Wednesday, May 09, 2012

news: spring 2012 Taipei restaurant round up



Wow! This is my 600th post!

CLOSED
Cactus was a new Mexican restaurant in town, but was closed when I tried to visit in April and posted on their FB page that it is closed permanently though the chef may reopen elsewhere.
- Eddy's Cantina in Danshui is closed- but you can still find Eddy at his Tianmu location.
- Fu Diner closed its second (and last) location. Now where to find creamy omu-rice?
- JB Burger closed
- I-Sushi closed
- Sweet Dynasty closed (It's sad seeing the restaurants emptied and gutted)
- I-Baked in Shida will closes today. Still has a location in Xinyi area
- Mu Kung Hwa Korean Viand on Zhongxiao closed. Always passed by, but never tried it.
- Masala House in Shida had been on my to-do list for a long time, but now it's gone. Sigh.


OPENED (I've eaten at almost all of them- which one do you want me to post about first?)
- Joy's Creperie near the Taipei City Bus Station in the Xinyi district near the freeway ramp entrance
- Santouka Ramen opened to long lines at Fuxing Sogo (and it looks the same as Japanese chain that people line up for in LA!) as did Ippudo Ramen, famous from Japan and NY
- Yo Shabu Shabu near Yong Kang Street
- Tartine Bakery in January serving desserts, macarons and sandwiches
- Cyclo, new pho restaurant
- Acquatic Addiction Development, a fish market renovated by Mitsui, has locals going crazy over the standing only sushi bar and fresh, affordable take away sashimi
- Mayur Indian Kitchen near Grand Hyatt
- Spotted a new branch of Wang Wei Ramen in the alley behind San Want Hotel
- Thai Made on DongFeng
- Bellavita recently made some changes- doubled the seating for Patisserie Sadaharu AOKI and made more room for diners at Elite 
- Will Taiwanese people pay a premium for European chocolates and brands? Pierre Marcolini chocolates and tea area in Xinyi Mitsukoshi A4, near Chanel and priced accordingly, and Jean Paul Hevin at Taipei 101
Toasteria Cafe 3, a roomier place to get your grilled cheese sandwiches and Mediterranean food in Dong Chu East District.

RUMORED
-I heard that Patisserie La Douceur opened a second branch in Daan district, but I cannot find the address. It's not listed on their website. Does anyone know where?

Any other news to add? Do you like the restaurant round ups? Please leave a comment below!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks so much for all your posts!! so many new restaurants to try

Hamho said...

Have you been to santouka ramen? I was in Sogo the other day and the line was crazy!

Candy said...

Pierre Marcolini chocolates and tea area in Xinyi Mitsukoshi A4, Jean Paul Hevin at Taipei 101, and the Toasteria Cafe 3 first!!

Anonymous said...

sweet dynasty seems to be gearing up to open on 2F of the world gym bldg across the st.

Anne said...

Hi.. I tried Thai Made a couple of times and their chicken yellow curry is quite good. Nice atmosphere, but with an open kitchen it can get a little eye watering when they are stir frying something spicy.

(Thanks for your blog..i'm always lurking around looking for some new places)

joanh said...

Anonymous: thanks! I feel the same way!

Hamhou: I haven't tried it yet in Taipei since I've had it often in LA and I don't usually like waiting in lines!!

Candy: those are ones I haven't been to!!! But I do want to try Toasteria 3!

Anonymous: good to know! Thanks for the heads up

Anne: thanks for de-lurking to comment! Haha. I've been to Thai Made once and thought it was good and reasonably priced. I don't think we had the chicken curry that night though! Will have to order it next time

Anonymous said...

Masala Indian has always been my favorite, so please post about Mayun so I can learn more.

Also, Tartine Bakery, mainly because I love the word tartine.

Thanks for your great work!

L Gerock said...

I'd like to see your review for "Mayur Indian Kitchen near Grand Hyatt"... :)

Anonymous said...

Are you in Taipei right now? I'm here for a month and I can't wait to try all of your recommendations!

xo,
Tania
www.bunniebar.com

Anonymous said...

The address for Patisserie La Douceur is 台北市大安路一段169巷6號 No.6, Ln. 169, Sec. 1, Da’an Rd., Da’an Dist and their telephone number is 02-2325-2396. Hope this is the one you want~

Jessica said...

ha, I tried that Cactus place, it had nothing on Macho Tacos. It was bland and had maybe two people eating there each day. I do love me some Mexican food though.

maoman said...

Mayur Indian Kitchen, please. Taipei needs more good Indian restaurants - maybe this will be one of them?

Ken said...

OMG!!! IPPUDO is in TAIPEI?!?!?! I guess I don't have to move back to Tokyo after all!

I was going to ask Joan where the new WANG WEI is so I can try their cold tan tan mian 冷やし担々麺 (address shows as 台北市大安區忠孝東路4段170巷8號1樓
106, but google maps can't seem to find it anywhere), but I guess it just doesn't matter any more, now that IPPUDO is here...

For those of you who don't know IPPUDO is one of the few ramen shops that you can really rate as "gourmet" - yes, this sounds like an oxymoron until you go and try their ramen. Their attention to detail is amazing - as picky as I am, I can't find fault with their toppings, ramen, or their soup. OK - enough commenting - I'm going down there now.

Ken said...

Damn - Santouka (山頭火ラーメン) is here, too?!?! When I used to live in TAKANAWA, Tokyo, I used to go to nearby GOTANDA to get my Ramen fix from Santouka and IPPUDO (there are a 4-5 other excellent, non-chain ramen shops in that area: Santouka and Ippudo are chains). IIRC, Santouka's soup is amazingly smooth, and all three parts (noodle, toppings, and soup) seem to fit really well together.

Ken said...

Went to IPPUDO today - even with the heavy afternoon rains, the wait at 1:40PM was still around 30min. The line actually got 50% longer after me - it got much shorter after 3PM.

I had the 赤丸 with 半熟卵, which turned out to be exactly like what you'd get in Tokyo, down to the garlic and pressers on the table. I was even able to order MAX hardness for the noodles (but they still cooked it too long for me!).

It's probably a bad time for me to evaluate ramen these days, as I've been on a health binge (exercising makes "unhealthy food" taste worse). So the ramen tastes saltier and more oily than I remember, but that's most likely due to my physical condition now compared to when I was in Tokyo (not a difference in the way they make the ramen). The pleasant surprise was the Soon Dobu (soft tofu) Mini Hot Pot that I ordered with rice. This is a "local side-dish" that they don't have in Japan. It was spicy and nicely sweet and goes great with their rice. BOTTOM LINE: if I want Hakata-style ramen, I will go to 楽麺屋 for authenticity (of course, IPPUDO is also excellent, but it adds a gourmet-twist to it) and save the 30-60min wait.

But one of these days, I will go back to IPPUDO for their spicy soft tofu and some of their other local dishes. If you've never tried IPPUDO, I do recommend that you try their Red-bowed 赤丸 or their Karaka ramen once.

Time to try the COLD TAN TAN noodles at Wang Wei next...

Mac said...

Many people choose great dining restaurants for a special occasion, so the food must not disappoint- in either selection or quality. You don’t need to feature a huge menu, but it should be interesting, offering unique items that patrons wouldn’t find at any other restaurant.

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joanh said...

anonymous/L gerock/maoman: you ask and you shall receive! the review for Mayur is up!

bunnie: yes! i'm in taipei now! hope you enjoy the recommendations and leave comments on your favorite posts!

anonymous: THANK YOU! that's totally what i was looking for.

jessica: yeah, tough for new restaurants.. thanks for commenting!

ken: that's crazy the lines.. i think i'll wait a little longer.. it's kind of exciting to hear that the quality is as good as japan! thanks for the report Ken!!

gleb90210 said...

Masala House got reopenned! Very near to Xinhai Rd and Luosifu Rd intersection.

Leonka said...

MASALA HOUSE LOVERS BE ADVISED:

The new Masala House is located on Lane 34, Xin Hai Rd., Sec 1 (台北市辛亥路一段34巷), just a few steps past Oma Ursel's German Bakery, walking away from Xin Hai Road, Sec 1. MRT Taipower Building Station, Exit 2.

:)