彰化木瓜牛乳大王

彰化木瓜牛乳大王創始店 sits on Zhonghua Road in Changhua City, its sign reading “original shop, founded 1958” — a papaya-milk institution Changhua locals have grown up drinking. The fresh-blended papaya milk uses fresh papaya and milk, creamy and rich with full papaya flavor; the summer honey-bean ice is piled with red beans, tapioca, fruit, and pudding — generous and loaded. There are also mixed-fruit ice, red-bean milk ice, mung-bean-smoothie milk, and grass-jelly pineapple ice among the ices and drinks. One diner called it “the taste of Changhua people's memories,” another “real ingredients, really tasty,” and someone shared “passing through Changhua, especially in summer, you have to have a bowl of honey-bean ice.”

The walls are covered with photos of visiting celebrities and public figures; there's plenty of dine-in seating, but it's often full at mealtimes with a line at the door, and the front cooler is stacked with freshly cut papaya and fruit. Open from a little past 11:00am to 9:30pm, closed Thursdays.