Mercuries Beef Noodle (三商巧福): Fast, Everywhere, and Just Enough

It’s probably been one to one and a half years since I ate at 三商巧福Sān shāng qiǎo fú. For this review, I’ll call it Mercuries, since that is what they're listed as on Google Maps, but outside Maps I haven't seen it referenced as Mercuries. It’s 三商Sān shāng locally. It has one main thing going for it: it’s convenient; there always seems to be a restaurant near a grocery store, and the service is fast. It’s a quick lunch or dinner when you have errands to do. Because other than that, it basically does just enough, and nothing more, to get people in the door.

To be clear, this is a chain with over 150 locations, and they are one of the first Taiwanese-style fast food chains. They opened all the way back in 1983, before McDonald’s opened its first location in Taiwan, and before Formosa Chang started building chain restaurants. People eat here. A lot. But it’s certainly not a beef noodle location you seek out; it’s not one you hype up with your friends or online. It’s just food you can get quickly. And with price hikes in the last couple of years, it’s not expensive, but it’s not quite the value proposition it used to be. CP is a descriptor in Taiwan; it stands for cost-performance, but it essentially means whether a place or item is worth the money. A dish or restaurant may be expensive, but it can still have high CP if the quality or quantity justifies the price. When locals talk about Mercuries, they often say that with the higher prices, the CP isn't very good anymore.

So I went today, ordered the #4 original beef noodle combo (原汁牛肉麪Yuán zhī niú ròu miàn), got a 可樂Kě lè zero, and a side of pickled cabbage. Although the menu shows it should have been kimchi, I think they were out. I pointed at the kimchi, and the lady working there said no, then pointed at the pickled cabbage. This comes in at NT$229. Also worth noting that you order when you enter, get a table with a number, and they’ll bring your food out. Chances are the workers won't speak English, too. The one near me is in the Tamsui Carrefour mall. Except it isn't Carrefour anymore — the French chain's licensing deal ended in July, and the hypermarkets here are now 萬家福Wàn jiā fú, or Prosperity Plaza in English. Everyone still says Carrefour. We're going to keep saying Carrefour; you can’t stop us, okay new Carrefour? Around 3 pm on a Monday, Mercuries had only two people eating, while the teppanyaki place across the walkway was nearly full. But quite a few people did come in after me, so like I said, plenty of people eat at Mercuries, even if it’s nobody’s favourite place.

Photo by Kalen Johnson

Why have I used phrases like “it does enough and nothing more” and “low CP”? Let’s get into it. The pickled cabbage is actually quite nice, with strong vinegar, and it’s nice and crunchy. The beef noodle soup is, well, fine. I really can’t think of a better way to say it: it does just enough, and nothing more. The broth is salty; it has some beef flavour, but it’s very subdued, nothing close to the flavour bombs you can find at the local mom-and-pop shops or even some of the other beef noodle chains. They do have a red-braised bowl, which is the more flavourful option. But that doesn’t change the fact that for a bowl of beef soup, this one hints at the flavour of beef instead of making it apparent. The picture on the wall shows six pieces of beef, and that’s exactly how many I got. Probably the smallest pieces of beef I’ve gotten in a bowl of soup. They’re all very similarly sized. Certainly not falling apart tender, they have some chew, but not chewy. The noodles are also fine; they’re not overcooked. The bok choy is larger than I usually see in beef noodle, but I don’t mind that. The mustard greens and chilli sauce are self-serve. I’m good with pickled mustard greens in my soup, but I didn't grow up with it, so I don’t have a strong attachment to it. The chilli sauce seems like the jarred stuff you get at the grocery store.

Photo by Kalen Johnson

It’s all to say that there is nothing wrong with the food here. It’s all good enough, but nothing further. When I started Taiwan Table, I obviously wanted to share the amazing food here (and have an excuse to eat out more, let’s not kid ourselves), but I wanted to share these types of restaurants that you see everywhere, to let people know which ones are really good, and which ones you can pretty safely skip. Again, nothing wrong with them, but if you have limited time here on vacation and a limited number of meals, I hope these reviews make your choices a bit easier. Mercuries Beef Noodle is one I would definitely say you can skip if you have other options. It’s not trying to be the best bowl of beef noodles; it’s the convenient option when you are starving and need something quick before grocery shopping.