CLOSED & MOVED!/japanese: i recommend KITCHEN KAMAKURA

ED NOTE (6/15/2007): Tried to go there last night with relatives after discovering that Jiu Ru was only selling zong zi for zong zi season. But, the windows were dark and a sign with their new address was there, along with another group of confused would-be customers. Boo hoo!!! Will post the new address soon, but I think I overheard my uncle say that the new place is izayaka style so more like a bar/cafe. Hm.



KITCHEN KAMAKURA
No. 7, Lane 83, Da An Road, Sec 1
(02)8773-2037

$ - $$

kid friendliness: no high chairs, no booths, but friendly servers & room for strollers

Visit reviewed: 5/1/2007


We wandered down a lane behind the Dun Hua Sogo looking for a place to lunch- past the mom and pop noodle shops into Kitchen Kamakura not sure what to expect. I felt like I could have walked into a shop in Japan with the food, flavors and ambience at Kitchen K with its calm, modern (and yes, Zen-like) atmosphere and a few scattered customers. With the daily specials on the wall in Japanese, the menu was only in Japanese and Chinese with a few pictures, with most dishes ranging from NT$300-400.



We started off with a sashimi platter to share, and it was surprisingly fresh and well presented from my expectations. I got to eat most of the uni (YAY!) and the rest of it melted in my wasabi soy-sauced mouth.



I was very happy with my choice of the tonkatsu-don, which is a deep fried pork cutlet bathing with a soft scrambled egg pool. It came as a set menu, with a bowl of miso soup, a big bowl of white rice, tsukemono or some pickled vegetables and seaweed and a fried tofu-like ball (which I am trying to figure out the Japanese name for!)


what is this called??

The portion was sizeable for the price and it was one of the best tonkatsu-don's I've had in a long time. I like my egg a bit soft to wash down the hardness of the steamed rice, and I didn't mind that it was even a little soupy that made the already tender katsu a bit soggy- that's sort of the whole point. I didn't like the tofu ball enough to finish it- very mushy texture and lacking in flavor like the sesame one I had at Peony(though the rest of the food here had Peony beat by a long shot). My friend who had the unagi-don or the eel equivalent of mine also polished his dish. We traded bites and his eel was savory, soft and slightly sweet- just right.



My other friend ordered a grilled chicken, which seemed lonely and plain next to our meats which were chilling out in their glorious eggy baths. The table consensus was that hers was our least favorite. Good, but ordinary.



We might have been a bit greedy, as I ordered a side of steak as well. It was simply grilled with a bit of wasabi sauce on top.



Included in the set menu was a red bean dessert and choice of hot/cold tea/coffee- we had to rush so I didn't try the dessert, but for the price and taste (in contrast to other similarly priced eateries) I will definitely be back!

foodcourt: VIE SHOW CINEMAS FOODCOURT

VIE SHOW CINEMAS FOODCOURT
No. 16, Sung Shou Road, 2F

$

kid friendliness: no high chairs, but room to put your strollers. Play area and arcade in the back, as well as downstairs, though the downstairs arcade is quite loud and noisy

website: vscinemas.com.tw

last visited: 6/ 8/2007

I have to say I'm pretty fascinated with the food courts in Taipei. They are mostly the same in the different malls with different variations, but sometimes you might find some unique offerings. If you need a quick bite to eat before you watch a movie at Warner Vie Show Cinemas near 101 or you're in town for a trade show (like Computex), what do you eat?

Since I've seen quite a few movies, I've circled around this food court many a times. There's Burger King, Haagen Daaz, Doner Kebab, Teppanyaki, crepes, Korean bimbimbap, Vietnamese pho, Indian curry, Chinese wonton noodles, Japanese omelette and curry, Taiwanese snacks, shaved ice, Buffalo Steak, Dennis Deli, even a Froot juice bar and Bellini Italian cafe to the outside of it and LA Cafe downstairs.

There used to even be a Mexican shop-Taco Taco, but it's now extra seating area. (And yes, I tried it and yes, there's a reason why it's out of business).



Well, here's my shortlist of hits and misses-

HITS

• BURGER KING- because you can't go wrong with a whopper. Quick and same as you'd expect at any other BK
  
• DONER KEBAB- This place is growing on me. You can get the chicken or beef or both in a wrap or bun, and with the lettuce, tomato, olives, onions and sauces customized to your preference- it's like Subway, but better. With fries and a drink (NT$150).
  
  
  
  
• CHINESE NOODLE SHOP- the wontons and noodles are cheap and food court-level tasty
  
  
  
  
• HAAGEN DAAZ- although their service is terribly s-l-o-w sometimes. If so, just go downstairs and around the corner to the much faster and friendlier new kid on the block, Coldstones.
  
• FROOT- It's not Jamba Juice, but it's close. They have a few tasty drinks (NT$80+) especially on a hot summer day.
  
• BELLINI PASTA PASTA- usually tasty Japanese style Italian pasta, but bit longer wait than food court food. Just come a little earlier than your movie time.
  
  
• TAIWANESE SNACKS- just a few bags to sneak into the theater, and they supply the long toothpicks for your green beans, tofu, tempura or other traditional Taiwanese snacks. Good flavor and slightly healthier than Burger King.
  

MISSES

• PHO- haven't had the pho here yet, but it's the same chain as the one in Eslite and I never see anyone ordering from there. Ever.
  
• KOREAN SPECIALISP- (their typo, not mine) WIthout asking, they drench the bimbimbap with hot sauce, so that it's unbearably hot (spice wise and temperature wise) without much flavor to the beef or pickled vegetables. The rice gets burned on the bottom without getting crispy and what's up with the lettuce? I do like the side of thousand year old egg and tofu with the set lunch (NT$150). If you're craving bimbimbap, go to the foodcourt at 101 instead. They also have many side order options where this place doesn't.
  
  
  
  
• CREPE PLACE- Maybe it's better now that it's moved where the tako-yaki place used to be. But when I last got a crepe a few years ago, it was stiff and tasted like cardboard.
  
  
  
  
• BUFFALO STEAK- It's not buffalo, but I'm not sure it's beef either. Tough yet mushy and bland- though you can't tell by looking at it.

Of course, you could always stick to popcorn (I like to get mine mostly sweet and some salty- personally, I'm addicted to the kettle corn option here) and a slurpie from 7-11 in the Neo 19 building.

BTW, looking for movie times or buying tickets online in English? Try vscinemas.com.tw

I'm hoping to cover more foodcourts and mall restaurants the same way, with all the info in one post. The businesses in Taipei don't make it easy for you though, with all the websites in Chinese and on several occasions, I've even asked their information desks and they always seem to have "run out" of their English brochures.

my kitchen (sort of): zong zi

I was lucky enough to check out a lesson wrapping the Taiwanese treat- zong zi- where they supplied all the ingredients and we just had to perform the origami-art of wrapping the bamboo leaves into a pocket to stuff our sticky rice and goods and then around again so that the rice didn't squeeze out.

Not a half bad job if I say so myself! I did two meat ones, one vegetarian and one sweet dumpling with black rice and red bean paste.




before


after

I think my relatives are going to wrap some for the upcoming Duanwu festival, so I will be prepared to get my hands dirty!

• When you fold the two bamboo leaves over, make sure one side is much shorter so you have a longer area to work with.
• Make the pocket deep enough to stuff the goods.
  
• Flatten out the rice a bit to layer your meat and yolk and such
  
• Squeeze gently on the sides before you tuck the leaf over the rice
  
• Tie the string tight!
  

Why do we eat zongzi for this holiday? I am still not sure since it's something I just remember doing since I was a kid- it's like why do you eat gingerbread men at Christmastime- but check out wikipedia.

Can't make it yourself? There are a ton of restaurants that offer it on a daily basis such as Little Shanghai and Jiu Ru, and you can order it from places such as Grand Formosa Regent Hotel or pick some up at Nan Men (South Door) market.

Speaking of cooking, I saw this from the Epicurious newsletter and I don't know if it's a sign I've been in Taiwan too long, but the stuff from homebistro.com looks REALLY good! Too bad they don't ship internationally. :( But the grilled meats and the souffle and the bisque looks good!

japanese: i strongly recommend A-PLUS DINING SAKE BAR

A-PLUS DINING SAKE BAR
33, Anhe Road, Sec. 1
(02) 2731-9266

website: aplusdiningbar.com.tw

lunch:12 PM - 3 PM
dinner: 6 PM- 2 AM

$- $$

Visit reviewed: 5/30/2007

Yay! Spicy tuna rolls! Yay! California rolls!

Yay for A-Plus. I can't tell you how hard it has been to find spicy tuna rolls in Taipei. They have been basically inedible or non-existent up to this point. (I even attempted to order spicy tuna roll in Beijing at the Japanese restaurant in Shangri-La hotel, but it was awful as well. Spicy tuna is not just tuna with tabasco sauce okay?)


a beautiful sight for sore eyes

But now, I have a place to go when the craving hits me in Taipei. They also had a wider selection of "rolls" (NT$100+) than most other more traditional Japanese restaurants in town, but not doused with mayonaise with paper thin unagi like practically scarring experience I had at Niko Niko.

Their unagi over rice almost blew me away. First, the portion was huge! Second, it was tender, perfectly grilled and seasoned- and didn't have the moisture grilled completely out of it.



The menu is in English and Chinese with a few pictures, though the set lunch special is only in Chinese. You can choose from a few main dishes, and comes with a ordinary salad and miso soup, as well as a coconut flan-like dessert.




It's self proclaimed "fusion"- Japanese food made with local ingredients and with South American embellishments served in a sophisticated NY inspired environment. And the environment is definitely nicer than your average Japanese restaurant, but still reasonably priced- perfect for casual business lunch, lunch with your friends or maybe evening a night out. It's also definitely less hectic than the similarly priced Watami nearby.



My friends heartily recommended the grilled Mackarel- but I was in the mood for rolls. And I polished off all of my share.





The cold udon was smaller than I expected, but it was al dente Q and the sweet sesame sauce was the perfect accompaniment.



All in all, I heartily recommend A-Plus. Supposedly, they remodeled and revamped their menu recently and has been packed ever since. I think we grabbed the last table during this lunch hour. It's down the block from Dun Hua Eslite bookstore a little past Space Yoga and open late as well for late night grazing and drinks.

where is everyone (from) ?

It's been lonely the last few days, with no feedback from anyone. I'm slowly catching up, but I have a ton of more posts and places to write up. By request, I've also added a "kid friendliness" comment section to posts, which will eventually be updated throughout the older posts to the best of my knowledge!

I'm curious about you guys though- it's so interesting to be getting hits from all over the world. I'd love to throw out a few questions to you guys, answer the ones you want.

(1) where are you from?
(2) how'd you find me?
(3) because of the pictures or the restaurant info?
(4) if you could only eat at one restaurant in your city for the rest of your life one week, what would it be?
(5) what restaurant should we stay away from with a ten foot pole and all our relatives if we're ever in your area?
(6) must eat food and restaurant when you are in Taipei? and if you've never been, which restaurant looks most tempting to you that you've read about?
(7) if you are in taipei, what do you most miss when you are here?
(8) team stinky tofu or team oyster egg omelette?
(9) where can I find good enchiladas in Taipei??????
*new (10) upload sooner more often with just pictures or wait until I write everything up?

let the jeopardy music begin. Can't wait to hear from y'all!

PS- Saw OCEAN's THIRTEEN over the weekend. I thought it was a really fun, stylish ride- much better than 12. But I have to say, I probably was the only person laughing out loud at the Oprah scene... me and some other random girl a few rows behind me. Sometimes I miss watching films in LA!

buffet/indian: i do not recommend AALEJA weekend buffet

the buffet trays were practically this empty

AALEJA
6, Alley 5, Lane 70, Yanji St.
(02) 2773-3227

hours: weekend lunch buffet: 12 PM - 2:30 PM

NT$399

Revisit reviewed: 6/10/2007

It's 1:20PM and the natives are getting restless. For at least 30 minutes, more than 80% of the trays have been table scraps- bits of meat in curry or last few bites of oily veggies in curry or the bed of onions that usually houses the tandoori chicken.

Well, there's rice. And it's good rice because I'm starving.

The restaurant is half full and quickly fills up with new tables of customers- each one eyed like competition for the new food when it comes out.

If it ever comes out.

Everytime the kitchen bell *dings*, all eyes dart towards the kitchen to see what's coming out. Scenario from a game show? No, Sunday afternoon lunch buffet at Aaleja. My first time at the weekend buffet and most definitely my last time- I'm too disappointed to be angry really. From the bits and pieces of meat and curry I've gathered with my rice, the flavors are quite distinct and hearty, (if not a bit oily). The eggplant, the lamb, the beef, the vegetable curries all mildly spiced for a wider range of tastebuds.

Some garlic and plain naan makes it way to our table to fill us up, but it's heavy as a pizza without any toppings. It's not fluffy and magical like I'm used to.

was the naan always this dense?

The waitress half heartedly apologizes to us in Chinese saying that "everything is made fresh to order" when we complain that there's nothing to eat. I hear her echo that to at least four other tables in the room. Sure I can sort of understand if you are packed busy and my food is going to take some time to get to me. But it's a weekend buffet! Aren't you supposed to be prepared with trays and trays of food- it's not time to be "making things to order"? Refill it before it even gets close to running out, not to mention making customers wait for an hour with no results.

I've filled up on juice, rice and curry and managed to snag a few pieces of tandoori chicken that must have been on a diet, and my friend managed to get two samosas. There's no hope left for us getting anything else coming out of the kitchen in our lifetime, especially with a full house now of at least 40 customers and the hungry newbies milling about the still empty trays. It's like that episode of Survivor where all the contestants are drooling at the mere promise of food and we'd pay NT$399 even though we don't know what we're getting- in this case, not our money's worth.

maybe standing in front of the food will make it appear faster

Couldn't have been that bad? I can't believe it still and I was there. Honestly, it was the first time I wanted to walk out of a restaurant and refuse to pay. We should have, maybe it would have made them get their act together. Hello, Aaleja management- it's a weekend brunch BUFFET, please hire more chefs and don't run out of food in the first hour of your buffet! Is there any decent weekend Indian buffet in Taipei?

what about the last time I ate at Aaleja?

CLOSED! french: i recommend MAMM GOZ

MAMM GOZ
12, Lane 112, AnHe Rd, Sec 1
(02) 2709-6636

Hours: 11:30 am - 10 pm Tue-Sun
brunch on weekends til 430pm or so
(closed Monday)

$$

Visit reviewed: 4/25/2007

A menu of unique and tasty offerings as if you were in a charming sidewalk French cafe, especially unique for Taipei, though pricey for the novelty and portions. Go for the dessert crepes with a date or friends.

It always surprises me how many expat-run eateries there are here in Taipei. I always wonder- how did they end up here? Why Taipei? Just like the test of a good Chinese restaurant in the states is that it is filled with Chinese American customers, Mamm Goz quickly filled with expats, even on a quiet Tuesday night.

When we first arrived, we had our pick of a table of a near empty restaurant - we chose to sit on the patio in the open-area cafe, good choice, since the cafe quickly filled up about while we were eating. The server (owner?) was especially friendly, wanting to walk us through the menu and explain everything since it was all our first time there. The menu is quite self explanatory- in English and Chinese- with one page of Galettes and one page of dessert Crepes, with a few salads and ciders on the side.

Our party of three decided to share a salad (NT$150-270), three main dish Galettes (NT$300-450) and a two dessert Crepes(NT$80-260). You can also have a set dinner menu for NT$600, but limits your selection of galette and crepe.

The Cobb-like salad came with diced ham, egg, croutons, cheese and tomatoes- the dressing was a tad too tart for me.

My favorite of the night was the La Queen Anne galette (NT$420) with goat cheese, honey and nuts- though more of a appetizer or dessert than a main dish. The creamy sweetness with the soft skin of the crepe was very addictive. It made me want to order another, or go and buy some goat cheese and make some toasted honey goat cheese nut sandwiches at home. It was probably also the most traditional in my understand of crepes, where the 'stuff' is inside the crepe, rather than on top as the others were- but maybe why these were 'galettes.' The La Mamm Goz crepe with ham and mushrooms was also smaller than I expected and a bit salty.

The La Celtica chicken galette was like looking at and eating a chicken mushroom cream sauce penne without the pasta- the sauce was very rich and too heavy to be a good match for the thin crepe underneath. While I'm not complaining about the taste of the topping, I felt like it belonged on some penne.

On the other hand, the dessert crepes were right on target. Big scoop of vanilla ice cream, soft pillowy apple slices resting on a crepe bed with caramel sauce sheets- it was almost embarassing how many times my spoon went to the Treann (NT$230) dish though I was sharing with two other people. Take my advice, order your own dessert crepe- you will probably finish it and want another to go.

The banana, chocolate and coconut King Arthur crepe (NT$260) was flambed- a quick douse of rum and lit on fire. It tasted more like rum than chocolate, and I think the table preferrred the caramel apple flavor better. If you want a lighter fare- they also have plain, butter, sugar, nutella, honey and various other crepes (NT$80 +)

You can even spy the chef hard at work making each dish in the kitchen in the back of the house. You will definitely need to order more than one thing to feel full, so expect to spend at least NT$500-800 at dinner time. Definitely a charming space to feel like you're not in Taipei anymore and have conversation and Breton cider or beers for a few hours with unique handmade touches, such as these painted stones to set your forks upon.

afternoon tea/dessert: PASTA FROLLA

PASTA FROLLA
No. 12, Lane 236, Tunhua South Road
(in the lane right behind Tunhua Sogo)
(02) 2773-3736

website: pasta-frolla.com Japanese site
orangecobo.com.tw Taiwan site

11:30 AM- 10 PM

$

Visit reviewed: 2/15/2007

My friend was giddy with excitement that she had someone to accompany her to eat "all you can eat cakes" for afternoon tea. Not a bad deal considering that NT$199 (US $6) you could eat until you couldn't eat another mouthful of frosting. But you could also buy cakes ala carte for about NT$50 each, so you would have to each eat 4 cakes to make it your money's worth, which if you think about it is a lot of cake. But if you've ever had a fantasy of eating whatever cake you wanted out of a bakery, here is your chance- mousses, cake, cheesecake, creme brulee, pie, even green tea jelly. You can also go for the full buffet- one entree and the all you can eat dessert and salad bars for NT$269.

My favorite out of the bunch was probably the creme brulee. Crackilicious sugary roof over a creamy sweet pool of creme brulee. But it was probably among the most rich creme brulee I've ever had- it was very very sweet and sugary.

We had a seat in the back during the crowded afternoon hour. It was fun watching the chefs make cake and artfully arrange the fruit on the cake, ladle sugar over it and put it in the fridge.

You get one plate and then take that plate to the counter where you point to the slice of cake you want. It's to prevent you from eating one bite from many cakes for sampling. Their cake slices are pretty big to finish, so it's best if you go with more people to sample and share. There are no signs for the cakes in English, so you have to ask or go by sight. The pinkish cake above we thought was strawberry cake, but was actually cherry. The frosting was light and whipped.

We eventually got a slice of the fruit cake we were admiring them make. It was like a hybrid of a cheesecake-mousse cake with lighter chocolate cake underneath with a flaky crust.

If you get the afternoon tea buffet, you also get to wait in line for their hot foods, such as this au gratin potato dish, which appear every half an hour. Once the server comes out, there is a mad dash and a long line. The cakes and decor is more Japanese western style than American western style which I would guess their pasta dishes taste too, but I didn't get to try the pasta. Overall, the cakes are decent- not the best desserts I've had in Taipei and definitely nothing that made me gasp "ohmygod" and want to camp out in front, but pretty affordable price for all you can eat and large variety to choose from. The setting is more plain jane cafe and crowded with students than a luxe white linen setting like Joyce East or Sabatini in the new green Sogo, but hey, their afternoon tea sets are at least two to three times as expensive.

Couldn't find anything online about Pasta Frolla except food porn pictures from blogs in Chinese. It seems to be a Japanese chain brought over here, based on their Japanese website. There also seem to be some sister cafes that are very similiar- Berry Berry 62, Orange Cobo and Apple Cobo. It gets very busy in the afternoon, so head over a little earlier to beat the crowd and bring an empty stomach and your sweet tooth if you decide to go.

Other location:

PASTA FROLLA
No. 38, Lane 187, Tun Hwa South Road
(02) 2731-4980