bbq/american: i strongly recommend BABA KEVIN's AMERICAN BBQ

BABA KEVIN's AMERICAN BBQ  

爸爸Kevin's美式BBQ

No. 6, Lane 115, Minsheng E. Road, Sec. 2

0800-887-427

MRT: Xintian Temple

website: Baba Kevin BBQ FB page or Baba Kevin's website

$-$$ 

kid friendliness: high chairs available, play area available downstairs 

hours: weekdays 11AM - 2PM; weeknights and weekends by advance reservation only

visit reviewed: 6/6/2016

WHEN I SPIED PHOTOS OF BABA KEVIN'S BBQ PLATTERS at his new shop, I made a mental note that I had to visit as soon as possible. Baba Kevin has been catering slow smoked bbq for over seven years in Taipei, sometimes to hundreds of people at one event, and his customers have been asking for years when he was going to open up a shop. A long time ago, I had even gotten a sample of Baba Kevin's frozen ribs and brisket to try at home (and I remembered the brownies and cornbread), but regrettably my photo skills were not as good as they are today and the pictures didn't do the food justice. So I never posted the photos despite liking his bbq and so I was happy to finally make a stop at his shop, opened three months ago, in an alley off of Minsheng East Road, to see if the food was still as good (and share it with all of you).

Baba Kevin's American Barbecue is currently open only for weekday lunches with lunch plates (NT$200) and BBQ sandwiches (NT$150) of beef brisket, pulled pork, lamb or chopped bbq chicken.  I believe is from the US. If you want ribs for lunch, you need to call at least one day in advance, so Kevin can prep them. The menu is slightly fuller for dinner and weekends, which are currently by advance reservation only, as sometimes they are booked for events or catering. Baba Kevin's seats about 30 people in the main dining area, which was pretty full at lunch today. Decor is simple, but clean and bright with lots of windows. 

When you step inside, the menus are on the overhead screens behind the counter, in English and in Chinese. Lunch plates come with four sides (sides change daily, sometimes there's mac and cheese, sometimes cream corn), while sandwiches come with candied jalapeños, both come with free soft drinks. That makes Baba Kevin's lunch plates one of the best deals in town, especially for 24 hours smoked bbq. A handful of restaurants specializing in BBQ have opened in Taipei over the years (Ed's Diner, Tony's BBQ Smokehouse (the only one I haven't tried), Lucky Ribs, Texas Roadhouse, most recently Mighty Quinns) - Baba Kevin is one of the few that smoke their meats with imported hickory, mesquite and oak wood chips.

The beef brisket platter (NT$200) came with generous piles of cole slaw, buttered rice pilaf, mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, so much that it almost dwarfed the beef brisket. The brisket was a bit fatty, but juicy and the housemade bbq sauce helped give it that layer of flavor. I really enjoyed the brisket and alternated bites between all the sides. For the price, I think that the amount of meat given is fine, but I shared it, so I asked if I could order some additional brisket on the side.  

I also got a freshly baked cornbread (NT$30) and brownie for dessert (NT$30)(not pictured, devoured too quickly). The sides, while delicious, are a bit carb heavy, especially since I added the cornbread, so it would be great to see some more veggie options in the future (Corn on the cob, steamed broccoli or tomato salad would be good. Or a sweet potato casserole? Ok, sweet potato is a carb too, but I love sweet potatoes).

Additional brisket is by weight, this was NT$200 worth of beef brisket. It would be great to have some combo platter options for people who would like to try different meats. It came with two kinds of housemade bbq sauces- Texas Yellow (a mustard based bbq sauce inspired by the famous bbq sauce at Salt Lick in Texas) and Kansas Red (a ketchup based bbq sauce). You can see the smoke rings on the meat and we got both the burnt ends and the fattier cuts. Yum. 

The pulled pork sandwich comes with coleslaw (NT$150) and I didn't know until Kevin mentioned the little pile on the side were candied jalapeños. My first time having candied jalapeños and they were so good!! Sweet, sour and a touch spicy, nicknamed "cowboy candy." Baba Kevin should jar this and sell it for people to take home! I liked the pulled pork, but the bun was a touch dry for me, but maybe I was carbed out from eating all the buttery pilaf and sides from the brisket plate. 

A peek downstairs, the space has already hosted a few family friendly parties and events with a permanent buffet table set up for family style servings, toys for the kids to play with a projector to play films on the wall. 

Kevin also gave me a sneak peek at his current project, trying to cure and make his own pastrami. His Facebook page says it takes 17 days for him to make it, so it's not on the menu yet, but if you're a huge pastrami fan, maybe you can ask Kevin about it. I also spied bbq prime rib on his Facebook page, I might have to see if I can make that happen in the future. Looooove prime rib. 

Baba Kevin's currently a mom and pop shop, run by him and his wife, so along with the catering, he must have his hands full. So if you're looking to go for dinner or weekends, be sure to call and check, you don't want to show up and find it closed if they are at a catering event or closed for a private party. Kevin is so friendly and passionate about bringing authentic American smoked bbq to Taipei, it shows in his food. If you can't make it Taipei, you can also order vacuum packed frozen bbq ribs or bbq that can be delivered anywhere in Taiwan.

Any Baba Kevin BBQ or BBQ fans out there? Where is your favorite BBQ joint at the moment in Taipei? 

taiwanese/hotpot: i recommend 89 SEAFOOD

89 SEAFOOD  89海鮮 

No. 89 HeJiang Rd., 

臺北市合江街89號 

(02) 2501-6167

MRT: Xing Tian Temple

website: none. it's old school!

$$ (NT$1000+ per person)

Kid friendliness: crowded and tight space. no high chairs spotted.

Visit reviewed: 9/14/2012 (iphone 4S only)

The first thing you should know about 89 Seafood is that there is free all you can eat lu rou fan, or braised pork rice. So while you're stuffing your face with roasted king crab legs and fried oysters, you can self serve yourself some fatty, tasty rice to go with it.

The second thing you should know is that 89 Seafood is old school. The alley is full of stir fry and seafood shops, slightly grimy and Chinese only signs and menus. 89 Seafood has large fish tanks filled with would be dinner king crabs, at the plastic covered entrance and a separate dining room across from its main shop. But the prices are good especially for the portions and freshness. I should have taken more pictures at the front, but to tell the truth, large fish tanks gross me out and scare me, so I had to run inside as fast as possible.

And the food is worth wading past the tanks for. Diners can choose their seafood and approve it (and take photos with it, as I spotted diners posing with large, live king crabs on a few Chinese language food blogs) before it is prepped or cooked. My friends T and V treated me to one of their favorite local restaurant for plucked-from-the-water-fresh seafood so he did the ordering, including possibly the biggest hotpot I've ever seen. Look at the bowl of rice for scale. 

Quite a few stir fry dishes are available, like clams with basil and kong ching tsai...

Old school and homestyle. The jacuzzi is waiting for the king crab.

My favorite part of the meal and the main event of dinner was the huge king crab, cooked two ways. One for hotpot...

And the second way was grilled crab legs. Grilling crab legs brought out the sweetness and intensity of the flavor, as well as created a juicy firmness to the flesh that was lost when boiled. They expertly cut the shell for you, so all you had to do was peel off the shell, dig out the meat and eat away. The shell bends almost like plastic so you can usually pull out the meat in one piece. So much better than the cold, king crab legs from a buffet. So amazing.

Stir fried shan su veggies, which are crunchy and leafy.

Loved the fried oysters, crispy and sweet.

Chewy Roasted squid

The hotpot beef slices were also delicious. The fatty swirls of fat transformed into juicy slices when boiled for a few seconds in the hotpot.

Advance reservations are a must at 89 Seafood as it only has about 5 tables and a few extra at the second dining room across the way. It's so popular with the locals that you might have to book a week or so in advance, especially for a larger group like we had. If you're looking for fresh seafood or to "eat what the locals eat" you could give 89 Seafood a try. But if you're afraid of wet markets or dining with crustaceans looking at you from the tanks, then you might have to stick to the night markets!