Wu Jiao Chuan Ban, Tainan: A Driftwood-Restaurant Poem by Eternal Golden Castle
Across from Eternal Golden Fortress,
A quaint and rare sight,
The interior is cozy,
Three branches in the south.
Two hundred eighty per person,
A ten-person set meal is great,
If the group size differs too much,
Then I'd not recommend.
Fried shrimp, pig trotters, jellyfish skin,
Bamboo shoots, cuttlefish, duck rolls,
Siu mai, greens, lamb hotpot,
Sweet and sour chicken, beef brisket.
After the meal, drinks and dessert,
Dishes scattered, bellies round,
Content and not bad,
But it cost a pretty penny.
Full, head to Anping for preserved fruit,
It's on the way, not far,
For the whole evening, I'd give a score:
Eighty-three from me.
Frequently asked
What does Wu Jiao Chuan Ban (伍角船板) mean?
Wǔ jiǎo (伍角) is five jiao, i.e. half a yuan or fifty cents, and chuán bǎn (船板) means boat planks. This page's English title used to say "Five-Dollar Boat Board", which was a mistranslation. The name belongs to a Taiwanese restaurant brand known for buildings made from large driftwood logs, stone and oyster shells; its founder, Hsieh Li-hsiang (謝麗香), built with salvaged materials (background: Business Today / 今周刊 profile, 2004).
Is the Wu Jiao Chuan Ban across from Eternal Golden Castle still open?
We can't confirm it. The poem records one dinner in August 2006. Later travel reports describe the driftwood building opposite the castle as now housing a milkfish (虱目魚) theme museum, and we have not verified which branches the brand runs today. Check its official page or a current map listing before you go; the prices in the poem are 2006 prices.
What is Eternal Golden Castle?
Eternal Golden Castle (億載金城), also called the Erkunshen Battery, is a Western-style fort in Anping District, Tainan. Qing imperial commissioner Shen Baozhen had it built in 1874–1876 after Japan's 1874 expedition to Taiwan, and it first saw action in the Sino-French War of 1884 (background: Wikipedia, Eternal Golden Castle). It is a national monument and the landmark the poem's first line is measured from.
How much was dinner and what was on the set menu?
NT$280 per person for a ten-person set menu: fried shrimp, pig trotters, jellyfish, bamboo shoots, cuttlefish, duck rolls, siu mai, greens, lamb hot pot, sweet-and-sour chicken and beef brisket, then drinks and dessert. The poem recommends it only when your group is close to ten people, and scores the evening 83, with the note that it wasn't cheap.
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