taiwanese/noodles: i strongly recommend SLACK SEASON NOODLES

SLACK SEASON NOODLES 

or TU HSIAO YUEH 度小月

No. 12, Alley 8, Lane 216, ZhongXiao E. Rd, Sec. 4 

台北市忠孝東路四段216巷8弄12號 　　　　

(02) 2773-1244

MRT: Zhongxiao/Dunhua or SYS Memorial Hall

website: www.iddi.com.tw mostly Chinese

hours: 11:30AM - 11PM

$-$$ (NT$50-300/person)

Kid friendliness: lots of kid friendly options

Visit reviewed: 4/16/2012

I love it when relatives introduce me to new restaurants, especially good Taiwanese ones, and my relatives from NY picked Slack Season Noodles as the place for a casual lunch to meet up. I probably could have passed by the shop a hundred times (next to Yogurt Art) and not have the urge to wander in for a meal, as the subtle exterior and sign hides the modern meets traditional Chinese and dark wood interior, and cheap and delicious food inside.

I often get asked to recommend restaurants (Top five favorites? Gluten-free? Romantic on New Year's Eve? Taiwanese but not Din Tai Fung?), and now I have another one to add to my list for the last question.

The menu is check-off-the-box, but ask for the English menu and you shall receive. With pictures for each menu item too! Just match the number from the menu and use it to check off the matching line item.

Slack Season Noodles originated in Tainan, with a street vendor selling dan dan noodles, a minced pork noodle soup. The restaurant's name comes from the shop's origins- when its founder, a fisherman, created the noodles to make a living during the fishing "slack season" and they became so popular he started selling them full time. Over one hundred years ago in 1895! (Though the menu says 1894, the shop's sign says 1895). Now Tu Hsiao Yueh has expanded to restaurants in Taipei from Tainan, offering affordable Taiwanese eats, like tan tsi mian, lu rou fan (braised pork rice), fried oysters or smoked shark, with nods to its origins with chefs preparing the noodles in the front corner of each restaurant at an old school, street vendor-like area.

Each person got a bowl of tan tsi noodles (or dan zhi or dan zai (oh how romanized spellings drive me crazy) (NT$50). Some chose the classic oil noodle, and I chose the thin vermicelli rice noodle.  You can also order it with or without soup, or add on things like duck egg or meatballs. The flavor is light, but it's not plain, with flavors of garlic, cilantro, vinegar and Taiwanese shallots infused in the broth and meat sauce. For my relatives, this is their equivalent of chicken noodle soup, their comfort food.

The bowl isn't big enough to fill me up, like beef noodle soup or pho, but is just enough to slurp up and accompany a taste of everything on the table, which includes a lot of traditional Tainan style dishes. Everything is fresh and delicious, and luckily we have a big group so we can order plenty of things to share family style. 

smoked goose by tea leaves (NT$200)

braised intestines (NT$200)

deep fried tofu (NT$160)

Pescadore's Squid Ball (NT$150)

I love fried oysters so the crispy oysters (NT$160) hit the spot by coming out hot and yes, crispy, without being fishy or greasy, so I keep popping the bite sized babies in my mouth.

as well as these addictive golden shrimp rolls (NT150) which are similar to Thai shrimp cakes, with fried minced shrimp and fishcake.

Asparagus salad (NT$150)

Hot spring loofah with clams (NT$180)

My cousins and I wanted to get dessert elsewhere (tang yuan at Jiu Ru), but my aunt and uncle insisted on ordering the unique desserts- pumpkin ice cream, jelly and sesame mochi. 

My favorite out of the bunch was the crisp mochi covered in a layer of sesame powder.

I might have been late to the game in finding out about the underrated tan tsi noodles as a must-eat in Taipei, but it holds a lot of nostalgia for many. So add this to your to-do list when in Taipei, or take the high speed rail to the original shop in Tainan.

OTHER LOCATIONS
No. 180, Sec. 2, Zhongshan North Rd., Taipei 台北市中山北路二段180號
 9-1 Yongkang St., Taipei 台北市永康街9-1號
No. 16 Zhongzheng Rd, Tainan (Original shop) 台南市中正路16號
 No. 101, Zhongzheng Rd, Tainan 台南市中正路１０１號

revisited/dessert: i still strongly recommend macarons at PATISSERIE LA DOCEUR

Balsamic vinegar, salted chocolate, wasabi & vanilla macarons

PATISSERIE LA DOUCEUR
No. 223 JinHua St.
(02) 3322-2833

website: ladouceur.com.tw Chinese only

hours: 1PM - 9PM; fri/sat until 10PM

$

Kid friendliness: small space, but a few couch areas in the back

visit reviewed: 2/24/2011 & 5/7/2011

last visit reviewed: 5/2009

Balsamic vinegar, wasabi, olive oil, truffles- these might sound more like seasonings to a meal rather than macaron flavors, but Patisserie La Douceur offers some of the most unique and tasty flavors I've yet to try. (The last time I had macarons from Paul and Sadaharu Aoki, I found them to be too sweet. Gasp! #livinginTaipeitoolong?) The colorful confections can also be gifted in some of their adorable packaging.

Each morsel is not cheap though as this plate of four was almost NT$300. That's one way to make you savor each bite. The wasabi is not as spicy as I expected it might be and the balsamic & salted chocolate ended up being my favorites of the day.

The store is adorable inside and out and can fill up quite quickly during afternoon tea time.

I still love their made-to-order apples and caramel mousse mille-feuille and when it's strawberry season, they make an even larger one that is made of strawberries! These aren't on display, so be sure to ask about them unless one their cakes or gelato catches your eye.

italian: i recommend BUNNY LISTENS TO THE MUSIC

BUNNY LISTENS TO THE MUSIC
No. 15, Lane 6, Qingtian St
(02) 2395-9388

MRT: Guting

website: bunnymusic.com.tw

hours: 11:30 AM - 10 PM

$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted, room for strollers

Visit reviewed: 3/23/2011



I had been hearing about Bunny Listens to the Music for awhile (maybe years), but with such an unusual name, I didn't know what to expect. So it wasn't until my friend wanted to have lunch there that prompted me to finally give it a try. And you know what? It's definitely worth a try with its stylish interior, creamy pastas and desserts and breads from its sister bakery, Boite de bijou.

The decor is roomy and warm, and filled with customers- reservations are definitely recommended for lunch, afternoon tea or dinner.



Lunchtime business sets change monthly and run from NT$360-500 and include a soup, main dish (pasta, risotto, seafood or chicken), dessert and coffee or tea. And nice crusty bread that we devoured with butter.





We must have asked for refills on the bread at least three times. I also like getting my drink lemon ice tea with my meal.



I got the tomato beef soup, but recommend getting the onion soup instead. The tomato beef soup was very peppery, while the onion soup was sweet with carmelized onions.



I liked all our main dishes, but my favorite was probably the risotto with crab meat and vegetables in pumpkin cream sauce (NT$420).



Al dente and creamy with lots of fat pieces of fresh crab meat and slightly sweet from the strong pumpkin flavor. I dislike it when a dish says it has crab in it and you can't find even one piece. This one had chunks in every other scoop.

The spaghetti with sauteed pork and garlic, chili peppers and olive oil (NT$400) had a nice light touch yet a kick from the chili peppers.



I was unsure about the tagliatelle with shrimp and scallops in tomato cream sauce (NT$400) because the cream sauce had a slightly sour flavor, but it grew on me.



The server recommended the roasted 1/2 chicken with devil sauce (NT$500) which we thought was going to be crazy spicy, but it was manageable. I probably wouldn't order it again since the pastas were more memorable.



When this plate of cookies came to our table, we had to double check and ask "is this our set dessert?" When the answer was yes, we asked if we could trade it for the real desserts. The good stuff!

So the dessert sampler tray came out for us to choose from. Which one to choose? So hard to pick! We ended up getting the poached pear and apple tart and Macallan (+NT$110).



After my first bite of this rich chocolate dessert, I gasped "Oh my god!" Not because of the amazing taste, but because of the strong alcohol flavor! Named after the single malt scotch whisky that is used in the dessert, the Macallan is definitely memorable. We laughed at my friend who sought out dessert, having had ordered it before and really loved it. I'm not a big drinker, so for me, the alcohol taste overpowered the sweetness of the chocolate.



Overall, good food in a good space- could be a really cute place for date night and get your date tipsy with dessert. And you can walk a few blocks away to check out Boite de bijou to take some more goodies home.

CLOSED! revisted/dessert: i strongly recommend ICE MONSTER

ICE MONSTER (CLOSED!)
or BING GUAN
No. 15, Yong Kang Street

nearest MRT: ZhongXiao/XinSheng or Guting

website: icemonster.com.tw

$$

hours: 11 AM -11 PM

Kid friendliness: can be a crowded tight space, but shaved ice with fruit is healthier than shaved ice with no fruit

Visit reviewed: 12/1/09
Previous visit reviewed: 6/29/2005



Ice Monster on Yong Kang Street is known for its huge mango shaved ice, but when mango is out of season, their other shaved ice options are just as great.

Many Taipei local shaved ice places shut down for winter, but Ice Monster still has a packed house on a weekday December afternoon, indicating I'm not alone in wanting a cold dessert on a cool day. Established in 1995, Ice Monster was the inventor of mango ice, a genius combination of fresh mango cubes, shaved ice and condensed milk, which has been has been copied around the world. During the summer months, there is often a long line and wait for seats in the small seating area.



Their self explanatory picture menu indicates that mango ice is indeed "out of season," but my out of town friends are just fine with the fresh fruit mix shaved ice (NT$160) with kiwi, strawberries and mango jelly (although they used to do it with fresh cubed mango?!!), topped with a huge scoop of mango ice cream, which is what's usually available during the winter season. They also have smoothies, sorbet flavors like passion fruit, strawberry milk, mandarin orange, and shaved ice topped with sweet potato, red bean or rock mochi. Or you can opt for hot options like red bean or peanut soup.



We also try the caramel jelly and custard shaved ice (NT$160), which is surprisingly great. The milky custard, QQ caramel jelly and brown sugar laden shaved ice tastes like a I'm eating a deconstructed Caramel Frappuccino. Mmmmm. I actually like this better than the mango ice, which somehow seems like more of a sugary overload.



While more expensive than most other shaved ice places in town, Ice Monster has become a landmark for mango shaved ice and with their huge portions, a shaved ice is enough to share between 2 or 3 people. Unless you want to keep one all to yourself.



Can you believe Ice Monster was my very first review on this blog almost 4 and half years ago?! To everyone who's been following along my food adventures, thanks for reading and eating with me.



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