american: I recommend SPROUT

SPROUT 初芽
No. 33, Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 7, Tianmu
台北市士林區中山北路七段31號
(02) 2876-6080

MRT: Shipai

hours: 8:30-21:30

website: Sprout's Facebook page

price: $$-$$$ (NT$300-500/person)

kid friendliness: kid's menu and dishware available 

visit reviewed: 9/30/2016

Avocado and spinach grilled cheese sandwich. Roasted vegetable quinoa salad. Lemon ricotta pancakes. Feta spinach turkey burger. Spinach and turkey lasagna. The menu from Sprouts, a casual and busy cafe in Tianmu, reads like a menu from a restaurant in LA and one of the hardest things to do at Sprout is to decide which dish to try first. 

Serving up brunch, salads, sandwiches, pastas, smoothies and desserts, Sprout joins the latest wave of Taipei restaurants offering up American menus that were nearly nonexistent here just a few years ago. Pricing is on the higher side, but reasonable considering the portions, especially for the salads. Quite a few vegetarian friendly dishes as well as some unusual hot plates like jambalaya or Hungarian chicken.  Reservations recommended, especially for weekends. Customers are expected to place orders and pay first at the register, get a number and grab utensils, plates, cups, water, condiments at the self serve station in the center of the room. 

Self serving station

I was torn between a lot of things on the menu, but I decided to try the prime rib roast with caramelized onions sandwich (NT$400) and add the tomato soup and iced green tea for an extra (NT$120). The sandwich came with a choice of a side dish, which you can see at the counter, and I was happy with the roasted vegetables, though I wished the portion was slightly bigger.

Loved the tomato soup as it had the right amount of creaminess, sweetness and tomato sourness and it was a satisfying portion to lead into the meal. Hard to find a good tomato soup in Taipei, and I would definitely order this again (maybe along with the green monster grilled cheese sandwich).

I used to always order the french dip at 1Bite2go, but they've recently taken it off the menu. The prime rib sandwich version at Sprout might be even better than 1Bite2Go's,  as it came with a fat tomato slice and pickled onions on the side, along with the caramelized onions that were already with the beef. The provolone and horseradish also add some depth to the flavors, so you almost don't need the au jus, though I still found myself dipping pieces of the fluffy ciabatta into the sauce.

I enviously eyed the heaping bowls of salads my lunch meeting friends ordered- the mexican chicken and avocado salad (NT$360) came with chicken, corn, baby tomatoes and avocado on a pile of lettuce  and the roasted vegetable quinoa salad (NT$340) had a touch of crumbled feta cheese atop the roasted bell pepper, zucchini, carrots and tomatoes. Some of the restaurants in town have salads on their menus, but when it comes, there's no lettuce in sight, so it's great to see these American sized portions so you could potentially share dishes or pack half the salad to go for later. 

Scallops and salmon pasta in pesto sauce (NT$530) 

I wished I had saved room to try some of their desserts on the menu, like the caramel banana cream pie or the apple and maple cake, but I will have to make a return visit to try them then. I also wanted to try the breakfast smoothie bowl, which you can choose any smoothie and make it into a bowl topped with bananas, berries, chia seeds, coconut and granola. (NT$150 + price of smoothie) Otherwise, you could always swing by Dairy Queen which is right next door for a blizzard or ice cream sandwich. 

bistronomy/modern: i strongly recommend RAW (fall 2016)

RAW
No. 301, Lequn 3rd Road, Zhongshan District
台北市中山區樂群三路301號
(02) 8501-5800

MRT: Jianan Road

website: www.raw.com.tw

hours: Lunch: Wed- Sun / 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Dinner: Tues - Sat  / 6 PM - 10 PM
Closed Mondays

$$$$ (NT$1850/per person plus 10% service. Chef's table menu in back of restaurant is slightly more expensive)

Kid friendliness: only set menus available so only probably only foodie kids will appreciate

Visit reviewed: 8/22/2016 Fall 2016

Previous RAW Taipei menus: 
5/26/2016 Summer 2016
1/21/2016 Winter 2016
 4/7/2015 & 3/4/2015 Spring 2015

LOVED loved love the new menu at @raw_taipei. Might be my favorite set yet. Loved the "All about duck" and the "Taco, tako, t-a-c-o-s" and dual basil pesto abalone and bamboo.  So many wonderful flavors and interpretations of Taiwan infused with the world for the latest menu.

Of course, it helped to have Chef Andre Chiang and Chef Alain Huang to talk about dishes and not be afraid to quiz the servers about details. I've been lucky enough to come to almost every season (thank you to my friends who manage to snag reservations) to RAW, but this was my first time coming as an invited guest of RAW to their media luncheon. I was the only English language media/blogger, so I'm working my way up in the world! Haha.

CORN / CHARCOAL / BBQ 
The first course at @raw_taipei definitely evokes Taiwanese street corn #🌽, smothered in sticky sweet sauce and grilled, but in miniature form. I thought it was a giant baby corn at first but someone pointed out it was made out of individual kernels taken off and reassembled onto a baby corn popsicle , so you still have the mouthfeel of regular sized Bbq corn kernels. Playful start to the 8 course meal.

ABALONE/ BAMBOO / SANBEI PESTO 

Chef @andrechiang_sg played with the idea that both east and west "use basil with different flavors. What if you used it (Taiwanese basil) in a Western way?" Taiwanese cuisine uses Thai basil in dishes like three cup, or san-bei, while Italian/Western uses a sweet basil for pesto. The addictive sauce was a mash up of the two, making the perfect match for the crunchy bamboo, touch of caviar and chewy abalone. I scooped up the extra pesto and pine nuts with the bread. So so good.

SCALLION / ONION / LEEK  蔥蔥蔥
Every season, RAW Taipei "Always has one vegetable driven dish" and this dish is it for the new menu. Paraphrasing Chef Andre's thoughts about this "onion family" dish, he said, "Interesting how when you cook the leaf, the roots, it shows different levels of sweetness, (it's) almost meaty." The leek and zucchini purée was definitely very creamy and sweet, with an underlying saltiness from the mackerel, while the onion petals cup drops of EVOO and balsamic. What I thought were bacon bits were fried shiitake mushrooms to give the purée a satisfying crunch. You almost don't need the uni, but I will never complain about uni. Later I found out that there are several touches, like the uni that come with the Chef's Table, which are the two elongated tables in the back near the kitchen, which cost slightly more per person.

The TACO / TAKO/ T-A-C-O-S takes a spring onion pancake as tortilla, octopus (with is tako in Japanese) as the meat with a soft boiled egg and T-a-c-o-s standing for teriyaki, avocado, cabbage, onions and sour cream. A playful interpretation and play on words to combine the flavors of multiple countries. The spring onion pancake is thicker than a regular tortilla would be, and the flaky layers provide the satisfying crunch, while the chewy cubes of octopus and runny egg contrast and complement the pancake.

ALL ABOUT DUCK used all parts of the duck including duck heart, duck tongue and duck liver. I mean #FOIEGRAS SOUP. How can you not love it? With barley, Taiwanese red quinoa and corn. One of my favorite dishes.

OCEAN TROUT/RADISH/SALTED OLIVES

Ocean trout served two ways. First as fish chip with the fish skin fried into a crispy chip, then sous vided into tender submission and topped with salmon roe, paired with radish and salted chinese olives. (And looks sort of like the island of Taiwan) If you weren't paying attention, you might even think it was salmon. Every dish RAW serves always has contrasting textures, something smooth, something crunchy and this dish follows the rules. 

BURNT TOMATO/ MOLE/ SMOKED SAGO 

Beef cheek with mole sauce and burnt tomato, light dusting of chocolate shavings. Unexpected dish for me- curious how locals will like this menu. 

Spying into the kitchen between dishes

And ICE / SNOWBALL / MANGO modernizes the popular mango shaved ice and gives us a meringue snowball with sweet #mango cubes and tableside snowfall.

So that's the new menu at @raw_taipei. I really enjoyed every single dish and love that they are introducing flavors like mole and tacos to Taiwan, but in an unexpected new way by marrying the ones we find familiar. Inspires me to try to do the same at home.