Xiao Xiang Ting, or the Pavilion in an alley in English, is a famous local Japanese restaurant located near Ningxia Night market of Taipei. Learning cooking in Japan, the owner of the restaurant is running the restaurant with a mission of providing good quality of food, clean environment, good service and fair in pricing. That’s what make this local Japanese restaurant popular among the Taiwanese locals. I went there on a weekend and it was packed. There was a long queue all the way outside of an alley entrance. I didn’t even see the restaurant in the alley. It wasn’t a very long wait and the food lining up along the queue makes it entertaining and appetizing to wait in line. There are two restaurants and many tables outside in the alley. There is a wide variety of food available: soup, raw fish, grilled fish, deep fried and all kinds of Japanese appetizers. You may order as many or as little as you want. It feels like a little buffet.  It is an interesting experience.