BEN TEPPANYAKI
No. 2 Lane 102, An Ho Road, Sec 1
(02) 2703-2296
website: ben-teppanyaki.com.tw
hours: 11:45 AM - 2:30PM; 5:45PM- 10:30PM
$$$
Kid friendliness: high chairs available
Visit reviewed: 7/4/2009
Foie gras and warm molten chocolate lava cake. Drool, drool, drool. Both decadent, melt in my mouth dishes that make me happy.
With those two things on the menu, everything else just faded into the background. Not to mention that I'll always remember Ben Teppanyaki for giving me the biggest piece of foie gras I've ever had. EVER. It's hard to tell from the pictures how huge it was, but it was crazy.
With teppanyaki, you watch the chef cook everything in front of you, making it look easy- letting things rest at the grill, putting the right amount of oil and seasoning to bring out the flavors. And in past experience, things are diced and sliced and passed around the table, so often if you see a few lobster tails, the amount that gets back to you is only a portion. That's why when he put the hunk of foie gras on the teppan, I thought it was going to be split amongst the table.
But no, it was ALL for me! No complaints, except from my arteries. It was so good and worth it, as I took each quivering, succulent bite. Definitely needed the sauce and the sweet pear to offset the richness of the foie gras.
Good thing the veggies were next- I needed to balance out the meal with some tender asparagus and mushroom. The juices from the mushroom were hot and as I munched away, I wished there were more.
I arrived late to the huge family dinner at Ben Teppanyaki so I didn't get to see the menu, but there was plenty of seafood and steak around the table (shrimp, fish, lobster). I'm guessing that this meal didn't come cheap, but it was worth it!
Ben Teppanyaki seems to take French dishes and serve it teppanyaki style with an elegant flair, fusing an east west menu. As the four generations laughed and talked, I played catch up with dishes- a pumpkin soup; garlic bread; cubes of steak with crispy, thin slices of garlic, and fried rice that I had to pack to go. I think there were more, I can't remember- all my focus was on the foie gras.
When the dessert arrived, I had mixed emotions. I love chocolate cake, but I was pretty full.
Then warm chocolate sauce broke free from the cake when I sliced it with my fork and made a little pool for the vanilla ice cream to take a dip. I devoured the whole thing- I couldn't resist! If you're planning on coming, make sure to save room for dessert!
11 comments:
Hey, I just wanted to say that I love your blog. In February I went to Genki Q Milk (my grandmother lives across the old Sogo) on my second to last day in Taiwan and I have been craving it for the past 5 months!
I'm leaving for Taiwan in a week and I can't wait to drink it every single day.
Are there any other pearl milk tea places near the Old Sogo area that you'd recommend?
foie gras and chocolate...can life get any better?? =)
Hmmmm, WOW. I believe a whole foie gras liver is usually about 14-18 ounces, depending if duck or goose is the source. That piece you've got there (I'm using the pear as a size reference) looks like it could easily be a third of a whole?? That's HUUUUUGE!! Like a small steak, haha!
Nice.
Foie Gras is now ban in San Francisco due to animal rights groups and the mayor of San Francisco. Glad Taiwan able to serve it still. Shark Fins is next on the list.
Edward
tag is wrong so this does not show up under strongly recommended.
WHY DID I NOT DO MY CHOWHOUND RESEARCH AND FIND THIS BLOG A MONTH AGO??????????????
Hi, nice blog.
I am Eurasian (French & Chinese Vietnamese) but I laughed when I read that "Ben Teppanyaki seems to take French dishes and serve it teppanyaki style with an elegant flair, fusing an east west menu"
In fact when you look at french recipes from the 17° century, they were very scarce. French have been copying recipes from all the world and name it french since the other Europeans didn't dare to do, fearing to look ridiculous.
Foie Gras was known in China and Egypt 4.500 years ago.
Wine was in Sin Kiang 8.000years ago, Romans brought the grapes to Gaul.
"Cassoulet" was brought from Central America, as well as potatoes, tomatoes, avocadoes, maize, etc..
Spices were transmitted from Asia to France through Arabs, as well as bread.
French didn't know what the clove was for up to the 16°century.
Ice cream maker was brought from China by Marco Polo in the 13th century.
Choucroute is from China and the recipe came to France and Germany thanks to Attila.
Food decoration come from the Japanese just in the 60's last century.
Etc., etc.
"Enlightment revolution" came from China after the Jesuits transmitted the books of the Legists and letting the french know that there was a secular state was possible. This gave Voltaire, Diderot, etc..
Today, French girls prefer foreigners better than the "so called " French lover.
France is a big hoax !
Don't fall into the trap!
Edward:
The SF foie gras ban comment - absolute rubbish.
Teppanyaki and "French" food? The horror... Throw in a piece of foie and suddenly one becomes elegant, giving the owner the liberty to markup his prices w/o a good reason.
I'd also add to the above comment, although this comment does not exactly apply (and is certainly not an attack against the blogger - very interesting blog). Asian cultures put the French on a pedestal, to the extent that it irritates even us. French done poorly is both sh** and overpriced. Faux french is no different.
That looks Amazing :)
Can i ask, how much did you spend at Ben Teppanyaki?
serenalee: hi serena! sorry about the lack of response last year.. i think i was traveling then! Genki Q Milk is my FAVORITE boba milk tea in Taipei. if you ever make it back again, I'd also recommend 50 Lan- get the mini-boba.
Kung Food Panda: haha, nope doesn't get better than that!
tt: haha, it was not as big as a small steak, but it was ridiculous! i think it was because other people at the table were full and didn't want some so maybe the chef didn't divvy it up like he should have? i dunno!
Anonymous/Edward: hmm, i know foie gras is definitely still available in LA!
Raymond: hi! thanks i will fix the tag. haha!! hope you were able to find some good eats from the blog!
Anonymous: thanks for your comment. i've never been to France, so i am definitely not an expert at French cuisine... but there's definitely a lot of mixing of cuisines all over the world, even in taiwan. like i know someone who believes that pasta and pizza in italy are actually influenced by chinese and marco polo... who knows! :) while foie gras the liver was probably available everywhere, the preparation is definitely not chinese...
Anonymous: I definitely agree with some of your point, but I try to enjoy food period. To me, I don't really care where it's from, but whether or not it's good. I've had French food that isn't overpriced (Saveurs) and still amazing, but again, I've never been to France, so I don't know how it compares to France, but it tasted good, period.
Bucket trucks For Sale: thanks
Kelvin: hi Kelvin, it was a family dinner, so I didn't see the menu or pay. but i took a glance at their website and it looks like there are 6 different dinner sets: NT$1980 NT$3300 NT$4280
NT$2580 NT$3680 NT$4880
They also have lunch sets from about NT$800-1500 and NT$3000-4000 for waygue and top waygue. Appetizers can be subbed for goose liver for extra NT$480. Hope that helps.
Oh my god, there's a lot of useful information in this post!
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