Ben Dong Bistro offers a taste of Taiwan

While the pandemic makes it difficult to travel freely, I am grateful for all the cuisines available to us from afar. Searching the Keeaumoku area for Korean food recently, I was fortunate to have stumbled upon the newly open Ben Dong Bistro, the brick-and-mortar home of what had started as a food truck to test the market for xiaochi, or Taiwanese street snacks.

The hole-in-the-wall opened by Yen Chang Su, owner of Taste Tea, brings the flavors of Taiwan’s popular night markets to life. Never having had the pleasure of visiting Taiwan, I wondered what the fuss was about. I quickly found out.

If you are a reasonably health-minded eater, the dominant presence of fried foods will send warning signals to your brain to urge caution, but once you get started it’s hard to stop. With a light, crisp touch on everything from popcorn chicken to fried broccoli, your senses will convince you something this good can’t be all that bad for you. It’s interesting to note that Americans also gravitate to fried snacks, but ours tend to be in chip, potato or veggie form. Taiwan’s snacks involve all manner of meat, chicken parts and innards that Ben Dong offers in the form of crispy chicken skin ($5) to gizzards ($5) and chicken hearts ($5).

A more familiar place for most to start on the small and affordable menu would be with the popcorn chicken, which on the street would be served in paper bags with wooden skewers. Here, it’s served up in that snack form ($6) or plate lunch-style ($12) over a bed of minced pork rice — considered to be the national rice of Taiwan — plus braised cabbage and half a boiled egg. (“Ben dong” is the Taiwanese equivalent of a bento.)

You haven’t had good popcorn chicken unless you’ve tried the Taiwanese version, marinated in soy sauce, sugar and spices until tender before being tossed in sweet potato flour that gives it a delicate airy crunch after emerging from hot oil. The finished chicken is tossed with fried basil leaves.

TFC (Taiwanese fried chicken) is the cutlet version, pounded thin and just as tender as the popcorn chicken with the same distinctive flavors of white pepper, sugar, a touch of Sichuan peppercorns and a spice blend similar to Chinese five-spice. This is available in snack ($8) and plate ($12) versions. Given a choice, the popcorn chicken brings more of a fun element to dining and is easier to share.

If you like the minced pork rice that comes with the popcorn chicken, you might want to get a whole plate of it on a return visit. The juicy braised pork belly ($12) is diced in centimeter lengths making it easy to stir it into the rice and devour.

There are only eight seats available in the café that consists of little more than a takeout counter and refrigerator stocked with wa ter, sodas, the occasional teas and sometimes grab-and-go chicken cold noodles ($10). The liang mian starts with a layer of spaghetti-like, Taiwanese-style yakisoba noodles over which is a colorful layer of julienned cucumbers, carrots and shredded chicken that are all meant to be tossed together with a thick sesame sauce. The result is a refreshing and savory pasta salad perfect for warm weather.

If you do happen to snag a seat, you can sit down for bowl of braised beef noodles ($12), one of Taiwan’s best-known dishes. Ben Dong’s version combines thick noodles with the bouncy texture of udon and plentiful cuts of beef in a broth perfumed with anise and Sichuan spices. On the side are ramen-style pickled greens that can be added to the broth, a remnant of 50 years of Japanese occupation.

You could also build a meal from the a la carte snacks offered, starting with tasty twice-fried pork rib tips ($6), a quartet of scallion pancakes ($3.50), fried broccoli ($4), fried string beans ($4), and ending with soft, dessert-like taro-filled pancakes ($3.50). I hope that this little cafe becomes successful and will be able to expand because the menu just scratches the surface of all Taiwan cuisine has to offer, featuring just enough to leave diners curious and hungry for more.

Ben Dong Bistro

835 Keeaumoku St., Honolulu
(outside 88 Palpal Market)
Food: ****
Service: ***
Ambiance: **½
Value: ****
Call: 808-475-7577
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays
Prices: About $30 for two

Nadine Kam’s restaurant visits are unannounced and paid for by Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Follow Nadine on Instagram (@nadinekam).