Thursday, September 10, 2015

news: TAIPEI NEW RESTAURANTS ROUND UP SPRING/SUMMER 2015


Kiko's Diner closed, making room for Caliburger's opening in spring 2015
New restaurants in Taipei to mention since my last round up. It astounds me the rate of new restaurants opening up every few months in Taipei. This great feature on nbcnews.com features two places opened recently by Asian American expats bringing "unapologetic American food" here, Spot Taipei and Little NY Pizzeria. And they aren't alone- Bing Burger is opened by Chef Leon, who is a SF native trained at Cordon Bleu, Brookhurst Seafood Bar features Boiling Crab inspired cajun seafood and Drip Cafe's owner/chefs bring their experiences from Southern Cali and Las Vegas.

New Taipei Restaurants 2015 spring/summer
  • Achoi at amba zhongshan (Chef Kin Ming Lam was previously from Michelin starred Jean Georges in Shanghai)
  • Lee's Sandwiches 
  • Thai and Thai at Mandarin Oriental
  • Square Pizza al Taglio
  • Tigertopoki at Hankyu
  • Wunique Patisserie
  • Brass Monkey (at XinYi Vieshow)
  • Yun Jin at Grand Hyatt Taipei
  • Rest and Run 
  • Spot Taipei
  • Burger Fix
  • Solo Pizza
  • Brooklyn at ATT4Fun (taking over Fat Angelo/Belgian Beer Cafe's spot)
  • Yellow Lemon at Xinyi Mitsukoshi A4 (they revamped the whole floor so it's more of a food hall than food court now)
  • iPasta and Samba Pizza also at Mitsukoshi A4
  • Top Cap (opened by same Chef as Danny and Company and ACut)
  • Ye Shanghai
  • Caliburger
  • Voodoo Doughnuts (yup the one from Portland!)
  • Herban Kitchen and Bar
  • Roots Creative
  • Ya Ge at Mandarin Oriental
  • Ephernite
  • Danny What's Nabe
  • Mini K at Neo 19 (sister restaurant of Korean restaurant Major K)
  • Brookhurst Seafood Bar
  • Naked Food
  • Pizza Denise in Tianmu 
  • O Rose ice cream (French ice cream)
  • RexMex 
  • Mayur Indian Kitchen 4Ever (first (and only?) Indian buffet restaurant in Taipei, opened by MIK)
  • Corner Office
  • Suann's Fish and Chips (Danshui)
CLOSED (I know there must be more. Please help me fill in the blanks in the comments!)
  • Kiko's Diner (Sanrio Cafe.. dang it never got to post this! The loco moco wasn't half bad either)
  • Fat Angelo's at ATT4Fun (that was fast :/)
  • Capone's 
  • Piazza (damn, never got to blog about this one either)
  • Snow King Ice Cream (closed its 60+ year old location in Ximen, will reopen this fall)
  • Macaroni Grill (only been there once since they moved to Minsheng E Road. there have also been a ton of new great Italian restaurants opened since then. but thank you Macaroni Grill for filling a hole for American Italian food in Taipei when you opened)

Tuesday, September 08, 2015

brunch/new american: i recommend SPOT TAIPEI


SPOT TAIPEI
No. 58, Lane 233,  Dunhua S. Rd., Sec. 1
台北市大安區敦化南路一段233巷58號 
(02) 2775-4117

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

Hours: 11AM - 10:30PM


visits reviewed:  5/18/2015 & 9/7/2015

Yesterday at lunch, my friend nudged me to put up some posts of newer places sooner. "You eat at all the new places first, so you should be the first to post about it." I responded by saying, that I do post quickly, but mainly on instagram and she gave me a mental kick in the butt to do it for the blog too. So I'm gonna try to do a blitz of posts of new places and menus for y'all... every time I scroll through my Instagram, I do feel a tinge of regret that I don't have the time to do full posts at the same time, but usually when I'm blogging, that usually means I'm not sleeping. Like right now.




Opened four months ago, Spot Taipei is a great new addition to the New American and brunch scene in Taipei, featuring affordable prices, generous portions and most importantly some hearty, tasty American dishes not yet found in Taipei. Not be confused with the also lovely Spot Theater, the independent movie house founded by Hou Hsiou-Hsien, Spot Taipei is a restaurant tucked in an alley behind Ming Yao Shopping Center (i.e. the mall with the huge Uniqlo, now next to the huge Forever 21) on ZhongXiao East Road near SYS Memorial Hall. 

I recommend going with a group if you can, to be able to share and sample more plates, and order some of my favorite dishes. I've been twice since its opening, once during its soft opening and my second visit was yesterday, so the menu has changed slightly since my last visit. 





The most popular dishes are from Spot Taipei's all day brunch menu, such as the chicken waffle sandwich, the corned beef hash, the french toast and eggs benedicts. Most restaurants in Taipei have a signature dish-- the thing you see on social media that makes you want to eat your next meal there. For Bing Burger, it's their bone marrow burger. For Belle Epoque, their boba milk pancakes. For Drip Cafe, their cronuts. For Pig and Pepper, it's their funnel cake. For Spot Taipei, it's their Ferrero Rocher French Toast and chicken and waffles sandwich, something that's big back in the US that's yet to trend in Taipei. (You can also find fried chicken and waffles at NOLA and previously at Bakery 49, but that's all that comes to mind.)




Let's start off with some of my favorites from today. Favorite things today at @spottpe were the spicy chicken wings, scallop crudo, ribeye steak and roast chicken with creamy mashed potatoes. Skip the green salad (too salty and plain), the miso pork belly (too dry). Otherwise the service was good- they were accommodating and friendly. Still have yet to try the pancakes here!! 

Scallops crudo- Hokkaido scallops with candied chorizo and homemade rice crackers (NT$290). Scallop lovers could easily eat 3-4 pieces, which if my eyeballing estimate is correct is about one scallop. Not looking at the menu, I thought the toppings were sundried tomatoes.


Chicken wings - dry rubbed and fried, pickled celery, dijon sriracha with blue cheese sauce (NT$180 for 4) 

THESE CHICKEN WINGS were some of my favorite things of the meal. If you are a chicken wing lover, you gotta order this. I had two of them, but could have easily eaten more. The skin was crispy and coated with spicy sweet sriracha. I didn't taste the blue cheese at all, but I didn't miss it. Fun twist on traditional buffalo wings.



Pan roasted chicken - half chicken deboned, wilted chinese kale, potato puree, chicken jus, chives and chervil (NT$460)

The pan roasted chicken is a table favorite every time I've been here. The potato puree is buttery and creamy (rivals the mashed at Robuchon) and the whole dish just works.


Fried chicken waffle sandwich- batter fried chicken, asian ranch, gruyere cheese, pickled onions (NT$400)

I enjoy the chicken waffle sandwich- the waffle isn't too heavy, the chicken is tender, the portion is hearty, so it can be a filling meal for one, or shared between two or four people. Each time I've eaten it, I wished both the waffle and chicken are crispier. If they could offer a version of this sandwich with the same level of crunchiness and flavor as the wings (with a little cabbage slaw) that would be AAAAAmazing. Right? Fried sriracha chicken waffle sandwich!! It sells itself.



Ribeye for 2- 22 oz USDA Prime ribeye, sous vide, chimichurri sauce, confit garlic, arugula (NT$1800)

At my first bite, I wished I wasn't so full so I could eat more. The ribeye was perfectly cooked to a nice medium rare, but still had a nice charred crust while being juicy on the inside. The confit garlic were creamy and melt in your mouth and I really liked the chimichurri sauce, which was slightly creamier than other places that I've had it. I ended up enjoying the leftovers at home later.



Duck confit croquette benedict- sous vide duck confit croquette with lemon hollandaise (NT$280) 

This came at the end of our meal, so I took a quick bite. The poached eggs were perfectly runny, the hollandaise had the right consistency and flavor and the lemon give the heavy dish a lighter accent. The shredded duck confit is mixed with sweet potato then fried into a croquette. Would be nice to see if Spot Taipei could do a great crabcake eggs benedict. Swoon.


Roasted Heritage Cauliflower - mix of griddled heritage cauliflower topped with almonds, raisins and lemon juice (NT$220) 

I liked the purple cauliflower the best, most of the broccoli and cauliflower were still quite crisp. I would have preferred them a bit more tender. But I love how Spot Taipei doesn't forget to include veggies on the menu and goes beyond salads. 


Mixed mushrooms- king oyster, oyster, maitake and enoki mushrooms (NT$180)

 


SPOT Burger - gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, chinese lettuce with fries and house pickles (NT$380) 


Miso pork belly - miso brined pork belly, 8 hours sous vide with mini salad and English muffin (NT$260) 

Today's pork belly was overcooked or too lean- it was quite dry and the salad was overly salty so we left this unfinished. The buttered English muffins were good though, so one could put this together to be a mini sandwich bite. 



Green salad- seasonal greens, fried shiitake mushroom crisps, sesame cookies and soy lime vinaigrette (NT$180) 

I wouldn't order this again. The first time, the vinaigrette was so salty, I had to reject it from my mouth. They replaced it for us without a problem, but the fried shiitake wasn't very crispy and the salad was quite plain. 



As you can see, the menu is mostly the same from the soft opening back in May 2015, with a few seasonal changes. 



Not currently on the fall menu - salmon carpaccio. I really liked the charred broccolini (NT$150) and corn mezzi rigatoni (NT$300) on the previous menu. Great dishes for vegetarians and I never thought about pureeing corn to make a creamless pasta. Will totally have to try that at home someday.






The coffee beef shortribs- with peppers, potato and egg on top (NT$280) was one of my favorite dishes of my first visit. Feels a tad healthier than corned beef and something I would totally order again.



Pan roasted chicken from first visit


Last but not least, the Ferrero Rocher cornflake crusted frenchtoast with nutella dipping sauce. (NT$300) Not too dense and almost tasted like a cinnamon bun stuffed with sliced bananas. The chocolate flavor doesn't really come out in the french toast, you need to dip it in the Nutella for the chocolovers. The whole thing is deep fried, so it is an indulgence. This dish takes #spottaipei a little longer to prep, and just as well, since it was like a dessert. Recommend for sharing, comes with 4 big pieces- it would be too much for one person as a meal.


Spot Taipei has been fairly popular since opening, especially on weekends, so reservations recommended. They have two floors of seating, great for larger groups, though the upstairs loft seating is a bit dark with low ceilings. Look forward to seeing new additions to their menu from their kitchen. Owner Eric Wang is from LA, Taiwanese American Chef Austin Hu opened New American restaurant Madison in Shanghai before joining Spot Taipei. (Email me when you get the crispy sriracha chicken waffle sandwich going!! Haha)

Tuesday, September 01, 2015

snapshot/vietnamese: i still recommend SAVOY


august 2015 zhongxiao shop

Thick slices of bbq chicken, slightly sweet mayonnaise, pickled radishes, carrots and cucumbers  in a toasted chewy yet crusty french loaf. I was so ravenous that I tore into the chicken sandwich as soon as I got home. I wanted to try the newly opened Lee's Sandwiches, but it was a bit far me in the Taipei Main Station neighborhood. So I went with something familiar- the chicken banh mi (NT$160)  from Yue Yuan. Except this time it came with tomato. I love tomatoes so I didn't mind it was a bit different than I remember it, but the flavors, chicken and bread were the same as the one that that I've had over the years and fell in love with at first bite years ago. 

Savoy is also known as Yue Yuan (their Chinese name), but a few years ago they went through some rebranding and now the shops sport bright orange signs saying SAVOY instead of the original yellow and black signs that had their chinese name 越苑 and in English, the word "pho." Their pho is still solid, as are their dry rice noodles, but I love their sandwiches for a quick bite on the go.

feb 2015 anhe shop



SAVOY 越苑
No. 10, Alley 32, Lane 216, Zhongxiao E. Road, Sec. 4
忠孝東路4段216巷32弄10號 
(02) 2731-9597
11:30AM- 9PM

Original Shop
No. 12, Ln 155, Dunhua N. Rd
台北市敦化北路155巷12號
(02) 2718-0660

Anhe Shop
No. 8, Lane 103, Dunhua South Road, Sec. 2 
台北市敦化南路二段103巷8號
(02) 2701-2523

CLOSED / the owners reopened as PHOEVER in 2020 with similar menu and just as good a banh mi

Monday, August 24, 2015

revisited/japanese/sushi: i still strongly recommend ADDICTION ACQUATIC DEVELOPMENT



ADDICTION AQUATIC DEVELOPMENT 上引水產
No. 18, Alley 2, Ln 410, Minzu E Rd
台北市民族東路410巷2弄18號
(02) 2508-1268

MRT: Zhongshan Jr. High School Station or XingTian Temple Station

website: addiction.com.tw

hours:  6AM- 12AM midnight

$$- $$$ (cash only)

Kid friendliness: sushi and raw bar are standing only. outdoor seating for seafood bbq area, room for strollers. lots of raw and cooked eats at indoor market

Visit reviewed: 4/21/2015
Previous visit reviewed: 10/2012


ready to eat uni and hokkaido scallops 

Addiction Acquatic Development is THE most popular post on the blog, and at my last shopping trip there a few months ago, I found that they smartly revamped several sections of it. So I thought I'd write up a quick new post with some of the changes. 

LIVE SEAFOOD TANKS 

live seafood tanks
When AAD first opened, you entered through the main entrance into the supermarket, but after awhile, they shifted that to be the exit and had you enter through the left into the seafood tanks area. It's very clean and not smelly for the size and space, so just hustle past it if you are looking for the main market/dining area. But don't miss the sections along the wall where they've added a few fridges with uni, scallops, oysters and a section with cooked crabs, lobsters and fresh oysters on ice, sold by weight.
 



MEAT & GROCERIES MARKET


I was pleasantly surprised to see a new section selling steaks, beef, shabu meats, cured meats and condiments, as well as a revamp of their freezer section which previously seemed like storage for fish. Now it is all easy to recognize what's inside and I could totally pick up some ingredients for cooking dinner along with sushi. 

These iberico salami were so good, but it was disappointing to see a price hike a few weeks later from NT$194 to almost NT$300!


Packs of veggies/tofu/mushrooms to-go to do shabu/hotpot at home, super sweet corn, shabu cut meats, totally high end supermarket packaging and easy to browse.



Ton of fresh veggies, fruits and cheese! There's even packaged condiments, noodles, pastas, and even packaged macarons, foie gras and drinks. Their cheese selection has definitely increased since my earlier visits, with cheeses like brie, parmesan, blue cheese,  and the prices are fairly reasonable for Taipei.




RAW BAR


Still standing only along the bar, I've had friends who come over to this side to snack while waiting for the sushi bar. Here you'll find cooked cold crab, lobsters, shellfish, oysters and bubbly.



HOUSEWARES/WINE BAR



Before this section was filled with beautiful but expensive glass vases, ceramics, cookbooks and housewares. I thought it was very smart of AAD to transform most of this area into a corner for a wine bar as well as a transition area into the supermarket, with fresh fruits and veggies. Maybe a glass of wine and cheese to end the night?

SUSHI TO GO


If you've ever enjoyed supermarket sushi, then you'll be awed by the variety of rolls, sliced sashimi, mini chirashis and even cooked seafood packaged and ready to eat. I used to live off of spicy tuna rolls at Nijiya in West LA and loved their rolls wrapped in the yellow soy wrapper and I think this is the first time I've seen that wrapper in Taipei here at AAD. Granted, it is supermarket sushi, so the rice will be cold and slightly hard if it's later in the day, but I feel the fish is comparable to the sushi you'll get at the AAD standing only sushi bar with less of a wait. But the rice can be pretty bad, even for supermarket sushi, so you might be best getting sashimi or rolls. 

The sushi at AAD's sushi bar isn't the best there is to be eaten in Taipei, but the sets are a great value for price and better than sushi I've paid twice the price for in LA. Just grab a ticket early for the waiting list for the sushi bar so you can spend your time browsing while you wait. The popularity of Addiction Acquatic Development comes from the whole complex, not just the sushi bar, as well as the value and freshness. I've definitely come here over the years to grab a box of uni, some sashimi or even some rolls. 




On this visit I tried the pre-cooked lobster and it wasn't as good as I expected, slightly overcooked and not sweet.. would skip it next time.



Crab cucumber roll with sweet shrimp and ikura 
I'm totally happy with the smallest box of bafun uni (NT$510) that AAD has and eating it with a bowl of rice at home. Sweet, creamy and indulgent, but a whole lot cheaper than ordering uni at the sushi bar and getting just one piece.  This is my favorite thing about Acquatic.



The sushi bar and outdoor courtyard where you can order live seafood to be grilled are the same, so you can look at my previous review for pictures. 

AAD has also added a hotpot restaurant now, Tresors De La Mer, on the other side of the courtyard where you can order live seafood (choose them from the tanks) and meat for shabu, as well as order grilled seafood, sashimi, oysters, and sushi hand rolls from the hand roll cart. It's the perfect place for the relatives/friends that don't want to stand while they eat, and you can sample a bit of everything Addiction Acquatic has to offer in one place. (Full review coming!)


Addiction Acquatic Development is definitely a must visit in Taipei for any seafood or sushi lover, and an awesome place to have as a neighborhood market.  It's been open until midnight for awhile now, which I think is so crazy, but I might have to go late one night to see what's available and how crowded it is at 11pm on a weeknight! 

:)