Monday, July 05, 2010

western/steak: i strongly recommend NO. 168 PRIME STEAKHOUSE



NO. 168 PRIME STEAKHOUSE
at Grand Victoria Hotel, 4 FL
No. 168, Jingye 4th Road
Dazhi, Zhongshan District

(02) 6602-5678

MRT: JianNan Road

website: www.grandvictoria.com.tw

hours: Weekday Lunch 11:30am-2:30pm; Dinner 6:00-10:00pm
Weekend Lunch 12:00pm-3:00pm; Dinner 5:30pm-10:00pm

$$-$$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available. lots of pastas/pizzas

Visit reviewed: 3/6/2010 & 3/21/2010



Steak lovers will enjoy tender, medium rare steak in a beautifully designed, open kitchen, upscale casual space in the Grand Victoria Hotel. Opened early this year, No. 168 Prime Steakhouse brings the expertise of A-Cut chef Danny Teng to bring the steakhouse experience in Taipei to another level. I never made it to A-Cut despite hearing about how it was "the best steak in Taipei", but after trying eating at a restaurant run by the former A-Cut's founder, I can see how he has a magic touch for steak.



The first thing I noticed when I entered into No. 168 Prime Steakhouse was the unique details of the entrance and dining room. Wood echoes prominently as a theme in the design, but in a modern, artful way.




The second thing was the large open kitchens and the chefs busy at work, making pizzas and preparing dishes. While they have six private rooms (the largest can seat up to a party of 50), it's a pleasure to sit in the main room.




The third and maybe the most subliminal thing was the open airy space and light from all the windows in the main room. Many of the other steakhouses I've been to are dark and enclosed- Ruth Chris, Robin's Grill, Lawry's- which give it a old fashioned feeling somehow; and No. 168 Prime Steakhouse is the opposite.



If you wander around, you'll see the dry aging room around the corner from the kitchen.





The first time I went was for a party, and there was a set lunch menu that the host selected. The lunch and dinner sets are the best deals, as they include a starter, salad, soup, main dish and dessert. I've heard that the sets are not as expensive as A-Cut's were, and are affordable at around NT$800-$1500 for lunch and NT$1600-$2000 for dinner sets.

We all found it really hard not to resist the complimentary bread- it's spongy and pliable, and tastes freshly baked.



The two starters we had to choose from were the sizzling hokkaido scallop or taraba crabcake. I chose the scallop, which was wonderfully sweet from the right amount of searing, carmelization and flavor from the parsley puree and beurre blanc sauces.




Though Mushroom Cappuccino soups seem to be popping up everywhere in Taipei restaurants, this has to be one of my favorite executions, with a sweetness and smokiness to the soup and airiness from the froth. If I didn't misunderstand the waiter, I think he said there was actually a touch of coffee beans in the soup.



Along with main dishes comes an elaborate set of salts, mustards and sauces to choose- from Himalayan Rose, Hawaiian or French sea salts; dijon mustard, grain and English mustard; to red wine, horseradish or Bearnaise sauces- it feels like the chef has traveled the world to bring you the best accompaniments for your steak.



On my second visit, I copy my friend, who smartly creates his own palette of sauces in a clockwise fashion. That's an engineering major's mind at work for you. I am not sure I could have ever came up with that on my own- and thus I could have never majored in engineering!



The USDA Prime Filet comes in a iron cast skillet with a roasted whole garlic and tomato. The garlic butter had melted already since the servers were running around serving everyone, but the steak is still amazing.



It was also probably the first time I noticed a steak knife like this, it sliced through the meat like butter.



I've never been that crazy about eating garlic (some of my friends in LA adore the Stinking Rose), but I try the roasted garlic clove and its practically melts in my mouth with a sweet creamy texture. Weird! I like garlic!



For those that aren't red meat lovers, there's roasted chicken, quail, king salmon and pork chop and lamb options. Here was a huge roasted chicken my friend couldn't finish.



Out of the three desserts I sampled, my favorite was the warm chocolate cake and after I research for this post, I understand why. Danny Teng was also the founder of Ben Teppanyaki which also had a memorable warm chocolate cake (not to mention the biggest piece of foie gras I'd probably ever had).



The Caramel Affogato looks and sounds good with brownies cubes and carmelized bananas, but the brownies are much drier and harder in comparison to the chocolate cake.



For lighter fare, there's the seasonal fruit tart.



On my second visit, I got a lot of the same- the scallop, the mushroom cappucino, the warm chocolate cake, but this time, I had the Black Angus Top Cap steak and I liked it even more than the filet. It was more tender and juicy and I savored every bite.



There's also pastas and pizzas, which are great to share or for kids. The Porcini mushroom pizza is as addictive as the bread, with its doughy crust.




From the presentation to the ambiance to the food, I can't remember another place where I've had as good steak. No. 168 Prime Steakhouse could be in Beverly Hills or Las Vegas, and it could compete with the best of them.


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9 comments:

gridman said...

I couldn't agree more! Wonderful steak!

Anonymous said...

Love the reviews and pictures. I am curious though, is English your native language?

pw said...

this is going to be SO embarrassing if this turns out to be the wrong blogger... but if this is joan i just wanted to say hello! this is dave marshall's daughter, and my dad said this was your blog! and i've been such a fan of your blog for quite some time and i got really excited and wanted to say hi!

but if this isn't your blog, then i apologize! but if this is joan's blog i hear you're in need of a mandarin partner...

so hopefully this is joan's blog and i can feel a little less crazy!

sincerely,

pai-wuen

www.lawyerwanna.be said...

so glad I found your blog. Im heading to taiwan at the end of august, its great to know a few nice places to dine!

I haven't searched your whole blog, do you have some slightly cheaper alternatives for a quick lunch or breakfast?

Thanks alot!!

joanh said...

gridman: thanks!

anonymous: yup, English is my primary language

pw::: : thanks so much for reading and commenting! maybe we will meet up one day soon!

josh: thanks! i'll check it out

moodswings: you can get chinese breakfasts super cheap- like at Yong He Dou Jiang. other breakfast places I'd recommend are the Diner and Paul. for lunch- there's a ton of options, depending on what area, what cuisine and what your budget is. you can check out the label $ for stuff mostly under US$10

wood bed frames said...

I think I should really pay this place a visit. They have nice food. Very delicious-looking food!

Anonymous said...

I have been to both (A Cut 3 times, 168 2 times). The service at A Cut was flawless, the service at 168 both times there were problems. A co-worker went to 168 twice, the first time he had a very good experience (he suggested it to me) the second time he had service problems as well.

Both have great food, but I would lean toward A Cut's as being better. It should be noted A Cut does cost more than 168.

Nelson said...

Went for lunch at 168 several weeks back for my girlfriend's birthday.

Steak was excellent! Wow, just thinking about my experience there makes me salivate. Everything was great except for the soup. I think it was minestrone - tasted very bland. My girlfriend loved the desserts so much, that she stole my portion.

Service was excellent, very attentive at all times. The best part was that they gave my girlfriend a surprise birthday cake! All I did was mention it was her birthday ONCE when making reservations several days before. Glad she understood in my broken Mandarin.

Overall, it was a great experience and will definitely be returning there very soon.

BTW, I checked out the prices between lunch and dinner. If I recall correctly, there was around a 30% premium for the sets at night with maybe one extra side dish.

Anonymous said...

The Great Pretender.

Cheesy and proud of it, 168 Prime like its steak is best taken with a pinch of salt. For the price, I recommend just going to A Cut if you can get a reservation.

Owned by and situated within Victoria Hotel, a love-motel in Neihu, 168 Prime tries too hard and is not an appropriate place to impress most type of guests.

The service at 168 Prime is nothing to write home about, satisfactory except that the waiter had bad breath yesterday...

Like the hundreds of 太陽餅老店 in Taichung, some swear they taste all the same and they charge all the same. In which case why not just play safe and stick to the real thing?

:)