burgers/brunch: i strongly recommend M ONE CAFE

M ONE CAFE 

No. 6-1 Lane 6, RenAir Rd, Sec. 4
台北市仁愛路四段27巷6號之1
(02)-8773-2136

MRT: ZhongXiao/DunHua or ZhongXiao/FuXing

hours: 7AM - 12AM midnight

$$ (about NT$300/person)

kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted. booths available.

visits reviewed: 5/4/2011,  6/21/2011 and 8/28/2012

Not too far from the RenAi circle, M One Cafe is a modern cafe that serves solid breakfasts and burgers in an intimate space with about 20 or so seats. Decor feels more upscale than a typical burger brunch place with warm wood paneling and glass tables paired with lots of black. Passerbys might not even know that a restaurant was inside, as it's right next to the M One Spa, which shares the same owner.

Two of the best things about M One is that it's open early (you'd be surprised at the number of Taipei Western breakfast spots that are not open at 8AM) and the other is that the omelets can come with a small side of French toast or pancakes as your "bread" as part of the price (or bagel, toast or croissant if you prefer).

A funny thing is that the first time I went the TV played a rotation of popular US music videos as a soundtrack, and I saw Ke$ha, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and more hypnotizing music videos that I had seen in a really long time. But the TV wasn't on during following visits.

When uploading photos, I noticed that prices went up a couple dollars since last year- most of breakfast items are NT$30-60 more than last year's menu. So not as much a steal as before, but still not a bad price for the set. Egg brunch items come with a small juice, coffee or tea and "bread" although not with the eggs benedict regrettably since they already have bread (the english muffins). 

But the Eggs Benedicts with Spinach (NT$280) are worth getting, as they are probably one of the best in Taipei with a toasty muffin and hollandaise sauce that's the right creamy consistency and generous amount. The last time I got Eggs Benedict at a different popular brunch spot, the sauce was so watery, it pooled onto the plate and I had to send it back to be redone.

Generous amounts of spinach underneath to start the day with some greens.

The Turkey mushroom omelette (NT$220 then, NT$280 now) is light and fluffy, with thin layers rolled into a long rectangle and topped with cheese. The hash browns are perfectly crispy. The first time I ate at M One, I loved their potato salad, but sadly they replaced it fruit on my visits afterwards. Maybe it was too much potato on one plate for some, but it was so good since it reminded me of the way my mom made potato salad when I was a kid.

Not too thick, not too thin, the side of French toast is just right with the meal. I love it since I usually can't decide between eggs or french toast or pancakes, and this way you get the best of both worlds. 

At lunch, be sure to order the burger as it was a surprisingly good burger. Cut in half to reveal the medium rare pinkness, the mushroom cheese burger (NT$260) had a good layer of toppings and great texture to the meat and wheaty bun.

There's also toppings like blue cheese (for those craving Father's Office?), avocado bacon, and I spotted kimchi as a new topping on my most recent visit.

Wouldn't order the cheesy wedge fries again that my friend got, too heavy.

Revisited M One Cafe after a long absence, but thankfully it was still good. Thanks to @thethousandthgirl for joining me for breakfast. The sets start off with a mini orange juice and coffee or tea. 

This time I opted for a side of pancakes, which were cute and mini and came with syrup.

The turkey mushroom omelette (NT$280)  still had enough bite sized toppings inside though it was a bit bland this time, but the hash browns were still perfectly crispy. It's funny to see that I ordered the same thing as my past visit without even realizing it! LOL.

I split my plate with a friend and she gave me one of her spinach eggs benedict which tasted better than I remembered. It's all about the sauce and the runny poached egg once the fork cuts open the first bite.

Tastes like food from back home and that's a good thing. Reservations recommended as the space is pretty tiny.

CLOSED! burgers/lounge bar: i recommend MANHATTAN GOLD BURGER

MANHATTAN GOLD BURGER

No. 21, Lane 181, Alley 7, ZhongXiao E. Rd, Sec. 4 
大安區忠孝東路4段181巷7弄21號
(02) 2731-7110

CLOSED! a/o 2013

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

website: Manhattan Gold Burger's FB page

hours: 12 PM - 2 AM

$$ (about NT$300-600/person)

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted. nighttime environment more like lounge bar

Visit reviewed: 8/29/2012

Opened for over a year, Manhattan Gold Burger is a dining bar that servers gourmet burgers, pastas, appetizers and drinks in a swanky lounge bar space.  The vibrant decor is the first impression to set it apart from the various burger spots in town- I felt more like I was hanging out at the W rather than a Diner with the sofa style seating and roomy space for customers to not overhear each other's conversations.

It wasn't too crowded the night I was invited to go which was nice, and there was a decided 90s hip hop soundtrack playing that brought me some flashbacks throughout the evening. On certain nights, a DJ also comes in to play music to add to the lounge bar-like atmosphere.

There's a full drink menu and the sweet and citrusy mojito definitely hit the spot. Something I'd definitely order again here and order for a girls' night out.

Beers and wines are also available, in addition to the cocktail list. 

It was wing night, a promotion that Manhattan Gold Burger has on Wednesdays, where wings were NT$10 each with a drink purchase. Time to get finger licking- I liked the red hot buffalo wings and salt and pepper chicken wings. There was also a spicy thai chili flavor and bbq flavor. The wings were tasty, with a small salad on the side, but it would have been nice to have some celery sticks and blue cheese dressing for the buffalo wings instead.

Since we were ordering to share, we ended up with some sliders (NT$490/four). Grilled pineapple, mushroom, bacon cheese and jack cheese are all options for burger and slider toppings. The patties are round and fat, so the slider is a tad tall to take ladylike bites.  I grabbed the bacon cheeseburger, but next time I'll have to try the grilled pineapple.

The decadent foie gras truffle steak burger (NT$680) topped with gold flakes is one of Manhattan Gold Burger's specialty dishes. But since the steak isn't ground into a burger form, it's more like a steak sandwich with medium rare steak slices. After I took photos, they cut the burger in quarters to share and I ended up eating just the center as it was hard to eat together as a burger. It could benefit from a nice toasted ciabatta or french bread bun or wild greens instead of iceburg lettuce. I also wasn't crazy about the mystery gravy that coated the foie and the steak that overpowered the truffle flavor.

When I told a friend later about the burger, he asked me, "the $666 burger?" I had no idea what he was talking about, so some googling turned up a NY food truck that sells a foie gras, truffle, gold flake burger topped with even more insanity (lobster, caviar and bbq sauce made from kopi luwak) and charges $666 dollars for it and calls it the doucheburger.. The waygu burger topped with foie gras at the W Hotel is NT$2200. So compared to that, NT$680 (or US$21) is a steal. Lol. Who knew there were such crazy expensive burgers?

For non beef eaters, there's seafood options like the shrimp burger, or soft shell crab on a bun. I didn't try this.

Many of the burger spots in Taipei have a burger/brunch menu, but Manhattan Gold Burger skips brunch and goes straight to dinner. Meaty options besides burgers include BBQ Pork Ribs (NT$420), baked half chicken or beef short ribs in red wine sauce. Good to share family style with extra tangy bbq sauce to slather. 

If you don't to get your hands dirty, then you can opt for one of the pastas. There are various options with spicy tomato sauce, or seafood options like the tasty Spaghetti with Mentaiko Cream Sauce (NT$270), topped with shreds of fresh nori and chewy calamari rings. I liked the pasta, but one of the calamari pieces was a tad gritty.

Or Spaghetti with Salmon and Spinach in Cream Sauce (NT$260).

All in all, a cool place that's open late to have drinks and dinner off of Zhongxiao East Road, tucked in the alley right behind Luxy. We even hopped over to newly moved Ice Monster afterwards for dessert (Ask Manhattan Gold Burger very nicely and maybe they'll let you bring back your to-go order to eat there like we did instead of waiting in the long Ice Monster line).

CLOSED/desserts/western: i recommend HELLO KITTY SWEETS

HELLO KITTY SWEETS
No. 90, Da An Road, Sec. 1
(02) 2711-1132

MRT: Zhong Xiao/FuXing

website: hellokittysweets.com.tw Chinese only

hours: Sun- Thurs 11:30 AM - 10 PM; Fri- Sat 11:30 AM - 11 PM

$-$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs available, lots of booth seats

Visit reviewed: 4/7/2011

What would you expect from a restaurant called Hello Kitty Sweets? 

Two stories of ceiling to floor pink and pillowy pink walls and Hello Kitty lounge chairs? Check, check, check...

The outline and image of the mouthless cat everywhere you turn in the restaurant? No detail is too small to escape for Hello Kitty lovers to see and want (a Hello Kitty tissue box cover? where can I get one?! starts googling on iPhone) Check, check, check...

Rows of pink and chocolate Hello Kitty cakes, desserts and chocolates?  Check, check...

Check, check, check...

And there's more...

And all that eye candy is at the front of the store before we sit down and order. Besides the desserts that you can order from the counter, there is also a full menu of pastas, gratin rice, grilled meats, pizza and even a Hello Kitty hamburger and Hello Kitty bread bowls, as well as afternoon tea sets.

mmm or hmm?

The menu is only in Chinese and can be a bit confusing, but there is a picture for each dish and the waitress was helpful in explaining what is in each dish when we asked.  The price for each dish is for a set meal, which includes a drink, salad, soup, bread roll, choice of small appetizer along with your main dish.

I had put off checking out Hello Kitty Sweets because I heard that there were long waits and the food was not worth the prices, but on a weekday, I had no problem getting a reservation for a large table (made a few days in advance) and my low expectations for the food probably helped me keep a reality check. I definitely wouldn't come just for the food, it's more for the whole experience and I had a bunch of Hello Kitty fans in my group as I was hosting my cousin and her daughters. I was definitely surprised to see almost all the other tables were adults, some cameras in hand, and quite a few men too (perhaps dragged or bribed there?).

The starters in the set are forgettable- a small salad, a mysterious creamy soup- but the bread roll is the first Hello Kitty photo op.

The choice of appetizers included escargot and smoked salmon, but I opted for this liver pate.

The food came at a relatively steady pace and the main dishes were a good size. I snuck some of the fried appetizer plate (NT$380 ala carte) that my cousin's kids ordered which included onion rings, fried chicken, croquette and fries. Tasty.

I don't know why, but I asked for the egg on the meat sauce spaghetti (NT$400/set) to not be raw. It came out more fried than soft boiled like I've enjoyed at Bellini Pasta Pasta. If there's a next time, I'll have to try it as is so that I can stir it all together. The spaghetti had typical sweet, tomato flavor. But where's the Hello Kitty meatball or Hello Kitty cheese cutout? Lol.

Lots of pesto and shrimp (NT$400/set) in my cousin's dish. The kids loved it and finished it.

The Hello Kitty burger (NT$450/set)! I didn't try this, but I thought about ordering it. Would it be one of the more manly things on the menu? LOL.

Set drink (very sweet ice tea) and set dessert- a creme brulee Hello Kitty pudding. 

We didn't have to room to sample any of the cute cakes that I saw, but perhaps on another occasion. There's a NT$300 minimum per person fee to dine in, but if you just want to get some cakes to go, there's also a mini Hello Kitty Sweets at the nearby Fuxing Sogo selling cakes and desserts. But then you don't get to breathe the Hello Kitty Sweets atmosphere and cuteness. There's even some souvenir goodies available to purchase behind the counter, but I didn't realize it until I was browsing other blogs.

Did I mention even the bathroom is Kitty-fied? Is this too much, or the complete experience?

   

 

Hello Kitty lovers- how far would you/did you fly from to eat at Hello Kitty Sweets? I know for some of you this might be a "must" destination for your Taipei trip. For those of us lucky enough to have it in Taipei, it's worth a visit if you are a Hello Kitty lover (like me), or want to treat one to a meal.