CLOSED! pizza/american: i strongly recommend FAMOUS LARRY's NEW YORK PIZZA

a/o 2010 CLOSED

FAMOUS LARRY's NEW YORK PIZZA
No. 2, Lane 137, Yanji St
(02) 2771-1032

website: thenewyorkslice.com

hours: Mon-Sat 11am to 9:30pm; Sundays 12pm to 8pm

$-$$ Cash only

Kid friendliness: big slices and lots of choices for toppings. space is not large but not too tight for kids.

Visit reviewed: 12/3/2008 and 12/31/2008; 2/6/2008



I first heard about "the NY slice" when I saw a huge sign near Dun Hua Eslite Bookstore. Of course it piqued my interest and I found the website and even went by the new location last fall. But it turned out that it hadn't even opened shop at that point yet. And then I went to LA and forgot about it.

Then I happened to get some food from Sababa at their Heping branch, and spotted the Famous Larry's New York Pizza sign right next door. I was a bit startled seeing the naked pizzas on the counter- half baked dough with red sauce but nothing else- but thought I'd give it a try since I was there. Famous Larry's Pizza sells pizza by the slice, but not really how you might expect. It's pizza by the slice to order, rather than already made pizzas that you would grab and go. I was a bit doubtful that the way that I was familiar with wasn't the way to go, but after eating the pizza I could see why.



The pizza's dough is a crusty soft and crunchy at the same time, sort of like good bread. It's thin crust, but unlike Alleycats' super crisp, almost cracker-like crust, Famous Larry's NY Pizza is a chewy crispy.



But once the pizza cools down the crust starts getting really hard. So I could see that their crust probably wasn't prime for reheating- plus it's a cost saving method- if the turnover isn't as high as you think that day might be, then they don't have as much pizza to toss.

Anyways, something about Famous Larry's NY Pizza works for me, most of the time. It might be a touch of corn meal or something in the crust that gives it an extra texture. It might be the balance of sauce and toppings, and the toppings are hearty and aplenty. It might be the NT$69 price for the slice of the day, which is huge and could easily be the mass of a Pizza Hut or Alleycats personal pizza. (I might have to take a picture of the three side by side one day). It might be the absence of corn on any of pizzas, but instead fun combos like "Soho" (chicken, pesto and mushrooms) or the spicy "Downtown" (pepperoni, jalepenos and onions).



My favorite is the Hawaiian Vacation- the slice is covered with ham and pineapples.



The meat heavy "Brooklyn" or Vegetarian "Uptown" is second.


Can you tell I've been there a lot? The slice of the day is a good deal at NT$69, but you can still order whatever you like at NT$75-115 a slice. Nineteen inch pizzas run from NT$450-650 and you can customize pizzas to have each half have a different flavor.

My least favorite so far is the "Bronx". I thought it would be a winning combination with mushrooms and meatballs, but the mini meatballs are too soft, almost mushy. The meatballs in the meatball hero are also unfortunately soft- I miss the old meatball sandwiches from this sub shop in Carson that my mom's friend used to own. Meatball subs with provolone cheese and Orange Bang. Mmm.

Recently, they started delivery, but it still has a lot of kinks to be worked out. I placed an order at 12pm and they said that they were doing a delivery so I'd have to get my pizza after 12:30PM. I said fine. I got a call at 1pm asking if I still wanted my pizza? A bit frustrated, but hungry, I said yes. I had hoped that they could communicate somehow with their driver so that they could be already baking my pizza to be ready for the driver to pick up and bring to me rather than call me and confirm with me "did I want my pizza" and then bake the pizza. I ended up getting my pizza around 1:30pm- an hour and half after I ordered it. You'd have a much better time just having lunch at the location, although there are times you just want your pizza delivered.



If you're going to hang out, the Heping Yanji St location is better with a few seats and bar seats (it's not too far from the Zhong Xiao East Road, Lane 216 Alleycats). The Yanji St Heping location seems strictly to go. Also don't confuse NY Slice for the also relatively new NY Pizza Kitchen (near NY Bagel) on Ren Ai Road. Now if only someone would bring back California Pizza Kitchen! I think it would draw customers and lines like crazy in Taipei, don't you?


View Larger Map

OTHER LOCATION

No. 8, Alley 54, Lane 118, Heping E Road, Sec 2
(02) 2738-4747

dessert/beat the heat: i strongly recommend TAI YI MILK KING

TAI YI MILK KING
82, Xin Sheng S. Road, Section 3
(across the street from the main entrance of Tai Da)
(02) 2362 3712

hours: 10:30 AM - midnight daily

$

Visits reviewed: 5/25/2007 and 6/5/2007

I know everyone is in love with Ice Monster and mango ice, but for classic shaved ice flavors, you have to try Tai Yi Milk King. And I'm not talking about creamed corn.

Red bean. Fresh rice mochi balls. A drizzled layer of evaporated milk over snowy ice.

Heavenly.

I had never been to or heard about this place before I went with some friends late last month. All you hear about is Ice Monster. But this place has been around for ages with lots of choices for you to appreciate. You could try something different every night for a week!



Filled with mostly locals and a menu of both icy cold shaved ice (NT$45-80) and soupy hot rice balls, you might have to send someone to claim a seat first even though there is two floors of tables. Probably a lot of college students since it's so close, right across the street from National Taiwan University. Is it Taida or Tai Da- anyone know?

If you must do the mango ice, they have that here too- and it looks just as good, but without the plop of mango shebert excess.



Or go for "ba bao bing" which is like a mix-in of everything popular like green beans, red beans, tapioca balls, peanut and some other unidentifiable stuff.



But I prefer the clean lines and flavors of the red bean and "xiao tang yuan" which is made fresh and slightly fatter and chewier than the frozen and boiled white and pink variety that you will spot at most other shaved ice places. Once you have this, you can never go back! I went back a few weeks later and got the same thing- though the first time was definitely better than the first.

There's nothing like love at first bite.

Look for these signs if you are taking a taxi or walking.. The white sign is the front facing the street, the blue one is from the sidewalk. There is also an Adidas store a few doors down and Tequila Sunrise a few blocks away.




If you don't mind eating something hot during the summer, or want something during the winter, try the "tang yuan"- filled with sesame paste and bathed in a rice wine soup. Apparently, it was voted by 30,000 voters as the top place in Taipei to go to for yuan xiao AKA "tang yuan" AKA mochi rice balls filled with stuff.



Second place? Jiu Ru on Ren Ai Road. Nice... I'm on top of the Lantern Festival favorites.

Tai Yi shaved ice is available until midnight every night. Awesome.

PS When I start having three posts in a row with ZERO comments, I start getting nervous! Not interested in hummus and hotcakes??? Without sounding too girly, I really do love hearing from you guys!

middle eastern: i strongly recommend SABABA PITA BAR

SABABA PITA BAR
8, Alley 54, Ln 118, Heping E Rd, Sec 2
(02) 2738-7769

website: sababapita.com

hours: 11 AM to 9 PM
closed Sundays

$

CASH ONLY

Kid friendliness: no high chairs and small seating area - so tough for strollers, though finger foods quite kid friendly. Recommend calling ahead and getting food-to-go if you have lots of kids or baby.

Visit reviewed: 6/6/2007

The hummus here will make you hum about Sababa to all your friends afterwards. And if you've never had hummus before, you should give it try and have one of their sandwiches as well. After having it a few weeks ago, I had been thinking about the food ever since. It's simple and light and easy on the wallet- yet there are complex and hearty flavors in the food. They have pita sandwiches (NT$98) and plates (NT$158) with combo option of adding fries and a drink (add NT$50).

So last night, I got some more Sababa food to go and I have to say it traveled better than I thought it would back to my dining table.

The first time, I made the mistake of just ordering a hummus combo plate, the plata sababa (NT$158), as my lunch. Hummus is a creamy blend of chickpeas and sesame tahini with lemon and garlicky flavors to keep everything interesting, and plated with the roasted eggplant gives it a slightly sweet partner to dip your pita bread in.



While it was sizeable- it was more like an appetizer with a plate full of hummus, roasted eggplant and sliced pita to dip it in. I had to ask my friends to try it out so that I didn't feel forced to finish it- all hummus and pita and no meat was starting to feel a bit heavy and I was eyeing my friend's combo pita sandwich.



my friend's combo sandwich, not my chicken pita!


This time, I was smart, I ordered a Chicken Soulvaki Pita (NT$98) as my protein and the plata sababa to share, as well as some Moroccan cigars (NT$88 for 2) on the side. Everything came in paper bag (smartly imprinted with Sababa's info and a map) so the cigars stayed crispy and didn't get soggy like some fried foods to-go do. My chicken pita was stuffed full of large diced chicken breast pieces with some tomato slices and filled with green homemade yogurt sauce which made the sandwich moist without being too greasy (like mayo). The pita was soft and fresh- and they even stuff the part they cut off into your sandwich- which I promptly used to dip into the hummus.

The Moroccan Cigars were like I remembered the first time- a bit spicy with ground beef and pine nuts, wrapped in long cigar-like egg roll skin, deep fried and crispy.



It's usually made with phyllo dough, but the egg roll skin gives it a unique fusion twist which is perfect to cater to the Taiwanese tastes without taking away from its original flavor. My vegetarian friend had the Egyptian Cigars (NT$88 for 2), which were made from spinach and herbed cheddar- but must warn you, it's quite spicy! Much spicier than the beef and without warning on the menu. I also didn't spot any spinach in my bite, but he liked it. I think I also like it because it reminds me of taquitos and while it's quite different, it's similar enough to make me happy.

It's not easy to find since it's located off in the alley off a lane off a street, but check out their map on the website and look for the red sign hanging outside their little shop. They also don't have any sweets/desserts, so if you are still hungry afterwards, you can get a smoothie or drink next door, especially on a hot day. (I got the guava/grapefruit juice and it was very refreshing and surprisingly good combo).



The English menu is written on the chalkboard behind the counter, as well as menus with both English and Chinese floating around the front. You order at the bar as well as pick up your own food when your number is called and I recommend getting there a little before noon to beat the lunch college crowd to get a seat.



We lucked out by doing just that and getting a table in the back before it quickly filled up. There's probably no more than 18 seats or so as well as seating at the pita bar, and it feels sort of like fast food joint with all the tiled tables, but a wee bit nicer. They also make everything to order, so if you get there before the rush, you don't have to wait extra long to eat! If you are getting food to go, I recommend calling ahead so you don't have to wait. Also, to-go orders are buy 5 get 1 free, so try something different next time for your office lunch or order food to go and let the kids try something different.

There's also quite a few options for vegetarians that are filling and satisfying for even non-vegetarians. Besides the plata sababa and Egyptian cigars, there's also an Eggplant or Falafel pita sandwiches as options, or the Labneh Eggplant Salat, which had a lot of homemade yogurt cheese - which is more an appetizer plate rather than a lunch or dinner plate as we discovered.



Opened by the same people who brought Citizen Cain to Taipei, Sababa has quickly gained many loyal customers. I heard a lot about it on the various Taiwan forums before getting a chance to visit and now they have opened another location, as well as offer franchising opportunities- so you might see more and more Sababa's around town.

Our dinner to go was NT$530 (US$16) for 2 sandwiches, 4 cigars and 1 plata sababa and very satisfying- can't beat that price at most of the western/foreign eateries in town! Even in LA, 2 pita sandwiches, hummus and sides would be about the same, maybe even more.

OTHER LOCATIONS

Gong Guan branch
17, Lane 283, LuoSiFu (Roosevelt) Rd, Sec 3, 1F
(02) 2363-8009
Hours: 11:30 am-9:30 pm

Yong Kang branch
No. 3, Lane 12, Yong Kang St
Phone: (02) 2327 9159
Fax: (02) 2327 9159
Sunday~Thursday 11am~10pm
Friday&Saturday 11am~10:30pm

Breeze Center at
Taipei Main Station
(02)6632-8999 # 2557
Fax: 02-2389-5720
Monday - Friday 11am ~ 9:30pm
Saturday - Sunday 11am ~ 10pm

Who else recommends it?
Taipei Times