chinese: i strongly recommend HUNDRED MUSHROOM GARDEN (BAI GU YUAN)

HUNDRED MUSHROOM GARDEN
(BAI GU YUAN) or MUSHROOM PARK
17, Lane 71, Ren Ai Rd., Section 4
(02) 8773-3160

$-$$

baigu.com.tw website in Chinese only

kid friendly?: high chairs available, though no room to put them in some booths. a lot of things on the table including hot pot so not for antsy kids who can't keep their fingers off the table.

date visited: 12/16/2006

Sorry for the lack of posts. I wanted to try and put up posts more often in 2007, but traveling back to LA, jetlag, getting sick and work has put a dent in those new year's resolutions! Plus I don't have all the business cards/addresses translated - but I know you just want to see pictures! So I will do my best to catch up on my backlog of half-written posts and update with the other information later.



The winter weather is the perfect excuse to go out and eat hotpot, not that you really need an excuse to eat hotpot. Maybe known to some as "shabu shabu," if it's not all-you-can-eat buffet style, then you basically order your options from the menu, and cook it yourself in a pot of hot boiling water (or broth) on the table. The options can range from spicy hot "ma-la" hot pot to a place like this- with over a hundred of types of mushrooms! We had mixed up our reservations for a busy Saturday night (the restaurants named "Orange" (the fruit) is not the same as "Orange" (the color)- a subtle but distinct difference in Chinese- left us without reservations at the trendy Orange hotpot restaurant) so we ended up finding space at the Mushroom hotpot place.

They start you off with a pot of broth with some herbs and then bring over a tray full of various vegetables and more mushrooms than you could imagined existed. There are fat, skinny, long, short, spidery, stubby, crunchy, chewy- all sorts of mushrooms that go into the mushroom broth.



so lonely and empty, just waiting for its mushroom friends

The different set menus offer different choices. I love mushrooms, so it was very exciting for me. The servers put all the mushrooms and vegetables in for you and then set the timer, which will let you know when the hotpot goodness is ready to eat.

They also gave us mini dishes of dried mushroom and mushroom floss, both which were really addictive.The floss was chewy and salty and the dried mushroom had a good crunch with an intense flavor. Both of these are also available for sale to take home. I ended up buying both and eating the dried mushroom as a snack- perfect for when I wanted something to munch on, while being relatively healthy!

In the meanwhile, we chowed down on our abalone mushroom, which was a giant long (and yes, very phallic looking) mushroom that did have a meaty texture like abalone.

It was like a duo, as they seed the same mushroom boiled and chopped, served on ice. They paired with soysauce and wasabi to dip in, so I guess it was like mushroom sashimi.

Our set menu included these two appetizers, while our friends set menu included mini mantoh or steamed buns with a sweet condensed milk dipping sauce. They came in assorted flavors and were soft and warm. I wasn't really used to the condensed milk eaten with mantoh- it belongs on shaved ice!

While the mushroom hotpot is perfect for vegetarians, they also do serve meat, so we had some sliced pork for our hotpot! They came in perfect frozen curls, like the kind you see at Mongolian bbq places that don't want you to pile a lot of meat into your bowl before it's stirfried.

They also had a little pot of meat mixture that we could scoop up into little balls and drop into the soup. This was one of their signature dishes- they were like chewy meatballs with the starchy fishcake texture. We also had dumplings, but they were not as tasty as all the other dishes.

At the end of your meal, you have a perfect broth to sip from to keep you warm to go back out into the cold winter air and all the mushrooms don't get mushy, but just get more flavorful. If you don't finish, you can even take it home- they will give you a sturdy plastic bag to put it in.

The restaurant is very clean with separated areas for seating. It's perfect for families or friends- it's not as trendy with dark decor/lighting as Orange or even Buffalo Yakiniku, but it's good. Their menu is only in Chinese, so you might have to go with the pictures or bring someone who speaks Chinese to help order. You're going to get mushrooms, any way you order! They do talk a bit about the mushrooms and their benefits which I missed out on.

If you have room, they serve a little panna cotta with some strawberry sauce on top for dessert. It's not the best panna cotta I've had, but at least it wasn't mushroom flavored!

This mushroom hot pot restaurant is actually a part of a chain, so there are quite a few locations around Taiwan. It's been very cold in LA, so I imagine it's been cold in Taipei still- the hearty hot broth and mushrooms will definitely help.

others who recommend eating 100 Mushroom Garden
-Jim Standard from Food and Wine Magazine
- Bayside Village Diary

More locations (in Chinese) on website here

Tien Mu location
No. 91, Chung Cheng Road, Sec 1
(02) 2832-2146

No. 60, Ming Sheng E Road, Sec 5
(02) 2753-0625

No. 16, Jin Shan S Road, Sec 2
(02) 3322-2648

MuZha location
No. 67, Mushin Road, Sec 3
(02) 2937-7333

CLOSED/french: i strongly recommend PAPILLON

PAPILLON
at San Want Hotel
No. 172, ZhongXiao East Rd, Sec. 4
(02) 2781-7063
(no longer a french restaurant)

Breakfast 6:30-9:30 am
Lunch 11:30 am-2 pm
Teatime 2:30-5 pm
Dinner 6-9:30 pm

website: sanwant.com

$$$

date visited: 12/25/2006




I didn't know what to expect since I had never heard much about PAPILLON, but I was pleasantly surprised- even amazed by the beautiful presentation and exquisite tastes of dinner that night. I had been invited along on a company dinner to sample a set dinner menu for the PARIS Je'TAIME film, which turned into a lovely quiet holiday celebration.



Located in the back of the lobby past the elevators of the San Want Hotel, the entrance is very unassuming and we were seating in a large elegant private room. The private rooms are for set menus only, while they have ala carte and buffet options outside. Papillon also services the all day buffet which has an entrance on the right front hand side of the hotel lobby.

They started us off with a cheese wonton that has served warm and crispy with a soft cheesy center, which whetted our appetites.





The experience was everything a fancy French restaurant should be- decadent, romantic, beautifully presented, mouth-watering and good service. Each dish had a combination of textures- soft and crunchy, sometimes sweet and salty. The sighs of happiness could be heard around the table.

The appetizer was a plate of mini-bites of seafood and jelly. I am not a big fan of jelly, but it was so beautiful to look at. The seafood was also propped up with tiny pillows of mashed potato. The flavors were enhanced by the diced mangos and apples in the center which also provided mini-bursts of crunch and sweetness.





The tuna tartare was almost like a spicy tuna roll with a base of rice at the bottom, but without the spicy and seaweed. I didn't think I would like it, but each bite was addictive- the tenderness of the tuna with the equally soft rice and the crunch of the salad above.



The waiters then delivered to us each a slice of bread that they said was shipped in from Italy especially for the holidays.. It was a sliver of a very large loaf and some googling revealed it is probably panettone bread.



The cauliflower soup was light, creamy and again perfectly flavored- served cappuccino style. I gave my smoked salmon sliver away because I don't like smoked salmon. It would have been cool if they had served them in cappuccino cups with little handles so we could have drank the soup that way.



I can't remember the last time I had lobster THIS good. While the menu said "lobster stew," it was actually broiled and tender and sweet and flavorful. I savored every bite and chewed slowly even though it was quite a sizeable portion. The fried wonton flower that it came in was slightly sweet and weirdly, it made a great partner to the lobster and the wisps of saffron sauce.




i could probably eat way too much of this

Practically after our friend at the table mentioned that they often served a refresher before the main dish, the waiters brought out a zesty lemon sorbet scoop for us to cleanse our palates for the filet mignon.




While I definitely enjoyed the filet, it was not as hot or as rare as I would have liked it. I asked for a 5 to 6, on the scale of doneness, and I guess I should have stuck to a 5. In Taiwan, they ask you for a number, 1 being raw and 10 being well done- most of the time the waiter will recommend medium or a 5. I also might have taken too long taking pictures. The vegetables on the side were also delicious, but my favorite was the eggplant.




can i order more lobster?

While our stomaches and tastebuds were reeling from the overload of flavors and courses of the night, the desserts arrived. Again, we ate with our eyes first, and we all oohed and aahed over the prettiness and girliness of this chocolate mousse. While I love dessert and I love chocolate, I don't really care for mousse, so unfortunately, this was one of my least favorite dishes of the night. But I definitely polished off all of the handmade vanilla bean ice cream.




But it was still amazing to look at-- as far as food porn experiences go, this one was definitely lived up to its appearance- it was orgasmic tasting as it looked. I was surprised, but I guess I should have been- another restaurant in the same hotel, Sumie, has been a favorite of ours for always having beautiful and original presentation of their delicious food.

I hope my pictures captured most of the experience- it was very low "romantic" light- so I bumped my ISO up to "High," turned on my digital macro, upped the exposure and adjusted the white balance. I didn't realize until dessert that some of the pictures are a little too purple, so adjust your food porn glasses accordingly please.

So the next time you need to go out for an anniversary, birthday or celebrate something special, take a seat at Papillon. (Did I say how much I loved the lobster?) In the meanwhile, I'm definitely trying the buffet next.

chinese: i strongly recommend LITTLE SHANGHAI

LITTLE SHANGHAI
68 Ming Sheng E Road, Sec 4
(02) 2718-5783

lunch: 10AM-2:30PM
dinner: 4PM-9PM

$

visit reviewed: 11/20/2006

Long before I had even heard of Din Tai Fung, I would always crave the dumplings and beef noodle soup I had here at Little Shanghai, near my grandmother's house. I think my grandmother was sort of amused at how passionate my cousins, my sister and I would insist (separately) that eat at least one meal at this very local, unflashy and cheap (nothing is more than NT$150) spot. Actually, once I heard about Din Tai Fung, I refused for the longest time to eat at the more trendy, popular chain, insisting on eating at the hidden gem. Now that I've been to both more often- I would say that their xiao long bao are very comparable, but Little Shanghai definitely beats DTF in the beef noodle soup department.

From the outside, you can see a team of people busy wrapping, cooking and serving the food. At lunch, it often gets very crowded, but off peak hours, it's not too hard to get a seat inside.


the menu on the wall- only in Chinese

The menu is pretty simple, although it's only in Chinese on the wall and on the order sheet- xiao long bao (with pork), vegetable and meat dumplings, zhong zhi (rice dumpling- sweet or salty), sesame buns, fried bread, beef noodle soup (with beef or tendons or half and half), and small sides. If you are living in Taiwan, I think one of the first characters you learn to recognize is "niao ro mien" or beef noodle soup!

We grabbed a bunch of side starter dishes (NT$30 each) from the front while we waited for our food to come, and quickly devoured them.

small dishes from L-R clockwise: cold tofu and thousand year old egg, bamboo, cucumbers, tofu slivers with celery and carrots, gluten

The steamed basket of xiao long bao (NT$100) quickly comes, with the hot, juicy, bite sized pockets of deliciousness. I am getting hungry again looking at these pictures. Sometimes the flavor of ginger is too strong, but today it is just right.

xiao long bao


self serve vinegar and soy sauce

The beef noodle soup (NT$100-150 or US$3-5) is still what I think one of the best in Taipei. The hearty broth is so flavorful and a bit spicy while not being too salty or oily- you could drink the whole bowl. Also, the noodles are handmade and thick, providing a satisfactory bite to spoonful, or you could slurp it down. They also have a choice of tendon along with the beef, and often run out of the tendon if you go later in the evening. You can order a serving of everything that looks good to you and eat it family style to get a sample of everything and order more if it's not enough.

beef noodle with beef and tendon

Their vegetable dumplings (NT$100) used to vegetarian, but now they include a bit of ground meat inside. Today, the dumpling skin is a bit thicker than the ones on the xiao long bao and taste a little gummier. Unfortunately, their vegetable dumplings are not as consistently good as their other dishes.

vegetable dumplings

So the vegetarian options here are limited to the fried bread or the sesame buns, in addition to the side dishes. When I was a kid, I used to devour these fried bread. They are have a slightly sweet crispy crust and steaming hot soft bread rolled up inside. MMMMMMMMM. I don't usually see this served elsewhere.

fried bread

I would definitely pick the bread over the sesame buns ($40 for 2). The sesame is a bit too sandy and sweet for me. I'd also rather have the red bean dumpling dessert at Ding Tai Fung, which uses the xiao long bao skins to wrap either taro or red bean and steam them.

steamed sesame buns


black sesame filling inside

Everyone has their favorite "local" and authentic place to eat- this one is mine. Nearby the old downtown district of Taipei, a few blocks away from Tony Roma's and Ruth Chris', this is an awesome alternative for those who are looking for a new xiao long bao or beef noodle soup spot. Every friend I've taken there has always left with a full and content stomach and asked to go back again another day. If you do go, be prepared to memorize the characters of the dishes you like in Chinese or recite it to the waitress. It'll be worth it!

breakfast/american: i strongly recommend THE DINER

THE DINER
No. 145, Rui-An St.
(02) 2700-1680

HOURS: 10AM-11PM
closed Mondays

website: thediner.com.tw

visit reviewed: 12/17/2006



the outside- look for this storefront

As we approached the restaurant, it was not yet open at 7 minutes before 10am, and a few other people were waiting already. My friend who had spotted THE DINER awhile ago said that the last time he passed by, it was packed with quite a long wait, so he was excited that we had timed it just right to get a prime seat on this busy Sunday morning.

The inside is cozy and more cafe-like than diner-ish, with simple wooden furniture and various lamps hanging down above the tables. It was decorated for the holiday season with hand-drawn cards and a "merry kissmas" image of two snowmen kissing above the counter/kitchen area.

one of the very cute hand drawn cards

We sat down around 10AM and got our own menus to order and the place quickly filled up. The forty or so seats was completely full by 1021AM.

While the menu features such American staples such as meatloaf and country fried steak (served daily after 11:30AM), the reason people mostly come is for their all day brunch options like omelettes, pancakes, french toast, eggs benedict, eggs florentine and breakfast burrito. I ended up getting the eggs benedict (probably the first time I've had them in Taiwan) and most of the other people got omelettes. The breakfasts come with choice of hash browns or o'brien potatoes as well as a small cup of OJ, and bottomless cup of coffee or tea and a side of fruit (in this case, 1 strawberry with condensed milk on it). The omelettes also come with a slice of bread cut into triangle halves.

greek omelette- spinach, feta and mushrooms

We lingered over conversation, our hot drinks and the morning paper, and our food trickled in a few at a time. The omelettes seemed to come out a lot faster than the eggs benedicts, which were the last to come. One of our eggs benedicts came so far after all of us were done, we thought maybe the kitchen forgot about it and a couple people decided to order more to eat.

Overall, the food was pretty good. They only use organic eggs and the omelettes were fluffy, flavorful and full of the ingredients. It didn't taste or look processed like some omelettes sometimes do. The o'brien potatoes were also very tasty- probably pan fried with a lot of butter.

vegetarian omelette with mushroom, peppers, onions and cheese

My eggs benedict looked pretty delicious by the time they came. Fluffy poached eggs resting atop the english muffins, with the sunny hollandaise sauce spooned over it. It was very good, and just a few notes from being awesome - (1) the hollandaise sauce was too runny/watery than I prefer and there was too much- it made the muffins soggy, which I don't like, (2) the muffins didn't seem toasted- they were soft and mushy rather than the crispy soft texture of the toasted variety that I prefer, (3) it needed few sprinkles of pepper and salt. The side of potatoes though were a home run- I probably could have eaten a whole plate of them if I wasn't careful- they were tasty, bite sized and had some herby flavor that made them unlike any breakfast potatoes I've had before.

eggs benedict w/ o'brien potatoes

I didn't get to taste the breakfast burrito or the pancakes, but everyone's plates were emptied pretty quickly. The pancakes looked golden brown and fresh off the griddle, unlike the dry, hard pancakes from NY Bagel.

breakfast burrito with hash browns and side of salsa


pancakes w/ hash browns and sausage

The next time I come, I will probably try the pancakes or french toast, or get an omelette. I also spotted on the lunch menu a pastrami sandwich that made me very tempted to order one for lunch later that day. The authenticity of their American-style breakfasts bode very well for a potential authentic pastrami sandwich- and how great would that be to be able to eat a pastrami sandwich whenever you wanted in Taipei? (hahah.. you see I've been here too long!)

Everything on the menu seemed appetizing and very affordable, and it also featured kids options for only NT$100 each. There's also a parking lot available at the corner of Rui An St and He Ping E Rd.

I almost didn't want to write about the Diner since it's one of those brunch places that have a wait-time for those in "the know" in the Shida area, and I didn't want to let the secret out so that the wait would be even longer the next time we went, but it's definitely too good of a find not to share. If you're going to wait on the weekend for NY Bagel, you might as well give this tastier, fresher, more authentic and faster option a try- but if you go, let me know what you thought!

japanese: i strongly recommend MOUNTAIN FLOWER

MOUNTAIN FLOWER
or SHAN HUA
No. 1 on 146 Alley, Dun Hua S. Rd, Sec 2
(02) 2708-3080

lunch: 12 PM- 2:30 PM
dinner: 6 PM - 10 PM

$$$- $$$$

kid friendly?: no high chairs, though can accomodate stroller especially if you call ahead. can be quiet atmosphere though so may not want to bring rowdy loud ones

visit reviewed: 11/17/2006

I'm no means a sashimi or sushi expert. After all, I used to only eat California Rolls and Inari Rolls and Tabiko nigiri until maybe five years ago when I was introduced to world of super fresh and delicious sashimi. So even now, when I eat sashimi, I couldn't necessarily tell you everything that I am eating- yellowtail, Hamachi, salmon- I would need one of those plastic diagrams that come on the table. I know what tuna, uni, unagi, and sweet shrimp are, but at a place where the chef's set menu (about NT$2000) just comes to you, you have to just go with the flow.

Mountain Flower is a cozy, small-ish rectangular room of a restaurant with a sushi bar- we heard of it from a friend who works with organic foods and raved about their vegetarian set menu. It's definitely a place to treat yourself, or use the company credit card, since their set menu will set you back NT$2000 or US$60, but it will be worth every penny. It's simple, delicious flavors and you'll leave full from the food and the experience, but not stuffed. We were lucky to get a reservation a day or so earlier, since the space can only seat so many people. WIth the darker walls and ambience, it was very modern and sleek and the restaurant was bustling with businessmen, couples and people enjoying their food.

So I will do my best to describe everything we had from that night- but honestly, I'm not sure what everything was- but it all tasted awesome- so if you are a sashimi expert, you can let the pictures do the talking.

We sat at the sushi bar, so when the chef was ready, he's dish out the new plate. Before we start eating, they ask if there is anything that we do NOT eat. For the appetizer, we dipped the paper thin slice into a sauce. Later the chef would specifically suggest when not to dip something in a sauce.

sashimi appetizer

The sashimi was so fresh. I think the white slices on the right were squid- they were a bit rubbery unlike the meaty texture of the fish. In general, I prefer the taste and texture of tuna and I think what was yellowtail?

sashimi plate

I ate a couple of the scallops before I took this picture. It was soft and chewy and I like scallops in general, so I really enjoyed this. I don't like ikura, so I gave this to my friend.

scallop and ikura

This to me was heaven because I really miss eating spicy tuna from the states- it's hard to find here and this was an elegant twist on one of my favorites. I almost wanted to ask the chef for more than the two bites that we got.

spicy tuna

And the food kept coming while we were eating and talking. This set was probably one of my favorites- the slightly seared toro melted in your mouth and though not everyone likes uni, I have grown to love it, and it was very fresh and creamy.

toro and uni

The thing about sashimi and sushi is that it should never smell or taste fishy. If it does, don't eat it! Next came a grilled miso fish, which was just the right size and flavorful due to the marinade.

miso fish

I wasn't sure what this was and my friend called it "the essence of fish" to which I was like, what does that mean? Brain? Sex organs? Stomach? After some googling, It reminded me in taste and appearance of cow brain, in the soft creaminess, but it would be the most beautifully presented fish milt I've ever seen.

fish milt

Here are some dishes from the vegetarian set menu- I don't think I took a picture of everything, but it's a sample in case you ever want to try it.

fried shitake mushrooms

nuts

vegetarian yams and mushrooms

vegetarian rolls

Then capping the meal with a slice of fresh pineapple and red bean dessert and green hot tea.




If you've ever wanted to go somewhere and let the chef hand pick your food, then you must try MOUNTAIN FLOWER. The simple elegant sign outside reflects the "japonaise" style and attitude inside- they make it look easy and the fresh while
appetizing flavors stay with on your mind. As with most set menus, the dishes will changes as the seasons change, but at least you can be assured that whatever you are eating will also be the freshest.