CLOSED/korean: ARI TOFU HOUSE

ARI TOFU HOUSE
No. 31, Lane 280, GuangFu S. Rd,
台北市光復南路280巷31號
(02) 2721-3033

CLOSED a/o 2014

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

website: Ari Tofu House's FB page

Visit reviewed: 4/13/2013

I have gotten so behind on food blogging that sometimes restaurants close down before I have a chance to write about them. I'm going to post about some that I wish were still around, partially to document the constantly changing Taipei food scene. Very sad to see Ari Tofu House had closed. It was usually busy, but not too crowded to take us when we dropped by last minute when I was feeling like some spicy Korean tofu stew and some kalbi. In the same alley as Osteria by Angie, Amigos and Fifteen Pizza, this area near Sun Yat Sen has fierce food competition. If only someone would open a good all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ in Taipei. 

RIP Ari Tofu House.

snapshot/dessert: I strongly recommend ICE CREAM PEANUT CANDY SPRING ROLL at SHENKENG OLD STREET

This past week has been full of firsts for me, in a big way, as well as the first time exploring some of the mountain sides and ocean cities on the edges of Taipei.  It was also my first time to Shenkeng Old Street or Shenkeng Lao Jie, which is famous for having a row of restaurants and stands serving up stinky tofu, spicy tofu, fried tofu, bbq tofu, duo hua dessert tofu, almond tofu and tofu ice cream! Shenkeng is about a half hour drive outside of Taipei, on the southeast past the Taipei Zoo and Muzha, so you could combine the two for a day trip.

Before entering tofu street, I spotted this ice cream peanut wrap vendor with the bright green sign and block of peanut candy across from the entrance of the Old Street, and you know me, I had to stop to get one. 

One wrap is NT$40 with a choice of pineapple, taro, plum or vanilla for your three scoops, or there's a rainbow sherbet type swirl action going on if you don't specify a preference. Just to be clear the ice cream here is NOT made with tofu, since it sits outside the tofu street zone. Haha.

A layer of freshly shaven peanut candy, a layer of ice cream, another douse of peanut candy bits and a  sprinkle of cilantro and then the thin wrap is folded in and rolled. ICE CREAM BURRITO for a little over a dollar!! One of my favorite Taiwan street snacks!! Peanut ice cream wrap, spring roll, popiah, burrito, run bing- call it whatever you want because it's essentially the same thing, just with ice cream inside it!

At first bite, I noticed that there seemed to be a hit of salt in the peanuts' sweetness, and the owner confirmed that they do make their peanut candy differently with the addition of salt. It totally accentuates the flavors the same way that we love anything salted carmel. The ice cream is the perfect temperature- creamy and melt in your mouth and you get the crunch from the peanut candy. Hit up one of the restaurants for stinky tofu and then come here for a palate cleanser! 

SHENKENG LAO JIE 深坑老街

chinese/vegetarian: I recommend YANG SHIN VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT

YANG SHIN VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT 養心茶樓
No. 128 Songjiang Road, 2F
松江路128號, 2F
(02) 2542-8828

MRT: SongJiang/Nanjing Station

website: http://www.ysvege.com/" target="blank"> ysvege.com

hours: Mon-Sun 11:30AM - 2:30PM, 5:30PM -9:30PM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available, some room for strollers, kid friendly dishes

Visit reviewed: 2/23/2014 & 6/15/2014

My mom is a vegetarian, so I'm always on the look out for good places to take her. So when a friend suggested Yang Shin for their vegetarian dim sum, it was a great find. The entrance is slightly hidden, even though the sign is quite prominent. You enter through Nozomi bakery and then make your way to the second floor through the hallway and into the large dining hall. 

Even at an early 5:30PM dinner shift, the restaurant is completely booked and we are warned that we must finish dinner by 6:45PM for seating their next 7PM dinner reservation. So since they have to turn the tables over, food and service is fairly brisk. So be sure to make reservations early- they had no tables available for walk in customers. 

Can you imagine- this whole banquet full of families excited to be grubbing on vegetarian food?! Haha.

While we were most excited about the vegetarian dim sum, there is a huge menu of Cantonese appetizers, dishes and Chef specials to try out. So the more people you have, the more things you can try. If you love mushrooms, tofu or greens, this is the place for you.

Almost 30 dim sum dishes (NT$68-128) to choose from, while most other dishes are in the NT$300-500 range.

Some of my favorites that I recommend ordering and have ordered on repeat visits were the Cantonese barbecued vegetarian ham pastry (NT$108)- with endless flaky puff pastry layers that meld into the sweet, red sauce and "cha siu" inside.

I liked the baked cheese cabbage (NT$128), which is covered with a blanket of hot cheese hiding creamy chinese cabbage underneath, cooked until it's fork tender.

I usually order xian shui jiao whenever I spot it on a dim sum menu, so I had to try its vegetarian cousin here. The egg shaped deep fried stuffed mushroom dumpling (NT$98) tastes almost like deep fried mochi with a crispy shell and is soft and chewy in the inside, stuffed with bits of mushroom.

Fried pumpkin vegetable hand roll (NT$80 each) with crispy ribbons of crunchy fried pumpkin and julienned cucumber gives a nice crunch. They also have avocado and asparagus hand rolls.

Family favorite of Cantonese chow mein (NT$240) with lots of bok choy, bamboo, baby corn, and wood ear mushrooms. I always like to get a mix of the crispy noodles and some of the soggier parts drenched in sauce.

Deep fried spring rolls (NT$98 for 3)

Deep Fried Pastry with Shredded Turnip (NT$108 x2)

Fried sesame balls

Not the healthiest meal since we ended up ordering a lot of fried foods and dim sum, but Yang Shin's dim sum versions were close enough that you didn't miss the real thing.

I wouldn't order these next dishes again, they were a bit too out there for me-- 

Pinenut and vegetable cheese roll (NT$180 for 4) - the waitress encouraged us to order this, but I did not like it.

I can't remember if I liked the stir fried rice cake- I think there was something about the flavor that I didn't love.

The almond tofu was surprisingly too sweet- the milk it came in was almost syrupy sweet and the almond tofu itself was sweet as well, and I would have preferred to have the traditional peaches and pears in it rather than watermelon and kiwi.

Vegetarian food doesn't have to mean just salads and pasta/pizza/risotto adorned with mushrooms, which is what my mom usually ends up eating when she eats out with us. So we've happily been back to Yang Shin a few times, usually getting a huge table in the back of the restaurant.

Now those of you with gluten free restaurant questions? That's a tougher problem to solve in Taipei.

CLOSED/dessert/night market: COOL N2

COOL N2 分子虎分子雪糕專賣店
Shilin Night Market
No. 29 WenLin Rd.
台北市士林區文林路29號
(edited 8/2016- this location closed and they moved deeper into the night market to a stand.)

(02) 2883-8400

MRT: Jian Tan

website: Cool N2's FB page

hours: 12PM - 11:30PM

$

Kid friendliness: Kids will love seeing the liquid nitrogen in action and eating ice cream

Visit reviewed: 10/3/2014

With a row of white Kitchen Aid mixers and staff dressed in white lab coats, you might wonder what the deal is with Cool N2, which sits near the front of Shilin Night Market. If you're in a hurry to get your eating and shopping on, you might pass it by without realizing that it's a liquid nitrogen ice cream shop, offering flavors like milk with pop rocks or chocolate with corn flakes. I'd probably passed by it at least 3 or 4 times, but finally had a chance to try it recently with some friends.

Liquid nitrogen ice cream doesn't come cheap at NT$100-180, but you get to watch chemistry and food in action come together to make ice cream babies. There are five flavors to choose from- that day's were milk, chocolate, green tea, caramel and chocolate whisky. And though in night market eats, NT$150 is a lot (10 pan fried steam buns or 3 giant fried chicken cutlets), it's actually not more than a latte from Starbucks and it's more fun to watch them make it.

A cold fog fills the room as he refills his batch of liquid nitrogen. You could do a twirl and reenact a scene from Frozen while you wait - "The wind is howling like a swirling storm inside." Or not.  

It's like magic as the liquid nitrogen cloud sweeps over the milk and when it dissipates there's ice cream to be scooped out.

The White Party (NT$150) ice cream is milky and creamy, and the pop rocks on desserts are always fun, giving your mouth little crunchy bursts and pops.

The Chocolate Beauty (NT$150) was good too, though the corn flakes were just sprinkled atop, not mixed in to give the ice cream extra cornflake crunch. There was a rich chocolate flavor, but didn't taste too sweet. These days I find some flavors at Haagen Daaz and Coldstone to be too sweet for me (Gasp! I really have been living in Taiwan too long!)

I would try it again if I was in the mood for ice cream over shaved ice or snowflake ice (which of course there's plenty to find at Shilin!), and check if they have new flavors or options to create your own flavor since the ice cream is made to order.