chinese: Vegetarian restaurant (name/address TBA)

VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT
name and address TBA

$$-$$$

date visited: 3/12/2006

"sashimi" closeup. yup, it's vegetarian!

Earlier this year, we went in search of a vegetarian restaurant and discovered this unusual but very interesting restaurant that presented vegetarian foods as if you weren't eating vegetarian food. They were known for the set menus which included sushi and sashimi-like textures on a bed of ice and mushroom steaks on a sizzling stone.

"sashimi" assortment on ice


mushroom "steak"

It was definitely some of the most unique and beautiful presentation of food, much less vegetarian food, I'd seen in awhile, although for above average prices as well. While there were some hits (anything with mushroom for me- the mushroom steak, the sashimi and the tempura) and some misses (the cold appetizer soup and the starter salad), it's worth a try if you have a vegetarian in your family or want to try something different.

It's also fun just to admire the detail in each dish and discuss in amazement how much something tastes like what it appears to be, or at the chef's creativity. I'm sure that the restaurant probably changes their set menus depending on seasonal ingredients, so if you get a set menu course, it may not be the same as the one I had.

starter salad

herbal soup

mushroom "steak" on sizzling stone

vegetarian sushi with edible orchid!


Everything tasted fresh and hearty- and unlike some other vegetarian experiences I've had- which would consist of pretty slim pickings and sometimes compromising a choice in flavor or selection- this was a full and complete meal with nothing missing.

vegetable tempura

soup with tofu

chilled taro soup

chinese: i recommend KEELUNG NIGHT MARKET

KEELUNG NIGHT MARKET
(Miao Kou stands)
Between Ren 3rd Rd. and Ai 4th Rd,
near the Dianji Temple
Keelung City

$

date visited: 10/22/2006

Finally get to blog about night market food! Somehow my camera is always forgotten or out of battery everytime we go, even though I have been going a lot less than I did when I was younger- I loved to go to Shih Lin night market (but that's another entry!).

Keelung is about a half hour away from Taipei. Their night market is pretty famous- there are usually so many a lot of people there! There's two long rows of food stands where you can sit at the counter and order your food- there's a lot to choose from.

one view of the stands

Some people are scared of eating foods from stands or from street vendors, but luckily I've never had any problems with it.. In general, I think you just stick to ones that are busy or look clean- and with the Keelung Night Market having such high traffic- it means their turnaround rate is high enough that nothing is ever really sitting around.

While all the stand number/names have brief English descriptions here, ordering is most likely a point and nodding experience if you don't speak Chinese. Wander around from stand to stand until you see something that you like and see if there's a seat available. One of my favorites is the gua bao (NT$30), which is like a sandwich made with a soft steamed bun with tender pork, ground peanuts and pickled vegetables inside- I suppose you could compare it as a chinese carnitas soft taco if you really had to make the reference.

gua bao

I also like the chinese spring/summer roll- which is made with a thin crepe-like skin wrapped around cabbage, ground peanuts, soybeans and carrots.

A lot of what you like is probably personal taste- if you are adventurous, you can try the soup with intestines or the boiled various intestines at the stands. This soup has a tiny bit of chinese herb taste to it, which makes it taste "good for you" without being overly pungent. Paired with freshly fried fishcake or "tem-pu-la," it's a sweet and spicy match to the plainer notes of the broth.

rice noodle soup and tofu. on the plates: intestines and liver
fried fishcake and soup with intestines

There are also a few fresh juice and shaved ice stands. If you get a chance, you can come with an empty stomach and sample and hop around until you are full! With everything being around NT$25-100 (less than US$1-3), you could easily snack all day!

chinese: i strongly recommend JIU RU at Ren Ai

JIU RU
69 Jen Ai Rd., Sec. 4
(02) 2751-7666

hours: 8am to 10pm

kid friendliness: no high chairs, quite crowded for strollers especially during rush hours

$

date visited: 10/31/2006


wonton or "ravioli" soup

cold sesame noodles

zong zhi or rice dumpling

stir fried rice noodles

sesame and peanut balls

Mmmmmm at very affordable prices. Tiny location, but good food. Apparently, this branch is part of the Jiu Ru chain that has locations at 101 and Breeze.. but this location has homestyle wonton (or as they say on the menu "ravioli" soup and sesame balls at prices you will never find at the fancy mall locations. You can even buy freshly made wontons to-go to prepare at home yourself. The menu has English and Chinese though no pictures, and the set menu deal is only in Chinese.

You can pick up your own side dishes at the front and I passed by the lady making wontons with handiwork that was faster than my eye could catch. The wontons are made with either meat/vegetable or shrimp, and you can order them with or without noodles. Also available are cold noodles with sesame sauce or dan dan noodles which are very plain.

The dessert has boiled mochi balls filled with your choice of black sesame, peanut or red bean. It's plenty to share with five balls, or you can enjoy it all by yourself.

OTHER LOCATIONS

Taipei 101 Mall, 4th FL
No. 45, Shih Fu Road
(02) 8101-8598

Breeze Center
(02) 6606-6859

No. 68, Tien Mu East Road, 7th FL
Tien Mu, Taipei
(02) 2874-3675

thai/take-out: THAI TOWN

THAI TOWN
49 Jen Ai Road, Sec 2
(02) 2351-0960

thaitown.com.tw

$$-$$$

date reviewed: 10/27/2006

www.thaitown.com.tw

Thai fried rice noodle NT$250 (#8 of top 10) or pad thai
fried greens with shrimp paste NT$180 (#3 of top 10)
Thai fried rice noodle NT$250 and pineapple rice NT$350
moon shrimp pancake NT$300 (#1 of top 10)

Even though we did take-out, I was tempted to stay at the restaurant with its clean modern interior and friendly service. I was pleasantly surprised at the detail of the packing of the to-go order- little bags to separate the nuts/dried pork/sauces so they wouldn't soggy- a cardboard box like the kind for pizzas for the shrimp cakes. Overall, the food was decent, though the Thai fried rice noodle was my least favorite dish of the bunch and my favorite was the Curry Chicken NT$280 (#4 of top 10). Maybe because I forgot to add the peanuts and chilis that were packaged so carefully away.

The menus had both English and Chinese and lots of pictures, as well as a to-go menu with their top 10 dishes and set menus (in Chinese) for 3-6 people at NT$399/person, as well as a free soda with every NT$399 spent. For a chain, the prices seem slightly higher than I would pay for take-out in the states, but about average for Thai I've had in Taipei. Do all Thai ice teas cost NT$90 (or US$3) these days?? Their drinks do, and they have quite a few desserts with coconut milk with fruit, black sticky rice, tapioca or taro served with cold with crushed ice or hot, to choose from to for NT$85 each.

Other locations:

133 Anhe Road, Sec 2
(02) 2735-9638

9 Sueng Shou Road
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, A9, 7th FL
Xin Yi District
(02) 2723-9987

116 Tien Mu West Road
Tien Mu District
(02) 2826-4852

68 Tien Mu East Road
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, Building A, 7th FL
(02) 2873-6680

22 Jingye 3rd Road, 2nd FL
(02) 2175-3355

165 Chen Gong Road, Sec 3
(02) 2791-9608

Other locations outside of Taipei

65 Wen Hua Road, Sec 1
Panchiao
(02) 8965-1155

659 Chung Cheng Road
Yungho
(02) 8231-1257

122 Zhong Shan Road, Sec 1
Zhonghe
(02) 7731-7778

95 Jengyi North Road
Sanchung
(02) 2989-8088

111 Taichung Port Road, Sec 2
Taichung
(04) 2252-1733

(now other businesses- is it THAT hard to print English addresses on your business cards, and for your other locations? If Thai Town can do it, so can you!)

CLOSED! dessert/american: K2 GELATO & i do not recommend STATES FRIES

as of October 2007: CLOSED! States Fries has been replaced by two different fries places, with serving options like Poutine?

K2 GELATO
STATES FRIES
Warner Village outdoor food court
16 Song Shou Road
Xin Yi district, Taipei 110

$$

EDIT 6/22/2007 walked by States Fries the other day, and now there is a Irish Potatoes in its place. Didn't get too close for a look, but seems like the same thing- maybe new management? or just a new name?

EDIT 10/27/2006: about a month ago, K2 gelato has been replaced by a donut place, which is a bit strange considering Mr. Donut is just down the block. Has anyone seen it relocated somewhere else, or is it the end of K2?

date visited: 7/25/2006

When I first heard about States Fries, I thought that the owners were a bit insane. Charging $80-$120 NT for just french fries? That's the equivalent of US$2.75-$4. Every time, I passed by- the oily aroma of freshly fried french fries would waft towards me. The menu included chili fries. I was tempted. Then they renovated the food court indoors, and somehow States Fries ended up outside, next door to K2 Gelato. Sometimes I would see a short line. I ended up nicknaming them "devil fries" because they were so bad for you, but so tempting!


So I caved recently, while walking around on a hot afternoon near Warner Village. I blame the gelato. You know how sometimes when you have something sweet, then you crave something salty, or vice versa. It was hot, so I had some gelato. Then I had the fries.

So which do you want to hear about first?

K2 is a tiny gelato nook with about 10-14 flavors. The guy who scooped my flavors said that they make it there every few days. I sampled few flavors, which are labeled in Chinese and what I assume is Italian. I ended up getting 2 flavor cup (NT$80) the caramel which is a sweet, sugary flavor, which tastes like caramel (well, duh) and banana (which I did not sample because I felt bad because I already had three samples).



Now, I always make this mistake. I feel bad asking for samples, although I should not because ultimately I spend money there at Fill-in-the-blank ice cream/frozen yogurt/gelato place. Often times, after I've had three or so samples, I will decide on a flavor I like, and then sometimes pair it with another flavor that I think I will like, but not actually sampled, but think will be okay because all the other flavors I sampled were okay, and how bad could it be.

Caramel and banana. Sounds good right? Well, for whatever reason, I didn't like the banana gelato. And I like banana! Something was off about it... I don't know if there was additional flavor that was added, or it was from a syrup rather than fresh? But I ended up eating all of the caramel and none of the banana. If I had known this advance, I would have just gotten the 1 flavor cup (NT$60). I like the gelato at K2... It's not as dense and heavy as the ice cream at Haagen Daaz, and it's not watery like some of those mall places where they make ice cream from ice and chocolate syrup. I will have to try their fruit flavors one day.

So back to States Fries... it's hard to find chili cheese fries here. And yes, it's not good for you. But sometimes, you just want to eat them! States Fries offers fries plain (NT$80) or with various toppings such as honey mustard, cheese, chili, chili cheese or even sweet toppings that you can see on their menu wall. They also have combos where you can pair the cup of fries with a sandwich and drink.



But sadly, the chili fries (NT$95) are another thing that are just not as good here. The chili is watery, bland and made the fries soggy and watery and not very tasty. I go back to the counter and request that they add the cheese, hoping it will save it. After telling them that the chili is too watery, the fries guy says something along the lines of that the chili didn't sell well earlier, so it was in the freezer or fridge, and when it was reheated became more watery. Basically admitting that they gave me bad chili. And they also take my extra NT$20 for the cheese, instead of apologizing or offering up the cheese for free.


Unfortunately, the cheese, which is melted from an oven and then put onto the fries (not a cheese sauce, for those of you that are curious), does not save this chili fry mess. The cheese becomes cold fairly quickly and of course, can't change how watery or bland the chili is. I end up being unable to finish it.

Long story short, if you are desparately craving, you can make better chili cheese fries yourself at Chili's. Their chili soup is actually not bad, at least relative to this, thick with meat, beans and tomatoes the way it should be; their fries are also crispy and hot. A better choice would also be to enjoy the fries with your combo at McDonalds or Doner Kebab nearby- and get a whole meal for the price you would pay at States Fries.

PS.. It's too bad they don't have garlic fries. Now if made properly, that would be pretty delicious. I wonder if you could find garlic fries in Taipei

CLOSED/chinese: JIU RU 101

JIU RU
at 101 Mall, 4 FL
No.45, Shih Fu Rd.,
(02) 8101-8598
CLOSED

date visited: 9/25/2006

$$-$$$






If you're sightseeing in the Xin Yi district or shopping in the 101 mall and need an easy place to eat Chinese food with your family, but don't want to eat food court food, a good bet is Jiu Ru. Featuring a varied menu of Shanghainese food, my favorites from my dinner with my friend's family were the braised pork, steamed dumplings (xiao long bao), vegetable dumplings and zhong zi (rice dumpling). It's definitely pricier than you would pay at a local restaurant for the same dishes, maybe double the price for a basket of xiao long bao, but you are paying for the comfort of dining in the real estate of 101 and the prices are about the same as the other restaurants on the same floor (and the food a lot better, at least better than neighbor Diamond Tony's). We had quite a large group and was easily accomodated in their large space and didn't feel crowded or rushed. I think their dumplings were not as juicy as the xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung, but to the average diner, it will do just fine. Very clean and modern setting, with tourist friendly menu and location.

OTHER LOCATIONS

Breeze Center
(02) 6606-6859

No. 69, Ren Ai Road, Sec 4
(02) 2751-7666

bakery/breakfast: MISTER DONUT

MISTER DONUT
-Breeze Center
-NYNY Mall in Xin Yi district
-across from the Takashimaya Mall: 39, Fusing S Rd., Sec. 1, (02) 8772-5990
-Taipei Main Station underground
-and other locations

www.mrdonut.com.tw (in Chinese only)

$

visit reviewed: 10/12/2006

For those of you who have yet to hear of Mister Donut, it's a chain donut store from Japan (though I heard somewhere it actually originated in the US), which had a crazy debut in Taiwan, where the lines to get a box of donuts would take up to four hours. Yup, you heard that right- people waited up to FOUR HOURS for ONE BOX of donuts.


Crazy right? It even sprouted up a business where students would sell their "waiting services"- you ordered your donuts online through them and they added a fee of NT$10 or US30cents or so per donut and they studied or text messaged or whatever while they waited in line for you. Each donut is about NT$30 or so, so it was a hefty 30 cents or 30 percent fee per donut.


But now, since they've expanded, you can usually get your donuts within 5 minutes, though sometimes I see mini-lines sprout up.

Is it worth the wait?

Well, first off, the donuts aren't like your typical American donuts, at least to my tastebuds.



The most popular "pon de ring" donut is made from a gluten-based flour which gives the donut a slightly chewy texture, kind of like if you combined mochi and a donut together. It's not very sweet and quite dense. Sort of the opposite of Krispy Kremes I suppose- which are very sweet and light- which I end up craving whenever I see a Mr. Donut.

While Mister Donut has other less chewy donuts, overall, I think their donuts are so-so. They also have old fashioned, cruellers, cake, sugar, jelly and eclair donuts, but I find them either too dense or bland or too sweet, depending on the type of donut and frosting. While it's good for a quick snack, it's pricey for a donut- US$1, with no discount if you buy a full dozen.


I wasn't sure how to classify Mr. Donut- is it a dessert? Is it breakfast? Is it a bakery? Most people don't really eat donuts for breakfast here, like you would Dunkin Donuts, so I just put it under bakery. The pristine counters and rows of donuts behind the glass makes it fun as you point and pick out your donuts and you watch them carefully pack them into the box. But if you click around the website, you can watch videos or download desktop images of the pon de ring lion. I guess the disappointing thing, is that they don't taste as good as they look.


This month, they gave away little stickers with purchase, so if you matched two of the same prize, you could win either a free donut, cup of coffee or Mister Donut lion pen. While the mascot is super cute, it seems to be used pretty sparingly in the decor of the store.


More recently, they started having donut holes, which I was very excited about. But I found them to be dry and dense. I miss those melt-in-your-mouth donut holes from Dunkin Donuts (which strangely enough, is all over Korea)!

The Mister Donuts are pretty much the only donut chain in Taipei, until someone decides to make lots of money by bringing Krispy Kremes here. That would be so awesome! So if you are craving donuts, try the pon de ring donut, but be prepared for the chewiness! If you are craving Krispy Kremes, well, ask someone to bring some back for you.

revisited/japanese: i strongly recommend SUMIE

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

$$$

date revisited: 10/11/2006

I felt bad that my pictures from my initial review of Sumie doesn't do their food justice, so I tried taking some better ones from my last visit there. But unfortunately, I deleted a lot of them because I thought I had downloaded them to my computer already and I didn't. Boo hoo. So here are the few and I promise to bring you more. I usually always get the set menu (unless I'm not hungry and then you should try and split the set menu with someone else)- which is constantly changing, but usually includes (and not in this order) the steak or lamb chops, sashimi, an appetizer, a salad, a seafood dish (for which I like to request the strange sounding but delicious tasting fish jaw), a soup, sushi and dessert.


This crab and edamame over fig was almost like a mini-sculpture plated on top of a giant leaf. I've never had fig before, but I'm glad I tried it- it was sweet and soft, and almost sexy.




I cannot tell you how much I LOVE the lamb chops at Sumie. They are tender, juicy, perfectly flavored and is a must for anyone who has yet to eat lamb or likes lamb chops, although once you've had their lamb chops I don't know how you could eat it anywhere else. It's so satisfying to gnaw on, in the most ladylike way I can, thoughtfully wrapped with aluminum foil to keep the messy to a minimum.

Next time, pics of the sashimi and other artfully arranged dishes.. I promise I won't delete them from my camera until I post them! I still look forward to going to Sumie everytime we feel like nice, sit-down Japanese food, especially in comparison to the food from other nice, sit-down (translation: pricier) Japanese restaurants I've tried since.

Read my previous review from August 14th, 2005.

korean/bbq grill: FIRE TREE SILVER FLOWER KOREAN BBQ

FIRE TREE SILVER FLOWER- KOREAN ALL YOU CAN EAT BBQ (as translated by my friend)
(in chinese: HUO SU ING HWA 火樹銀花-韓式燒烤)
No.3-10, Jinan Rd., Sec. 2,
Jhongjheng District
(02) 2321-2729

Lunch: 11:30AM-2PM
Dinner: 5PM-9PM

$

date visited: 9/28/2006



I was going to wait until I found out/translated the address until I posted this, but I will go ahead and do a preliminary post in honor of my first trip to Korea today! I am headed to Pusan/Busan for a week and will hopefully be eating a lot of GOOD Korean food. I haven't decided if I will feature any of the food there, since it is sort of off topic (not in Taipei!)- but we'll see!

I was invited by some friends to go eat Korean BBQ- I was quite excited since I really like the sweet and spicy marinade of bulgogi, kalbi and the like. This place is a little different than I expected, since it is more like a traditional Taiwan bbq with a Korean twist. It's all you can eat for a set price (NT$285/person at lunch, NT$329/person at dinner), with an area where you can grab your own meats and vegetables to grill/put in a soup at your table, and a panchan cold dishes bar to also plate up. The dishes are a refreshing partner to the taste of the grill.

my selection of panchan: edamame, spicy fishcake, seaweed,
soybean sprouts, tofu

What's different here is that every so often, the kitchen will bring out a few dishes of something- in our case, it was sweet fried chicken, seafood pancake or ha mul pajeon , and candied fried sweet potato dessert. The sesame fried chicken was slightly sweet and breaded, kind of like orange chicken. I like orange chicken, so I liked it.

While the waitress brought the pancake from table to table to ensure everyone got a piece, they placed the sweet potato down- which made for a mad frenzy of each table sending a representative to go grab enough for their table. The seafood pancake was light and slightly crispy, and so good that we asked the waitress if they were having another round later. At first she said no, but towards the end of the night, we got a pleasant surprise by getting a plate all to ourselves.

the seafood pancake or ha mul pajeon

The candied sweet potato had a hard crunchy shell, I think from dipping the sugar coated fried sweet potato into cold water, and was sticky and sweet and goooood.

the candied sweet potato

I kind of wished that you could order a Dol sot bibim bap or a stone rice dish with vegetables and meat, like they had at Bullfight Yakiniku, but it's available during lunch for a very affordable NT$100. I am not sure if that's something you can order ala carte, or an extra fee you have to pay with your all you can eat fee. They also didn't offer any jap chae, a stir fried vermicelli dish.

Some of the meats were REALLY spicy, and when grilled and stirfried together with the less spicy meats and the vegetables, I found the overall taste of the meats to be more spicy than anything else. I guess you could prevent this by not having any of the spicy chicken on the grill in the first place and sit with people who don't want spicy foods either. It's not that I don't like spicy foods, I do, it's just that the heat overcame any of the other flavor that I could enjoy.

the meats and vegetables on the grill

time for the next round!

Lots of people finish off their meal with the soup in which you can put vegetables, seafood and meat.

While I found their meat selection to be less varied and not marinated like I expected with only 1 selection each of chicken (very spicy), beef, lamb and pork, the Korean appetizers that came out made up for it. It's a good option if you like your flavors spicy or you are bored of the regular bbq/hotpot experience, but if you really want higher quality meat and seafood, you should probably go to Momo Paradise or Bullfight Yakiniku, . You also have to kind of guess/eyeball what you are getting since nothing is really labeled in the areas where you grab the meats, vegetables, cold dishes. Their dessert selection is slim- limited to a few fruits, but they send out the candied sweet potatoes as their grand finale.

It's not a huge space with about 15 tables crowded together, so you might check for reservation earlier in the evening if you want to go. I wouldn't say it's very baby friendly as the tables are quite close together and the restroom is a squat toliet- although they do open early at 5pm so you could go for an early dinner. But the servers are very friendly and helpful as its seems like a Korean family/friend run business, compared to some of the nonchalant attitudes you might get from the young local waiters who work at the various hot pot/bbq places. I wouldn't rule out going again, but it's probably more fun with a group of friends rather than a couple or a business lunch. In the back of my mind, I compare this place to a place my friend took me in Orange County, near UC Irvine that had some of the best Kalbi I have had in awhile- and this place didn't quite compare. I have heard about other good Korean restaurants here so I will probably try them out first. And we'll see what the food is like in Korea!