant's famous 牛滷花干. Frankly, I don't know what's the best way to translate this thing other than the fact the items were stewed in the beef broth. Tender, beefy, and delicious. We were given this for me to test the broth, as the actual 牛滷花干 was actually sold out and this was the remaining batch they had left that night.

皮蛋豆腐 - (Thousand Year Old Egg Tofu - Pi Dan Dofu)

Yup, another beef noodle soup place, another order of the thousand year old egg tofu side dish. As I've said, I love this stuff!

乾拌牛肉麵 (Dry Beef Noodle Soup - Gan Ban Niu Rou Mian)

While  I don't normally order the dry version of the beef noodle soup, I was told the version here was fantastic. True to their word, it was delicious. We ordered two bowls of the dry beef noodle soup and chose each of the two broth offered. While I've mentioned before that I've generally passed on the clear broth with regards to beef noodle soup, the version at 72NRM was phenomenal. In fact, I liked it a lot more than the soy sauce braised version. It was rich, beefy, and yet, subtle enough you could drink 2-3 bowls worth of the broth.

清燉牛肉麵 (Clear Broth Beef Noodle Soup - Qin Doun Niu Rou Mian)

Yup, more of this amazing broth. It reminded me of the Korean Oxtail Soup (gomtang), but better. Also, instead of having the beef in chunks, we were served thick sliced beef. The beef itself was tender and flavorful. This was a delicious bowl of beef noodle soup.

紅燒牛肉麵 (Beef Noodle Soup - Hong Shao Niu Rou Mian)

This might be something most are used to seeing. The dark beefy broth was quite nice, but comes second to the clear version. Although a delicious bowl, I personally prefer the clear broth version.

七十二牛肉麵

I liked this place so much I had to make a return visit before my flight back to Los Angeles.

七十二牛肉麵

Since 72NRM was a 15min walk from my aunt's house, I decided to work up an appetite and walked over for my last meal in Taiwan.

招牌牛滷花干 (Niu Lu Hua Gan)

Since what I had previously wasn't the exact dish since they ran out of a few of the items to make this, I had to order this. Again, it was delicious. Beefy, tender, cooked in that beautiful broth.

炒滷味 (Stir Fried Stewed Combo - Chao Lu Wei)

This is their signature side dish, 炒滷味. Basically it's a mix of the stewed items, but stir fried in chili oil. So. Fucking. Good. This is a must order! Add a bit more of the bone marrow chili sauce that's provided, it's off the hook. Yes, I said bone marrow chili sauce! This would go SO well with an ice cold beer!

乾拌牛肉麵 (Dry Beef Noodle Soup - Gan Ban Niu Rou Mian)

What did I order? I went with my favorite from the previous visit: dry beef noodles with a side of clear broth. Again, it was delicious.

七十二牛肉麵

72 NRM is a place I'll return over and over again. It has become my favorite beef noodle place in Taipei. It's a place I'd recommend to family and friends (which I did here). The 72 from 72NRM meant the 72 hours the shop takes to make its beef broth. The pain staking process of making their broth were shown beautifully in each of their bowls served to their customers. Although everyone has their favorites in Taipei, 72 NRM has become mine. Trust the Panda, eat at 72NRM!

If you can read Chinese, this and this were great posts on 72 NRM.

Rating 5 out of 5

七十二牛肉麵 (72 NRM)
台北市大安區 (Taipei City, Da An District)
建國南路一段188號‎ (Jin Guo S. Rd, Section 1, No. 188)
Phone: (02) 2752-5970‎


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