news: 2025 RESTAURANT ROUNDUP - TAIPEI MICHELIN EDITION

Hello friends!

I received a thoughtful gift package from Tairroir yesterday (thank you, Tairroir!), and it got me reflecting on how much has changed in the Taipei culinary scene over the past few years. I figured it was a good time to update the blog. Not sure who's still out there reading (hello if you're still with me!), but here's a little post to kick off the new year.

When Michelin first began awarding stars in Taipei, there was a fascinating cluster of three neighboring restaurants that collectively earned a total of 6 stars at its peak. These restaurants were at the forefront of Taiwan's fine dining scene being recognized:

1. RAW – Founded by renowned chef Andre Chiang, RAW quickly became a sensation with its innovative approach, blending local ingredients with French and international techniques.

2. Ryugin – This was a Japanese restaurant that set itself apart by focusing on traditional Japanese techniques with chef Ryohei Hieda incorporating uniquely Taiwanese ingredients, offering a cross-cultural dining experience unlike anything else in Taipei.

3. Tairroir – Headed by Chef Kai Ho, Tairroir reinterpreted Taiwanese dishes and flavors, such as tea eggs or oysters cooked in black bean sauce.

In 2018, both Tairroir and RAW jumped from one Michelin star to two, a significant achievement for the Taiwan dining scene. Then, in 2023, Tairroir was awarded the ultimate recognition with three Michelin stars—a rare and prestigious honor that made it the first restaurant focused on modern Taiwanese food to do so.

RAW closed its doors in December 2024 with a "Last Dance" menu after 10 incredible years. Chef Andre Chiang decided it was time to focus on new projects and ventures, leaving behind a legacy that helped put Taipei on the map for fine dining and redefined the way the world saw Taiwanese flavors and ingredients. Ryugin never reopened after a temporary closure in 2022, marking the end of its unique fusion approach to dining in Taiwan.

But fans of RAW and Ryugin can try the new ventures of the chefs behind these influential establishments. In 2023, Chef Alain Huang, who was the "hands" of RAW for many years, opened Restaurant A, and Chef Ryohei Hieda, who had led the two-starred Ryugin, opened Eika. Both earned their own Michelin Star in 2024, and are on my list to try. 

And the Michelin landscape in Taiwan keeps growing. There are now over 50 Michelin starred restaurants in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung, but as a list, it can be hit or miss- there are a few places on there that I am not a fan of.

Speaking of evolution, MUME, another leader in the Taipei casual fine dining scene, celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. Chefs Richie Lin, Long Xiong and Kai Ward reunited for a special anniversary dinner, bringing back OG dishes and it was a delicious walk down memory lane. The team’s dedication to both Taiwanese ingredients and sustainability has made it a favorite for those looking for a sophisticated yet approachable dining experience. I can't believe it's been ten years since Mume opened, and it's been amazing to see the empire of restaurants the chefs have each created since 2014 - from modern Australian (Canvas) to tacos (Masa) to modern Thai (Coast) and yakitori (Fumee). 

And some new and notable spots to try before Michelin blows them up

• Chef Kin Ming Lam has been busy- he opened Golden and Afterglo after a quick renovation in the space that previously was Curious. He also opened casual noodle spot Little Lam and heads up Akin
• Chef Florence Dalia is one of the few French female chefs in Taipei and opened 16 by Flo after leading Robuchon to two stars. She also has a casual concept Le Cep in the same space. 
• Speaking of French restaurants, there's Clover by Jean Francois Piege at Bellavita, Season by Olivier Elzer at W Hotel 
• There are a handful of Taiwanese female chefs recognized in the fine dining space- chef Vanessa Huang of Ephernite, chef Dana Yu of D Place, Asia's 50 Best Female Chef Lanshu Chen of Le Cote in Taichung and Le Beajour and Gubami Social in Taipei, chef Justine Li of Michelin Starred Fleur de Sel in Taichung
• Tipsy Sparrow at Le Meridien and Bar by Impromptu opened by Michelin starred chef Paul Lee 
• Recent faves this past year- Frassi (Italian by chef Iacapo Frassi), Orchid (modern Japanese with new chef Sato Kiyoshi), Fumee (chicken yakitori with Japanese chef Ryu Shunsuke), Canvas (modern Australian by chef Kai Ward), Zea (Argentinian by chef Joaquin Elizondo) and Inita (chef Kunihiro Hagimoto) (which is the only one I haven't been to, but I loved the dishes by chef Kuni at the collaboration dinner with Fumee). And of course, the usual JL Studio, logy and Mume. 

Looking ahead, I’m curious to see what comes next. As we say goodbye to some of these iconic places, there are always new spots to explore and revisit, and I’m excited to continue sharing those with you all. Happy New Year again, and here’s to another delicious year ahead!

2024 TAIWAN MICHELIN 

Three Michelin Stars 

• Le Palais (Taipei)
• Taïrroir (Taipei)
• JL Studio (Taichung)

Two Michelin Stars 

• L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon  (Taipei)
• logy (Taipei)
• Molino de Urdániz (Taipei)
• Mudan (Taipei)
• RAW (Taipei)

One Michelin Star (There are 41 in 2024!)

TAIPEI

• A (NEW)
• A Cut 
• Ad Astra 
• Ban Bo 
• Circum- (NEW)
• de nuit 
• Eika (NEW) 
• Fujin Tree Taiwanese Cuisine & Champagne (Songshan) 
• Golden Formosa 
• Impromptu by Paul Lee 
• INITA 
• Ken Anhe 
• Kitcho 
• Ming Fu 
• Mipon 
• Mountain and Sea House 
• NOBUO (NEW)
• Paris 1930 de Hideki Takayama 
• Sens (PROMOTED)
• Shin Yeh Taiwanese Signature 
• Sushi Akira 
• Sushi Ryu 
• Sushiyoshi 
• T+T 
• The Guest House 
• Tien Hsiang Lo 
• Wok by O'BOND (NEW)
• Ya Ge 
• Yu Kapo 
• Zea

TAICHUNG

• Fleur de Sel 
• Forchetta 
• La Maison de Win 
• L'Atelier par Yao (PROMOTED)
• MINIMAL (PROMOTED)
• Oretachi No Nikuya 
• Sur- 
• YUENJI(NEW)

KAOHSIUNG

• GEN (NEW)
• Haili
• Sho

6 MICHELIN Green Star Restaurants

TAIPEI

• EMBERS 
• Hosu
• Little Tree Food (Da'an Road)
• Mountain and Sea House
• Yangming Spring (Shilin)

KAOHSIUNG

• Thomas Chien 

my kitchen: COWBOY COOKIES

Laura Bush's COWBOY COOKIES

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons (6 ounces) butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut (we used shredded)
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat. Add dry ingredients and beat until blended. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees (or 175 C) for 10-12 minutes. 

I love how this recipe is short and to the point, and can be printed out to fit on a recipe card.

My first time making this cookie and OMG it's so good. Chewy, like the perfect oatmeal choco chip cookie, but loaded with extras. The sweetened coconut makes it extra chewy and I swapped out half the chocolate chips for butterscotch. 

I used a medium scoop for the cookies and the spread to the perfect size of your palm. This is half the recipe which makes over 2 dozen cookies. I also baked for a little longer, closer to 14 minutes so it's golden brown and super easy to lift off the pan once it's cooled. 

I've seen a few recipes that use 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar, or brown butter, but this original recipe is so good, I think I'm going to stick to it.

chinese: i strongly recommend JEN HO YUAN

JEN HO YUAN

or  (REN HE YUAN)

112, ZhongShan N Road, Section 2, 2F, Zhongshan District

台北市中山區中山北路2段112號2樓

(02) 2356-4459

MRT: Minquan West Road or Zhongshan Elementary

hours: 11:30AM-2PM; 5:30PM-9PM

$$ Cash only 

Instagram: @renheyuan

Kid friendliness: 

Visit reviewed:

australian/western: i strongly recommend CANVAS

CANVAS

No. 11號, Alley 5, Lane 107, Section 1, Fuxing S Rd
Da’an District
(02) 2711-6336

MRT: Zhongxiao /Fuxing

IG: @canvas.taiwan

hours: 6 PM-10:30PM, closed 

price: $$ (NT$800-1600) 

kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted, but should be okay for foodie kids during an early dinner
Visit reviewed: 6/19/2024

Dear Gentle Readers, 

or hungry readers I should say. Hahah. Is anyone else watching Bridgerton? 

I haven't written in awhile, but I was feeling nostalgic (eek, the blog turns 19 in a few days) and I really enjoyed this meal and I thought I'd put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, I should say. And maybe more to come?

If you haven't yet been to or heard of Canvas, it's a casual modern Australian restaurant headed up by chef Kai Ward, who was one of the founding partners of Mume and also the chef at Little Creatures, a more casual Australian restaurant with a photogenic center bar, just across the lane from Canvas. Canvas is modern without being fussy, and just last month changed its tasting menu into a la carte, bringing back some favorites from its early days. So it makes it perfect for gathering a few good friends and sharing most of the menu. The vibe and philosophy there I feel is they just want you to have a good meal and a good time. It's really under the radar as a restaurant, and one of those places I tell people to go to if they are looking for a date night spot or place to go with friends that is good food that isn't too expensive. They also have a private room tucked in the back that can sit up to 10-12. 

I made it just in time to catch the last night of the first month's menu, and already Kai is changing up some of the dishes and all of the desserts. So here is everything we tried last night, apologies in advance if it's not on the menu when you go (maybe if enough people want it, Kai will bring it back around?). Three things we didn't get to try that I wish we did were the grilled octopus, the clams and the squid ink barley (classic), but we already had a table full for only 2 people! Like I usually LOVE their sourdough with butter, but I knew we had to save room for all the other food so we didn't order it.

Potato cakes with smoked fish cream, chicken skin and salmon roe (NT$290) - this was my favorite appetizer of the night and a must order if you come to Canvas. Served hot and crispy, you DIY top the smoked fish cream dip onto the fritter and try not to eat them all. I kept going back to this one since it was a lot for 2 people, but it would disappear quickly if you had 4 people sharing. 

Chicken Liver Pate with Sauternes Jelly (NT$250) I think the jelly is being changed to Shaoxing wine for the next menu. I love chicken liver ever since having it at Mume all those years ago, and this tiny bowl packs a punch. 

Chicken Wing with scallop mousse, xo buffalo sauce and pickles  (NT$110 per piece)  I think this is coming off the menu, but I remember this from the tasting menu. The good thing about per piece, is that you can order as many or little as you want. 

Scallop with tomato butter, lardo and kombu (NT$130/piece) I usually love Canvas' scallops but I wasn't a huge fan of this sauce. I probably would order the octopus or clams or crudo instead next time.

Kangaroo snag (black garlic aioli, beer onions and mustard greens) (NT$140 each) So the first time I had kangaroo was my last time at Canvas when Kai brought over kangaroo skewers over, thinly cut and grilled. I was actually surprised that it was tasty (because I usually cannot eat cute animals, so you just have to not think about it). The same here, these sausages on the toast (with cut off crusts) folded up and three very enjoyable bites. 

Smoked Mussel taglietelle, bone marrow, and mushroom (NT$440) Happy we caught the last night of this house made pasta coated in the marrow sauce. I love mussels and mushrooms.

Lamb rump, carrot puree, lovage, brown butter vinaigrette (NT$820) Yum, Slide the lamb around in the puree for the extra layer of sweetness. High CP

Wagyu rump cap "bordelaise sauce", geraldton wax (NT$1250) (Australian truffle add on charge)

Wow! When the chef brings a truffle, in this case Australian truffle, to the table and shaves it all over the steak, you just stop and smell the truffle. (and make sure you get the video) hahaha. We were getting so full, but I had a couple bites and was lucky enough to pack the rest to take home. 

Mango Coconut Bar (NT$140) pineapple jam, meringue Yum! This was so good!! Sad it was the last night on the menu. We snapped it in half to share (easier than cutting) and I love anything with meringue.

Chocolate Torte (NT$280) smoked coffee grounds cream, wattle seed This was melt in your mouth, but if you can only pick one dessert, I would have to pick the next one... scroll down

Vegemite sandwich (NT$280) in the form of a sundae Lol. I think this menu is also making sure that we are paying attention. You can't get more Australian than vegemite and chef Kai has made it into this amazing sundae. There's sourdough ice cream, brown butter ice cream, vegemite caramel, roasted almonds, chocolate sheet, dried milk sheet and sourdough crust cookie. What! Wow! I LOVED this and all the crunchy layers with the creamy ice cream and you should do a sundae on every menu! 

Chef Kai said to just smash down the layers to eat.

Before dinner started, I wanted to make sure I got some kitchen action shots before I got busy eating, so I told Kai that my goal of the night was to get a good photo of him. haha! So I have to share a few and you guys can comment below which one is your favorite. 

Kai has been in Taiwan for ten years this year! He's been here since August 2014 and Mume opened in December 2014. A bit of a backstory, Kai has been cooking since he was 16 and was 19 when he met Richie Lin when they were both in Sydney, and Richie ended up joining him at Quay. Years later, when Richie was planning to open Mume in Taipei, after working at Noma and opening Nur in Hong Kong, he circled back to Kai and brought in Long Xiong together to open Mume. And while they are the heads of each of their own enterprises now, I'll always remember fondly those early days at Mume and all the people and experiences and restaurants that have rippled out since those days. 

Thank you Canvas, Kai and Ashley for always your warm hospitality and good food. 

Until the next time, hungry readers! 

Lady Hungry, ahem, I mean hungry girl