Tri-City: Marina Supermarket

I saw pictures of my parents on Facebook eating a really yummy-looking Taiwanese breakfast, so I kicked up a fuss until they promised to take me.

Who knew good breakfast could be found at Marina Supermarket:

Head straight to the hot food section:

Get in line, point at what you want, and voila!:

The lady behind the counter asked my mom if she wanted the large soy milk or the small one.  My mom scoffed at the small size, laughing at how tiny it was.  We should have suspected something was off when the lady's eyes almost bugged out when she verified that my mom did indeed just order three large soy milks.

Soy milk is delicious hot.  An added benefit is that you can add as much sugar as you like:

We ended up sharing one between the three of us.  Oh, mother.

The most basic Taiwanese breakfast consists of soy milk, you tiao (fried doughnut), and shao bing (a type of sesame flatbread):

The right way to eat shao bing you tiao is to make it into a sandwich:

Oh man, oh man.  Fresh fried you tiao is the best.  The shao bing at Marina was flaky and warm and wonderful.

If you have leftover you tiao you can dip it into your soy milk.  Some people like it, some people don't.  I vary depending on my mood.

Another traditional Taiwanese breakfast item is the fan tuan or as I like to call it, the rice burrito:

The glutinous rice is usually filled with you tiao, pork sung, and pickled veggies:

According to my mom, this one wasn't all that good.

I was really curious about this little thing, so I ordered one even though it cost $1.99:

Basically a pork bun in the flaky shell:

Good, but not exactly life changing.

Go to Marina if you want to try a no nonsense Taiwanese breakfast.  Bypass everything else and get the holy trinity: hot soy milk, you tiao, and shao bing.

Unless you're a soy milk beast, I would advise you order a small.

Silly mom.


Marina Supermarket
Fremont Time Square Shopping Center
46196 Warm Springs Blvd
(510) 249-9199
http://www.marinafoodusa.com/