CLOSED italian/fusion: i still recommend FORCHETTA

CLOSED a/o 2014

FORCHETTA 叉子餐廳

No. 4, Alley 127, AnHe Road., Sec 1
台北市安和路一段127巷4號
(02) 2707-7776

MRT: Zhongxiao Dunhua (is the closest, but still about a 15-20 walk from the station)

hours:  Lunch 12pm to 2pm

Dinner: 6pm to 10pm

$$$-$$$$ (about NT$1300-1600/person for lunch set menu)

Kid friendliness:  no high chairs spotted, mostly fine dining type dishes

Visit reviewed: 12/28/2012

The last time I visited this cozy bistro hidden behind a curtain of greenery was probably the last time I wrote about it- over six years ago in 2007. But thanks to my Instagram friends, their recent photos spurred my curiosity and appetite to pick it for a lunch meeting with a friend from Hong Kong.

When the weather is nice, Forchetta is a nice place to grab a table near the the front. Or you could have a table in the back with an eye on the semi open kitchen in the back.

Set lunch menus run about NT$880-1500 depending on what main dish you choose. Forchetta sources quite a few things locally and notes it in the menu- duck and chicken from Miaoli, shrimp from Yilan, fish from Keelung. 

The complimentary bread is still wonderfully addictive, served with a garlic aioli and tomato sauce. The last time I came for dinner, they served fresh tomatoes to rub onto the bread. This is a bit less messy, but a bit less fun.

Organic duck gizzard with corn mash, served cold - two spoonfuls and it was gone. Sweet, creamy with the chewy cubes of gizzard.

Local fresh fish from Yilan, daily carpaccio, homemade air dried tomato and black olives - I liked this- fresh, delicate and beautifully plated.

Abalone, milt, fish stomach in duck consomme - this was my least favorite course. I didn't like the gummy texture of the the fish stomach and milt..

Yilan red guava sorbet - palate cleanser in an unique presentation. Kinda frou frou, but so the experience.

Grilled Australian lamb chop with rosemary and nuts (NT$1500) - There were a lot of great options for the main dishes. I considered the beef cheek (but just had it the night before), lamb shank (thought it might be too heavy) or duck confit, but I ended up ordering the lamb chop. Perfectly grilled at a suggested medium rare.

Dessert of the day- crumbled chocolate cookie with pineapple mousse - I thought I wouldn't like this dish because I didn't think pineapple and chocolate would work together and I usually don't like mousse, but it wasn't too acidic or sweet, so it was fine.

The thought of spending so much money on lunch prevents me from coming more often, but hopefully I'll be back before another six years passes by. 

pizza/italian: i recommend ZOCA PIZZA

ZOCA PIZZA

No. 149 Linjiang St

台北市臨江街149號

(02) 2707-2212

MRT: DaAn

website: zocapizza.com

hours: closed Mondays

Tues-Fri 11 AM - 2:30PM; 5:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Sat/Sundays from 11AM - 9:30 PM

$$ (about $400/person)

Kid friendliness: high chairs available; lots of kid friendly toppings or plain cheese avail

Visit reviewed: 1/29/2013

Has this ever happened to you? You secretly make some new year's resolutions to eat healthier, exercise more often, write snail mail to friends, watch Homeland, clean out your closet, as well as blog up a storm, but then real life hits and all of sudden it's already February. And all of the resolutions got postponed. Not to mention my laptop's "start up disk" is full so I have over a month's worth of travel and food photos from my iphone, s95 and DSLR to upload. Eek. Time to clear the digital clutter and reorganize.

But until then, let's talk about a great little pizza place in the Daan district I tried the other day, Zoca Pizza. Some of you might have discovered it already, as I've been told to try this place at least a few times by a few readers. (It is also across the street from the shuttered WeiB which I saw was being torn down.)

Opened over a year ago, Zoca Pizza is a casual little shop near Anhe Road, offering over 40 kinds of different thin crust pizzas on the English, Italian and Chinese menu, as well as a daily soup, a few salads, calzone, lasagna, and a pizza by the slice lunch set. There is also a wine list and house made limoncello. The variety of pizzas is quite overwhelming with all the choices, but luckily our friend helped us order. The pizzas also cook quickly and come quickly to the table, so you could always add a pizza after your initial order if you aren't full. I like to order different ones and share.

You can even spy the chef making the pizzas in the open kitchen and firing it in the brick oven.

The waitress told us that the owner and chef of Zoca has been making pizza since he was a boy in Verona, Italy, and also learned how to make the Italian desserts and housemade gelatos that beckon when you walk in.

The pizzas are large enough to share, so my friends and I ordered a few to try. My friend recommended we come here insisted we order the Dolce Vita pizza (NT$400) and it ended up being my favorite of that day as well. 

Topped with prosciutto, mascarpone cheese, nuts and honey provide contrasting flavors and textures with the tomato sauce and cheese base. When my friend first described the pizza to me, I thought it was a dessert pizza, but it is quite savory and the creaminess of the fresh mascarpone really perfects the pizza. And the chewy crust is thin, but bendable and gives a great bite- not heavy and not crispy. The neapolitan pizzas at Zoca are similar to Fifteen Pizza, for those of you that have been.

The carbonara pizza comes with a white sauce and topped with bacon and a well done baked egg. I missed the tartness of the tomato sauce with this one and prefer a less well done egg, but it might be good for fans of carbonara pasta.

I thought it was funny (and very appropriate) that the pineapple and ham Hawaiian pizza was called Americana pizza (NT$320) instead. It reminded me of how we're so used to bastardized versions of other cuisines in America, but we end up craving it anyways because it's what we've grown up with. Like how some people look for or desire things like orange chicken and moo shu pork that are nearly impossible to find in Taipei because they are essentially Chinese Americana.  

We couldn't leave without trying the desserts, so we shared a hazelnut tart, a cannoli, and limoncello cake which they called bobo. I thought the cake would have a strong lemon flavor, but it was more of a strong alcohol flavor, which was actually too strong for me. Haha, you can tell I'm not a big drinker.

My favorite was the cannoli (NT$150), which I've only seen at Solo Pasta otherwise in Taipei. I'll have to come back another day to try a scoop or two of the Italian ice cream.

CLOSED! singaporean/french: i strongly recommend AU JARDIN (BISTRO DU VIN)

CLOSED! a/o 2014

AU JARDIN (BISTRO DU VIN)

No. 222, XingAn St. 松山區興安街222號 

(02) 2719-6863

MRT:  Zhongshan Jr. High School or Nanjing E. Rd

website: Au Jardin's FB page

hours: 11:30AM - 2:30 PM; 6PM - 10:30 PM

$$ 

Kid friendliness: high chairs available

Visits reviewed: 5/25/2012, 5/26/2012 and 6/26/2012

Opened for a few months now, Au Jardin is a bright, cheery bistro in the Songshan District that serves up Asian meets Italian/French fusion fare. Fans of Just In Bistro or the shuttered Le Petite Cuisine might find some Sino French flavors or faces familiar, but newcomers should feel just as welcome.

Also tucked on this alley is Fresh Cafe, which I've been hearing about and meaning to try.

At first glance, the menu seems a bit disjointed with both items like Spaghetti Alla Carbonara and Singapore Laksa on it, but there are gems to be found. On my first visit, I was a guest of my friend D and the restaurant, so they brought out their signature dishes for us to try. The English and Chinese menu has a range of pastas, main dishes, appetizers and desserts, as well a wine list selection. This post is a collection of three different visits so there's a lot of food to drool over! 

I like to treat my grandma to lunch sometimes and if the place is too pricey, sometimes she will feel guilty or be too polite about eating together, but I think she had a good time at Au Jardin and enjoyed the food even more when I pointed out the reasonable prices to her.

The Tofu Spring Salad with Light Soy Bean Dressing (NT$180) sounds deceptively simple, but it's refreshing. With both fried and silken tofu atop dressed greens, the soybean dressing is more like a sweet vinegrette. I've ordered this salad again on every visit afterwards.

The Tempura of Soft shell crab salad with Green Chili Sauce (NT$360) has a strong kick with the spicy green chili sauce that gives the crispy soft shell crab an acidity and fire that is addictive. It also works as a salad since there's some lettuce and greens to spread the sauce around.

On my last visit, on the seasonal menu was the Parma ham with grilled peaches salad (NT $360). Sweet and savory, perfect for summer.

For the more traditional options, the Caesar Salad (NT$200).

I loved the spicy soup from the Sauteed clam "Tom Yam" (NT$120), but I had a few gritty clams that turned me off.

The Grilled Confit Pork Neck with Honey Mustard Dressing (NT$140) is not a bad appetizer to share, but the confit pork neck is used in quite a few of the dishes I ordered, so it's not necessary to repeat order unless you really love it.

Calamari Fritter with Lemon Aioli (NT$180)

Grilled Oyster Mushroom with Potato Salt (NT$100) is a hearty choice for vegetarians.

Soup of the day- Seafood Chowder 

A must order is the Roasted Duck Confit with Seasonal Vegetables, Chicken Jus (NT$400). It's a great portion for the price and is roasted perfectly so that the skin is crispy and the meat is juicy and tender. 

Depending on your mood, there are two pastas I really recommend- the Tagliatelle Confit Pork Neck (NT$380) is a crowd pleaser with noodles tossed in olive oil and garlic that brings out the flavors of the pasta and the pork. The pasta is cooked perfectly al dente, chewy but not too hard.

And the spicier Tagliatelle Confit Sweet Shrimp Pork Neck Laksa (NT$420) bursts with Southeast Asian flavors of spiciness, sweetness and sourness that somehow works perfectly with the Italian noodle. Again there's the melt in your mouth pork neck meat along with some seafood flavors and shrimp. There's traditional Laksa as well, but I also ended up getting this dish.

My friend was craving red meat, so she ordered the Grilled rib eye lunch set (NT$980) to share. Pricey for lunch, but not a bad price for a nicely grilled steak.

A few orders were not as strong and distinctive- the Cheeseburger, Salad and Fries (NT$380) was gourmet enough, but not as exciting as laksa.

I also felt the Seafood Risotto (NT$400) was not my idea of a risotto- it was quite watery and the rice was too soft. It tasted more like a seafood stew with rice.

One of the things that I think also makes Au Jardin stand out is the service. The dirty plates and utensils were whisked away and replaced with new ones between courses (salads, mains, desserts) without asking. This usually only happens at fine dining restaurants with higher entree prices, but it's nice when you get that quality of service in a casual ambience. It was nice having to have clean forks to enjoy the different flavors and not have to wave the waiter down for water, and is a noticeable gesture in the land of self serve eateries.

There's lots of delicious desserts to choose from- if you want a souffle, be sure to order it before you want to it since it will take time to cook. The first day, they had a Peach Souffle for us to try, but it was a tad underdone for me.

But I loved the decadent warm Baked chocolate cake (NT$220) with the gooey chocolate center.

And the flaky Apple tart (NT $180) that is served as one long strip and easy to share. Meticulous thin slices of apple are sweetened with caramel sauce and the crispy phyllo dough underneath makes it a dessert that is satisfying, but not heavy.

Although it's a bit out of the way for me, it's worth the trip. Au Jardin is also in that sweet spot where not too many people know about it yet so it wasn't crowded, but that might change when word of mouth spreads.