Thursday, June 14, 2007

foodcourt: VIE SHOW CINEMAS FOODCOURT



VIE SHOW CINEMAS FOODCOURT
No. 16, Sung Shou Road, 2F

$

kid friendliness: no high chairs, but room to put your strollers. Play area and arcade in the back, as well as downstairs, though the downstairs arcade is quite loud and noisy

website: vscinemas.com.tw

last visited: 6/ 8/2007

I have to say I'm pretty fascinated with the food courts in Taipei. They are mostly the same in the different malls with different variations, but sometimes you might find some unique offerings. If you need a quick bite to eat before you watch a movie at Warner Vie Show Cinemas near 101 or you're in town for a trade show (like Computex), what do you eat?

Since I've seen quite a few movies, I've circled around this food court many a times. There's Burger King, Haagen Daaz, Doner Kebab, Teppanyaki, crepes, Korean bimbimbap, Vietnamese pho, Indian curry, Chinese wonton noodles, Japanese omelette and curry, Taiwanese snacks, shaved ice, Buffalo Steak, Dennis Deli, even a Froot juice bar and Bellini Italian cafe to the outside of it and LA Cafe downstairs.

There used to even be a Mexican shop-Taco Taco, but it's now extra seating area. (And yes, I tried it and yes, there's a reason why it's out of business).



Well, here's my shortlist of hits and misses-

HITS

  • BURGER KING- because you can't go wrong with a whopper. Quick and same as you'd expect at any other BK
  • DONER KEBAB- This place is growing on me. You can get the chicken or beef or both in a wrap or bun, and with the lettuce, tomato, olives, onions and sauces customized to your preference- it's like Subway, but better. With fries and a drink (NT$150).



  • CHINESE NOODLE SHOP- the wontons and noodles are cheap and food court-level tasty



  • HAAGEN DAAZ- although their service is terribly s-l-o-w sometimes. If so, just go downstairs and around the corner to the much faster and friendlier new kid on the block, Coldstones.
  • FROOT- It's not Jamba Juice, but it's close. They have a few tasty drinks (NT$80+) especially on a hot summer day.
  • BELLINI PASTA PASTA- usually tasty Japanese style Italian pasta, but bit longer wait than food court food. Just come a little earlier than your movie time.

  • TAIWANESE SNACKS- just a few bags to sneak into the theater, and they supply the long toothpicks for your green beans, tofu, tempura or other traditional Taiwanese snacks. Good flavor and slightly healthier than Burger King.


MISSES
  • PHO- haven't had the pho here yet, but it's the same chain as the one in Eslite and I never see anyone ordering from there. Ever.
  • KOREAN SPECIALISP- (their typo, not mine) WIthout asking, they drench the bimbimbap with hot sauce, so that it's unbearably hot (spice wise and temperature wise) without much flavor to the beef or pickled vegetables. The rice gets burned on the bottom without getting crispy and what's up with the lettuce? I do like the side of thousand year old egg and tofu with the set lunch (NT$150). If you're craving bimbimbap, go to the foodcourt at 101 instead. They also have many side order options where this place doesn't.



  • CREPE PLACE- Maybe it's better now that it's moved where the tako-yaki place used to be. But when I last got a crepe a few years ago, it was stiff and tasted like cardboard.



  • BUFFALO STEAK- It's not buffalo, but I'm not sure it's beef either. Tough yet mushy and bland- though you can't tell by looking at it.





Of course, you could always stick to popcorn (I like to get mine mostly sweet and some salty- personally, I'm addicted to the kettle corn option here) and a slurpie from 7-11 in the Neo 19 building.

BTW, looking for movie times or buying tickets online in English? Try vscinemas.com.tw

I'm hoping to cover more foodcourts and mall restaurants the same way, with all the info in one post. The businesses in Taipei don't make it easy for you though, with all the websites in Chinese and on several occasions, I've even asked their information desks and they always seem to have "run out" of their English brochures.

3 comments:

Lisa Wang said...

i miss the food courts in taipei SO much, they are SO much better than American food courts. At least Westside Pavilion's food court is adding a crepe place, we'll see if it's any good though. I wasn't a huge fan of Vieshow's foodcourt but i think that might have been because i was always saving room for the giant bucket of Sweet popcorn i always buy there. Why American movie theatres don't have sweet popcorn is beyond me.

Speaking of which, we should definitely go catch a movie at the new Landmark theatres at Westside Pavilion when you get back. It is gorgeous and they have gourmet concessions (La Brea Bakery Pretzels, Pokey, Pinkberry knock off, fancy chocolates, fancy trail mix, etc . .) They even have a little wine bar too.

joanh said...

ffc: haha. someone should institute a "sister country" food court exchange program where they have mexican food and hot dog on a stick in taipei and dumplings and chinese food in the states.

and yes, they should totally do kettle corn at the theaters!

that sounds awesome about the westside pavilion! it's a date!

Unknown said...

Hello,

I'll be travelling first time to taiwan this year end. Will be with my 1 year son and husband. Chance upon your website, appreciate the effort! I like the kid-friendliness rating. Perhaps you can tag then with this label too. Many new mamas on the loose nowadays lugging the extra human luggage. May draw even more readership. ;) Thanks again for sharing the experience! LeAnne from sg.

:)