CLOSED/revisited/korean: I recommend HONEY PIG

HONEY PIG

No. 415-3 XinYi Road, Sec. 4
台北市信義區信義路四段415號-3
(02) 2725-5757

closed as of 2021

MRT: Taipei 101

website: Honey Pig Taiwan's FB page

hours: 24 hours! (although I feel like sometimes when I drive by it doesn't look open 24 hours)

$$ (about NT$600/person)

Kid friendliness: high chairs available, as well as scissors to cut meat for kids

Visit reviewed:  11/12/2015
Last Visit reviewed: 1/9/2015

Round 1- kalbi, beef brisket, sliced pork belly, fresh pork belly

Round 2-spicy pork belly, spicy sliced pork belly, bulgogi, fresh pork belly, kimchi 

Revisited Honey Pig with some friends last week and was happy to find that I could make reservations over the phone fairly easily. The only thing is that they told me that the 12noon reservations for that day were full, so I had to choose 11AM or 12PM. It seems they stagger their seating so that the servers can cook for the tables at different times, as when we sat down there were only a couple other tables seated at 11AM.

The menu is slightly expanded from my last visit, with more soups and cooked foods available, as well as fresh romaine lettuce to wrap your bbq'd meats in.

There are also combos now that they didn't have at my last visit, during their opening weeks. They are a good deal if you have more people, but I wanted more kalbi and less thick cut pork belly slices. So if you're choosier about what you want, you should stick to ordering ala carte. We ended up with the Pork and Beef combo NT$2332 which saves you a few hundred NT and was two rounds on the grill and enough for 6 people. 

Fresh romaine (NT$100) 

Japchae Korean Stir fried noodles (NT$219)

This was good, with sizeable strips of meat and vegetables with the noodles. We wanted to get the kimchi fried rice, but they make it on the grill and the servers insist on making it after they cook your meat, so of course by the end of the meal we were too full to order it.

The servers are still a bit hard to wave down and the music was a bit too loud for some of my friends (especially if you sit near the speakers), but they are not as crazed and chaotic and overwhelmed as my previous visits when they first opened. 

revisited/night market: i strongly recommend RAOHE NIGHT MARKET

Raohe night market is one of the most popular and oldest night markets in Taipei. A short subway or taxi ride from Xinyi or DaAn districts, Raohe has two bright signs marking the front and back main entrances of the night market.

I had what I thought was some mediocre food the last time I visited Raohe with some out of town friends, so it's been a few years since I've had the urge to revisit. Thanks to some new friends from Singapore who chose it as our meeting spot, I fell in love with the popular flaky pepper buns, the grilled oyster mushrooms, mango shaved ice and found a vendor serving one of my favorite night market snacks, the ice cream "burrito" with peanut candy shavings and cilantro. 

The pepper buns at the entrance of the Raohe night market and can be spotted by a winding queue of people waiting and a team of quick fingered people wrapping minced pork and green onions in doughy balls to be cooked in tandoor like ovens. The result is a pepper bun that is too hot to hold, a crunchy crust on the bottom and peppery and sweet meatball inside the bun. It's worth coming to Raohe just for this. 

Here's a glance at some of the other stands I spotted at Raohe. What's your favorite thing to eat at this night market? 

 

Rubber duck cotton candy 

Get your Taiwanese sausage from this vendor.. The first one we got from another vendor was so bad- pretty much just fat inside a sausage casing and the first time I had to throw something away that I bought at the night market. Taiwanese sausage should be firm and slightly chewy, on the sweet side and not all fat!!! 

Yeaaa. Favorite! 

CLOSED/western/drinks: i strongly recommend DIARY

 

DIARY 
53 Dong Feng Street
台北市東豐街53號
(02) 2706-3553
CLOSED

MRT: DaAn

website: Diary's FB page (hasn't been updated since 2013)

hours: 3:30PM - 1AM

$$ -$$$ (NT$600-1000+/per person with drinks)

Kid friendliness: maybe for an early dinner, but menu is probably suitable only for foodie kids

Visit reviewed: 4/27/2015

Once you see Diary's handwritten coaster notes for their drinks or its ink black bowl of "fried rocks," you won't likely forget it. Even though it had been years since my last visit to Diary, those images had made a distinct impression on me, which is not easy to do given the cluttered landscape of Taipei's restaurants (and I've had a lot of forgettable meals among them).

I hadn't planned on going to Diary when meeting up with a few new friends-- we had actually planned on meeting at a ramen shop, but it turned out to be closed on Mondays. Luckily, Diary had available seats for us at last minute's notice and I was curious about how Diary was since my last visit years ago. Diary has been doing bistronomy before it was a buzzword in Taipei, serving modern, creative food and drinks in a cozy, industrial space since 2009. Diary is easy to miss along Dong Feng Street since it doesn't have an obvious sign, but there's a lot worth exploring on this street (as well as the nearby Siwei Road).

The handwritten menu is more expansive and polished than I remember, with lots of tempting options for shared plates, like lobster soufflé, crab cakes or roasted spring chicken. We end up ordering a crab meat ravioli, a risotto, the fried rocks and lamb shank to share between three people.

Complimentary smoked rolls of turkey are brought to the table, with smoke dispersing when the glass cover is lifted. (Unfortunately I was too slow with the camera to get the cool part of the action before this shot)

Predictably, I order the mojito (NT$280). As indicated on the handwritten note under the glass, Diary's recipe for a mojito is Havana Club 7 year old rum, mint leaf, brown sugar and fresh lime juice. It's a more serious version of a mojito- not as cloyingly sweet as some other bars and a distinct brown color instead of clear when it's made with sparkling water and white rum.

The Crab Meat Ravioli (NT$320) was a hearty enough portion to share with bite size pieces bathed in cream sauce and black pepper. The ravioli dough is a bit gluey for me (maybe underdone a tad?), but we still clean the plate. I was pleasantly surprised with the portions of all the dishes at Diary that night as I remember the dishes being smaller on my last visit, and I dislike it when restaurants serve only four to five pieces of ravioli in an order, especially when it's not part of a set tasting menu.

Mushroom Risotto (NT$300) also delectable and fragrant with mushroom and cheese flavors.

Paired with the bright yellow saffron mayo, the Fried Rocks (NT$320) is the most striking dish at the table. I couldn't stop eating the crispy, squid ink battered, fried fish, squid and shrimp. Perfect amount of coating and crispiness and the seafood inside was still moist and sweet. Darth Vader of fritto misto. If you try one thing at Diary, you must order this signature dish.

The only other restaurant I had seen do black battered calamari in Taipei was the Spanish tapas restaurant Cocina de Jackie, who took the theme one step further and served it in a faux plant pot with a flower. 

Braised lamb shank with fennel (NT$1380) - I was getting quite full by the time the lamb shank and mashed potatoes came to the table, but it was still a happy addition to our stomaches. Some parts were fork tender, and some parts were a little bit tougher, but again, a good sized portion to share. I might try other dishes next time rather than reorder this again.

Reservations recommended for Diary, as the space and seating is limited.