bakery/dessert: SUGAR AND SPICE

SUGAR AND SPICE
158, Dun Hua S Road, Sec 1
(02) 2752-2188

website: sugar.com.tw (in Chinese only)

hours: 10AM - 10PM

$$

Visit reviewed: 3/9/2007

I was delightfully surprised to walk into a store like Sugar and Spice in Taipei. With only one location here and a few more in Taichung, it was walking into a little girl's fantasy of a bakery. Sweets, cookies, chocolate and cakes everywhere with pink and brown boxes and walls to match the sweetness. I ended up choosing just a small cheesecake and organic brown sugar pudding to go, although I was very tempted to get some of the other cookies.

Funny enough, a few days later, I realized someone gifted our family with cheese pineapple pastries from Sugar and Spice, and yesterday, I received a beautiful little box with six tins of cookies inside (for the 2 month celebration of a new baby). They are the crispy type of crumbly snack cookies that are popular in Taipei.. For presentation, they get high marks in my books, since it's so cute and original. But the packaging comes at a premium price and the tastes of what I've sampled are just "okay."

As for the sweets I purchased, I enjoyed the cheesecake, but it was quite dense and sweet- a bit heavy to finish in one sitting. Having had both the caramel pudding and the cheesecake from 85 degrees C that same week, I realized how much more I enjoyed the 85 Degrees C sweets, even though they looked similar.

You can buy gift packages wrapped in cute pink and brown packaging such as Cookies (NT$350 for 3 tins, NT$780 for 6), Cheese Pineapple Pastry (NT$180-$360), Organic Brown Sugar Pudding (NT$336 for 8), Nougats, Macaroons (NT$360-600) or Chocolate. In their bright takehome brochure, there are also lots of cakes, including Mousse cakes that come in Macadamia nut, chocolate, vanilla chocolate or passion fruit flavors, as well as cheesecakes, tiramisu, roll cake, puff pastry cream cake and cakes topped with fruit (NT$380-1200 for smaller cakes, up to NT$3500 for 18 inch rounds).

All in all, for me, the packaging almost sets up too high of an expectation for the taste- I'd rather have an unwrapped delicious tasting gift than one that is beautifully wrapped, but average tasting. But some people eat with their eyes- so you can still walk around the store and see for yourself.

other locations
in Taichung

bakery: i recommend MAISON KAYSER

MAISON KAYSER
at Breeze Shopping Center, B2
39, Fuxing South Rd, Sec. 2
(at the intersection of Civic Boulevard and Fu Hsing South Road)
(02) 6600-8888

Hours: 11am-9:30pm Sun-Thur; 11am-10pm Fri-Sat

website: maison-kayser.com in french

$-$$

visits reviewed: 3/7/2007 and 4/20/2007


say it three times fast: olive it

Today was my third time wandering by Maison Kayser, a very frou frou bakery with the price tag to match near the equally frou frou Dean and Deluca at Breeze. The first time, I bought an assortment of pastries, some that I had sampled, some that I had not. I wasn't particularly impressed with the bun-sized Brioche or the flaky Apple type Danishes (it tasted a lot sweeter as a sample, or maybe I chose the wrong one), but the wide selection and hearty compliments by the picks my friend made were encouraging.

With both English and Chinese signs for most of the bread and sweets, it's easier to figure out what you want. Also, with all the Chinese and Japanese style bakeries in town, this one is more unique in that it offers more European style breads and treats from an actual French chain- from huge loaves to pizza to fruit tarts.

Today I wandered around again, sampled and ended up falling in love with this Olive Twist Bread (NT$90). I almost mistakenly bought the denser olive bread loaf (on the shelves), but comparing the sample with the loaf didn't match. Glancing around again, I spotted (right next to the samples!) a tree of hanging pretzel-like breads. It's very addicting as I've been snacking on it all afternoon, despite my vow to cut down carbs. The tough crust, tender interior bread and sprinkling of distinct olive bits tastes as if olive tapenade and pretzel bread got married and had a baby.

So for this alone, I will probably go back to Maison Kayser and buy more bread. And give another try at some of the other tempting sweets on the counter- if I can bear to pay NT$150 for it.

not taipei/brunch/american: i strongly recommend CAMPANILE

CAMPANILE
624 South La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
USA
(323) 948-1447

website: campanilerestaurant.com

brunch: 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM Sat/Sun only
lunch: 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM M-F
dinner: 5:30/6 PM - 10/11 PM M-W/Th-Sat

$$

Visit reviewed: 4/1/2007



Someone needs to find the recipe to the Belgian Waffle ($10) that Campanile makes and deliver it to me ASAP. It was the most wonderfully light, crispy, airy delicious waffle I've had in a long time and it melted in my mouth while I quickly devoured it before anyone else was even halfway done with their dish. AND tell me if they use a special waffle maker.

It's not that hard to make a decent waffle- I do it when I can, when I have the craving and I'm not too lazy to drag my cheap-o Target waffle maker off the kitchen shelf. It's perfectly delicious to me (and many others that I've made brunch for), especially with bananas and honey on top. But to make a DIVINE waffle like the one at Campanile that day, that is hard. Especially after all the cold and botched hotel waffles I had in Korea and China. Ugh. It's not that hard to make a decent waffle, but apparently it is harder than you'd think. So sometimes I don't feel like my brunch dollars are worth it on a waffle, especially when it usually doesn't come w/ any sides, but today it was.

But back to Campanile- it's a pretty infamous brunch place in LA and gets very packed, so reservations are highly recommended. It's on La Brea and near a lot of touristy spots, so you can do your thing afterwards. There is also a little bakery adjacent to it so you can take home some fresh bread or a panini for later. The space is open and bright, with white tables and white paper with proper service without being overly formal.



Other people in our party had Cast Iron Spanish Eggs ($15) and Steak and Eggs ($18) (choose the way your want your eggs) which were also good, but I was pretty happy with my choice. Other things that tempted me on the brunch menu- the Eggs Benedict, and the Quiche Lorraine. I also liked the dinner menu more than the lunch menu (you can check it out on their website) since grilled meat and desserts always make me happy.




So brunch places in Taipei, take note... and try and find the recipe!

chinese: i recommend JENDOW VEGETARIAN BUFFET

JEN DOW VEGETARIAN BUFFET
(Lien Shiang Zhai)
No. 353, Chang Chiung Rd
(02) 2547-4788

lunch:11:15 AM - 1:45 PM (NT$600)
afternoon tea weekdays: 2:15PM-4:30PM (NT$560)
dinner: 5:30PM - 9:00 PM (NT$660)

$$

website: jendow.com.tw Chinese only

kid friendliness: high chairs and lots of finger foods and desserts

visit reviewed: 11/19/2006



Who knew there were so MANY options for vegetarians? Well, apprarently, the owners of this vegetarian buffet did. Featuring many, MANY different stations of vegetables, tofu, dim sum, sushi, soups, fried options, fresh baked puff pastry soup, noodles cooked to order, desserts, fruits, salads, ice cream, and not one, but two chocolate fountains, there's much to eat even if you aren't a vegetarian.



And knowing quite a few vegetarians, I've been to quite a few vegetarian places, even buffets, and I've never seen a place that was a large or diverse, with a lot of little touches that both non-vegetarians and vegetarians can enjoy. They even had a fridge with complimentary Coca-cola in glass coke bottles!



I know a lot of people who make fun of faux meat- "why style and make your food taste like meat if you are a vegetarian"- but it's quite amazing what is available now... even fake sashimi, chicken nuggets and bbq pork buns!








There are plenty of signs in both English and Chinese to help you identify everything, including some of the more mysterious broths and offerings, as well as to point out what desserts include and exclude egg (in case you don't eat any animal products). Unintentionally, some of the wordings are quite funny and native English speakers will probably get a kick out of them. Honestly, I do laugh when I see them, and occasionally, when I even mention the mistake or correction to the servers (not here, but at other places) sometimes I don't think they even know what to do with it.


does this make any sense to anyone?

This in particular cracked me up- instead of calling it "stinky tofu" - they politely called it "beancurd of strong odor."


can you smell it from the picture?




There is so much food to try that you probably could not taste everything if you wanted, so I will just let you see for yourself some of the types of things that they had.











For a buffet, they have a lot of fresh/made to order type options that make it stand out from other buffets. Also, they have a cool system I haven't seen yet at other places. Each table has mini clips that are clipped onto a plastic stand at your table.. if you take them with you when you browse/order your noodles or veggies, they will clip it to your dish and know where to deliver it to you when it's done.



Although they don't do this for everything- you have to wait for your puff pastry soup (in line!) and for your handrolls- it's pretty cool that you're not glued to the veggie station while they steam it up for you.




One thing to keep in mind is that you should totally stock up on any desserts you have your eye on right away, especially if you are hitting the end of the meal time since they seemed to disappear fast as everyone was finishing their meals. And it seemed like once the buffet was out, they were out, and they didn't restock.

Although the chocolate fountains were quite impressive to look at, unfortunately, the white chocolate fountain was too oily.. it slid off the banana and other things I dipped into it and it was pretty nasty. Maybe it was just that day though. Also, they had things like grape tomatoes, melons and bananas that may have been previously frozen then defrosted (slightly brown) so it wasn't as appealing as I've seen chocolate fountains in the states with marshmallows and crackers and berries. I also noticed (probably a bit too late) a crepe machine in the same section, but a lot of the nutella was hardened and I was unsure if you were supposed to do it yourself or not.



I ended up getting some Movenpick ice cream and some creme brulee/panna cotta desserts. They offer the standard little cakes, creme brulee and fruit (with or without egg) as well as some almond soup, red bean and other Chinese type desserty soups.




I wasn't sure what this was, but someone at our table was eating it.. it seemed like aloe or the grapefruit jelly like stuff they put in the drinks, and he dipped it into a sweet syrupy type of mixture.



I was quite overwhelemed by trying to write about this place- there were too many pictures, too many things to talk about! But just like eating at this buffet, I just had to dive in, pace myself and not worry to much about it. I don't know if you can tell from this how large the buffet was, but hopefully you'll get a chance to discover it for yourself. If you do, reservations strongly recommended- the place was packed especially on weekends and I heard sometimes you have to find out when they have availability.


Other locations in
Kaohsiung
(03) 317-8000
Taoyuan
(07)386-1234
Shanghai
(21) 6457-2299

CLOSED! american: i recommend DEAN AND DELUCA

CLOSED! A/o 2011

DEAN AND DELUCA
at Breeze Center, B2F
N0.39, Fuxing S Road. Sec 1
Taipei 105
(02) 6600-8888 ext 7301

$-$$$

Sun - Wed 9 AM - 9 PM
Thur-Sat: 9 AM - 10 PM

website: deandeluca.com

visit reviewed: 3/12/2007



As "mall" food goes, Dean and Deluca can get pricey. But hey- it's Dean and Deluca- in Taiwan! So for a set lunch, NT$250 for fresh deli salads or hot American style food is quite a bargain. The NT$600 jar of jam- well, that's if you REALLY love spreadable fruit on your bread, right?

The clean classic layout makes it fun to browse the aisles for ultra-gourmet pastas, chocolates, cheese and other random gourmet foodie selections from NY and around the world. And maybe a great place to find a gift for your boss or that special someone.. but definitely the prices are more affordable to those that shop Tiffany's rather than the night market since it's more expensive than the already pricey JASONs or City Super. But don't let that deter you from checking out their deli selections.




You can choose already packed sandwiches or set lunches (NT$250), or you can choose your own selections from the daily specials. Today, I ended up selecting couscous, mushrooms, roasted veggies and noodles. It came w/ bread and soup- and today was corn soup or pumpkin soup. The corn soup was more watery than creamy and the pumpkin soup had a slightly sweet flavor to it. The couscous was flavorful and fluffy, the mushrooms were not grilled and flavorful as the roasted veggies which I really enjoyed, and the noodles were a bit sweet and tangy w/ tiny scallops mixed in and surprisingly tasty.



You can also choose from the hot food selections such as meat, pastas, lasagnas and veggies for a little extra. I really loved the selection and freshness of all the foods, especially since it will be difficult to find things like couscous anywhere else in Taipei. And it's not a bad price for the portion/choices in contrast to a lunch at Macaroni Grill or something equally Western.

There are also gourmet sandwiches such as Eggplant and Brie which come on fresh bread and are in the deli section. Although I didn't have any of this, my friend was very happy with it and finished it all. She even recommended the Brie which unfortunately they ran out of in the cheese section.



All in all, it's a quick pleasant place for lunch, especially if you have been searching for deli style types of foods. You can also get it ala carte by weight, but the lunchtime set menu is a good bargain- you could even take it home to reheat it for later. I think I'll definitely find myself there again, and maybe even splurging on something gourmet from the racks.

CLOSED! indian/food court: i don't recommend CURRY AND TEA HOUSE

CURRY AND TEA HOUSE
at 101 Mall foodcourt
(near JASONs Supermarket)
45 ShihFu Rd., B1

$$

Visit reviewed: 12/26/2006




After passing by this mall court spot a number of times, I finally got the chance to try it out. It looks appealing with good portions, but too bad the taste of the meal didn't live up to its promising appearance. You can choose a curry set menu with chicken (NT$120), beef (NT$160), mutton (NT$150), and your set menu comes with rice and a small salad. I added a naan (NT$35) to try it out.




The chicken curry (NT$120) was extremely watered down yet oily- I didn't even want to dip the naan into the curry. The rice had no flavor and naan was more a tortilla than naan. I didn't bother finishing the meal or packing it to go. I kind of picked out the chicken to eat with a few bites of rice. For Indian mall food, you're better off trying Tandoor at the Far Eastern Mall since they offer you two different curries in their set menu (which is still a bit watery but at least it has good flavors) and their naan is actually naan, or just going to a sit down restaurant.

But now everytime I pass by Curry and Tea House, I don't have to be tempted anymore.

chinese: random "ren bing" street vendor

random street vendor
$

Visited reviewed: 3/11/2007





One of the best things about Taipei is that there are almost always street vendors on street side corners or little alleyways. For someone who loves to snack like me, it means that I can fulfill my cravings without a dent in my coin purse since things usually aren't more than NT$10-$100 (30cents US - US$3), but the temptations can have the opposite effect on your waistline!

I don't often spot or get to eat this Taiwanese treat- but it was not bad. They had most of the elements at room temperature in a mini plastic shelves organizer that you would find on someone's desk, but after adding the hot cabbage that they reheated in boiling water, it warmed up everything else. It's much much lighter than a fried spring roll- I guess more like a Vietnamese spring roll since it can be served at room temperature (though it has totally different elements and not made with rice paper) or a Taiwanese burrito/wrap.

new in town: LONG JOHN SILVER's and DUNKIN DONUTS

I haven't had a chance to visit either yet, but there are two new American franchises in town. The question is-- can they bring the "standard" flavors of what we grew up with, or do they tweak and change it too much to accomodate local tastes?

I remember going to eat the crispy battered fish and hush puppies and coleslaw at the pirate themed Long John's Silver as a kid (which is almost extinct since it's not even that popular in the states anymore) and getting a dozen donuts from Dunkin Donuts for the office on Fridays and some donut hole Munchkins for myself.

Of course, I'm hoping that they can retain what we like, but I've heard rumblings that the opposite is true. I've seen Dunkin Donuts (and 31 Baskin Robbins) all over Korea- and their donuts taste pretty decent. KFC and McDonalds have had successfully transferred as well as added to their menus (although I wish they'd bring over the mashed potato and coleslaw for KFC).

Have you been? What did you think?

LONG JOHN SILVERS
No. 218, NanJing E Rd, Sec 3
080-903-6688
longjohnsilvers.com.tw (Chinese only)

DUNKIN' DONUTS
No. 208, NanJing E Rd, Sec 2
(02)2503-7377
Hours: 7 am - 10 pm

happy chinese new year

I've been traveling the past few weeks, so sorry about lack of posts- I'm still catching up on work and life off-line in Taipei, but don't worry, I've still been eating good food to blog about. Like many other families, we ended up going away for the Chinese New Year- so here's a preview of the culinary delights that I will blogging about very soon that I got to enjoy from Korea and Beijing.


the spread- i love the side dishes in Korea!


mmm.. cold glass noodles- does anyone know where we can eat this in Taipei?


mmm. can you smell the kalbi?


gotta have beijing duck in beijing and i was glad i ate here!

Happy year of the Golden Pig!