chinese: i recommend CHUN SHUI TANG

CHUN SHUI TANG
(SPRING WATER HOUSE)
A9 MItsukoshi Mall, B2
No.9, Songshou Rd
Taipei 110 (XinYi district)

(02) 27239913
www.icetea.com.tw
Weekdays 11：00 ~ PM 22：00
Weekends 10：30 ~ PM 22：30

$$

date visited: 7/26/06



Boba milk tea, or pearl milk tea, is everywhere in Taipei, or at least it used to be. I remember when you could buy it for NT$10 a few years ago from street vendors. But not everyone makes it the same. Sometimes it's sickly sweet or too watery. Sometimes the boba is too mushy or too hard. But I think Chun Shui Tang makes it just right- it's sweet, but not too much so, and you can taste the tea flavor. The smaller than average boba are also the right amount of chewiness and softness. Plus if you don't want boba milk tea, there are a lot of hot and cold drinks and teas to choose from. The drinks are not cheap, but will cost you around the same as something from Starbucks. (Medium NT$70, Large NT$140)

The shop I first ate at was the one next to United Hotel- a cute, traditional looking tea house, serving a large assortment of teas and drinks, as well as dim sum and snacks. The branch at the A9 Mitsukoshi mall is very similar, even to its atmosphere of wooden colums, seats and decor.



You must pay and order first at the cashier, ticking off what you want on their cream and green paper menu. The Kwang-Fu location has an English menu, but the A9 location doesn't. Fortunately, you can either point and choose at the samples in the front or at the tables around you and ask. Then you tape your receipt to the edge of your table, so the waiters can deliver the items to you.


I think this is a good choice for afternoon tea, though towards the evening rush hour, their service became incredibly S-L-O-W. I can see it being popular lunch/brunch destination as well. Even with indoor and outdoor tables, it gets quite crowded. You can also get your drinks and snacks to go.

We ordered a plate of pan-fried radish cakes, stir fried mushrooms, shrimp sau mai and a pair of drinks. Later on, we ordered more, but ended up taking it to go since we had to go. I ordered a dim sum assortment, fried squid balls, spicy tofu skin with straw mushrooms and tofu-gan (or dried bean curd). The radish cakes are fried to have a crispy skin and cut into bite size pieces. The mushrooms were juicy and spicy. I liked the spicy tofu skin, but didn't really care for the tofu-gan.




On previous occassions, at the shop branch, I've had really good deep fried sweet rice cake (like egg rolls with sticky rice cake filling), but I think it's seasonal. The menu selections are bit pricier than local food, but you are paying for atmosphere as well as the brand quality. Everyone we've taken there admires the huge glasses of boba milk tea (or passionfruit lemon jelly tea (another favorite of mine)) after their order comes. And it's nice place to get together with friends or take an afternoon for yourself- I often see lots of moms with strollers. Most of the time, I will get a drink to go when I am craving some boba milk tea.

OTHER LOCATIONS a/o April 2008 (with the help of Google translator & googling, so please let me know if any of them need editing!)

No. 4, Lane 180, Kuangfu South Road
(near SYS Memorial Hall)
(02) 8773-4501

No. 29, Nanjing East Road, Sec. 1
(02) 2521-3359

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial
No. 21-1, Chungshan South Road
(02) 3393-9529

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, B1
No. 12, Nanjing West Road
(02) 2100-1848

Global Mall location
No. 122, Zhongshan Rd
Zhonghe
(02) 2223-7071

Geant (Ai Mai) in DaZhi
No.123, Jingye 3rd Rd.
Jhongshan
(02) 8502-0880

Dmart, 8FL
No. 180, Chenggong Road, Sec. 4
Neihu
(02) 2793-4349

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, Tien Mu, B3
No. 200, Zhong Cheng Road, Sec 2
Shih Lin
(02) 2874-5484

my kitchen: banana pancakes breakfast

A few weeks ago, I was craving french toast and tried a couple times to get it at NY Bagel. The first time, we went at noon, but it turned out they stopped serving breakfast on weekdays at 11;30am. Seeing all the people around me enjoying their brunches just made it worse, so I left and had cereal at home.

A few days later, I dropped by on Sunday. It was packed and I didn't want to wait 20-30 minutes, so I wanted to do take-out. Except I discovered that their take-out doesn't include breakfast. After debating with the cashier for awhile,

THEM: it's a lot of food. We don't have the right to-go containers. We have to maintain our brand-level freshness. Your eggs might break on way home. blah blah blah BLAH.

I even talked to the manager.

ME: I just want some french toast. I'll go home and make my own eggs. I promise it will be fresh when I eat it. You can put it in the container that I know you have for the steak sandwich.

MANAGER: If we make an exception for you, then other customers will complain.

ME: If it's in a box and then in a bag, who is going to know? I live right next door. It will be eaten right away!

She disappeared for awhile and then came back saying no. UGH! It was very very annoying. After being too lazy to make my own french toast, it turned out that it would have been less of a hassle to do so.

Annoyed enough that since then, I have held an unofficial ban on NY Bagel, making my own pancakes and waffles at home. Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day to make- mushroom omelettes, banana pancakes or crispy waffles with sausages on the side. It's probably a good skill to have since finding quick and good American style breakfast is tough in Taiwan.



On this day, I made a small stack of banana pancakes (from Betty Crocker Buttermilk mix and fresh bananas- not gourmet- I know, but quite quick, easy and tasty), with an egg over easy and some canadian bacon lightly grilled. Mmmm.

my kitchen: cupcakes

Cupcakes are a trendy thing in the US right now.. but pretty much non-existent in Taipei. Even though there are tons of bakeries that have mini-cakes, tarts, breads and even Hello Kitty pastries, you just don't see cupcakes. So if you are craving one, it's much easier to make your own, although I'll admit that I brought the mix and frosting back from LA. Today I made chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Not everyone likes frosting, so I only frosted some of them.



I know there is one bakery that does sell cupcakes- Ginjer- but I haven't been there yet. I've heard their selection is slim, but good. I guess demonstrating the lack of popularity for cupcakes from the Taiwanese palate. Or maybe they just haven't discovered them yet.

Happy Chinese Valentine's day!

dessert: YANG JI PEANUT CORN ICE

YANG JI PEANUT CORN ICE
38/40, HanKou Rd, Sec 2
Hsi Men Ding
(02) 2375-2223

Hours: 11 am-10:30 pm

$



visit reviewed: 7/2/2006

I think the picture says it all. Creamed corn shaved ice. It is supposedly THE topping to get at this Hsi-Men Ding shaved ice shop. I knew that people in Taiwan LOVE corn, but this was a first for me. I was speechless. The friend who had taken us there proclaimed that he didn't get it at first either, but after he tried it, he was hooked. He insisted that I have a bite. Against my better judgement, I had a bite and... I still did not get it. It tasted like canned creamed corn, cold, on top of shaved ice, with some evaporated milk on top. UGH! *shiver shiver*

Unfortunately, the topping I got, red bean with mochi balls and evaporated milk was not that satisfying either. I think it was because they dumped the milk on top of the toppings instead of on top of the ice, which I prefer. It was too dense and mushy for me to be satisfying. And it wasn't cheap, as shaved ice goes. It ran about NT$50-80 a dish, since they add charges for additional toppings and milk. I actually prefer the more basic shaved ice in the shaved ice alley in Hsi Ming Ding.

Sorry I don't know the street other than it's off of Hsi Men Ding. I tried googling it to try and find more info, but all I found was that they also put creamed corn on top of shaved ice in Malaysia and Singapore. I suppose if you really want to try it, you can ask around that area for "Yang Ji Bing," as "bing" is chinese for ice.


The shop was very busy even with a lot of seating, and there is usually a short line. The signage says they have been around over 40 years, so local neighbors should be able to point you in the right direction. Everything is chinese, but you can point at the toppings. I would recommend it if the toppings pique your curiousity, otherwise, I would stick your favorite shaved ice locale.

revisited/afternoon tea: CHA LOUNGE

CHA LOUNGE
Grand Hyatt Hotel
No.2, Sung Shou Road
Taipei
(02) 2720-1234

Hours: 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm (Monday - Friday)
1:00 pm - 6:00 pm (Saturday, Sunday and Holidays)
Evening dessert buffet: 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

$$$

date reviewed: 4/27/2006



I suppose the key to ANY buffet style venue is to go early. Everything will look beautiful, you will get to have the first pick of array, and everything will be freshly made. You will get to have the first slice of desserts, or the first scoop of fruits, rather than having to settle for other people's leftovers.

My second experience to Cha Lounge was very different from my first one. This time, the cakes stood up straight, there weren't missing elements in the buffet, and we didn't feel rushed.

While I still think it's quite expensive for afternoon tea at NT$600 or US$18 (I have since discovered a lot of coffee shops and different places offer afternoon tea to drum up business during sleepy hours), it's a place you could go with a bunch of girlfriends to treat yourselves, or to have a business meeting where you could charge it to the company. The lounge is quite stylish and the Hyatt is very easy to find.



Their assortment of desserts varied from cakes to ice cream to fruit tarts, as well as the chef station, which apparently they change up every so often. Nothing too special, but a lot of variety. Last time, it was sauteed strawberries.


This time it was some mysterious funnel-cake like pastry, though it was not crispy or sweet like funnel cake. Unforunately, it looks better than it tasted.



So though this post is to soften my previous "do not recommend" to a try it if you want to try it. I ended up here since my friend wanted afternoon tea and Joyce East closes theirs at 4:30pm. Just be sure not to go the last half hour or so. There's not much left and they promptly remove everything on the dot of their closing time.

chinese: YI-YUAN PEKINGNESE RESTAURANT

YI-YUAN PEKINGNESE RESTAURANT
Westin Hotel Taipei
133 Nanking East Road, Section 3
(02) 8770-6556

12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
6:00 PM - 9:30 PM

date reviewed: 6/25/2006



The peking duck was awesome. I love the touristy experience of the chef carving the whole duck in front of you into bite size slivers. The plate of duck was beautifully presented, and definitely fulfilled my craving. The paper thin pancake, the hoisin sauce, the green onion, and the duck with crispy skin all made a perfect little peking duck dance in my mouth.

Unfortunately, the rest of the food we ordered was surprising disappointing. The dumplings were subpar and sat on the table uneaten. I can't even remember what else was ordered. Ja jiang noodles. Unfulfilling. An egg omelet thingy. The service was unnecessarily fussy (wanting to split the dishes onto little plates and serve them, rather than us serving ourselves).

At hotel restaurant prices, you should book your peking duck (NT$1500) in advance during your reservation, take the leftovers home to eat and don't order anything else!

dessert: BERRY AND MILK

BERRY & MILK
Breeze Mall (and other chain locations)

$$

review date: 4/25/2006

Enticed by the combination of strawberries and chocolate cake, I got an assortment of cakes to share (NT$50+ each). However, like many Taiwan cakeries/bakeries, the cakes were tweaked for the Taiwanese palate. Rather than being fulfillingly chocolately, the cakes were light and sponge-cake like and not chocolately at all to my disappointment. The frosting was too sugary and one of the cakes had cherries instead of strawberries (to my mistake) which I don't like. So if you prefer your cakes on the lighter side, you can try Berry and Milk. If you are looking for a chocolate cake fix however, don't get your cake here. Personally, I was underwhelmed.

They also have a range of assorted tarts and pastries with strawberries that looked appetizing- you might try to find this chain if you love strawberries.

to revamp or not to revamp?

I started this blog originally with the idea of posting some pics, thoughts and phone numbers to make future reservations... as I got more into it, each post took more time.. I wanted to get the reviews just right and capture my experience. I started having a backlog of drafts of posts that I was juggling, and the memory of my experience of eating it would get further away from the time I had time to post.

So now, I'm going to try and post closer to when I'm actually eating what I'm eating.. to document.. even if I only have time to put down a few thoughts instead of a full review..

I wanted this to be a resource for other people like me living in Taipei and unsure where to eat, but I haven't gotten much feedback, so I will try out this new mode since it is my blog. haha!

So look for a flurry of activity in the coming week, as there have been a lot of places I've been wanting to blog about, good and bad!

CLOSED/japanese: i don't recommend NIKO NIKO ROLL AND SUSHI

CLOSED a/o 2007

NIKO NIKO ROLL and SUSHI
19, SongGao Road, 6F
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A4
02) 8788-1155

11am-10pm

www.nikoniko.com.tw

date reviewed: 5/16/2006

Sushi. To some people it means raw fish, or sashimi. I personally was not a big fan of sashimi until I was introduced to some of the freshest sashimi I've ever had about 7 years ago. So before I dared to eat sashimi, my definition of sushi were sushi rolls, like California rolls. Are rolls typically an American phenomenon? They definitely seem harder to find here than in LA, where I have become accustomed to the crazy diversity of "make-up-your-own-combination" of ingredient rolls if you don't find what you want here. Rainbow rolls, spider rolls, catepillar rolls. Or the more random "da bomb," "woody," "hole in one," "sunnyscape," or "cesar" rolls from California Roll Factory in West LA.

So I was very excited to hear about and try Niko Niko Roll and Sushi which was supposed to feature over 30 types of rolls. Their diner-like atmosphere is a bit of strange setting for Japanese food, but a sign of the "fast food" sushi that was to come. Actually, the almost empty room should have been a bigger sign, but I thought it was the random location on the 6th floor of a mall.




The menu has lots of pictures, and sorts the rolls into categories like Pretty rolls, Seafood rolls, Warm rolls, Spicy rolls, Vege and Crunch rolls. They have English names for the various rolls like Grand Canyon or BLT roll, but no English descriptions of what are inside each roll. The waiter is not a lot of help, so unless you have someone in the party to read the Chinese descriptions, you kind of have to just go by the pictures. We got one from each category.

The rolls reminded me of rolls I had from the chain Sushi Mac. If you've ever eaten there, they sell rolls for US$2 each. However, it kind of tastes like what you are paying for. And though the prices at Niko Niko are not that cheap, they seem to have skimped on the things that might notice. The eels were thin. The shrimps were small. The crab was more fake than fake. The avocado constantly fell off the catepillar roll. The rice and rolls were mushy. In our rolls that contained eel, the eel was sliced so thin, I felt like they had taken a normal piece and sliced it into 4 or 5 slivers to hide in the roll. Instead of appreciating the tastes of each roll, unfortunately each roll tasted the same as the next.






For some reason, I haven't had any good spicy tuna in Taipei. The spicy tuna we had here was just hot and I think there were onions in the roll? The warm roll we ordered was baked and strangely appetizing, but you could not tell what was in it at all! The rolls here made me miss the roll with the jumbo clam in it from Hide and the spicy tuna rolls from Nijiya.

They also have combos and teriyaki, tempura, sukiyaki type meals that actually looked pretty good. The table across from us had opted for the recommend combo which delivered both sushi rolls and tempura, sukiyaki meals to share. We hadn't ordered any of that because we wanted to save room for the rolls. Oh well. Maybe next time, if there is a next time.

italian: i recommend COSI O COSI

COSI O COSI
No. 155, DunHua S. Rd., Sec 1
(02) 2771-5883

Lunch 12 pm-2:30 pm,
Dinner/ 6:30-11 pm ( last orders 10:30 pm)

kid friendliness: high chairs available, pretty friendly service

date reviewed: 5/18/2006 and 3/27/2005

I was introduced to Cosi O Cosi a few years ago by my cousin who had lived in Taipei for awhile before I had, and we shared the common dilemma of finding good places to eat. She knew I liked Italian and thought that I would enjoy the food at Cosi O Cosi, citing it as a popular place and I've been there quite a few times since. For awhile, it was the go-to Italian food craving destination for me, before I had discovered other places and the more convienent Macaroni Grill was opened.

Cosi O Cosi is one of those places you might pass by many times and wonder if you should stop by to try it out. You should. It's not fancy or overly trendy-looking from the outside with an simple awning and chalkboard menu and fairly casual on the inside- a small room with part of a kitchen and brick oven in the corner. But it's clean and friendly with lots of sunlight- and the ambience kind of reflects the food and service- which is quite clean and sunny and friendly, if you could use those words about food.

The menu has both English and Chinese, featuring limited appetizers/salads, and many pizzas and pastas, but no pictures. The prices are pretty reasonable at $260-$420 NT for pastas and pizzas.

The tomato and mozzarella caprese features huge slices of mozz- and it tastes fresh and delicious. The order is generous for two people, and large enough to share with a group. The crostini which features toasted slices of bread with bruschetta and pesto is also tasty.


The fried mushrooms also piques my interest, however, picturing deep fried mushrooms in my mind, instead we get pan fried sauteed mushrooms. While I love mushrooms and I enjoy the different myriad of mushrooms featured, the gravy like sauce is not quite I was craving and a tad salty for me as well.



The clam linguine is very simple, but very flavorful with garlic, white wine and olive oil flavors melding together with the slippery linguine and clams. Cosi O Cosi's portions are just right for one, but not enough to share with a group like Macaroni Grill's huge portions.


However, you could order an assortment of pastas and pizzas to share if everyone just wanted to have a taste. We have done that in the past quite successfully. Cosi O Cosi's shrimp angel hair is quite delicious as well. The one off dish that I can recall is that their tagletelle had a cream sauce that was too heavy and not enough mushrooms to balance out the dish.

Though we didn't order pizza today, I've had it a number of times. The last time I had it was over a year ago, and I was with a vegetarian, so we ordered the mushroom pizza. My notes from that day say, "good. seems like canned mushrooms. crust crispy perfect." I really don't care for canned mushrooms on pizza, or in pasta for that matter. So I will have to try the pizza again sometime soon to refresh my memory and try different toppings. And have more caprese and crostinis.