Lunch set — double up bowl (braised pork + fried chicken) & boba milk tea ($10.80)!
Thursday Taiwanese — double-protein lu rou fan with fried chicken + boba milk tea, $10.80 lunch set.
Thursday Taiwanese lunch — double-up bowl (braised pork + fried chicken) + boba milk tea at $10.80. The upgraded protein bowl plus the bubble tea drink at the casual restaurant set lunch tier.
We ordered:
- Double-up bowl (braised pork + fried chicken)
- Boba milk tea
Total: $10.80 for the set.
The double-up bowl format is the Taiwanese restaurant upgrade tier. The standard lu rou fan (braised pork rice) gets a second protein added on top — usually a fried chicken or another meat option — creating a more substantial single-bowl meal.
The braised pork was the headline. Finely chopped pork belly braised in a deep five-spice and dark-soy sauce until the fat goes silky and the meat melts apart. Spooned over short-grain rice that’s absorbed some of the braising liquid. The classic Taiwanese lu rou fan format.
The fried chicken upgrade adds the second protein on top of the bowl. Probably battered chicken thigh or breast, deep-fried until crispy, sliced into strips. The crispy chicken provides the textural contrast against the soft braised pork — the soft-meat-on-rice plus the crispy-chicken-on-top combination.
The bowl came with the standard accompaniments: half a tea egg (slow-braised in the same five-spice braising stock), pickled mustard greens for the acid-crunch, and a sprinkle of fried shallots on top for aroma.
Boba milk tea was the drink. The Taiwanese bubble tea standard — black tea base, fresh milk, sweetener at 50%, tapioca pearls at the bottom. The chewy QQ pearls provide the textural element.
At $10.80 for the set this is fair Taiwanese casual restaurant pricing. The double-up bowl alone usually runs $7-8; the bubble tea included adds another $3-4. The bundled set pricing usually saves $1-2 over à la carte.
The Thursday lunch slot is the right venue for a Taiwanese set. After the week’s home cooking and hawker stops, Thursday’s Taiwanese restaurant set adds another cuisine variation.
The pattern through December had its rhythm. Home weekday cooking + hawker breaks + restaurant lunches across cuisines (Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Taiwanese) + occasional Burpple Beyond / Chope voucher dinners + the weekend home brunch. Phase 2 had restored the full Asian-food restaurant ecosystem.
Overall: 4.3 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Solid double-up Taiwanese set — would re-order.
