CLOSED! american: i recommend TONY ROMA's

TONY ROMA's
156 Min Sheng East Road, Section 3
(02) 2719-0992

11:30am ~ 10:00pm (Last Order 9:30pm)
Mon - Thu & Sun
11:30am ~ 11:00pm (Last Order 10:30pm)
Fri. & Sat.

$$
review visit: 2/22/2006

About eight years ago, I made a trip to Taipei after not having visited for over 13 years. One of the first places my uncle to me to eat was Tony Roma's. It's sort of funny that he assumed that I would want to eat American food when at that time as a tourist, I wanted to eat Taiwanese food, night market food, beef noodle soup, dumplings. Now as a often-resident of Taipei, I can enjoy the luxury of eating both Asian and American foods here.

The first time I ever ate at a Tony Roma's was in San Francisco, with a group of friends- all but one who had never been there before. Each of us ordered something other than the ribs, except for the seasoned friend, and when our orders came we each regretted it and eyed his ribs instead. So the same applies here- order the ribs- regular slab, original flavor, with a side of corn on the cob and a baked potato. At least that's what I usually get.

They have a small selection of starters (NT$210) and salads (NT$320-380), some sandwiches and burgers (NT$330-350), and a large selection of meats- ribs, steaks, chicken, seafood.

The Carolina Honey Wings are a stingy 8 pieces for NT$210 (about $6). The skin is a nice crispy and sticky sweet crunch in your mouth, but you definitely need the wetnaps afterwawrds.

The caesar salad is pretty ordinary but relatively fresh.

The Santa Fe Salad comes with a crispy tortilla shell that looks like a giant taco shell is surprisingly tasty, while the salad is underwhelming with a weird mustard dressing.

Everything is a tad more expensive than in the states, but the ribs are worth it (half slab NT$520, regular slab NT$660, full slab NT$860).


The ribs are usually fall off the bone tender, with a sweet bbq sauce slow roasted flavor. Two of three times I've eaten here, all the ribs were tender and delicious and perfectly flavored. The third time, some of the meat on the ribs were a little tougher and slightly overcooked compared to the moist ribs of my previous experiences. The baked potato is a good medium sized potato with the option of having it loaded with all the toppings (cheese, sour cream, butter, bacon). The corn is usually pretty good too, but on this same third occassion, it was very dry and starchy and also not hot at all- as if it was frozen after being microwaved too long and then plated after it had been thawed. I took a few bites and disappointedly left the cobs on my plate. I almost wanted to complain.

The first time I took take out from Tony Roma's I actually did complain. I was craving baked potato (for some reason) and ribs and got an order to go. After picking it up, returning home, and plating it up, I noticed that all the sides for my potato were there, but not the potato itself. I was pretty upset to tell you the truth- I did not want to drive back just for a potato, but I also really wanted to eat one. I called and complained because I did want them to know and the hostess was very nice and said that they would take my name and "replace" the potato the next time I went in. I thought it was sort of silly, but we actually did that, and in addition to the free baked potato they offered a 15% off discount from that night's meal. I thought that was service that made me want to go back. The service is generally friendly, but not perfect. Sometimes all the waiters are grouped nearby and sometimes they all disappear together. Sometimes they refill your mug of water and sometimes you have to wave them down.

There are many booths and tables so it's good for large groups or those with families. There are also many couples and people in business suits. The red neon Tony Roma's sign out front makes it a little easier to find, as the entrance is on the side. Noticeably, the third night I was there, they played a collection of old songs that seemed like a blast from the past including "Rush Rush" by Paula Abdul and "Wannabe" by Spice Girls. It wasn't bad, just amusing- like they were playing an old corporate cd from six years ago or something.

The two desserts we got (NT$100-250) were the Skillet Cookie Sundae and the Apple Crisp.


The Apple Crisp has a layer of mystery granola crisp stuff that is a little too crispy and sweet over the apple filing which tastes good with the scoop of vanilla ice cream.


The Cookie Sundae which only comes in chocolate chip, looks a lot bigger in the menu's picture and should probably be eaten hot. We ate ours lukewarm and it was dense and had hardened and all the ice cream melted over it. I'd stick to the Pizookie from BJ's.

So the rule of thumb from my very first visit still applies here too- don't order anything else, just the ribs. That's what they are known for, and everything else is not as good and not worth the prices that they charge.

pizza: i recommend Pizza Hut- delivery

Pizza Hut
Taipei, Taiwan
delivery
(02) 2729-2789
(02) 2393-9889

ED Note 7/9/2007: Yay! Pizza Hut revamped their website to have lots of browser friendly English complete with restaurant addresses and phone numbers here

$

website: www2.pizzahut.com.tw

review ordered: 2/9/2006

Anyone who has eaten pizza in Taiwan has probably noticed the different toppings that are popular here such as corn, peas, squid and seafood. Often, it's not not good, just weird. As a kid, I loved pizza from Little Caesars and Pizza Hut. As a college student, I loved pizza from Zachary's and Fat Slice (go bears!). As a working 20 something, my pizza choice was CPK and Papa Johns. So what to do when none of those places are here in Taipei- except Pizza Hut? Order delivery!

I haven't stepped into a Pizza Hut restaurant here, although it always looks very crowded and I believe they have the lunch buffet option. I'll have to try it sometime. But the delivery here is surprising quick and easy.

They have special "set menus" if you are ordering for one or two, which is NT$398 (about US$12) which includes a small pizza (with 6 slices), buffalo wings and a liter of Pepsi. Their bigger pizzas range from NT$340-650 depending on the sizes. They also have pan crust or thin crust. I like Pizza Hut for their pan crusts. There's a crispy, chewy texture that is slightly greasy but fulfilling at the same time that is uniquely Pizza Hut. Also, why I prefer Pizza Hut over Domino's, which they also have in Taipei. They have different sides like wings, garlic bread, waffle fries, pasta, and potato skins.

I got the set menu with a Hawaiian pizza (pineapple plus canadian bacon) and added mushrooms (+NT$45).



The first time I ordered it, I devoured the pizza and was extremely satisified with it, except that I accidently ordered the original BBQ wings instead of the spicy Buffalo wings. The second time I ordered it, I accidentally ordered the BBQ flavor again. The wings/legs are decent- slightly sweet BBQ flavor instead of the traditional spiciness that I will have to remember to distinguish to order next time. The pizza the second time, I noticed that the mushrooms were canned instead of fresh mushrooms which have that watery canned mushroom taste and the canadian bacon seemed like regular ham. I guess I didn't notice the first time under all the cheese. If I order again, I'll probably try it with pepperoni instead of ham or just try a different flavor entirely. I've also had the seafood flavor with local friends before which I personally don't prefer- it comes with a cream sauce instead of tomato sauce and is a bit too rich for me. You gotta have pizza with tomato sauce!

The first time you order, you can browse their English website which you can check out all the toppings and see pictures. You can then browse the store list to see which one is closest to you to order. Because a lot of foreigners order from them, they usually can speak enough English to take your order. With your delivered order, you'll get a mini delivery menu with pictures to keep handy for the next time you have a craving and don't want to deal with cooking, driving or parking!

dessert: i recommend LITTLE SOUTH GATE

LITTLE SOUTH GATE
Food Court, B2, ESLITE Mall (XIN YI STORE)
11, SongGao Road
(02) 8789-3388

Hours:10 am-2 am Bookstore (2F/3F/4F) ;
10 am-10 pm /Shopping Mall (B2/ B1/ 1F/ 5F/ 6F)

$
review visit: 2/18/2006

The XinYi area is full of shopping and eating experiences- 101, the Warner Village and movie theaters, NY NY and Neo 19 buildings and the multi-collective Mitsukoshi shopping malls. When the new Eslite building opened up across the way, I figured it would be another one of the same, but actually it does offer a variety in experience- there is a multi-level bookstore, stationary section and a tasty looking food court.

This day I only had the chance to have a snack- so I opted for peanut do-hwa (or soy tofu) with mini boba and my friend had red bean with mochi balls. As with many food courts in Taipei, the signs are frequently not English friendly, but there are lots of bright pictures and plastic foods to point at. Lucky for me, my Chinese for foods I like is improving, and they had a picture of what I wanted nontheless.

You can opt to have the dessert hot or cold and we had ours hot that day.

The peanut do-hwa was a pleasant warm, with the right amount of sweetness in the soup, and the soy tofu was a silky melt in your mouth that didn't taste artificial as some mall do-hwa soy tofus can (like from the dessert shop at the food court at Warner Village). The peanuts and mini-boba tasted fresh and combined to give my mouth a variety of consistencies to enjoy.


The red bean soup was much hotter (in temperature) and sweeter as well. The thickness and sweetness combined would be good on a rainy day, but I preferred the lighter textures of the soy tofu.


The service was fast, despite the mini-line, and you can choose a variety of combinations in your soy tofu and other desserts like ai-yu lemon jelly. And you can't beat the price from NT$40-NT$55, which is like $1.30-$1.90. Cheaper than most lattes and more filling. Also, a good alternative to shaved ice for a local dessert to try, especially when it's chilly outside.

CLOSED/italian: i strongly recommend MACARONI GRILL

MACARONI GRILL
1F, 30 Sung Shou Road • Taipei 110
Neo 19 Building, near Warner Village/101
(02) 2722-4567

This location has closed. New location is at No. 135, Minsheng E. Road, Sec. 3  No more Mac Grill in Taipei. Their second location closed last year and is now a Swensens

kid friendliness: high chairs available, crayons offered

$$

I just reread my review of Diamond Tony's and it reminded me of how much better Macaroni Grill is. Macaroni Grill is reliable, pleasant and tasty with a good selection of appetizers, pastas and deserts that you would find very similar to what you would eat in LA. Some people would want to be surprised, for me, I like the fact that I can count on going to dinner there knowing what to expect every time because I usually reorder what I like.

It's hard to find a good salad in Taipei, in my opinion, but Macaroni Grill doesn't disappoint with large share-friendly portions. Their Caesar is a nice twist on the original, with chopped tomatoes and raw mushrooms. I also like their other salads which are spinach based- one features pine nuts and orzo rice and the other one includes arugula and strawberries.

caesar salad

I love mushrooms, so I really like their Chicken Marsala which comes with the slightly sweet and salty sauce, a 3-4 pieces of thin chicken, and side of pasta, topped with lots of slices of shitake mushroom. I prefer this over the honey balsamic chicken because that sauce is too sweet and tangy for me. The pasta for the honey balsamic chicken also comes with sundried tomatoes. Their steak with the mashed potatoes is also quite good.

chicken marsala


honey balsamic chicken

The pizza choices at not as wide as CPK, but has the standard favorites BBQ chicken, Pepperoni and one called Four Seasons which has four different sections of one topping- mushroom, pepperoni, bruschetta and canadian ham. The first time I tried it, the canadian ham was way too salty for me, so they've been accomodating to let me have "three seasons" instead and replace the ham with more of the other flavors. The crust is chewy and crispy at the same time and it's a good sized pie for the price that you pay. The sauce is not too salty and it's the right portion of cheese and toppings. The bruschetta and mushroom toppings are a refreshing choice. It's probably the best deal and best crust of all the places I've had.

three seasons pizza

I've had most of their pastas- the lasagna, the spaghetti and meatballs, the seafood creme pasta, the shrimp angel hair. The portions are huge- usually shared family style- so you sometimes have enough to take home as leftovers. The lasagna that day was a bit too salty for me. The angel hair was a little too fine and dry for me, tasted almost like a chinese rice noodle- I'd probably order the spaghetti and lasagna over the angel hair.

lasagna


Like Chili's, the atmosphere is boisterous, booth and table style seating where families, business lunches and birthday celebrations are all happening at the same time. They have separate Chinese and English menus, upon request. It's pretty crowded, so you should make advance reservations if you have a large group and want to be seated right away. The waiters are usually pretty good about the service and understand if you order in English.

The desserts include tiramisu, chocolate cake, panna cotta, berries with creme and a chocolate swirled cheesecake. My favorite is probably the cheesecake with the oreo cookie crust and the creamy richness of the cheesecake. Big enough to share, but you can eat one yourself if you really have a sweet tooth. I would eat the warm chocolate cake at Chili's over the Mac Grill chocolate cake which is denser and fudgier, but the tiramisu is a not too sweet good choice as well.

chinese: i recommend DIN TAI FUNG

DIN TAI FUNG
218 Chung Hsiao East Rd., section 4
(enter from Lane 216)

(02) 2721-7890

Pricing: $
review visit: Nov 1, 2005

If you've ever been to Taipei, then more than likely you've eaten xiao long bao- or steamed 'soup' dumplings. You were probably even taken to Din Tai Fung, a popular restaurant chain that originated in Taipei, and has restaurants all over the world including in Los Angeles, Japan and Korea. It's a busy, crowded restaurant that both locals and tourists can equally enjoy with menus with English and pictures for those that request it.

The xiao long bao come in steam baskets of 10 with slight variations you can order- the classic original pork, the crab and pork, or the pork and mushroom. The xiao long bao are bite size, moist and delicious- one could easily devour half a dozen. What makes them different from other dumplings such as potstickers or gyoza, is its rounder shape, the thinner moist skin, and the soup that collects inside that gives you that "melt in your mouth" feeling when you eat it. The crab and pork dumplings were too soft for me, with not enough oomph and flavor that the classic xiao long bao has. The pork and mushroom tastes pretty much like the regular pork- I didn't even know the order had come until I asked our waitress. Upon examination, I saw tiny bits of shitake mushroom with the pork. The siu mai dumplings recommended by the waitress for the American friends we brought also were a let down compared to the xiao long bao. Stick the the restaurant's specialities- order the classic xiao long bao, and some vegetable dumplings.

Vegetable dumplings and pork xiao long bao (they go fast!)


There's also various soups and noodles you can order- the beef noodle soup is not too spicy with thin noodles, the sesame noodle is a bit bland with a wad of plain noodles in a sesame sauce. In the past, I've had good experiences with the hot and sour soup and the chicken soup- as well as side dishes of vegetables, tofu and zong zi, or a sticky rice pyramid bun.

Sesame noodles


Side dishes- vegetables and tofu


Though it's quite affordable at 150NT - 300NT, Din Tai Fung is pricier than other local dumpling houses. Why? Its established brand is so popular that they've started featuring Din Tai Fung dumplings on some international flights (I think Eva Air first class) and its crowded lines means they've established a fanbase for their reliable eats. It's worth it if you want to know what the fuss is about and you don't know where else to go.

In the past, I used to avoid Din Tai Fung because of it's popularity and instead take my friends to a busy local xiao long bao place down the street from my grandma's house. For my cousins, my sister and I, we would always ask our grandmother to take us to that restaurant every trip we came back to Taipei. Xiao long bao for 100NT- such a bargain- US$3 for a whole basket of delicious dumplings that you could rarely find in the states. In the recent years, the xiao long bao at that restaurant have become more gingery and their vegetable dumplings are no longer vegetarian, although their beef noodle soup is still very tasty, and my past two visits to Din Tai Fung did not disappoint, so I wouldn't hesitate to go again and also take my tourist friends the next time they are in town.

PS- 2/20/06
You can see the menu and photos at their official website: http://www.dintaifung.com.tw as well as the contact info for all their locations.

PS- 8/7/06
Don't forget to order a "long" or steam basket of red bean dumplings for dessert! Though it's kind of strange at first, to think of eating something sweet while looking at something salty, they are very delicious! With red bean paste inside the drier dumpling skin, it's something unique you won't find anywhere else. They also feature taro paste dumplings though personally I don't like taro.

OTHER LOCATIONS IN TAIPEI (updated 3/4/2008)

Yong Kang restaurant
No. 194, Xinyi Road, Sec.2
(entrance of Yong Kang Street)
(02) 2321-8928

Fuxing Branch
at green Fuxing Sogo, B2 FL
No.300, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Sec. 3
(02) 8772-0528

italian: i do NOT recommend DIAMOND TONY's

DIAMOND TONY's
Taipei 101 Mall 4F
45, ShihFu Rd.
(02) 8101-8268

This 4th floor location is closed. This is not a review of the Diamond Tony's on 85th floor of 101 (which I have never been). Here is a link to my later review of the Tianmu location in 2007

Pricing: $$$
review visit: Oct 24, 2005

I have been to Diamond Tony's three times. The first time was last year with a large group of friends- I remember the food tasting excellent and a fun time being had by all. The second time was for a company dinner in July- again the mood was festive, but this time the food was not as good as I remembered it to be the first time. The baked eggplant appetizer I ordered was not baked eggplant parmesean (which was my mistake that I assumed it would be) and the baked penne pasta had soggy penne pasta, too much cheese and was bland. However, I did try my neighbor's pesto fettucine with lamb, which was ordered by quite a few people at the table, and it was quite tasty. I figured, I just ordered wrong.

The third time, I returned to Diamond Tony's recently with my family, anticipating ordering the right dish this time, and again I failed. Or the restaurant, I should say, failed. Miserably. So it will probably be my last time going to Diamond Tony's. Partially because of the how bad so many of the dishes were that night, that the food is overpriced compared to other better tasting Italian restaurants you can eat at in Taipei, and that their service could benefit a total rehaul.

Diamond Tony's is one of those restaurants that looks really nice from the outside. Usually, it's tough to be seated right away without a reservation. This third time, we were seated right away and the restaurant was maybe a third full. Perhaps it was a Monday night. Perhaps the newer Macaroni Grill nearby had taken away a lot of its customers. Perhaps people realized how bad the food and service was there and decided not to go back anymore.

After being seated, it took a very long time for a waiter to come take our order. You pretty much have to flag them down whenever you need service. The menu is in English and Chinese and they have set courses that you can order that include salad, soup, a main dish, dessert and a drink. We ordered the garlic bread, crab dip, and shrimp cocktail to start.

The appetizers came fairly quickly, especially when compared to the main dishes. The shrimp in the shriimp cocktail were the smallest shrimp I had ever seen. Sure they weren't listed as tiger prawns, but there were five regular sized shrimp in a half tomato with a creamy sauce instead of cocktail sauce. The crab dip was a creamy, slightly sweet dip with no visible crab and no crab when tasted. The garlic bread came in a pie pan, sliced in eight pieces filled us up while we waited. Note that you have to order and pay for the bread separately when you order the crab dip.

shrimp cocktail


crab dip


With our party of six, we ordered our main dishes. Only two of the dishes arrived, and when they were almost finished, the other dishes slowly trickled in. This is the other main complaint I have about Diamond Tony's. It's not that the restaurant was completely full to capacity and they could not handle all the orders. There was no apology that the dishes were spaced so far apart. Personally, it's strange when a restaurant cannot deliver all of its dishes to one party within 5-10 minutes of each other. Especially I think when you are paying the prices that you pay here. Some people won't begin to eat their food until the rest of the party's food is on the table- in this case, their food would be cold by the time their fellow friend's food came.

seafood pasta


shrimp


My father and grandmother said they enjoyed their dishes- the seafood pasta with red sauce, and the jumbo shrimp.

My sister ordered the set course with prime rib steak. The salad was an unfortunate looking section of iceburg lettuce with some dressing on the side. The minestrone soup is probably the only tasty thing at the table that evening. It was flavorful, with lots of vegetables and little bit of beef and pasta. The steak was a good sized portion and looked appetizing, but tasted a bit too tenderized.

salad


soup


steak


The crab and porcini fettucine I ordered turned out to be totally not what I expected. I even asked the waiter if he had delivered the wrong dish to my table.The wad of fettucine was surrounded by several breaded and fried balls. I didn't see any crab or porcini mushrooms. It turned out that the Chinese translation of the dish was different from the English one. The balls on the side were the "crab" and "porcini"? Even after tasting it, I was unsure what the dish was. The balls tasted like a mix between seafood meatballs you'd find in soups and a hush puppy. The fettucine was dry and stuck together, like when you boil pasta and don't rinse it afterwards and it sits for awhile. After two bites, it sat on the table, uneaten.

crab and porcini fettucine


The pesto fettucine with lamb that had been such a crowd-pleaser the last time also failed to please this time. The fettucine here was also dry and stuck together, despite the creamy pesto sauce that drowned it. There was also a cream of mushroom soup and mushroom pasta ordered. Both featured bland, buttery cream flavors that seemed more watered down cream flavored than mushroom. We even asked the manager if they had changed chefs because the food was so drastically worse from the past few times we had eaten there. She said that they hadn't and offered to take off the two fettucine dishes off our bill since they were uneaten.

pesto fettucine with lamb


So consider this review a fair warning- the food at Diamond Tony's doesn't seem to taste as good as it used to. Even if you want to try it out, expect slow service and for part of your party to be finished eating by the time your dish arrives. Compared to the friendlier service and tastier, more affordably priced dishes at Macaroni Grill nearby, Diamond Tony's is more cubic zirconia than a diamond.

mexican: AMIGO

AMIGO Around-Mexico
(02) 2515-6633
台北市復興北路202號
pricing: $$
review ordered: 10.14.05

For awhile, I had been craving enchiladas. The closest one I could find from home were the ones from La Casita, but since our last experience there, no one wanted to join me. I decided to order to-go from Amigo, since it was one of the last Mexican places I hadn't tried yet in Taipei. I ordered the chicken enchilada set which came with rice, fries, sour cream and guacamole. I asked the restaurant if they could recommend anything else, and he said, you should come into the restaurant next time, we have a lot to choose from. I wish when you ask people to recommend something that they would offer up a few suggestions.

chicken enchiladas?


When I got my to-go dinner, the box was cute and colorful. The weird thing is that my enchiladas were not really enchiladas- you can see in the picture. Instead of a corn tortilla it was a flour one; the sauce was in a separate foam container rather than poured on; the chicken inside resembled fajitas grilled chicken rather than shredded; the whole thing seemed recently assembled rather than baked with the sauce and cheese on top. It looked like a reject hybrid of a chimichanga and a fajita that couldn't make up its mind what to be. I was VERY disappointed. If I wanted to eat a fajita, I would have gone to Chili's. If I wanted to eat a chimichanga, I would have ordered one.

I gave it try. Overall, the flavor was not bad, if you ignored that it was supposed to be an enchilada. Interestingly, there was corn kernels inside with the chicken, and there was only a little bit of cheese. The fries that came on the side tasted good. The rice tasted like rice I had eaten at other Taipei Mexican restaurants, not spicy or red, but a yellow sticky rice that has an indistinguishable flavor. The guacamole was really sour, it almost tasted as if it was on the verge of going bad. The bottom line is that it just didn't hit the spot because it just WAS NOT an enchilada.

I will have to go another day to try something else and see what the restaurant is like in person. I hear the tortilla soup is not bad and that their beef dishes are better than the other meats. But if you ever want to eat an enchilada, do not go to Amigo.

Need a second opinion?

Here are some sites/photos for Taipei restaurants that I have either read in the past or recently discovered:

Taipei Fun Dining the most thorough and updated reviews in English, featuring an extensive set of restaurants and reviews since 2001


Seday in Taiwan some random guy's brief reviews on restaurants- he has three main catergories, worth the trip back, average and would not go back.


Geocities Taipei restaurant review a older set of reviews and limited to a couple per catergory


Danburg's photos featuring photos of food and places of lots of restaurant heavy areas, including on Anhe Rd, Xinyi district, Shihlin night market, and Yongkang St


I'll update as I find them, but since everyone's tastebuds are different, so take everyone's reviews (including my own) and try places out for yourself!

japanese: i strongly recommend SUMIE

SUMIE NOUEVELLE CUISINE JAPANESE
4th Floor, 172 Chung Hsiao East Road, Sec 4
(In San Won Hotel)
(02) 2781-6909

kid friendliness: high chairs available, friendly service, ambience is on quieter side, but private rooms available

$$$

When I want to eat Japanese food in Taipei, we usually head over to Sumie which is a upscale, sit down Japanese-fusion restaurant with good service and super fresh sashimi. The best bet to order if you have never been or are pretty hungry is the set course. They offer 3 different levels of the set course, as well as a vegetarian set course, which includes over 6 small courses and ranges from $1500 NT and up. Sometimes if you order different things off the menu separately, it ends up being around that much anyways. The menu has a wide array of sushi/sashimi, appetizers, hot dishes and hot pot- you can even try asking for requests off the menu if you don't see what you want.

It's fun to see how they plate their sashimi and sushi- the portions aren't huge, but they make it look like artwork. The ambiance is modern with dim lighting and a lot of reflective surfaces. The mood is pretty quiet and can be romantic, with 3 private rooms in the back, but lots of families come with kids. It's not a huge restaurant and they close the kitchen at 9PM, so you should call and make a reservation if you want to make sure you get a table. The service can be a little slow sometimes if they are busy, but they aim to please.

I often get the seafood and fruit salad, which is a refreshing light salad with lettuce, crab, shrimp and fruits (but ask them to hold the raisins), but this week I was really craving California Rolls for some reason. As we got to the restaurant pretty late, our server apologized and said that they ran out of sushi rice and the sushi chef would try and figure out an alternative. At first, I was thinking ran out of sushi rice? Crazy! And they wouldn't use "regular" rice. But they were accomodating and the result was pretty appetizing and low-carb for all the dieters out there- it was a roll of crab, shrimp, asparagus, cucumber, avocado and masago wrapped in seaweed and thin egg layer. Mmm- masago!



For our eel/unagi and deep fried soft shell crab roll, they just plated it ala carte without rice, and the three of us shared. I also ordered a fish chin/jaw- which I am surprised I like because I don't love fish. Fish chin has the most tasty, moist part of the fish, and the way that they grill it leaves the skin crispy and the meat flaky and not fishy at all. They include a lime with it which I usually squeeze to give it an added tart twist.

To make up for my missing carbs, I also ordered a tempura udon which included a good assortment of vegetables with a pair of shrimp and a hot bowl of udon with perfectly seasoned soup, with additional chili powder and chopped green onions on the side. In general, my favorite vegetable tempura are yam and mushroom, which they had, and my least favorite are eggplant and taro, which were also included. (In this picture, I already ate some of the tempura- sorry I couldn't wait!)


Of course, I eyed the set course dishes that my friends got and sampled a little bit here and there. We usually get the set menu with the lamb chops, which are some of the best lamb I have eaten. It's tender, flavorful and grilled to perfection. You can pick up the chops since they wrap the bone with foil and devour it. The set course starts off with a custom appetizer, today it was crab with tomato sauce, and includes sashimi, salad, lamb chops, sushi, fish, soup, fruit and dessert.




I've gone to Sumie as a couple as well as with larger groups, and usually everyone is pretty satisfied. It's a little pricey for the portion sizes, but every bite is worth it, especially if you are looking for fresh sashimi to hit the spot, you must try Sumie out.

CLOSED/italian: I recommend GUY's CAFE

CLOSED (for a few years I think) updated 6/2009!

GUY's CAFE
No. 105, Da An Road, Sec 1
(02) 2721-2706

$$

I happened to eat at Guy's Cafe for a press luncheon that I was invited to. On this particular day, we could choose 1 of 5 pastas that was on the set menu: Pasta with (1) Clam garlic white wine sauce, (2) spaghetti meat sauce, (3) grilled chicken pesto sauce, (4) bacon mushroom cream sauce or (5) Calamari with squid ink pasta. They all sounded really good, and I decided to go with the grilled chicken pesto pasta.



We started out with a soup, which I'm sorry to say I didn't know what it was, but it was really tasty. It could have been either a seafood bisque or a pumpkin soup- it was reddish orange in color and creamy. The grilled chicken pesto pasta turned out to be a pesto cream sauce, which was just the right amount of cream and flavor. The pasta was the right consistency and all the flavors blended together. I was happy that there were also chopped white mushrooms in this dish. The spaghetti and clam garlic pastas seemed to also be a popular dish and also looked very enticing.

The menu seemed to have a lot of pastas featured- and based on what I ordered, I'd go back and try more dishes. The location is near Sogo, on a alley street behind it and may be tougher to find. The atmosphere is pretty simple and busy, probably a great place for lunch. The service was quick and friendly. My other Italian restaurants have a new competitor for their pasta business! I'll write more if I go again and try out other dishes.