HOME CENTRAL TAIWAN DINING

COMPASS MAGAZINE April 2012
　

	Outer Mongolia Restaurant By Niang Chen Translated by Angel Pu 369, ChongDe 12th Rd, Beitun District; (04) 2422-9920 Hours: 5-11:30 pm, holidays 11:30 am-2:30 pm, 5-11:30 pm (closed Wednesdays) Chinese only. Credit cards accepted. 10% service charge. While Mongolia isn't a place that one thinks about too often, getting the opportunity to try truly authentic and unique Mongolian cuisine may change all that. Outer Mongolia Restaurant offers the patrons one of the Taichung's, perhaps Taiwan's, most unusual dining environments. This exotic ambiance includes grazing sheep, Mongolian-style yurts, Suutei Tsai (Mongolian milk tea) and all kinds of mutton dishes that will help diners feel like they're actually on the Mongolian steppe somewhere, sitting in a yurt to partake in some real Mongolian food.
	If you love Beijing Roast Duck, you'll probably also enjoy Cumin Mutton with Handmade Pancakes (NT$280).
	Made with an entire mutton leg marinated with dozens of Chinese herbs for three days, Grilled Mutton Leg (NT$580) goes great with vinegar, onions, some freshly squeezed lemon juice, and the restaurant's secret-ingredient sauce.
	Gobi Desert Mutton Skewers (NT$350) is a spicy, flavor-filled dish that consists of sweet peppers, green onions and pan-fried mutton cubes.
	Unlike the "Mongolian BBQ" served in countless other eateries, the genuine Mongolian barbecue served here--Stone Pot Beef (NT$480)--is made with marinated sirloin beef cubes grilled in a stone pot heated to over 200 degrees Celsius with other vegetables such as carrots, water chestnuts and cabbage for over 11 minutes. It is said that this stone container enhances the savoriness of the veggies and the tenderness of meat.
	The stock of Kublai Khan's Hot Pot (NT$480) is cooked with dozens of Chinese herbs, including Poor Man's Ginseng, Huangqi, Chuanxiong, and Matrimony vine (gouqi). According to descendants of Kublai Khan, the great man never lost a battle after eating this dish.