bakeries: YAMAZAKI

YAMAZAKI
at Geant
at 101
and many other locations!

$

visit reviewed: 10/7/2006



A chain with LOTS of locations. This day I tried some a "cup cheesecake," chocolate muffin and walnut bread. While I liked the walnut bread with its nutty texture and taste, I was pretty disappointed with the muffin and cheesecake cupcake- both were pretty dense and bland, similar to the lighter flavors of cakes that I think accomodates to local tastes, but not light and fluffy in texture.

If you want a chocolate fix, go for their cookies instead- I had one once and it was surprisingly rich and soft- definitely freshly baked. It's not easy to find, if they sell out, you won't find it. The cheesecake tasted more like a dense plain muffin, not creamy or light like a cheesecake cupcake would. I've also had their waffles which they sell premade like a snack, and while it looked appetizing, it tasted like a cold waffle, which in general is not so great.

Wide selection, usually with signs both in English and Chinese and with lots of locations, it's worth trying out to see which breads or sweets fit your own tastebuds. Breads with ham and cheese baked into them, sandwiches with tuna or hotdogs, garlic bread, doughnuts, you can pick up a plain loaf of bread to something more local.


The cupcake and muffins area

the bread area

grab and go pre-wrapped bread loaves

bakeries: i recommend DONQ

DONQ
at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Mall, A4
19, SongGao Road

www.donq.co.jp

$

visit reviewed: 10/4/2006




I first discovered Donq when they used to be in A11 wayyy back when. I even took them for granted that they were always going to be there, in the basement next to the supermarket. In addition to the typical baked breads and pastries, Donq had freshly baked mini croissants, in both original flavor and chocolate. CHOCOLATE MINI CROISSANTS! Doesn't that sounds delicious? They even had a taste of the tiniest melted chocolate in the center. Often, you'd even find people milling around and waiting in line for the freshly baked ones, right out of the oven. In the times I waited in line, I found myself cursing the people in front of me, for buying bags and bags of mini-croissants, and hoping that they wouldn't sell out of the chocolate before it was my turn. They were the best.

Why am I saying "were?"

Because one day, I was desparately craving those chocolate croissants, made the trip, prepared to wait in line.. and then I found that Donq was replaced by a new bakery Johan! WHAT???? ANd this discovery wasn't affirmed until I bought a bag of the Johan mini-croissants and found how hopelessly un-Donq they were!

Then recently, I rediscovered them in another building of the sprawling Mitsukoshi malls- apparently they have relocated to the new A4. BUT apparently they mislocated their croissant ovens! They don't make the mini-croissants at this location.. only at some other location that I have no idea where it is.

BIG SIGH.

I suppose I have to work harder at interrogating their employees to find out where this new location is. Their website is only in Japanese and makes no mention of the Taipei stores. Although, they do mention and have a picture of the mini-croissants calling them "mini-one" on the website!


And their breads are good... they just don't have freshly baked chocolate centers and flaky chocolate layers of buttery croissants.

Anyways! I wanted to offer a little advice to anyone who has yet to peruse a bakery in Taiwan- you want to first look for the tongs/trays area and get your own set.. then you can pick and choose to your carb-ilicious delight. Take your filled tray to the counter where they will bag each one individually. Pay. Enjoy!


Donq unfortunately has signs only in Chinese, so you will have to either pick based on if it looks good to you, or ask the employees if you want to know what fillings are in certain breads. They have this one fried bread with a curry filling that is quite tasty.. kind of like deep fried doughnut. You might be able to catch them when they have freshly baked breads, such as ones with red bean filling or big sourdough loaves. Just not the mini-croissants, at this location anyways.

CLOSED! vietnamese: i strongly recommend DELICACIES OF VIETNAM

DELICACIES OF VIETNAM
(as translated by me- look for a red and white sign in Chinese!)
12, Lane 141, Hu Lin Street
(02) 8789-4456

date visited: 9/27/2006 & 10/3/2006

$

I didn't know what to expect when I walked in. It looked like many local alley restaurants- with a noodle cooking area outside, and inside a small space with sparse white walls and clean wooden stools and tables. The menu was one of those check-off what you want to order in Chinese pieces of paper- with nothing over NT$100 and nothing in English. Luckily, I was there with a group of friends who could translate for me and place our order with the owner.

Besides our party of 8, there were 1-2 other customers who dropped by while we were eating. Since it seemed that the family owned operation had only 3 people cooking and serving, they were busy getting the food ready, but it didn't seem noticeably slow. I will mention though, that they actually had their baby girl in a crib behind the counter. Since everyone was busy getting our order ready, the baby would cry. We went over to play and cheer up the baby and she was fine again.

Someone started off with a shrimp and green papaya appetizer with shrimp chips. I only tried the shrimp chip since I don't care for papayas, but it looked very fresh and appetizing.


The rice paper spring rolls (NT$60) I had been trying to find for awhile in Taipei, and these hit the spot. While they weren't the most amazing spring rolls I've ever had, they were decent. They didn't skimp on the shrimp and they served each person a little pink plastic plate of hoisin sauce. I must admit, I could have probably eaten a whole dish by myself, since each plate came with 2 rolls, each cut in half. (If you order this, ask for the "raw veggie spring roll" rather than the "cold shrimp roll" like I did- otherwise you'll end up with 2 orders of imperial rolls (NT$50 each) (which I didn't really care for), since cold sounds like 2 in chinese!)


Someone recommended that I get the bbq pork vermicelli salad (NT$80), which came with peanuts, sprouts, cucumber and grated carrots, and predrenched with the sweet and spicy fish sauce. The combination of the slippery pho with the crunchy veggies feels so weird in my mouth, but in a really good way. But what is totally worth mentioning is the bbq pork. It was AMAZING. Perfectly grilled, the marinade had a sweet flavor with a kick of spice that complimented the tenderness of the pork. Better than bbq pork vermicelli I'd had in LA! I even ordered another side order of just the pork to share.



YAY! Pho!! The pho with beef (NT$80) was good- it was a big bowl filled with noodles, soup and beef. A hundred times better than the faux pho I had at Eslite's food court's Pho . And here it's actually pho and not fat rice noodles. The broth was had enough salt, fresh basil, cilantro and onions, beef, lime and other mysterious flavors that make pho broth what it is. The pho was chewy and not soggy, and I was so happy that I had finally found a place to decent pho in Taipei.


Interestingly enough, most of the locals we ate with ordered noodles instead of pho. Coming with the same beef broth, but instead of rice noodles it comes with egg noodles. I didn't have a taste, but I thought it was kind of strange to eat pho without the pho. Maybe next time I will ask if that's a local accomodation or if that's truly a Vietnamese dish.



Pho usually doesn't photograph well with its murky beef broth based soup, but definitely don't let that discourage you from trying it if you've never had it before. With both the pho and the noodle, you can get beef, rare beef, beef ball, chicken, pork or combo. You can also get just meat and soup, without noodles.

If you have been searching for Vietnamese food in Taipei like I have, you should find a friend who speaks Chinese to come find this place with you. You can even treat them for helping you order- as it's such a bargain. Lunch for the 8 of us totalled NT$1050 or about US $31 which included 8 bowls of noodles, 4 orders of spring rolls, 1 side of bbq pork, 1 green papaya and shrimp appetizer, which was about NT$131 or about US$4 a person. Being used to pho being almost US$6-7 a person now, I was pleasantly surprised that we could find such a bargain that tasted good here and I think the owners are actually Vietnamese! Until I hear about or find another Vietnamese place that is better, I will definitely be going back.

vietnamese: i don't recommend PHO

PHO
at Eslite XinYi Mall foodcourt, B2
11, SongGao Road

10 am-10 pm (B2/ B1/ 1F/ 5F/ 6F)

visit reviewed: 5/31/2006

It was Chinese rice noodle masquering as pho- perhaps they think that the Taiwanese palate won't know the difference? Soggy and bland- I was extremely disappointed after thinking that this location would offer a new Vietnamese go to spot in Taipei. The soup didn't even taste anywhere close to the depth and flavor of the pho broth I've come to love. We ordered a family special to go- which include 2 appetizers, 2 main dishes, desserts and drinks. Even the non-pho options were sorely lacking, the chicken over rice was utterly forgettable and the fried spring rolls were greasy and bit stale. They didn't even have the rice paper spring rolls that I had been craving and searching for.

You might spot the bright green PHO sign along the wall of the basement of the Eslite Xin Yi food court and think that it's worth a try. Unless it's vastly changed since I've had it five months ago, it's not.

bakeries: i recommend POZZO

POZZO BAKERY
at San Want Hotel
172 Chung Hsiao E Rd, Sec 4
(02) 2772-2121 ext. 2126

open daily: 7AM- 10PM

$

visit reviewed: 9/28/2006



Pozzo is a bakery located next to the entrance of San Want hotel on the busy Chung Hsiao East Road shopping street. It's a great place to stop by for a snack or to pick up some bread for the next day. With a varying assortment of breads and pastries, today I chose to get (from left to right) squid ink garlic loaf, custard filled tart, coconut raisin bread, and a doughnut for under NT$150. Hey, I haven't had a doughnut in awhile!


I wish I could have had hands free to take more pictures inside the shop (maybe next time!), but it was brightly lit with wall to wall baked goods as well as customers. The front of the store near the window had the desserts with cakes, custards and tarts.

The custard tart was huge and the milky filling reminded me of a softer egg tart filling. The garlic squid ink bread had little bit of garlic butter spread in top of the center and a pleasant garlic taste after you had finished eating the bread- though it's not garlic bread, but rather the flavor of garlic infused in the bread. I shared some with a friend, and he wanted to eat more. The doughnut was good- nothing out of the ordinary and nothing bad to say. I didn't eat the coconut raisin bread, but it disappeared quickly as well.

The hours are pretty good for early and late birds, and the signs are all English and Chinese friendly. I would definitely go there again and try out some of the other offerings, and pick up some more garlic squid ink bread.

italian/revisited: BELLINI PASTA PASTA

BELLINI PASTA PASTA
No. 16, Sung Shou Road, 2F
inside Warner Village Theaters
(02) 2758-6096

bellinipasta.com.tw
hours: 11:30AM- 11 PM

$-$$

date reviewed: 9/11/2006

There's so much pasta, BELLINI PASTA PASTA has it twice in their name. With four locations in Taipei, Bellini Pasta Pasta features family style portions of salads, appetizers, pasta and desserts with friendly service and casual atmosphere.

On this day, I felt like eating some bolognese spaghetti and was near the Warner Village. I placed an order to go and was offered a place to sit and some ice water as well. The server asks me if I want my pasta soft, and I say al dente. The inside of the Warner location features long wooden tables and benches, and view of the chefs cooking. It's smaller than I expected, so I can see why there would be a wait for a table on a busy Friday night. Luckily, it's before dinner time and a weeknight, so my pasta is made pretty quickly.


The Bolognese spaghetti ($390) here comes with two soft boiled eggs on top. I've never seen this before elsewhere-so I don't know if this is an Italian thing, a Japanese thing or a specialty of Bellini's, but it's surprising combination that works. The tomato meat sauce is flavorful and slightly sweet and the soft boiled eggs cook a little more when mixed into the pasta. There's not a lot of meat, but enough sauce to cover all the spaghetti. I also thought that the meat sauce was perfectly flavored, where often I find Macaroni Grill's pasta to be on the salty side. The portion would easily be enough for 3-5 people, so you could order a few different pastas family style if you went with a group. I ordered it to-go and could not finish it. The leftovers heated up pretty well for a few days afterwards too.


In the past, I've also enjoyed their Pesto Pasta with Shrimp and their Clam Linguine looks quite good. I'm not sure about their other locations, but the Warner location has a "show window" by their entrance, of their pastas captured in plastic model form to catch your eye. Their menu is in English and Chinese and features a lot of the pasta names in Italian. Their business card has "Bellini Tokyo" on it, so I know they have locations in Japan, but I'm not sure if that is where the chain originates. EIther way, I'm glad to have it here in Taipei as an option for easy, friendly, tasty and quick Italian food.

new visit reviewed: 9/27/2006


Last night, I had a chance to try out to-go Bellini Pasta again. Even though I wanted to order the Bolognese meat sauce again, I decided to try out new things. I ordered a vegetarian cream pasta and Pizzetta Half & Half pizza (NT$230) (which includes 1/2 pesto with shrimp and mushroom, and 1/2 red sauce with eggplant and cheese) as well as the Spaghetti with shrimp and mushrooms in basil pesto sauce (NT$460).

This was the first time I got a chance to look at the to-go menu which includes antipasto, a couple gratins and risottos and a lot of spaghetti and pizzettas. While Bellini does have one Lasagna dish, all the other pasta dishes are spaghetti- no penne, linguine or fettucine in sight. Because their portions are "family size," they also feature "Pasta Half & Half" - 2 types of pastas and sauces for the equivalent of a 1 dish size/price at NT$480 such as the spaghetti in tomato sauce w/ pork cutlet & spaghetti with yuzu mentaiko, calamari and snow peas. Sounds interesting right?

Unfortunately, tonight I found my pastas to be rather bland. The cream sauce was barely there and the sparse combination of mushrooms, bell peppers and romaine lettuce was not really drool-worthy.


The pesto pasta that I had been looking forward to was also in need of some salt or garlic or ground pine nuts or fresh olive oil. Something to make it more aromatic than the slightly creamy, heavy looking and tasting pesto spaghetti we got. It had me missing the pesto pasta I had awhile back at Guy's Cafe or the bolgonese pasta I had a few weeks ago.


The pizzette fared a little better, although the red sauce again was stronger in flavor than the pesto slices. The pizzette was smaller than I expected and being cold when I got home to eat it probably didn't help it either.



While I think I would still go back to Bellini Pasta Pasta for the unique Spaghetti in meat sauce and soft-boiled eggs, I don't think I will get anything else but the red sauce based spaghettis if I decided to try the Milanese style chicken or the pork cutlet. They are still friendly and quick, but for more flavor, you'd probably have better options with the similarly priced Macaroni Grill nearby or Cosi O Cosi which also features pasta on the lighter side, but with a fresher, home-style spin.


OTHER LOCATIONS in TAIPEI:

NO. 218 Chung Hsiao E RD, Sec 4
ATT mall/building, 2nd FL
(02) 8771-3099

No. 39, Fushing S RD, Sec 1
(02) 6606-0688

No. 12, Kuan Chien RD
(02) 2388-8558

japanese: SUNTORY at Far Eastern Hotel

SUNTORY
at Far Eastern Hotel, 7th FL
201 Tun Hwa S Road Sec.2 ,
Taipei 106

Tel: (02) 2376-3241

L 11:30AM - 2:30PM
D 6PM- 9:30PM

$$-$$$$

kid friendliness: high chairs available

visit reviewed: 9/26/2006

I am always drooling over food- whether it's meals made by a TV chef or a photo on a food blog- I think it's true that you eat with your eyes first. So from the minute I saw a picture of the "Fried rock lobster glazed in caramel with Japanese mountain pepper" in the Weekend section of Taiwan News last week (Sept 22, 2006) and the accompanying article about the "zen-like" beautifully presented and delicious Kaiseki set course, I started daydreaming about eating there.

photo by Keye Chang, Taiwan News

It was also perfect for this month's Dine and Dish, LIKE A VIRGIN, where I would be trying new things all around- a new restaurant and my first food blog event ever, hosted by the Delicious Life, which happens to be one of the very first food blogs I've ever read and started me into a spiral of must-read list of daily drool-worthy blogs.

Imagining the morsels of LOBSTER! glazed in CARAMEL! doing a happy dance on my tastebuds kept a smile on my face all the way to the restaurant when I finally made my way there. I called in for a same day with a reservation for 5, and was actually even able to get a private room in the left side of the restaurant once we were there since it was on a slower weeknight. The entrance on the right included a giant wall size fishtank lit an unnatural shade of bright blue and the decor is elegant modern Japanese, even with rock gardens and mini-fountains on the way to the restrooms.

We sat down with the menus and I started to get nervous.. there were a few set courses on the menu, but the Kaiseki course (NT$3000 ~ US$100) reviewed in the paper had a Tempura Red Snapper instead of Rock Lobster. Even the slightly more expensive Chef's set menu (~NT$3300) didn't have it. A million thoughts raced through my mind- (1) They changed the set menu already (2) I only read the article a week ago! (3) Maybe they ran out of rock lobster? (4) Maybe if we ask really nicely they'll make it for us? (5) Maybe it's on a even more special menu onesheet that the waitress forgot to give us? (6) Maybe the chef changes the menu everyday?? (7) Why the heck did the paper focus on the rock lobster if it wasn't even going to be here!!!

We asked the waitress about it and after some back and forth with her and the kitchen, she said that the only thing was the lobster in the Autumn menu (pointing to a placard on the table) but the shell was fried, but not the lobster. If I could do it again, I would have said, okay, let's order that, maybe it's the same thing. But in the moment, I pictured morsels of rock lobster tempura and didn't want something that wasn't what I drooled over. Now that I have the photo in front of me, I think that was what it was and I'm super sad that I didn't get it.

Instead, I ended up making my own quasi-set course by ordering things that appealed to me off the menu to share with the table, and there were quite a few things. Pecan and Soy Paper Crusted Fried Oysters, Mushroom and Asaparagus Salad, Dragon Roll (Tempura Prawn and Avocado), Eel and avocado, fish chin, and Mushroom soup. I will say that the pictures don't capture the food and ambiance with justice, as it was very dark so I had to use my flash and when I didn't, it's harder to see with the diim lighting.

The mushroom soup: I thought it was an interesting twist to serve mushroom soup from a tea kettle. You pour the broth into the two tea cups and drink, and then can scoop out the mushrooms to eat afterwards if you want. The broth was flavorful and deep, but the mushrooms had all the flavor sucked out of them. Two other people in the party said that they thought it was salty, but I didn't think it was.


The asparagus mushroom salad: I wished the tangy, sweet dressing that came on the mini-bed of lettuce was on the rest of the salad, since the mushrooms and asapargus tasted sort of plain in comparison. Even as a mushroom lover, I felt tasted a bit slimy. I also didn't know what to do with the accompanying piece of bread- it was stale and hard as a rock. I don't know what the orange crunchy shreds on top were, but they gave the salad an overall nice bite.


The pecan crusted oysters: These were a lot more dense than I expected, although I guess I should have expected the slivers of pecans to make the deep fried dish a lot heavier. I like my deep fried oysters big, like these were and I haven't had them in awhile, so I was excited. The pecan and soy paper add an interesting texture to the soft body of the oyster, they gave each person a tonkatsu dipping sauce that was not bad.


the Rolls: Both rolls were okay, although, the avocado was barely noticeable in both. I was also very surprised to see the prawn/avocado roll was entirely fried, rather than just the prawns. Not only deep fried, but with onions- again, it made the dinner a lot heavier/greasier than I was expecting.



Several people ordered the set menu- a tempura set menu, the beef set menu and a vegetarian set menu. Here are a couple glimpses of what I saw. I also didn't take a picture of the fish chin- though it was a lot of meat, I found it slightly fishier than I would like and not as crispy.





My overall impressions- it's definitely an upscale restaurant with upscale prices to match, but I think that you can get just as good food for half the price at other upscale Japanese restaurants such as Sumie. Like any relationship, I think I end up comparing all my experiences to your first- which in my case is Sumie, which has various set courses, but one at NT$1500 is mouthwatering and filling and so beautifully presented. I wasn't blown away by the food that I had at Suntory, and maybe it's because I didn't order the chef's special set menu, but I don't think that you should have to order the most expensive thing on the menu to be blown away. I liked it better than the often stuffy Peony Japanese restaurant, but I didn't get what I hoped for when I read the review in the paper. Sometimes the fantasy is better than the reality, but you don't know until you try it.

dessert/chinese: EASTERN ICE STORE

EASTERN ICE STORE
No. 38, Lane 216, ZhongXiao E. Rd., Sec. 4
(02) 2777-2057

Hours: 11 am-10 pm

www.efy.com.tw

$

visit reviewed: 9/23/2006



I was expecting shaved ice, but I got a soupy mix of toppings instead- it might have been because the tapioca balls were warm and melted the ice, or maybe it was a warm day, or maybe that's how you were supposed to eat it. For NT$45, you can choose up to four toppings, hot or cold, and add condensed milk for an extra NT$10. Today, I chose tapioca balls (their specialty), red bean, mini-mochi balls, and taro mochi balls. There is an array of other things you can choose from such as almond tofu, lemon jelly, peanuts, green beans, big red beans, taro, among other things. In a 2003 review, Taipei Fun says,"No preservatives, artificial flavorings or colorings are used in their products. Consistency has customers coming in continuous succession for a taste of the round tapioca pearls. "

Like a lot of local places, there are no signs in English and most likely no one that speaks English, so you just point and pay and move aside. Hopefully you know what the toppings are that you want!

Some people like to stir their shaved ice until it becomes a soupy mess. If you do, you should try it out.

I don't.

So, actually, I didn't really care for what I ended up getting. I prefer to have the condensed milk ontop of the shaved ice, but instead it just made the sweet toppings here too sweet.



A busy location with ample seating next door, it seems to be fairly popular, but not too crowded that you weren't able to find a seat on a Saturday afternoon. For a local dessert fix, next time I'll stick to the shaved ice, or get some soy tofu from Little South Gate.

bakeries: LITTLE MERMAID BAKERY at city'super

LITTLE MERMAID BAKERY
at city'super
Far Eastern Hotel Mall, B1
203, Tun Hwa S Road, Sec. 2
Taipei 106

$-$$

visit reviewed: 9/23/2006




It was really cute. Along some of the English and Chinese signs were additional signs that said "Just baked" or "Just fried" to highlight certain items. The items at the Little Mermaid Bakery even looked different from breads and pastries I had spotted in other Taipei bakeries, so I had to give it try. The city'superwebsite says that their instore baked bread was "famous for its Danish style pastries, and pioneered by the Andersen Group in Japan." No wonder...

I got a bread with sugar dusted on it, a bread with cheese baked in it, and a curry doughnut (kind of like a deep fried ball stuffed with a thicker curry).

Unfortunately, I didn't love it as much as I wanted to. And I reallly wanted to.

The sugar bread was sweet and soft- kind of like a flatbread doughnut. The cheese bread tasted like other cheese breads. And the curry doughnut was greasier and heavier than others I have had.

But it looked so good! And they have a frequent buyer's program where you get a card with stamps. I would probably give it another chance and try out other things. Also, if you are looking for foreign foods and goods, you have a good shot at finding them at the citysuper supermarket, although you will probably be paying an arm and leg extra for it!

chinese: i strongly recommend SHIN YEH

SHIN YEH
112 Chung Hsiao E RD, Sec 4
2FL
(02) 2752-9299

http://www.shinyeh.com.tw

Hours: 11 am-3:30pm, 5-10:30 pm

kid friendliness: high chairs available, kids setting offered

Complete review coming soon!








If you are looking for Taiwanese specialty dishes, but don't want to sit in a crowded stall in a night market- Shin Yeh is your best bet. You know that a place is good when it's packed with locals- it's like when you are in the states, you want to eat at the Chinese restaurants that's filled with Chinese people, not non-Chinese people. But not that tourists aren't welcome- the menu is very tourist friendly with both English and Chinese and lots of pictures of each dish. Located on the busy Chung Hsiao shopping area, it's fairly easy to find. Once upstairs, it's a fairly nice sit down restaurant with a few private rooms.


OTHER LOCATIONS:

Original Branch: 34-1, ShuangCheng Street
(02) 2596-3255
Hours: 11 am-1 am

NanXi Branch: 12, NanJing West Road, 8F
(02) 2523-6757
Hours: 11 am-9:30 pm