western/drinks: i recommend LOVE LOVELY

LOVE LOVELY 美好生活古董行
No. 3, Lane 345, Alley 4, RenAi Rd., Sec. 4
台北市仁愛路4段345巷4弄3號
(02) 2771-3800

MRT: Zhongxiao/Dunhua

website: Love Lovely's FB page

hours: 12PM - 10PM

$$ (about NT$300-600/person)

Kid friendliness: high chairs and kids meals available

Visit reviewed: 6/19/2012 & 9/7/2012



Part Alice in Wonderland, part vintage shop, part cafe makes up the whole of Love Lovely, another new cafe making its mark in Taipei's East District.



Opened earlier this summer, Love Lovely's lovely decor has already landed it on a new book about, what else, Taipei cafes. I was invited to check it out by my friend before they soft opened, but the menu has since been revamped, so I'll be writing about my most recent visit.

The store section of Love Lovely serves as a living room counterpart to the restaurant's roomy dining area, with a large white bookcase and long tables filled with treasures to Instagram about. All of the items are handpicked by the owner and brought over from Europe. There are no price tags or obvious way of knowing that things are for sale, so if something catches your eye, just ask (though some pieces are actually just for decor as part of the owner's collection and not for sale).

The vintage pieces feel quite classic and modern, or is it that what's old becomes new again? Love Lovely's vibe is more Anthropologie than Antique Roadshow. I haven't really seen the hybrid shop/cafe model in the states, but in Taipei, the eclectic VVG restaurants and Whiple House come to mind.

Lots of charm in the small detail in everything, from the menus covered with vintage newspaper articles to the napkins and letterpress paper coasters bearing the hand drawn illustrations that seemed to have escaped a tea party from Lewis Carroll.

The English and Chinese menu features mostly Western fare, with salads, pastas, chef specials and desserts. Lunch and dinner sets are available, that include choice of sparkling water, glass of red or white wine, coffee or tea with an additional NT$70.

There's also Little Princess Mermaid or Little Price Ranger meals for the kids (with the sets costing more than the adult fare. Haha!)

The Dutch baby definitely caught my eye and I made sure to order the oven pancake with carmelized apple before my meal was over.

I had to start off with the truffle fries (NT$180) which I devoured on my first visit.

I wanted to try the quiche, but it had unfortunately been reserved by another big group to serve the whole pie with a candle atop instead of birthday cake, so I had to pick something else. The Nicoise salad (NT$230) had big chunks of potato, hardboiled eggs, and sprinklings of tuna, olives and baby corn.

The set menus came with a cup of soup- it was a broth of something or another.

I really enjoyed the black and white fried calamari (NT$210), which had some pieces breaded in squid ink batter to give an eye catching appearance. The serving basket for this and the truffle fries are fun.

We all also talked ourselves into getting the Frozen coconut mojito, which was inspired by the signature drink from The Modern Honolulu hotel. I had no idea what it was until it arrived to the table, but food je t'aime was quite excited, having had the real thing before in Hawaii.

Coconut rum + lime juice + fresh mint + ice = mojito smoothie- Now this is definitely the way to have a lunch.

I wasn't as crazy about the sauteed mushrooms and shrimp (NT$150) as I was about the other appetizers.

Bolognese Tomato Meat Sauce Spaghetti (NT$280/set)

My cousin is a VIP customer at Love Lovely, so she was able to talk them into making her favorite dish from the dinner menu, the shortrib steak for us. I would definitely order this again, it was nicely grilled and tender with that shortrib chewiness.

Before we were done eating, I wanted to make sure to order the dessert so we weren't waiting too long while it was baking and made to order. The oven pancake with apples is definitely a must try and is quite large. It probably can be shared with at least 4-6 people- we had three and barely made a dent. The pancake was fluffy and slightly crispy on the edges and is basically a dessert yorkshire pudding (if you've had that at Lawry's). It's more eggy than sweet and tastes more like a fluffy cream puff shell than an American pancake, and serves as a crust to the carmelized apples. I'd definitely order this again, and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream next time.

I think I'm going to have to try making this at home sometime.

So whether you're browsing for random pieces from Paris to put on your bookshelf or a place to linger for afternoon tea (for scones, cupcakes, whoopie pies or tea), wander over to the alley near Lane 216/Yanji St to find Love Lovely.

afternoon tea/fusion: MIA CAFE

MIA CAFE 米兒咖啡洋食館

No. 235-2, Dunhua S. Rd, Sec. 1 

台北市敦化南路一段235之2號1~2樓 

(02) 2741-8080

MRT: ZhongXiao Dunhua

website: Mia Cafe's FB page

hours: 11:30 AM - 10 PM 

$$ 

Kid friendliness: lots of space, seating area on second floor with stairs only.

Visit reviewed: 9/25/2012

Mia Cafe sits across from the Dunhua Eslite bookstore, a gleaming storefront at the base of one of those new high rise office/apartment buildings. The first floor holds only the dessert shop area, for people who might want to browse and takeaway. Diners head up to the cafe on the second floor, where the hostess asks if you have a reservation or not. We didn't have reservations, but luckily there were still some tables in the quite full space.

Small yellow chandeliers adorn the large open room seating area, while a large bar is the face of the kitchen where the drinks and food come out. 

I had heard nothing about Mia Cafe, only spotted it in passing, so the fusion menu was a surprise to me.

On the first few pages were sushi rolls, chirashi bowls and Japanese food which was unexpected for a ladies who lunch cafe. Then after some rice/pasta/noodles there were pages and pages of desserts - photos of fat hotcakes, fruit tarts, macarons, macaron cakes, ice cream, cakes, and coffee and tea.

If I wasn't so full, I might have ordered a roll or two. They were doing a photo shoot in the corner and we could see styled plates being shuttled over to the photographer.

Sweet or "sabory" hotcakes which looked like overfed pancakes masquerading as desserts. There were of course, also waffles.

The fresh fig and peach tarts looked interesting and something I might try if I came again.

Cold or hot coffees, lattes, cocoas and teas are available as well as smoothies, yogurt drinks and fresh juices.

I had just finished lunch with my cousin at a Sanuki udon shop behind Dunhua Sogo and was quite full, otherwise we were both saying how the rolls looked good.  My cousin ended up ordering an iced coffee and I got the fresh fruit tea (cold) (NT$210).

Presentation wise, the drinks reminded me a bit of Coffee Alley, with a frozen coffee ice cube and serving the drink, milk and sugar syrup on a tray.

The iced fresh fruit tea had the usual super sweet passionfruit and citrus flavor and came in a large carafe with a spoon and straw. I asked for a separate cup to pour my tea into, but I ended up drinking almost the whole thing anyway.

We were both amazed at how crowded it was in the late afternoon, even though the dining room was quite large. It was definitely mostly tables of women, with 1-2 men spotted. Was it the location? The food? The atmosphere?  Maybe it was the fusion and mega dessert menu, offering something for everyone.

desserts: i recommend SWEET TEA at TAIPEI 101

SWEET TEA by STAY at TAIPEI 101 米其林三顆星
No.45 Shifu Rd, 4F 台北市市府路45號4樓
02-8101-8177

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: Sweet Tea FB page

hours: 11AM- 9:30PM

$$

kid friendliness: high chairs available

Visit reviewed: 5/13/2012

If you haven't been to Taipei 101 lately, then you're in for a surprise. The former "restaurant row" on the 4th floor is being transformed into mini Rodeo Drive with huge Louis Vuitton, Prada, Miu Miu, Dior and Burberry, in various stages of completion. Page One? Gone from its central spot to a different area. And with high end brands, you need high end dessert shops to match- Sweet Tea and chocolatier Jean-Paul Hevin.

I had eaten at STAY last year, also in a corner on the 4th floor, and Sweet Tea features confections by the pastry chef at STAY, opened by Michelin starred chef Yannick Alleno.

The colorful menu includes pastries, macarons, gelatos and ice creams as well as afternoon tea sets.

On a recent meeting with Singaporean food blogger Brad Lau (aka Lady Ironchef), we had a crazy dessert trail that ended up at Sweet Tea at 101. It was a good choice, since it was the first time for both of us and I had heard about it for awhile, but never had the chance to go. At the entrance, the hostess informed us there was a NT$380 minimum per person to sit down. It's a little annoying, but better than the trending drink minimum where the drinks are overpriced and not that good. At least this way you can spend all your money on sweets.

And sweets galore, there are. Walking around the small space, there is a lot to choose from. Long rectangular tarts with rows of fresh raspberries listed on the menu as strip pies, or the collection cakes, displayed like miniature works of art under individual clear cases under the glass display.

Or a sweet'dwich (NT$170-240) if you prefer your sandwiches stuffed with cream.

Or the ever popular macaron (NT$80), with flavors like almond, raspberry, hazelnut, lemon or chocolate.

Or maybe tea pastries are more your speed.

We carefully made our selection, mentally calculating our minimum amount we needed to spend and returned to our seats, where shortly a plate was delivered to be photographed from every angle, and then savored. 

I can barely believe that we could still eat this, after lunch and sharing a cotton candy with espresso and ice cream from Coffee Alley as well as a cake sampler from Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki.

My favorite out of the bunch was the lemon meringue which had the right amount of sweetness and tartness as well as the cloud of torched meringue atop.

The St. Honore also surprised me with the light and airy vanilla bean speckled cream and crackling, sweet carmelized mini cream puffs.

Despite the prime location, Sweet Tea wasn't too crowded and was a great place to relax and chat and people watch the streams of tourists headed up to the Taipei 101 observatory deck.