korean: i recommend UNCLES TAIWAN

#itsrainingcheese 

UNCLES TAIWAN 엉클스대만

No. 31, Lane 260, GuangFu S. Rd

光復南路260巷31號

(02) 8771-8097

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

hours: 11:30AM- 3:30PM; 4:30PM- 11PM 

website: Uncles Taiwan's FB 

$$ (about NT$300-500/person) 

kid friendliness: not a lot of non-spicy options for non-spicy eating kids

Visits reviewed: 11/19/2015 & 3/17/2016

OMG! The moment I saw this on Instagram, hot, melty, stringy cheese bookended by deep fried giant squid on a bed of spicy Korean tteokboki rice cakes, I knew I must try it. I counted down the minutes until I could go the very next day (last November). The first time I went, Uncles Taiwan had been opened for less than one week. A popular tteokbokki restaurant from Korea, Uncles Taiwan is located in the alleys across from SYS Memorial Hall. Uncle's Taiwan was brought in by TKK (Taiwan's KFC) so they know how to make deep fried goodness.

Live out your construction worker fantasies with pseudo uniforms, hard hats and wands to light up and wave down the waiters. 

On the first visit, the Chinese only menu can be a little confusing, but you basically choose the base (step 1) (spicy saucy rice cakes or a stir fried version), opt for cheese or without (YOU MUST CHOOSE CHEESE for the full experience) and what you will top it with- fried squid, pork belly or chicken wings, and the prices are added together accordingly. There only one portion size, and I would say probably best suited for 3-4 people. They don't pack up leftovers so go hungry or with friends. There's also Korean instant ramen, seafood pancake and rice balls. FYI there's a minimum per person fee of NT$300.

Spicy chicken feet with rice cake or Korean fishcake oden

Seafood Pancake (NT$290) Last fall when we tried the seafood pancake, it was quite disappointing, served a bit too thick and underdone. This time, my friend asked for it to be extra crispy. It was better than before, and there's a decent amount of shrimp, oysters and squid inside, though it's a bit pricey for the size. 

Seaweed, mentaiko rice balls (NT$80) This is the only rice option, which isn't really necessary since you're getting a pan full of starchy rice cakes, but if there's someone who doesn't eat spicy at the table or kids, then this is one of your few choices. It's not bad, it's just something you could totally do yourself at home. Depending on what server you get, they will offer to mix up the hot rice for you and form little rice balls, or leave the plastic glove and ball on the table for you to do yourself.

I've been to Uncles Taiwan three times and I still get a tiny thrill seeing the monster squid coming to the table. This is the before of the must order dish at Uncles Taiwan... Crispy whole squid atop mozzarella cheese and spicy Korean ricecake tteokbokki, fishcakes and hardboiled egg. The squid legs dangle off the pot and you wonder how you are going to eat it, but they cut the body and legs for you into pieces after they've pulled it apart into oozing melted cheese. (NT$390 cheese rice cakes + fried squid NT$250 = NT$640). On my second visit, I went with more friends so I could try more of the menu. But we still all liked the deep fried squid over cheesy Korean rice cakes the best. The low spicy/xiao la still has a kick and tinge of sweetness.

First they have to light the fire (that's when you have to get your camera ready for the MOMENT)...

Say cheese. Click here to see my instagram video of the cheesy magic.

You can opt to stir it all together, or just scoop up the parts you want to eat. Low spiciness is pretty dang spicy. 

Buried underneath is the rice cake (tteokbokki) and

thin strips of fish cake...

Some thoughts after three visits- skip the ramen- unless you want to try to add it into the tteokbokki. Make sure your squid is hot when it comes to your table, if that's important to you. On my third visit, I instinctively touched the squid when the dish didn't appear to be hot and I was right when it wasn't. So we sent it back a new one because what's the point of wasting calories when it's not hot out of the fryer. I also missed the cute, helpful waiter from our first visit-- this time the servers were all clumped together at the bar, not looking toward the customers and we often had to walk over and wave them down. Also different servers will create different experiences, and since this dish is a bit interactive, then it's even more important that the servers provide a good experience for repeat business. 

I'm sure I'll be back when another friend tells me that they want to go, there's nothing else like it in Taipei that I know of.  I know there are quite a few Korean restaurants that have the cheesy spicy Korean rice cake hotpot available, including the not-so-new Tiger Tteokbokki, but in a city where often the nachos and sandwiches and dishes need to up their game on their cheese factor, Uncles Taiwan seems to know what we want.

snapshot/chinese: it's HAIRY CRAB season! i recommend CHAO PING JI

CHAO PING JI 潮品集  

at San Want Hotel, 2 FL
No. 172, Zhong Xiao East Rd., Sec. 4 
台北市忠孝東路四段172號

(02) 2772-2121

MRT: ZhongXiao/DunHua or SYS Memorial Hall


Visit reviewed: 11/5/2015
Previous review: 12/2008

It's hairy crab season!! 

You would think that I would have had enough crab after feasting on Alaskan crab legs and Dungeness crab for three days in a row when I went to Alaska this past summer (yay Disney cruise), but when my friends reminded me that it was time to eat hairy crab, I couldn't say no. Although if you think about it, hairy crab is mostly for those that enjoy crab roe since its body and legs are tiny and thus yield less crab meat. San Want's Chao Ping Ji has different crabs from Shanghai, the ones we ate that day were from the infamous Yangchen Lake. We also had swimmer crabs, which had a fair amount of sweet crab roe and much more meat, and cost less. To be honest, you could skip the hype and just get swimmer crabs, or you could order and eat one of each.  

Don't forget to order some dim sum on the side. My favorites at Chao Ping Ji are the XO fried radish cake, Chiu Chow noodles (pan fried into a flat pancake and cut into slices then served with vinegar and sugar) and the stir-fried green beans with olive leaves. 

Hairy crab season is Sept - Dec, with the peak season now. It's best to reserve in advance since they get shipped in from Shanghai. 

These are swimmer crabs, as you can see from their legs. 

Half a swimmer crab compared to a hairy crab. Yum!! You can see the black fuzz on the claw of the hairy crab, aka mitten crab, named because of their unique claws. Next time I'll take some pictures of how to eat a hairy crab and use the scissors to cut the legs and squeeze the meat out. Served with black vinegar to dip in and ginger tea to offset the "cold" energy you get from eating the crabs.

Where else have you guys found hairy crab in Taipei? 

CLOSED/cajun/seafood: i recommend BROOKHURST SEAFOOD BAR

BROOKHURST SEAFOOD BAR 布魯克海鮮吧‬ 

No. 43, Lane 308, Guangfu S. Road,
台北市大安區光復南路308巷43號
(02) 2741-4857

(update in 2019. became a restaurant called Nomad Bistro which I think didn't make it even 6 months. )

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

website: Brookhurst Seafood Bar's FB page

Hours: 5:30PM - 12AM (last order 11PM) Closed Mondays

Kid friendliness: for seafood loving kids, you can order non spicy versions or fried appetizers available.

Visit reviewed: 9/12/2015

Anyone who's eaten at Boiling Crab has likely joined the cult of digging into bags of cajun spiced boiled seafood, getting your hands dirty and leaving the carcasses of shrimps, clams and crabs all over the table. While I was a little late to the game, my cravings for the Whole Shebang buttery seafood has led to me to look for Boiling Crab inspired restaurants knockoffs  in Taipei. Currently in Taipei, there are three that I know of Brookhurst Seafood Bar (the newest and only open at night), Shrimp Daddy (they have Taco Thursdays) and Chili Crab (the one on Minsheng E. Road.) RIP those who were too early to bring Cajun seafood boil to Taipei-  Firebite, Spicy Alley and the Boiling Seafood.

The menu has a few appetizers like onion rings, cajun fries, baby calamari, chicken wings and honey mustard fish and chips, but the focus is on the seafood. You can choose from clams, mussels, white shrimp, hokkaido scallops, grass shrimp, lobster or king crab legs to boil in one of three sauces- Lemon Zing, Cajun Steeeez or Brookhurst Bang. There are four levels of spiciness to choose from- non spicy to the hottest level "I Dare You." Add ons include potatoes, corn, broccoli, okra, oyster mushrooms, sausages, baby corn, or sides of rice, baguette or noodles as your starches. There is also Boston Lobster, Dungeness Crab or Hokkaido Hairy Crab available, but only if you order it in advance. Since most of the items are by weight, then shrimp is the best deal since its shells are comparable lighter than crab or lobster.

If you want to get a combination of seafood, then you can do a BS Combo as our waiter suggested as well, which is a mix and match ranging from NT$999-NT$5990.

Bibs available for everyone to freely get messy.

Excuse the blurry photos- I think I was too hungry to focus and anyone who's ever eaten seafood knows how messy it gets, so after a few obligatory photos, I dug in and my hands were too buttery to take more pics. #grubandchug The seafood was fresh, flavors were there and though I was missing the fresh limes and salt and pepper that I'd grown to love at Boiling Crab, I would go back to Brookhurst Seafood Bar again.  I might even have to order a dungeness crab in advance.

I couldn't tell the difference between the two sauces at first, but once we hit the bottom of the bag, one sauce was spicier than the other. We would have also ordered some raw oysters, but our waiter told us they were also cooked in the bag. Doh. Their instagram and Facebook seems to disagree.

Some of you might wonder if it's related to Brookhurst Pho, and it's actually in the same spot. It started taking over Brookhurst Pho at night in March and it was so successful, I guess they took over the whole space as you can see from the signage change, so RIP Brookhurst CaliPHOnia. Brookhurst Seafood Bar is currently only open at night and advance reservations strongly recommended.

brunch/new american: i recommend SPOT TAIPEI

SPOT TAIPEI

No. 58, Lane 233,  Dunhua S. Rd., Sec. 1
台北市大安區敦化南路一段233巷58號 

(02) 2775-4117

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

Hours: 11AM - 10:30PM

website: Spot Taipei's FB page

visits reviewed:  5/18/2015 & 9/7/2015

Yesterday at lunch, my friend nudged me to put up some posts of newer places sooner. "You eat at all the new places first, so you should be the first to post about it." I responded by saying, that I do post quickly, but mainly on instagram and she gave me a mental kick in the butt to do it for the blog too. So I'm gonna try to do a blitz of posts of new places and menus for y'all... every time I scroll through my Instagram, I do feel a tinge of regret that I don't have the time to do full posts at the same time, but usually when I'm blogging, that usually means I'm not sleeping. Like right now.

Opened four months ago, Spot Taipei is a great new addition to the New American and brunch scene in Taipei, featuring affordable prices, generous portions and most importantly some hearty, tasty American dishes not yet found in Taipei. Not be confused with the also lovely Spot Theater, the independent movie house founded by Hou Hsiou-Hsien, Spot Taipei is a restaurant tucked in an alley behind Ming Yao Shopping Center (i.e. the mall with the huge Uniqlo, now next to the huge Forever 21) on ZhongXiao East Road near SYS Memorial Hall. 

I recommend going with a group if you can, to be able to share and sample more plates, and order some of my favorite dishes. I've been twice since its opening, once during its soft opening and my second visit was yesterday, so the menu has changed slightly since my last visit. 

The most popular dishes are from Spot Taipei's all day brunch menu, such as the chicken waffle sandwich, the corned beef hash, the french toast and eggs benedicts. Most restaurants in Taipei have a signature dish-- the thing you see on social media that makes you want to eat your next meal there. For Bing Burger, it's their bone marrow burger. For Belle Epoque, their boba milk pancakes. For Drip Cafe, their cronuts. For Pig and Pepper, it's their funnel cake. For Spot Taipei, it's their Ferrero Rocher French Toast and chicken and waffles sandwich, something that's big back in the US that's yet to trend in Taipei. (You can also find fried chicken and waffles at NOLA and previously at Bakery 49, but that's all that comes to mind.)

Let's start off with some of my favorites from today. Favorite things today at @spottpe were the spicy chicken wings, scallop crudo, ribeye steak and roast chicken with creamy mashed potatoes. Skip the green salad (too salty and plain), the miso pork belly (too dry). Otherwise the service was good- they were accommodating and friendly. Still have yet to try the pancakes here!! 

Scallops crudo- Hokkaido scallops with candied chorizo and homemade rice crackers (NT$290). Scallop lovers could easily eat 3-4 pieces, which if my eyeballing estimate is correct is about one scallop. Not looking at the menu, I thought the toppings were sundried tomatoes.

Chicken wings - dry rubbed and fried, pickled celery, dijon sriracha with blue cheese sauce (NT$180 for 4) 

THESE CHICKEN WINGS were some of my favorite things of the meal. If you are a chicken wing lover, you gotta order this. I had two of them, but could have easily eaten more. The skin was crispy and coated with spicy sweet sriracha. I didn't taste the blue cheese at all, but I didn't miss it. Fun twist on traditional buffalo wings.

Pan roasted chicken - half chicken deboned, wilted chinese kale, potato puree, chicken jus, chives and chervil (NT$460)

The pan roasted chicken is a table favorite every time I've been here. The potato puree is buttery and creamy (rivals the mashed at Robuchon) and the whole dish just works.

Fried chicken waffle sandwich- batter fried chicken, asian ranch, gruyere cheese, pickled onions (NT$400)

I enjoy the chicken waffle sandwich- the waffle isn't too heavy, the chicken is tender, the portion is hearty, so it can be a filling meal for one, or shared between two or four people. Each time I've eaten it, I wished both the waffle and chicken are crispier. If they could offer a version of this sandwich with the same level of crunchiness and flavor as the wings (with a little cabbage slaw) that would be AAAAAmazing. Right? Fried sriracha chicken waffle sandwich!! It sells itself.

Ribeye for 2- 22 oz USDA Prime ribeye, sous vide, chimichurri sauce, confit garlic, arugula (NT$1800)

At my first bite, I wished I wasn't so full so I could eat more. The ribeye was perfectly cooked to a nice medium rare, but still had a nice charred crust while being juicy on the inside. The confit garlic were creamy and melt in your mouth and I really liked the chimichurri sauce, which was slightly creamier than other places that I've had it. I ended up enjoying the leftovers at home later.

Duck confit croquette benedict- sous vide duck confit croquette with lemon hollandaise (NT$280) 

This came at the end of our meal, so I took a quick bite. The poached eggs were perfectly runny, the hollandaise had the right consistency and flavor and the lemon give the heavy dish a lighter accent. The shredded duck confit is mixed with sweet potato then fried into a croquette. Would be nice to see if Spot Taipei could do a great crabcake eggs benedict. Swoon.

Roasted Heritage Cauliflower - mix of griddled heritage cauliflower topped with almonds, raisins and lemon juice (NT$220) 

I liked the purple cauliflower the best, most of the broccoli and cauliflower were still quite crisp. I would have preferred them a bit more tender. But I love how Spot Taipei doesn't forget to include veggies on the menu and goes beyond salads. 

Mixed mushrooms- king oyster, oyster, maitake and enoki mushrooms (NT$180)

 

SPOT Burger - gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, chinese lettuce with fries and house pickles (NT$380) 

Miso pork belly - miso brined pork belly, 8 hours sous vide with mini salad and English muffin (NT$260) 

Today's pork belly was overcooked or too lean- it was quite dry and the salad was overly salty so we left this unfinished. The buttered English muffins were good though, so one could put this together to be a mini sandwich bite. 

Green salad- seasonal greens, fried shiitake mushroom crisps, sesame cookies and soy lime vinaigrette (NT$180) 

I wouldn't order this again. The first time, the vinaigrette was so salty, I had to reject it from my mouth. They replaced it for us without a problem, but the fried shiitake wasn't very crispy and the salad was quite plain. 

As you can see, the menu is mostly the same from the soft opening back in May 2015, with a few seasonal changes. 

Not currently on the fall menu - salmon carpaccio. I really liked the charred broccolini (NT$150) and corn mezzi rigatoni (NT$300) on the previous menu. Great dishes for vegetarians and I never thought about pureeing corn to make a creamless pasta. Will totally have to try that at home someday.

The coffee beef shortribs- with peppers, potato and egg on top (NT$280) was one of my favorite dishes of my first visit. Feels a tad healthier than corned beef and something I would totally order again.

Pan roasted chicken from first visit

Last but not least, the Ferrero Rocher cornflake crusted frenchtoast with nutella dipping sauce. (NT$300) Not too dense and almost tasted like a cinnamon bun stuffed with sliced bananas. The chocolate flavor doesn't really come out in the french toast, you need to dip it in the Nutella for the chocolovers. The whole thing is deep fried, so it is an indulgence. This dish takes #spottaipei a little longer to prep, and just as well, since it was like a dessert. Recommend for sharing, comes with 4 big pieces- it would be too much for one person as a meal.

Spot Taipei has been fairly popular since opening, especially on weekends, so reservations recommended. They have two floors of seating, great for larger groups, though the upstairs loft seating is a bit dark with low ceilings. Look forward to seeing new additions to their menu from their kitchen. Owner Eric Wang is from LA, Taiwanese American Chef Austin Hu opened New American restaurant Madison in Shanghai before joining Spot Taipei. (Email me when you get the crispy sriracha chicken waffle sandwich going!! Haha)