Showing posts with label where can you find. Show all posts
Showing posts with label where can you find. Show all posts

Friday, September 25, 2015

american/market: i strongly recommend WELLMAN'S MARKET



WELLMAN'S MARKET
No. 472 Zhongshan N. Road,  Sec. 6, Tianmu
台北市士林區中山北路6段472號
(02) 2871-4454
Sadly, Wellman's closed in 2019

MRT: Shipai

Hours:

Visit reviewed: 9/24/2015


Have you ever looked for Pop Tarts, Rice Krispies cereal, hot dog buns, Spam, enchilada sauce, food coloring or corn meal in Taipei? I know you have since I've gotten your emails over the years about "where to find..." and I've been looking too. 

Now you'll have at least one place in Tianmu to go to- Wellman's Market. I'd heard of it for years, but never made the trek out to investigate, but I'm telling you if you're a long time resident of Asia and willing to pay a little extra instead of loading your luggage with groceries from the states, then it's worth the trip. Instead of doing a scavengers hunt around Jason's/City Super, Carrefour, Wellcome and your local market's "import aisles", the entirety of Wellman's will look familiar to those of us from the states. It's probably how our parents felt discovering the local Ranch 99/Nijiya/Korean market rather than shopping the sad instant noodle aisle at Ralphs. Lol! There is even a  small selection of personal care goods like Irish Spring soap and various shampoos and deodorants.


Let's just walk through the aisles- there's only three since the market isn't huge, but it's packed from top to bottom.

Duncan Hines cake mixes- chocolate Devil's food, fudge marble and Betty Crocker fudge brownies sit in rows below Old El Paso, Snyders and sour cream, garlic dips.


Lots of salsas, nacho cheese, canned beans, taco shells and sauces for Mexican food DIY. Even corn meal to make your own tortillas! It's actually really hard to find corn meal in Taipei.




Tomato pasta sauces and jams and jellies like apricot, green fig, lemon curd and raspberry. I also spotted cherry, blueberry and apple pie canned fillings- I remember my mom used to use the cherry filling to top homemade mini cheesecakes.


The cereals! Rice Krispies, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Honey Smacks, Frosted Flakes and more. Note a box of Rice Krispies is almost NT$300 so you will have to really love it to buy it. Imagine the rice krispy treats you can make!!!


Small packs of hotdog and hamburger buns so you don't have to buy the megabucks from Costco.


Candies like twizzlers and Oreo Hersheys.



Poptarts and lots of them. I remember going through a pop tart phase in college but haven't really touched them in the past 10 years. Who's been looking for pop tarts in Taipei? There's also spice mixes and seasonings, and funnily enough, brown paper lunch bags and Reynold's aluminum foil, supplies we take for granted in the states.


Here we have the dressings, mayonnaise, mustard, honey, Hershey's chocolate syrup. Sriracha.



Spam and turkey spam to make your spam musubis.


Baking supplies like food coloring, active yeast, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract, strawberry extract. I know you can find these things here at the DIY shops too, but some of the comfort is being able to recognize brands you like and read the English instructions that aren't covered up in a Taiwanese sticker for translation.


Different types of Swiss Miss hot chocolates, even with mini marshmallows since that's the best part of hot chocolate right?



Wellman's has a small refrigerated goods section, with small tubs of sour cream, heavy cream, whip cream, and some deli cheeses, chorizo, salami. The chorizo iberico is actually quite addicting.  Next to the front are also some root beer and other beverages.



So good luck finding what you've been looking for at Wellman's. Doesn't hurt to ask them if you don't see what you are looking for. I asked them about Jello, but they said that Taiwan doesn't import Jello anymore. For those of us who've been living in Taiwan a long time, you might find yourself oohing and aahing at something you forgot that you wanted/needed on the aisles at Wellman's. 

What have you been looking for in Taiwan/Asia that you couldn't find? Comment below and maybe we'll find it!

Friday, April 24, 2015

baking/supplies: i recommend YIXING DIY BAKING SUPPLIES



YIXING DIY BAKING SUPPLIES
No. 578 Fujin St., Songshan District
台北市松山區富錦街578號
(02) 2760-8115

MRT: Songshan Airport Station

$-$$

Visit reviewed: 12/3/2014



If you love to bake, I'm sure you've done your share of searching Taipei and the internet, wondering where to find baking supplies in Taipei. Looking for things like the most basic cake pans, baking powder, cupcake paper cups, sprinkles seem elusive when you're used to going to your local supermarket or Target and finding whole aisles for it. I've lamented about this over the years- looking for things at Ikea, Muji, City Super, Carrefour, Jason's, Hands Tailung, Nitori, the Taipei International Baking Show and Bake it Yourself and sometimes paying a premium. 

But there's actually a lot of little local shops, usually with the words DIY on the store's sign, that have a treasure trove of goods and supplies if you're willing to sift through it. This shop on Fujin Street has shelves crammed full of flour, ingredients, baking tools, mixes, cake pans, cookie cutters and even ready to bake pie crusts, phyllo dough, mixers and waffle irons. No English signage for the non-Chinese speaker and the store isn't as pretty as Bake it Yourself, but the lower prices make it worth the trip.


don't these look like Runts? remember those?










Thursday, November 27, 2014

where can you find... thanksgiving turkey in Taipei 2014?

photo by Pig and Pepper

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Even though no one gets the day/weekend off in Taipei for Thanksgiving, my stomach still starts to crave a little turkey with candied yams this time of year. There's nothing like a plate of a pile of homemade sides with juicy turkey, but the next best thing is a hot plate with no need to clean up in the kitchen.

This year I made salted caramel apple pie pops for the first time! It wasn't as difficult or as time consuming as I thought it would be, of course since I used some short cuts like boxed pie crust and a pink pie pop machine I picked up last summer back in LA when it was on sale. Warming myself up to making a whole apple pie.


Here's a few places to call up if you decide you want to have some turkey today in Taipei. If you have a restaurant or know of one that's also doing Thanksgiving, please include it below and I'll include it on my next list!

PIG AND PEPPER (02) 2708-7899
https://www.facebook.com/pigandpeppertaipei

WHALENS (02) 2739-3037
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Whalens-味鄰/320813964677441

SHAFFER's KITCHEN (02) 8789-4088
https://www.facebook.com/ShaffersKitchen

BABA KEVIN's BBQ 0800-887-427
https://www.facebook.com/88kbbq

DAN RYAN's (02) 8780-9393
https://www.facebook.com/danryans.taipei

CARNEGIE's (02) 2325-4433
https://www.facebook.com/carnegiestaipei?rf=114277051920753

ON TAP (02) 2741-5365
http://www.ontaptaipei.com

ED's DINER (02) 8502-6969
https://www.facebook.com/EdsDinerTaipei

GRANDMA NITTI's KITCHEN (02) 2369-9751
https://www.facebook.com/grandmanittiskitchen

GRAND HYATT HOTEL BUFFET (02) 2720 1234
https://www.facebook.com/GrandHyattTaipei

AMERICAN CLUB
https://www.americanclub.org.tw/news/

The last few years I've been ordering whole turkey to carve at home and make my favorite sides like candied yams and cornbread. If you want to order a cooked whole turkey or ham for Christmas, please check out my round up from a few years ago.

And even if you don't have turkey this year, take a moment in our crazy lives to think about who and what we are grateful for and share a meal with your loved ones.

Tuesday, May 06, 2014

where can you find cinco de mayo (aka mexican food) in taipei?



As I was munching on my carnitas nachos and fish tacos last night from Macho Tacos (Yay, Cinco de Mayo), I was thinking about how this meal would have not been possible ten years ago in Taipei.

Those of us who have been here long enough, know that we've had our ups and downs with Mexican food in Taipei, and can appreciate the options and type of stuff that's offered now compared to 5-10 years ago. Before, I would just shake my head and sigh at things like gross guacamole made with Taiwan avocados and count the days until a trip back to LA. Nowadays, I'm pretty happy with the carnitas and chimichanga options around town.  I can even find some supplies at the fancy supermarkets and corn tortillas (at Florida Bakery) to make enchiladas at home!


Just for fun, here's a rough list of the evolution of Mexican food and restaurants in Taipei (not a strict timeline but in the order that I discovered it). Not all of these are Mexican restaurants, but some are restaurants that featured dishes that I tried during the dearth of Mexican food in Taipei. There are a few more I have to try, like Libre and King Burrito, but I've linked to those that I've reviewed for info and addresses. As you can see from the number of places that opened and then closed, it's not easy to educate, market to and serve consistently good, affordable Mexican food to locals and picky expats in Asia.

  • Amigos (Taiwanese Mex)
  • Tequila Sunrise (Taiwanese Mex)
  • Chili's (American chain Tex Mex dishes)
  • TGIF (American chain Tex Mex dishes)
  • La Casita (Closed! Had good enchiladas)
  • Good Day
  • Jake's Country Kitchen
  • Bongos (Moved)
  • Eddy's Cantina- Danshui (Closed! Moved to Tianmu)
  • Mexico Sabroso (Is this place in Taoyuan still open?)
  • Yuma Southwestern Grill (Tex Mex/ Closed!)
  • El Gallo  (Closed!)
  • Oola Mexican (Closed! First to introduce Chipotlesque fast casual burritos to Taipei)
  • Macho Tacos - DaAn (Fresh mex. First to have baja style fish tacos, California fries and California burrito)
  • Taco Bar - Shida (Closed!)
  • Taco2Go
  • Macho Tacos- Shida (Fresh mex) 
  • Mayan Grill (Moved to Xinyi)
  • Cactus Mexican Restaurant (Closed!)
  • Eddy's Cantina Tianmu (possibly the only one to have Mexican owner/chef at helm)
  • Juanita (Fresh mex. Most blatantly inspired by Chipotle)
  • Barrito (Closed!)
  • Dos Chinos (Closed! Ultra popular made to order tacos until it closed)
  • Pig and Pepper (serves Cinco de Mayo specials annually in late April/early May)
  • Libre Burrito (a branch of a Japanese chain of California Mexican?)
  • King Burrito (Organic Mexican)
  • Churro K (serving lots of, yup, you guessed it, churros)
Seriously, I would have never believed you if you had told me when I first started this blog there would be so many places to get burrito bowls, soft tacos and a whole restaurant serving churros! Lol.


Monday, December 17, 2012

CLOSED baking/classes: i recommend BAKE IT YOURSELF




BAKE IT YOURSELF
No. 24 ChangAn W. Rd, 中山區長安西路 24 號
(02) 5811-8003

(edited 8/2016 CLOSED. you know it wasn't a good sign when they started to carry less and less perishables and things that differentiated themselves from other shops. I guess just not enough demand to sustain this shop at these prices)

MRT: Taipei Main Station


hours: 11AM - 7:30PM, Closed Sundays

$-$$$

Kid friendliness: lots of supplies for baking with kids, for kids

Visit reviewed: 11/1/2012


Where does one find baking supplies in Taipei? Before Bake It Yourself opened, I tried looking for baking supplies at Ikea, City Super, Jason's, Working House, Carrefour, Muji, Pantry Magic, and the Taipei International Baking Show to relative degrees of succcess. 

Even finding things like a basic cupcake pan was difficult. You can find different things in different areas, but there's no one stop shop that you'd be able to find what you could easily pick up at Target or on Amazon in the states. Until now...


Opened over a month ago, Bake It Yourself stocks pretty much anything you would need from a Wilton store. Now if you're looking for sprinkles, fondant, frosting, baking pans, or anything related to cakes, cupcakes or baking, you should be able to find it here. Just in time for holiday baking! 


Browsing the selection at BIY might be an overwhelming, but welcome sight for those who've been lugging back cupcake carriers from the states (like me) or have been wanting to experiment with things like colored fondant. The space is more practical than cute, but is very organized and easy to browse.



Just a few hundred fancy cupcake liners to choose from for birthday parties... 


A rainbow of sprinkles...



There's even a good selection of candy melts colors and lollipop sticks to make cake pops (or candy) which are slowly making their way to Taipei. I've been eyeing these since seeing Bakerella's cake pop masterpieces so many years ago.


The range of colors for gel frostings and royal icing frosting has definitely been a challenge to find before in Taipei. It's slightly pricey, but not too much more than what you'd pay in the states at the market. I actually picked one of these up and it's cool that you can attach the icing tip directly to the bottle for a no-mess project.



All the sugar cake toppers were very cute and it's crazy how varied they were.. Do people need fish and butterfly toppers? 


My favorites were these cupcakes...



Downstairs, Bake It Yourself had the basic pans- cookie, cupcakes, brownies, bundt- as well as more elaborate ones that had shapes to eventually mold or frost to your fancy. Star, heart, flower, square, round, even ice cream and popsicle shaped. There's also plenty of tools like spatulas and other baking utensils, like a cake leveler, (which I was almost tempted to get except that I've only made a whole layered cake once and so don't really need one.)



 

These days, not only do you have to bake it yourself, there's also choices of how to transport and display your goodies too. Cupcake stands, cupcake carriers, cake pop stands, wedding cake toppers. 



For hard core decorators, there's even a Rolling Caddy with compartments for icing tips and tools.


You might spy the classroom space and oven for Wilton classes for decorating (and learning how to use all the stuff they sell). They have schedules available at the store and on their website, and classes are available in both Chinese and English.


Another thing I was tempted to get... do I really need a Cake Turntable



Hope this post will help some of you that have been wanting to bake for the holidays in Taipei! If there's other good places to find baking supplies, please share!

Don't forget to vote for your favorite Taipei restaurants in this year's Readers' Choice Poll! Voting ends this week- December 20th!

:)