Just about to visit Taiwan for the first time in two months and looking forward to a foodgasmic adventure with the hubby. That is why an invite to a Taiwanese street food restaurant was perfect timing. What a preview to the culinary vista that awaits when I finally get to visit the land that was formerly called Formosa.
Taiwan Street Food is in Little Baguio….
BRAISES N STEW is a new restaurant in Little Baguio San Juan. Barely 5 months old , its located in Jose Abad Santos Street just beside Serenitea. The restaurant was pretty straightforward with a stainless steel counter providing the focal point. Behind it is the kitchen. 
The ceiling was relatively high which was good giving an illusion of a bit of space. Adornments were very simple ie a couple of shelves stack with board games.. 
On the opposite side is the restaurants logo in black with lighter granite background.
Its owner Wayne and the wifey are pure Taiwanese who moved to Manila some years back. A sweet and young couple, they made sure we enjoy the feast that was laid out for us.
The set up was like our local turo turo. A plethora of street food from all kinds of balls, meat and innards to veggies, mushrooms and noodles were on display for our pleasure. 
One can order a la carte or… if you can not make up your mind , you can opt for their set menu as follows: 
SET A – The Solo for Snack P135
Vegetable, Cheese ball , long feng roll stick, drumstick and noodles
SET B – The Classic (1 to 2 persons P288)
Balls x 2, tokwa, chicken wings, pork cheeks, beef kenchi,
veggies x 2 , radish, choice of rice or noodles
SET C – The Signature (3 to 4 persons P448)
Balls x4, pork knuckle, pork cheeks, beef kenchi
chicken wings, drumstick, radish, veggies x 3 , udon or ramen
choice of rice or noodles
FRUIT SLUSHEE
Mango Slushee P100
Grapes Slushee P120
Papaya Slushee P100
Lemon Plum Slushee P100
We tried the set menu . We also experienced creating our very own personalized bowl. Armed with a tong and my very own small white basin, I selected the following:
noodle P20
enoki mushrooms P40
broccolli P40
pechay P30
chicken P35
2 lobster ball and 2 cheese balls P60
tokwa P25
pork cheeks P15
century egg P40
Total P305
Overall…
It was a fun way to get a bird’s eye view of Taiwanese street food. The portions were generous. I loved the cheese and lobster balls. There was no stinky tofu but there was duck blood .
It looked like betamax. We were expecting it to be skewered and grilled ala our local iconic dugo. But this is BRAISES N STEW , so they stewed it for us. We had fun jiggling it because it was reminiscent of chocolate pannacotta no kidding. Then for the moment of truth, bravely cut a small piece to taste.
The texture was jelly-like. Think that Italian dessert mentioned prior but savory. It was not gamey at all. But shall I order it again ? I dont think so. Would recommend you try it though at least once just like the stinky tofu.
If it will be your first time here, I highly recommend the no-brainer set menu.
Prices were cheap. Food was good. Favorites were most balls , skewered dimsum, broccoli, mushrooms, century egg, etc.
A little caveat – friends would know what you ate by how you smelled hahaha.
Bottomline?
What’s not to love? If you find yourself in the area do try this quaint resto that is almost hole in the wall.
The experience made me more excited about my upcoming trip
Thank you for having us Braises n Stew and Zomato for the invite.
Braises N stews is located at J. Abad Santos Street, Little Baguio San Juan. they are open from 1130 am onwards.