DEAN AND DELUCA
N0.39, Fuxing S Road. Sec 1
Taipei 105
(02) 6600-8888 ext 7301
$-$$$
Sun - Wed 9 AM - 9 PM
Thur-Sat: 9 AM - 10 PM
website: deandeluca.com
visit reviewed: 3/12/2007
As "mall" food goes, Dean and Deluca can get pricey. But hey- it's Dean and Deluca- in Taiwan! So for a set lunch, NT$250 for fresh deli salads or hot American style food is quite a bargain. The NT$600 jar of jam- well, that's if you REALLY love spreadable fruit on your bread, right?
The clean classic layout makes it fun to browse the aisles for ultra-gourmet pastas, chocolates, cheese and other random gourmet foodie selections from NY and around the world. And maybe a great place to find a gift for your boss or that special someone.. but definitely the prices are more affordable to those that shop Tiffany's rather than the night market since it's more expensive than the already pricey JASONs or City Super. But don't let that deter you from checking out their deli selections.
You can choose already packed sandwiches or set lunches (NT$250), or you can choose your own selections from the daily specials. Today, I ended up selecting couscous, mushrooms, roasted veggies and noodles. It came w/ bread and soup- and today was corn soup or pumpkin soup. The corn soup was more watery than creamy and the pumpkin soup had a slightly sweet flavor to it. The couscous was flavorful and fluffy, the mushrooms were not grilled and flavorful as the roasted veggies which I really enjoyed, and the noodles were a bit sweet and tangy w/ tiny scallops mixed in and surprisingly tasty.
You can also choose from the hot food selections such as meat, pastas, lasagnas and veggies for a little extra. I really loved the selection and freshness of all the foods, especially since it will be difficult to find things like couscous anywhere else in Taipei. And it's not a bad price for the portion/choices in contrast to a lunch at Macaroni Grill or something equally Western.
There are also gourmet sandwiches such as Eggplant and Brie which come on fresh bread and are in the deli section. Although I didn't have any of this, my friend was very happy with it and finished it all. She even recommended the Brie which unfortunately they ran out of in the cheese section.
All in all, it's a quick pleasant place for lunch, especially if you have been searching for deli style types of foods. You can also get it ala carte by weight, but the lunchtime set menu is a good bargain- you could even take it home to reheat it for later. I think I'll definitely find myself there again, and maybe even splurging on something gourmet from the racks.
7 comments:
i happened to be at breeze center at the supermarket and decided to try their lunch based on your review. it was really good! my favorite was the noodles with scallops. the bread that came with the lunch special was a little stale though.
I love their prime rib. Perfectly cooked if you like your meat rare or medium-rare. You have a choice of mushroom or black pepper sauce.
ffc: oh yeah, i should have mentioned the bread- it _was_ a little stale.
ron: mm, that sounds good!!! i will definitely try that
do u remember if there was chocolate babka on sale? :)
hf: what is babka? i'm not sure!
I'll be visiting Taipie in August. Was just wondering if you'd been back to Dean and Deluca. If so, have the prices gone up by much? Is the quality still the same? Thanks,
The Dean and Deluca closed a few years ago, or dropped the name, kept the space, but became very very localized. Actually a year after this review, a lot of the things I liked were gone (like the couscous) and instead there was a sushi bar. Local tastes probably weren't suited for something like this.
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