vietnamese: i don't recommend PHO

PHO
at Eslite XinYi Mall foodcourt, B2
11, SongGao Road

10 am-10 pm (B2/ B1/ 1F/ 5F/ 6F)

visit reviewed: 5/31/2006

It was Chinese rice noodle masquering as pho- perhaps they think that the Taiwanese palate won't know the difference? Soggy and bland- I was extremely disappointed after thinking that this location would offer a new Vietnamese go to spot in Taipei. The soup didn't even taste anywhere close to the depth and flavor of the pho broth I've come to love. We ordered a family special to go- which include 2 appetizers, 2 main dishes, desserts and drinks. Even the non-pho options were sorely lacking, the chicken over rice was utterly forgettable and the fried spring rolls were greasy and bit stale. They didn't even have the rice paper spring rolls that I had been craving and searching for.

You might spot the bright green PHO sign along the wall of the basement of the Eslite Xin Yi food court and think that it's worth a try. Unless it's vastly changed since I've had it five months ago, it's not.

CLOSED/japanese: i don't recommend NIKO NIKO ROLL AND SUSHI

CLOSED a/o 2007

NIKO NIKO ROLL and SUSHI
19, SongGao Road, 6F
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A4
02) 8788-1155

11am-10pm

www.nikoniko.com.tw

date reviewed: 5/16/2006

Sushi. To some people it means raw fish, or sashimi. I personally was not a big fan of sashimi until I was introduced to some of the freshest sashimi I've ever had about 7 years ago. So before I dared to eat sashimi, my definition of sushi were sushi rolls, like California rolls. Are rolls typically an American phenomenon? They definitely seem harder to find here than in LA, where I have become accustomed to the crazy diversity of "make-up-your-own-combination" of ingredient rolls if you don't find what you want here. Rainbow rolls, spider rolls, catepillar rolls. Or the more random "da bomb," "woody," "hole in one," "sunnyscape," or "cesar" rolls from California Roll Factory in West LA.

So I was very excited to hear about and try Niko Niko Roll and Sushi which was supposed to feature over 30 types of rolls. Their diner-like atmosphere is a bit of strange setting for Japanese food, but a sign of the "fast food" sushi that was to come. Actually, the almost empty room should have been a bigger sign, but I thought it was the random location on the 6th floor of a mall.




The menu has lots of pictures, and sorts the rolls into categories like Pretty rolls, Seafood rolls, Warm rolls, Spicy rolls, Vege and Crunch rolls. They have English names for the various rolls like Grand Canyon or BLT roll, but no English descriptions of what are inside each roll. The waiter is not a lot of help, so unless you have someone in the party to read the Chinese descriptions, you kind of have to just go by the pictures. We got one from each category.

The rolls reminded me of rolls I had from the chain Sushi Mac. If you've ever eaten there, they sell rolls for US$2 each. However, it kind of tastes like what you are paying for. And though the prices at Niko Niko are not that cheap, they seem to have skimped on the things that might notice. The eels were thin. The shrimps were small. The crab was more fake than fake. The avocado constantly fell off the catepillar roll. The rice and rolls were mushy. In our rolls that contained eel, the eel was sliced so thin, I felt like they had taken a normal piece and sliced it into 4 or 5 slivers to hide in the roll. Instead of appreciating the tastes of each roll, unfortunately each roll tasted the same as the next.






For some reason, I haven't had any good spicy tuna in Taipei. The spicy tuna we had here was just hot and I think there were onions in the roll? The warm roll we ordered was baked and strangely appetizing, but you could not tell what was in it at all! The rolls here made me miss the roll with the jumbo clam in it from Hide and the spicy tuna rolls from Nijiya.

They also have combos and teriyaki, tempura, sukiyaki type meals that actually looked pretty good. The table across from us had opted for the recommend combo which delivered both sushi rolls and tempura, sukiyaki meals to share. We hadn't ordered any of that because we wanted to save room for the rolls. Oh well. Maybe next time, if there is a next time.

Western/French: i don't recommend BOLERO

BOLERO
No.308, Minsheng W. Rd.,
Datong District, Taipei
(02)2559-1251

www.bolero.com.tw
$$-$$$

kid friendliness: high chairs available, very friendly service

visit reviewed: 4/29/2006

The red and gold sign at the entrance as well as the menu inform customers that Bolero opened in 1934 and was the first Western style restaurant in Taipei. My grandmother invited me to lunch here because my grandfather used to enjoy the Set "A" dinner course when he was younger and bring her and the family here.

We are seated upstairs where at first it's quiet and empty, but as the lunch hour progresses, lots of families and couples fill up the tables. The interior features interesting sculptures and different artwork and textures on the walls. Hot buttery rolls on the table are devoured quickly. The English and Chinese menu has an introductory story about the restaurant and features a few set courses, soups, poultry, meats, seafood, some pastas, even some curry. I order the "Lobster and Steak" set course (NT$900) which includes a starter appetizer salad, soup, lobster and steak, a mysterious orange cocktail, and coffee/tea.

The appetizer salad is a interesting combination of various meats and vegetables topped with mayo. After slowly sampling the plate, I enjoy the abalone, the asparagus and the potato salad that is hidden underneath.


The soup is a watery cream of abalone soup, which has chunks of abalone but a unmemorable taste with its semi-watery, semi-creamy texture. The black pepper on the table helps a little bit, but not much.


The baked half lobster is a decent size, but it turns out to be pretty dry and bland, perhaps baked a little too long. You know when you eat really good lobster and you feel that satisfaction of chewing- it's juicy and tender. This wasn't it. It was a bit rubbery and tough with rubbery cheese on top. The cheese gratin on top seems to be lacking seasoning and after sampling my aunt's baked jumbo shrimp- I think that perhaps that set course is a better deal at NT$800 as it is a little bit more flavorful and tender than the lobster. The plate also comes with a small side of a strange combination of asaparagus and fruit cocktail.


By this time, the large party complete with kids and babies next to us are getting their meals- and it seems like everyone has ordered huge steaks on the hot plate. I can hear it sizzling and everyone digging in with their forks and knives. I'm getting excited about my steak part of the meal. When it does, I grumble to myself a little bit at the size- it's tiny compared to the steaks that the other tables have ordered because mine is part of the combination set course, but at least it still has the macaroni pasta on the side.


Unfortunately, the steak is just mushy. I don't know what it is about it- maybe the cut of the steak or the rareness? But I don't recall having steak typically so soft. The macaroni is bland too- not much cream or cheese, and it's cooked so the pasta is very soft.

I'm confused after eating my meal. Isn't the set course combination supposed to feature the 'best of' what the restaurant has to offer? Is the steak at the other table mushy too or is that the way that Taiwanese people like steak or is just the steak that is part of the combo? Did I just order the wrong thing? My samples of my friends' dishes are actually tasty- a huge pig's knuckle that is tender and crispy and the sauteed fish that is also tender and tastier than it looks. The restaurant is very busy at this point, so they obviously have maintained an audience since being established so long ago. Or is it simply, as the menu states, a place that people bring back their grandchildren and great grandchildren?



The meal ends with a choice of coffee or tea and some mochi almond tofu. I had a pleasant time with my family and I'm glad to have visited one of my grandfather's favorite restaurants, but I probably would not return on my own. If I did, I'd probably order the pig's knuckle and stay away from the set course or the shellfish. It's kind of cool to see a restaurant that has been around for so long and was probably very popular for Western food in Taipei when there weren't that many selections back then. But now with a plethora of American or Italian restaurants around to choose from, this restaurant seems like a place to visit only for nostalgia's sake.

P.S. Here is a Taipei Times article about Bolero suggesting a similar sentiment.

P.S.S. down the street, a few blocks away, we had some delicious shaved ice. They also have do-hwa/soy tofu there. They use brown sugar as a syrup which gives it an interesting caramelized taste.

italian: i do NOT recommend DIAMOND TONY's

DIAMOND TONY's
Taipei 101 Mall 4F
45, ShihFu Rd.
(02) 8101-8268

This 4th floor location is closed. This is not a review of the Diamond Tony's on 85th floor of 101 (which I have never been). Here is a link to my later review of the Tianmu location in 2007

Pricing: $$$
review visit: Oct 24, 2005

I have been to Diamond Tony's three times. The first time was last year with a large group of friends- I remember the food tasting excellent and a fun time being had by all. The second time was for a company dinner in July- again the mood was festive, but this time the food was not as good as I remembered it to be the first time. The baked eggplant appetizer I ordered was not baked eggplant parmesean (which was my mistake that I assumed it would be) and the baked penne pasta had soggy penne pasta, too much cheese and was bland. However, I did try my neighbor's pesto fettucine with lamb, which was ordered by quite a few people at the table, and it was quite tasty. I figured, I just ordered wrong.

The third time, I returned to Diamond Tony's recently with my family, anticipating ordering the right dish this time, and again I failed. Or the restaurant, I should say, failed. Miserably. So it will probably be my last time going to Diamond Tony's. Partially because of the how bad so many of the dishes were that night, that the food is overpriced compared to other better tasting Italian restaurants you can eat at in Taipei, and that their service could benefit a total rehaul.

Diamond Tony's is one of those restaurants that looks really nice from the outside. Usually, it's tough to be seated right away without a reservation. This third time, we were seated right away and the restaurant was maybe a third full. Perhaps it was a Monday night. Perhaps the newer Macaroni Grill nearby had taken away a lot of its customers. Perhaps people realized how bad the food and service was there and decided not to go back anymore.

After being seated, it took a very long time for a waiter to come take our order. You pretty much have to flag them down whenever you need service. The menu is in English and Chinese and they have set courses that you can order that include salad, soup, a main dish, dessert and a drink. We ordered the garlic bread, crab dip, and shrimp cocktail to start.

The appetizers came fairly quickly, especially when compared to the main dishes. The shrimp in the shriimp cocktail were the smallest shrimp I had ever seen. Sure they weren't listed as tiger prawns, but there were five regular sized shrimp in a half tomato with a creamy sauce instead of cocktail sauce. The crab dip was a creamy, slightly sweet dip with no visible crab and no crab when tasted. The garlic bread came in a pie pan, sliced in eight pieces filled us up while we waited. Note that you have to order and pay for the bread separately when you order the crab dip.

shrimp cocktail


crab dip


With our party of six, we ordered our main dishes. Only two of the dishes arrived, and when they were almost finished, the other dishes slowly trickled in. This is the other main complaint I have about Diamond Tony's. It's not that the restaurant was completely full to capacity and they could not handle all the orders. There was no apology that the dishes were spaced so far apart. Personally, it's strange when a restaurant cannot deliver all of its dishes to one party within 5-10 minutes of each other. Especially I think when you are paying the prices that you pay here. Some people won't begin to eat their food until the rest of the party's food is on the table- in this case, their food would be cold by the time their fellow friend's food came.

seafood pasta


shrimp


My father and grandmother said they enjoyed their dishes- the seafood pasta with red sauce, and the jumbo shrimp.

My sister ordered the set course with prime rib steak. The salad was an unfortunate looking section of iceburg lettuce with some dressing on the side. The minestrone soup is probably the only tasty thing at the table that evening. It was flavorful, with lots of vegetables and little bit of beef and pasta. The steak was a good sized portion and looked appetizing, but tasted a bit too tenderized.

salad


soup


steak


The crab and porcini fettucine I ordered turned out to be totally not what I expected. I even asked the waiter if he had delivered the wrong dish to my table.The wad of fettucine was surrounded by several breaded and fried balls. I didn't see any crab or porcini mushrooms. It turned out that the Chinese translation of the dish was different from the English one. The balls on the side were the "crab" and "porcini"? Even after tasting it, I was unsure what the dish was. The balls tasted like a mix between seafood meatballs you'd find in soups and a hush puppy. The fettucine was dry and stuck together, like when you boil pasta and don't rinse it afterwards and it sits for awhile. After two bites, it sat on the table, uneaten.

crab and porcini fettucine


The pesto fettucine with lamb that had been such a crowd-pleaser the last time also failed to please this time. The fettucine here was also dry and stuck together, despite the creamy pesto sauce that drowned it. There was also a cream of mushroom soup and mushroom pasta ordered. Both featured bland, buttery cream flavors that seemed more watered down cream flavored than mushroom. We even asked the manager if they had changed chefs because the food was so drastically worse from the past few times we had eaten there. She said that they hadn't and offered to take off the two fettucine dishes off our bill since they were uneaten.

pesto fettucine with lamb


So consider this review a fair warning- the food at Diamond Tony's doesn't seem to taste as good as it used to. Even if you want to try it out, expect slow service and for part of your party to be finished eating by the time your dish arrives. Compared to the friendlier service and tastier, more affordably priced dishes at Macaroni Grill nearby, Diamond Tony's is more cubic zirconia than a diamond.