Xinglongju

A traditional breakfast joint with a history of more than 60 years, Xinglongju is one of the few stores worth a visit near Kaohsiung's Liuhe Tourist Night Market. Every morning when it just opens, customers waiting for their breakfast have already formed a long queue. As you can see from the billboard above the joint, the signature dishes are tangbao (soup buns, 湯包) and shaobing (Chinese baked flatbread, 燒餅). Walk around the store, and you'll find at least one bun on every table—in many cases, there are even several buns for one person. As a result, chefs almost cannot get their work done in time. In the kitchen, they are busy kneading and fillings buns. Others at the entrance are arranging them into steamers. However, when the buns are well steamed, they will be moved from the steamer to the plates and served to the customers in a minute. Xinglongju's tangbao is slightly larger than the average. The soup in the tangbao will burst out almost every time you have the first bite on it. If you are savoring a tangbao just coming out from the steamer, be sure not to burn your tongue in a haste to taste it. On the other hand, the shaobing has been baked so crispy that you can feel layers of texture while biting on it. To perfect the taste, have scallion egg or youtiao (Chinese oil stick, 油條) stuffed in shaobing. Soy bean milk, peanut & rice milk, and barley milk are also provided at Xinglongju. Yet a more bizarre dish that many customers dare not to try is soy bean milk with wispy eggs. For customers who want to have Western-style breakfast, there are also French toast and sandwiches to choose from. But we believe what makes people line up waiting for ages should not be the Western meal.