Snapshot: HELLO KITTY x MCD's fried pineapple pie

If you're a fan of McD's fried apple pie, like I am, then you might find yourself trying the fried PINEapple pie in Taiwan. When I ordered it, I didn't even realize it was going to come in Hello Kitty-fied cuteness. Then I realized that I missed the whole Hello Kitty x McDonalds Taiwan menu (basically sticking HK's face on the packaging) they were doing the past month and the launch of the Hello Kitty toys. 

As for the taste? The crust is essentially the same crispy flaky goodness as the fried apple pie. The inside is a thick pineapple gel filling that is overly sweet and sugary, similar to the filling of those old Hostess pies. The pie is served hot, so be careful when digging in. Let's be honest- most of you will try this just because of the hello kitty cuteness, not the taste. 

Cuteeeeeee Hello Kitty x McDonalds toys- hello kitty ladybug, pineapple, strawberry and watermelon !! 

They should just stick Hello Kitty on everything for a few months and see what happens! Haha. 

drinks/american: i strongly recommend WOOGO SMOOTHIES

WOOGO JUICE
No. 42, Lane 233, DunHua S. Road, Sec. 1
敦化南路一段233巷42號
(Edited 8/2016: this location has been closed for awhile. I've spotted their shops in various Citylink malls and near Taipei Main Station. Check their Facebook page for updated addresses)

(02) 2778-0182 

MRT: ZhongXiao/Dunhua

website: WooGo's FB page 

hours: 11AM - 10PM

$ (Cash only)

Kid friendliness: yes

Visit reviewed: 6/9/2015

Taipei skipped over the smoothie phase straight into cold-pressed juices, juice cleanses and juice bars craze this past year (with the openings of Juice In, Juicy Diary, Juice 8, Boost Juice, Goodies Cleanse, Vegg Out), but smoothies still hold a special place in my heart. At each of my jobs post college, there was a Jamba Juice nearby to hit up with co-workers during our lunch break or after work. Sometimes when we didn't have enough time to eat, we drank our smoothies on the go. 

When I first moved back to Taipei, there was a smoothie shop at (then) Warner Village, but it eventually closed down. There were plenty of sugary boba tea shops or fresh fruit juice places, but somehow no smoothies. The five founders of WooGo noticed this gap too, and opened WooGo Juice in 2013 to serve California style smoothies,  icy smoothies blended from frozen fruit, yogurt or sorbet and ice of styrofoam cups. All the sorbets and yogurts are made in house, and prices are quite reasonable from NT$75-110 with M, L and XL sized cups available.

Located in an alley behind Ming Yao Department Store, I must have passed by the store dozens of times since one of my favorite bakeries is nearby. I'm glad I finally gave it a try. Now I (and you) have a place to go when I'm craving Jamba Juice. 

Both English and Chinese menus available, with over a dozen smoothies to choose from, in categories of classics, WTF and Tropical. Hot drinks and bagels and cream cheese are also available. There's a couple of small tables to chill inside as well as on outside on the patio.

Scanning the menu, the one that popped out to me was the Raspberry Mojito (NT$$95 for large) with cranberry juice, lemon juice, mulberry sorbet, raspberries and mint leaves. The mint and lemon definitely gave it a brightness and it was a good mix of sour and sweet and the perfect thickness and iciness. Loved it, who wouldn't want to drink mojito smoothies? 

The PBJ Sandwich sounds so strange to me, but lots of people on Instagram said it was their favorite. On my second visit, I tried the Strawberry Lemonade and the Pineapple Paradise, which were both great too, the lemonade being slightly more sour than the pineapple in a side by side tasting. 

The WooGo cup is a lot of fun with charts and facts to read on the go, and it's interesting they choose to make it completely in English with no Chinese. 

Are there enough people in Taipei who want to drink California Smoothies? I hope so. It seems healthier than boba milk teas and blended ice coffees, and cheaper than a Starbucks or shaved ice fix. I wonder if the juice bars have taken off more than smoothies because it seems more healthy and it's not as "icy", since some Taiwanese people avoid ice water and icy drinks. (I've never had more warm water until after I moved back to Taiwan. Now when I go back to LA, I can't drink restaurant water where the ice is filled up to the brim.) But smoothies... happy to have smoothies I can grab and go in Taipei. 

OTHER LOCATIONS

HOYII Taipei Main Station 台北車站店: 
No. 36, ZhongXiao W. Road, Sec. 1, B1 
忠孝西路一段36號B1 
(02) 2311-4733

中山南西店: 
No. 1 Nanjing W. Road
南京西路1號1F 
02-2567-7657

snapshot/taipei: 7-ELEVEN X MISTER DONUT

7-Eleven X Mister Donut 

Spotted at 7-Eleven in Taipei 101 today. I wonder if it's just at a few locations, or there will be Taiwan-wide displays to tempt you while you wait in line at the front check out. 

It's a smart move by Mister Donut considering they shut down most of their stores a few years ago. Even the one I went to most often at Xinyi Mitsukoshi closed. Now I can only think of the one at  Hankyu.  

Will Krispy Kreme vie to be next to pop up?

dessert/taipei food trend: GLAM AIR

GLAM AIR
at Xinyi Mitsukoshi A11
No. 11, Songshou Road
(02) 8780-2334

MRT: Taipei City Hall or Taipei 101

website: Glam Air's FB page $

Kid friendliness: kids will definitely want one.

Visit reviewed: 4/29/2015

Google "cotton candy ice cream" and spheres of sky blue and glowing pink swirled scoops of ice cream show up. (Personally, as a kid, I was more partial to rainbow sherbet kid rather than the sickly sweet cotton candy ice cream, but that's another story)

The first time I ever had actual clouds of cotton candy stacked on top of ice cream was at Coffee Alley in 2011, where it was more of an interactive experience. A small pitcher of espresso is served to pour on top of the cotton candy so that it melted into a caramel coffee sauce over three scoops of vanilla ice cream. I've since spied imitations at a cafe in LA that opened a few years ago.

Then I spotted wisps of cotton candy on soft serve at Honey Creme, which was more known for their honey comb ice cream.

Glam Air takes it one step further, by making the cotton candy into literal eye-candy. Sugar rainbows are molded and stacked high like Taipei 101 and dry ice is added so that each cup has its own special effects of fog drifting out, its own "Glam Air". The visual result is hypnotizing- you can't help but to feel like a kid again,  those times that your parents agreed to buy you cotton candy. The concept is so simple it's brilliant- cashing in on those kid at heart fantasies for NT$150 a cup. 

Glam Air also has soft serve without the cotton candy (NT$110-140)- plain, with caramel, honey, honey comb, chocolate or with fish taiyaki instead of a cone, or as a float with bright hued sodas or shake.  

Everyone taking selfies with their cotton candy ice cream (and not eating it. Lol)

It's amazing to see how crowded it usually is, even on weekday afternoons, especially in comparison to other ice cream shops in the Mitsukoshi malls. One news clip on Glam Air's Facebook page reported a 40 minute wait on weekends. There's a liquid nitrogen ice cream shop in a different building that had no buzz going on. The thing with liquid nitrogen ice cream is that it looks cool when it's being made, but the end result looks just like regular ice cream- while Glam Air's final result is purposely eye catching.

Each Smokie Cloud is made to order. The three tiers of cotton candy tower are made from freshly spun puffs of sugar then molded into doughnut rings to fit around the soft serve. When it's done, a small scoop of dry ice is put in a larger cup and then the smaller cup of soft serve is placed inside and served.

Selling #dessert #clouds and #sugar #rainbows 🍦🍭🍦🌈 #glamair #cottoncandyicecream #hungryintaipei_dessertcrawl #hungryintaipei #hungryintaipei_dessert #taipeieats #taiwanfoodie

A video posted by Joan (@hungryintaipei) on Apr 29, 2015 at 3:47am PDT

I know by posting this, I'm perpetuating the hype, but dang it if it isn't pretty. It's only a matter of time we see a copycat in the states. I know some of you will go and get one just for the photo ops and it won't even matter how it tastes! Isn't that crazy? Thanks Kirbie's Cravings for the excuse to finally try one during our Xinyi dessert crawl.

Glam Air is one of those businesses that succeeds in the age of social media- you see it online, you try it once for your own post/selfie, but unfortunately it doesn't taste very good.  It's much prettier than it tastes. The cotton candy tasted like cotton candy and I found the soft serve overly sweet, but in the end, most people won't care. We'll have gotten our sugar high and photos and Instagram likes and endorphins from the rainbow hued memories of being a kid again.

snapshot/dessert: MISTER DONUT ICE CREAM

I am a sucker for cuteness. 

When I spotted the bright yellow Mister Donut pon de lion mascot peeking out at me from the freezer ice cream section at 7-11,  I had to give it a try. I mean, it's Mister Donut Ice Cream (NT$55) !! 

Not quite an ice cream sandwich, the Mister Donut ice cream's thin exterior is like a ice cream cup cone meets waffle hybrid shell in texture and taste, with one bite revealing the vanilla ice cream inside. The vanilla is a pleasant flavor, not too artificial tasting or cloying sweet- probably the same level of sweetness as a McDonald's soft serve cone. 

I can imagine it would be a matter of time before you make the same type of ice cream bar but with different molds like they do with the red bean cake at the night markets. 

Reportedly you can also buy them at Mister Donut shops (though the number of Mister Donut shops has shrunk considerably in the last few years.. There's one in Hankyu Mall..) and there's also other flavors like strawberry. Have you guys seen them at 7-11? What other flavors are good? Or what other ice cream treats from 7-11?

#exploretaipei/taiwanese: i strongly recommmend BITAN 碧潭

BITAN 碧潭

MRT: Xindian

$-$$

Kid friendliness: great day trip for families, pedal boats to rent, boardwalk and street market to browse.

visit reviewed: 4/3/2015

I always thought Bitan sounded so far away, but it's only a 20-30 minute car or  MRT ride outside of the center of Taipei. My day trip to Bitan was a nice escape from the city- being able to walk around the scenic area surrounding the Xindian river, enveloped by the lush, towering green mountains. It was like a macro version of Sun Moon Lake, but a lot easier to get to as Sun Moon Lake is three hours south of Taipei.  Bitan has the best of both worlds- activities for nature lovers with pedal boats available to rent and a long suspension bridge to cross and take selfies, as well as street food to devour for food lovers, or restaurants along the river if you want to chill with a view instead. 

The Bitandiao suspension bridge is for pedestrians only and the entrance is about a 5 minute walk from the Xindian MRT stop on the green line. You can't miss the food vendors lining the street on the alley where the bridge is, as well as on the other side of the suspension bridge. 

the view from the foot bridge

Taiwanese sausage on a stick NT$35

snacking at the bridge's entrance. see the Bitan sign in the background?

i liked this taiwanese sausage vendor better than the other one.  you can do your own taste test!

did not like this vendor's aiyu jelly drink. watery and no flavor at all.

Don't forget to get an ice cream wrap/burrito run bing NT$35 if you spot it! Three scoops of taro, pineapple and red bean ice cream with crunchy bits of shaved peanut candy wrapped in a thin flour wrapper. Cilantro optional. If you've read my blog or follow me on instagram, you know I loooooove this (and you should too). This vendor knows how to market itself, glossy signage and photo to catch people's eyes. Sometimes it's hard to find if they just have the block of peanut candy sitting out and signage in Chinese.

Also near the entrance to the foot bridge and the Xindian MRT stop is a long boardwalk of waterfront restaurants and cafes that is really well designed. The tables face the river and were very clean and comfortable looking, and seating areas were covered in case of rain. Even in the afternoon, there were tons of people eating and enjoying the view, and I would totally come back to try it out. There was a selection of pizza, pasta, tea shops, curry, noodles, ice cream and dessert places. I really was pleasantly surprised by the waterfront boardwalk because I thought it was very tourist and family friendly area with open and clean spaces. I've been to quite a few beaches, mountainside and waterfront areas in Taiwan that didn't take advantage of the opportunity to develop its area into more of a destination than for its natural elements. 

Pedal boats are easy to rent- just walk down to the riverside and look for the rental sign/shack. There are different sized Swan shaped boats, for 2 people up to 6 people, and cost a few hundred NT depending on how many people in your boat. Everyone wears a life jacket and you get a mini work out pedaling, breathing the fresh air.  It was fun to try and relaxing to be out on the water, though you have to kind of coordinate pedaling with other people because the machinery is all linked together. You can rent boats on either side of the river, and you can also rent from one side and return the boat on the other.  

Such a nice day! 

the view from my boat :)

After walking down the boardwalk and walking back towards the main area, I passed by Green Hornet Cafe which I heard about a few years ago from a friend and readers. I didn't get a chance to try it, but they have Mexican food on the menu! Has anyone tried them? Will have to come back to try the enchiladas!

#hungryinbitan! I'll be back again soon!

Before you leave Bitan, try some of the sheng jian baos (NT$10 each) from this yellow signed vendor. Crispy on the bottom, the steaming hot pork and cabbage baos were a perfect bite to end the evening.