snapshot/vietnamese: i still recommend SAVOY

august 2015 zhongxiao shop

Thick slices of bbq chicken, slightly sweet mayonnaise, pickled radishes, carrots and cucumbers  in a toasted chewy yet crusty french loaf. I was so ravenous that I tore into the chicken sandwich as soon as I got home. I wanted to try the newly opened Lee's Sandwiches, but it was a bit far me in the Taipei Main Station neighborhood. So I went with something familiar- the chicken banh mi (NT$160)  from Yue Yuan. Except this time it came with tomato. I love tomatoes so I didn't mind it was a bit different than I remember it, but the flavors, chicken and bread were the same as the one that that I've had over the years and fell in love with at first bite years ago. 

Savoy is also known as Yue Yuan (their Chinese name), but a few years ago they went through some rebranding and now the shops sport bright orange signs saying SAVOY instead of the original yellow and black signs that had their chinese name 越苑 and in English, the word "pho." Their pho is still solid, as are their dry rice noodles, but I love their sandwiches for a quick bite on the go.

feb 2015 anhe shop

SAVOY 越苑

No. 10, Alley 32, Lane 216, Zhongxiao E. Road, Sec. 4

忠孝東路4段216巷32弄10號 

(02) 2731-9597

11:30AM- 9PM

Original Shop

No. 12, Ln 155, Dunhua N. Rd

台北市敦化北路155巷12號

(02) 2718-0660

Anhe Shop

No. 8, Lane 103, Dunhua South Road, Sec. 2 

台北市敦化南路二段103巷8號

(02) 2701-2523

CLOSED / the owners reopened as PHOEVER in 2020 with similar menu and just as good a banh mi

drinks/american: i strongly recommend WOOGO SMOOTHIES

WOOGO JUICE
No. 42, Lane 233, DunHua S. Road, Sec. 1
敦化南路一段233巷42號
(Edited 8/2016: this location has been closed for awhile. I've spotted their shops in various Citylink malls and near Taipei Main Station. Check their Facebook page for updated addresses)

(02) 2778-0182 

MRT: ZhongXiao/Dunhua

website: WooGo's FB page 

hours: 11AM - 10PM

$ (Cash only)

Kid friendliness: yes

Visit reviewed: 6/9/2015

Taipei skipped over the smoothie phase straight into cold-pressed juices, juice cleanses and juice bars craze this past year (with the openings of Juice In, Juicy Diary, Juice 8, Boost Juice, Goodies Cleanse, Vegg Out), but smoothies still hold a special place in my heart. At each of my jobs post college, there was a Jamba Juice nearby to hit up with co-workers during our lunch break or after work. Sometimes when we didn't have enough time to eat, we drank our smoothies on the go. 

When I first moved back to Taipei, there was a smoothie shop at (then) Warner Village, but it eventually closed down. There were plenty of sugary boba tea shops or fresh fruit juice places, but somehow no smoothies. The five founders of WooGo noticed this gap too, and opened WooGo Juice in 2013 to serve California style smoothies,  icy smoothies blended from frozen fruit, yogurt or sorbet and ice of styrofoam cups. All the sorbets and yogurts are made in house, and prices are quite reasonable from NT$75-110 with M, L and XL sized cups available.

Located in an alley behind Ming Yao Department Store, I must have passed by the store dozens of times since one of my favorite bakeries is nearby. I'm glad I finally gave it a try. Now I (and you) have a place to go when I'm craving Jamba Juice. 

Both English and Chinese menus available, with over a dozen smoothies to choose from, in categories of classics, WTF and Tropical. Hot drinks and bagels and cream cheese are also available. There's a couple of small tables to chill inside as well as on outside on the patio.

Scanning the menu, the one that popped out to me was the Raspberry Mojito (NT$$95 for large) with cranberry juice, lemon juice, mulberry sorbet, raspberries and mint leaves. The mint and lemon definitely gave it a brightness and it was a good mix of sour and sweet and the perfect thickness and iciness. Loved it, who wouldn't want to drink mojito smoothies? 

The PBJ Sandwich sounds so strange to me, but lots of people on Instagram said it was their favorite. On my second visit, I tried the Strawberry Lemonade and the Pineapple Paradise, which were both great too, the lemonade being slightly more sour than the pineapple in a side by side tasting. 

The WooGo cup is a lot of fun with charts and facts to read on the go, and it's interesting they choose to make it completely in English with no Chinese. 

Are there enough people in Taipei who want to drink California Smoothies? I hope so. It seems healthier than boba milk teas and blended ice coffees, and cheaper than a Starbucks or shaved ice fix. I wonder if the juice bars have taken off more than smoothies because it seems more healthy and it's not as "icy", since some Taiwanese people avoid ice water and icy drinks. (I've never had more warm water until after I moved back to Taiwan. Now when I go back to LA, I can't drink restaurant water where the ice is filled up to the brim.) But smoothies... happy to have smoothies I can grab and go in Taipei. 

OTHER LOCATIONS

HOYII Taipei Main Station 台北車站店: 
No. 36, ZhongXiao W. Road, Sec. 1, B1 
忠孝西路一段36號B1 
(02) 2311-4733

中山南西店: 
No. 1 Nanjing W. Road
南京西路1號1F 
02-2567-7657

CLOSED! new in town/dessert: i recommend VOODOO DOUGHNUT TAIWAN's maple baconbar

CLOSED! a/o 1/2017

VOODOO DOUGHNUT 

No. 28, Lane 553, ZhongXiao S. Rd, Sec. 4
忠孝東路四段553巷28號
(02) 2763-5593

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall or Taipei City Hall 

hours: 9:30AM - 10PM, closed Monday and Tuesday

website: Voodoo Doughnut Taiwan's FB page

$-$$ (Cash only)

Kid friendliness: lots of room for seating and strollers and kids likely to want their own donuts! 

Visit reviewed: 6/18/2015

Look what's popped into Taipei?! This past week saw the openings of Dominique Ansel Bakery in Tokyo and now we have Voodoo Doughnut from Portland, Oregon  in Taipei (and our own cronuts at @dripcafe). Is Taipei ready for "weird" American style sugary donuts (now that their Krispy Kreme #sugarhigh has faded?) 

Thanks to instagram, I found out about Voodoo Doughnut's arrival last Thursday night and I was obsessing all afternoon and night long about being able to eat a maple bacon doughnut the next day. 

So bright and early on Friday, I headed over to the little alley near Songshan Cultural Park and Songyan Eslite. Early meaning 11AM since in Taipei, people don't eat donuts for breakfast and many restaurants open at noon. I wasn't even sure if they would be open, but luckily they were. Their FB page updated and states they open at 9:30AM, but are closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

It's easy to spot, with a bright pink neon sign and its voodoo doll character.

Once inside, behind the counter there was a wall of pink donut boxes over racks of doughnuts ready to go, a familiar sight to those who grew up in the US. The colorful chalkboard menu listed over 35 doughnuts in English and Chinese, organizing them into cake doughnuts and raised doughnuts. Doughnuts twirled around on tiered glass displays on each side of the counter, giving a glimpse of what to order. There's also considerable room for sitting and snacking and enjoying a cup of coffee with your doughnut.

Since I had never been to Portland and wasn't that familiar with Voodoo's doughnuts (being mostly in Taipei for the last 11 years), I had to quiz the server what some of the specialties were, such as Old Dirty Bastard, No Name, Portland Cream, Triple Chocolate Penetration and Tex-Ass. (I wonder how these are translated into Chinese?! Haha) Mainly, I looked at the doughnuts in the display and asked what the ones I didn't know were and glanced back and forth from the menu and display. 

Cake doughnuts and Old Fashioned cake doughnuts are the cheapest (NT35-50), while the Devil's Food cake chocolate doughnuts and crullers are NT$45-70. The raised doughnuts are the yeasted donuts- raised bars, rings and filled doughnuts are NT$30-95 and the fritters and specialty doughnuts are bigger and most expensive from NT$115-175. There are plain, powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, vanilla with sprinkles, maple, glazed and doughnuts topped with coconut, cereal and bacon. They also made a special Taipei Cream donut that's available only in Taipei.

Even though I am familiar with doughnuts and know what I generally like (old fashioned, fritters, maple bacon doughnuts), I asked a ton of questions because the doughnuts in the display aren't labeled and the names on the chalkboard didn't have descriptions. I guess in the future, they could print a few photo menus to have on the counter with mini descriptions to help first timers get familiar with what they want to order and prevent a bottleneck at the counter. Luckily Voodoo Doughnuts had just been open for a few days and was still in their soft opening so I had the store to myself to figure out what I wanted. I think also they should figure out some sampler pack of their bestsellers so that people can just choose a Voodoo dozen, which they had written on the chalkboard but was not available yet. 

So I made my own sampler box! I thought they would have smaller sized boxes, but the boxes are large enough to fit two layers of doughnuts, in which they'll put the "dry" doughnuts on the bottom, and layer a wax paper layer of more delicate doughnuts on the top layer. I wanted to try different doughnuts with my friends and family so I was ambitious and tried to get a variety, but I think it's best not to get more than you can eat the same day since most of the doughnuts got softer and greasier the next day, especially the cereals on top of the doughnuts which should be crunchy but were soggy since they surprisingly didn't get eaten that day. Especially knowing how humid Taiwan is. I also think I've been in Taiwan too long, the cake donuts were a bit greasy and heavy to me.

I picked some cake and old fashioned on purpose knowing they were cheaper, but my order of 15 doughnuts was still NT$947. I was originally going to get a few boxes for friends, but I didn't since there wasn't a price break and I didn't want to get too many doughnuts if they weren't going to eat them. A dozen of assorted doughnuts at Krispy Kreme Taipei is NT$350 and I mostly like the glazed original doughnuts (NT$300/dozen). 

After paying the bill of almost US$30 for doughnuts (for this review but never again!), I had to wonder if will Taipei pay a premium for American donuts after the retreats of Dunkin Donuts and Mister Donut the past few years. Dunkin Donuts lasted six years after struggling after a promising opening (tried too hard to localize donuts and sometimes served stale donuts, probably because of lack of turnover) and Mister Donuts closed a number of stand alone shops after expanding too quickly. 

I asked if I could get a price break if I bought a dozen or if they were doing any soft opening promotions (like checking in on instagram and Facebook and getting a free doughnut or something along those lines) and they said no. Krispy Kreme had an intense marketing push giving away tons of free doughnuts and garnering social media word of mouth when they opened, so much that they had people waiting up to four hours in line around the block for almost three months after their launch. Despite people saying for years that Krispy Kreme was too sweet for Taiwanese people, they got people to show up out of curiosity who wanted to post photos with their box of doughnuts.  

Can Voodoo Doughnut succeed by doing a slow launch when it doesn't have the same brand recognition yet in Asia and the culture here just isn't that obsessed with doughnuts? Especially when you are competing not only with other doughnut shops, but with a multitude of bakeries, sweets, street eats and cafes on every corner in Taipei. I think it would help to do some promotions for your early customers and start the Voodoo Dozen pricing since we are the ones who are obsessed and more likely to return. 

So the first one I tried was the maple bacon donut (NT$95), since that was the one I had fallen in love with a few years earlier from DK Donuts in LA. It's like a plate of pancakes, maple syrup butter and bacon on the go. I actually love the flavor combination so much I tried to convince the guys at Drip Cafe to do a maple bacon cronut when I was taking all my friends there before it got crazy. The maple bacon was definitely my favorite out of the bunch with the thick sweet maple glaze and a layer of salty bacon. Devoured it before I got home and it's the doughnut I would go back to Voodoo for and spend my precious calories on. 

There's a good guide to doughnuts on Serious Eats, but I'll post some close ups of the doughnuts with their names so hopefully it'll be a bit faster next time to figure out what to order. I shared most of the other doughnuts with others so I didn't get to try all of them, but I liked the old fashioned and the peanut chocolate cake doughnut that I got a bite of. 

Old Fashioned - Maple (NT$50)

Voodoo Doll  (NT$90) 

Raised yeast doughnut with chocolate icing and raspberry jelly filling

Dirty Snowball (NT$70) 

Devil Food's chocolate cake donut with strawberry icing, topped with shredded coconut and peanut butter in the middle 

The Loop (NT$52) 

Raised doughnut with vanilla frosting covered in fruit loop cereal (Anyone else find it amusing that this is NT$52 instead of NT$50 or NT$55? You'd think it's easier for change to keep all the prices even since they are cash only.)

Triple Chocolate Penetration Doughnut (NT$55) 

Chocolate cake doughnut covered in chocolate frosting and chocolate puff cereal

Old Dirty Bastard (NT$75) 

Raised yeast doughnut with chocolate frosting, crushed Oreos and peanut butter

Chocolate french cruller (NT$45)

Cinnamon Sugar Cake doughnut (NT$45) 

Droolworthy? Let me know if you try Voodoo Doughnuts in Taiwan in the comments and what you thought! I'm constantly fascinated by what foreign/American eats ends up in Taipei and always hope it succeeds and translates and tastes good. I hope Voodoo can find its niche market and be affordable while not adjusting to local tastes, but offer doughnuts that taste like they did back at home. 

burgers/new in town: CALIBURGER

CALIBURGER
No. 7, Alley 7, Lane 205,ZhongXiao E. Road, Sec. 4
台北市忠孝東路四段205巷7弄7號

MRT: ZhongXiao/DunHua

website: Caliburger's FB page

hours:

$$ (NT$275+ per person)

Kid friendliness: yes

Visit reviewed: 4/11/2015

To the casual burger fan, Caliburger would appear to be very close to In N Out- the style of the burger, the fries, the dousing of thousand island dressing and cheese and onions, the palm trees and cherry red trays. But to those who grew up on In N Out, it might not satisfy completely- it might just make you long a little more for the real thing. 

Caliburger took over the space from the previous Sanrio Cafe Kiko's Diner and kept most of the same seating format- except that it tore down the front register and moved it in front of the semi open kitchen. I went during its soft opening, when they were still training the staff and working out the flow in the kitchen, so our burgers took quite a long time. Thanks Caliburger for the sneak peek and the tasting- I know things will run smoother as your team gets more experience.

Though my meal was comped, the Cali Combos were slightly more expensive than I expected- NT$275 for a Caliburger (that's a cheeseburger), fries and drink, while a Calidouble combo bumps you up to NT$345. The burger alone costs NT$175 and the Calidouble is NT$245. Usually when I'm in LA at In N Out, I get just the burger and fries which according to current prices is US$2.10 and US$1.60, let's say with tax is around US$4. I think lower prices for a better-than-fast-food meal is one the things that makes In-N-Out a favorite in the states, besides its taste. With so many burger places now (and NT$80 bentos) in Taipei, Caliburger will need to keep its prices competitive. Even BLT Burger has already closed. Anyone else remember Burger Stop? They tried to bring double stack burger combos to Taipei for under NT$200.

I'd never heard of Caliburger until In-N-Out did its one day pop up in Taipei (confirmed to be really In-N-Out via twitter), and I did research on what other pop ups they were doing outside of the US and why. Part of it is to protect their trademark which Caliburger stepped on when it marketed itself as having "double doubles"  and "animal style fries" when they opened its first store in Shanghai in 2012. The similarities to In-N-Out were not an accident- Caliburger's chef de cuisine Jonathan Wong was a manager at In-N-Out in Northern California and has said that "the model was In-N-Out."  In-N-Out caught wind and sued, and the case was settled out of court with an undisclosed agreement. Since then, Caliburger has added shops in Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Manila, Dubai, Bahrain, with locations set to open in DC, London, Stockholm and In-N-Out territory, Los Angeles.



So is it worth trying? I always think it's worth trying on your own, since everyone has different tastes, but I wouldn't wait in a long line for it. Whether or not you love it, I think will depends on how hardcore you are.

I thought the fries were spot on (especially knowing how hard it is to get fries that also look like In N Out's with Taiwan potatoes, having seen and eaten fresh cut fries at Burger and Co and Lobster Bar that were sweeter and browner). Personally I liked the plain fries over the animal style, excuse me, wild style fries, but I don't love Animal style fries to begin with. Too much going on with the thousand island dressing, grilled onions and cheese- I'd prefer it on the burger. 

I thought the Caliburger was good, the meat, the veggies, the sauce, except I really disliked the bun. The bun was too sweet for me, but it might not be a deal breaker to some. Hopefully they'll keep working on it and make it less sweet. Note you can also ask to have your onions grilled for your burger instead of raw. The beef patty is made from Australian beef. 

I found myself comparing the Caliburger to Burger and Co, my current fave for American style burgers, or to those from the newly opened gastropub Bing. I'd say those are my two go-to places for burgers these days, unless I'm watching a movie and grabbing a Whopper. Burger and Co recently also opened a second shop in Tianmu I'm looking forward to checking out. 

If you're really hungry, you can get the Calidouble (NT$345). If I go back, I'd give this a try and maybe order a milkshake. If you're drooling over these pics, give it try and let me know what you think. I know some of you will be very excited to have a place like Caliburger in Taipei.

indian: i strongly recommend BALLE BALLE INDIAN

BALLE BALLE INDIAN FOOD 雷巴雷印度餐廳
No. 12 Guangfu N. Rd 光復北路12號
(02) 2570-7265

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall (10-15 minute walk away)

website: Balle Balle's FB page 

hours: 11:30AM - 2:30PM; 5:30PM - 10PM

$$ (average NT$400-700/person)

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted, but kid friendly breads, rice, chicken dishes

Visit reviewed: 8/21/2014 & 9/1/2014

I was having scones and tea a few weeks ago with a girlfriend who was visiting from NY, and she was telling me how useful my blog was, but also how it felt a little out of date. It's true I haven't been posting as often as I used to, and I have been selfish, keeping my favorite places to myself for as long as I can so that they don't get crowded and I can walk in last minute without a reservation. But sometimes, you can't keep a good thing all to yourself, so I wanted to write about Balle Balle Indian Restaurant.

My mouth started to water when I was uploading the pictures for this post... butter chicken, naan, spinach. So much so that I had to order some food from there to-go for dinner! I was quite happy to find a new Indian place to devour and Balle Balle continued the streak of good Indian food that seems to be hitting Taipei. The past few years has seen the opening of Balle Balle (2013), Khana Khazana (2012), Fusion Asia Indian Restaurant and Bar (2012), Mayur Indian Kitchen (2011) and Sree Indian Palace (2011).  Even though there have always been a handful of Indian restaurants in Taipei, or at the mall food courts, I'd sometimes find repeat visits a disappointment when the food wasn't consistently good as the first time (Invariably, they have to keep costs down, but it's still a bummer). I love Saffron (and its next door neighbor Spice Shop is great too), but the drive to Tianmu and its pricier menu makes it a destination, not a regular visit for me.

So when my friend raved about her new find, Balle Balle, we made our way there for lunch and grabbed the last table for two at lunch. It was fairly crowded both times we went, so I'd recommend making a reservation. I took this picture after the lunch crowd had cleared out.

Balle Balle's menu features Punjabi Indian fare and the second time I went, I went with a large group that could EAT, so I was able to try a lot of different dishes. Everything was delicious and the portions are good for the price. The manager speaks English and Chinese, and can recommend dishes if you aren't sure what to order. There's a great range of appetizers, tandoori, chicken, seafood, lamb, vegetarian and breads to choose from.

On my first visit, my friend who introduced me to the restaurant chose her favorite dishes from her previous visits- the murg malai kebab (NT$380), naan (NT$65), cucumber raita (NT$90) and the manager recommended the murg saag wala (NT$380) which had chicken chunks cooked in spinach puree, when we asked for a curry to add. The murg saag wala is a good dish to order if you are eating alone because you get the meat and the veggies without having to order two things- since Balle Balle doesn't have the lunch set menus here.

The murg malai kebab (NT$380) is marinated in Indian spices, cashew nut paste and homemade indian cream, so it's flavorful without being spicy and is really succulent. This is something I'd probably order for my dad to try, as he is someone who doesn't like curry or Indian food. Also a great alternative for those who love chicken tandoori, but want something boneless so you don't have to get your hands dirty.

The cucumber raita (NT$90) is refreshing and cooling, not too runny or sweet.

I liked Balle Balle so much that I chose for dinner when meeting up with some cousins. The guys said they were hungry and loved Indian food, so we ordered up a storm.

Refreshing mango lassi- not overly sweet and great yogurt/mango taste.

Samosas (NT$80 for 2 ) to start off the night. 

Fish tikka masala (NT$380) and Dilwala Tandoori murg chicken (NT$550 for full portion) very tender and aromatic. Super yum.

Chicken Murg Tikka Masala  (NT$340)- boneless chicken cooked in the clay oven, simmered with tomatoes, onions, coriander and Indian spices. 

The Murg Makhani Masala (NT$380) was one of the favorites of the night. Otherwise known as  Butter Chicken, the creamy butter cream and tomato curry is on the sweet side and everyone scooped the last of the curry with their naan even after there was no more chicken.

I liked the vegetarian dishes a lot- we didn't spot okra on the menu, but after asking, they said they had it.

Palak paneer- spinach

Scoop a little bit of everything to the plate to go with your rice and naan and pass the curry along. 

The manager chose an assortment of naans and parathas for us to try. I ended up really loving the golden brown amitsari aloo kulcha (NT$120), which tasted like a wheat-y flatbread stuffed with mashed potato. Google says that kulchas are leavened Punjabi breads made from wheat flour, and made with baking soda instead of yeast. Next time I'd try the kulcha or paratha stuffed with cauliflower or the poori, a puffed up deep fried bread, which I spotted when another table ordered it.

Balle Balle, the name of the restaurant, is said to be an "expression of joy" or used to describe a feeling of happiness especially in songs. Cue Pharrell, because I'm happy to have found my new favorite restaurant for Indian food in Taipei.