CLOSED/chinese: i strongly recommend SHIN YEH TABLE

Closed a/o 2012- now the new location of Sweet Dynasty

SHIN YEH TABLE
No. 201, Zhong Xiao East Road, Sec. 4, 2nd Fl.
(02) 2778 - 8712

website: shinyeh.com.tw

hours:11:30 am-1 am

$$

Kid friendliness: loud music and bar like atmosphere

Visit reviewed: 12/2007



If you've been wanting to eat Taiwanese foods, but don't know if your stomach can handle the night markets or you can't get a table at Shin Yeh- then you should head to Shin Yeh Table. Shin Yeh Table is twenty something hipster compared to the elegant Taiwanese family establishment Shin Yeh. It's not that Shin Yeh is stuffy- it isn't. It's just that going to Shin Yeh Table is a bit like dining in a lounge bar with its trendy decor, lighting and atmosphere.

But luckily the trendiness doesn't overshadow the food as the food is still great. Dinner with friends is a bit like sharing Taiwanese tapas, if there is such a thing, because the menu has a huge array of appetizers and smaller sized of main dishes and Shin Yeh favorites, as well as lots of desserts including the chewy mochi almond tofu that so many people like at Shin Yeh. Shin Yeh Table has lots and lots of alcoholic drinks to choose from and if you come during its Happy Hours (before and after dinner), you can get a discount off the menu which is in English and Chinese.




It was a great first meeting place for my friends at haochr before they moved back to the US. We shared a love for good food and gua bao and figuring out new ways of writing it up. You just have to pretend you aren't eating fatty pork when you bite into the fluffy bun of the gua bao (NT$80 for one, cut into two halves). The cilantro and ground peanuts give it the needed extra layer of flavor.



gua bao or braised fatty pork in buns

It's hard to declare my favorites from the night because everything was surprisingly good. The fried foods were exceptionally crispy and hot, including the yummy soft shell crab and the stuffed shitake mushrooms.



plenty of soft shell crab to go around

The fried rice (NT$160) and tofu pots were smaller than expected, but still very filling and bursting with flavor.






As haochr recalls, we ordered a lot of food- about 7 dishes and it was well worth the NT$1000 we paid (about US$30) for the three of us.






So lounge away as it's open late or come earlier with your grandma (as I did once, and she liked it!) when you can't get a table at Shin Yeh, but you might be too busy eating and listening to the loud music to have any deep conversations. Located right next to Starbucks on Zhong Xiao East Road, you can peruse the menu at the bottom of the stairs before you climb to the second floor.

I finally, finally got a chance to write this up from my archived drafts. Hello to my friends from haochr who have retired from the world of food blogging. :)


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