CLOSED! japanese: i recommend KITARO

KITARO (EDIT closed a/o 6/2012)
(Japanese Meal sets Monopolized Shop)
No. 14, Lane 83, Da An Road, Sec 1
(02) 2740-9088

website: kitaro.com.tw Chinese only

hours: 11 AM - 9:30 PM

$

Kid friendliness: booths and tables. no high chairs. kids menu available- though only chicken nuggets and fries set with pudding/drink.

Visit reviewed: 2/11/2008 & 3/25/2006

When I looked at the menu on my first visit, I wanted to order the ramen. But on that day, they were "out." So I ended up getting the Deep Fried Pork Curry Rice set (NT$178) which comes with a choice of drink and dessert. Served hot, perfectly crispy and not greasy or dry- the tonkatsu looked and tasted good, served on a bed of shredded cabbage and bowl of rice.



When I ended up going back another day jonesing for ramen, I was quite disappointed. While the tonkatsu was a great bargain and taste for the price, the Shinso Miso Broth ramen (NT$188) was ordinary, even disappointing. The miso broth didn't have the slurp me down flavor and the chashu (slices of pork) was forgettable. I don't know if the Hakata Porkbone broth or the Wakayama Soysauce Porkbone broth would be any better.



The menu is in English and Chinese with plenty of pictures and nothing is over NT$228- and that price includes a choice of drink (Tang-like OJ, tea or coffee), and dessert (chocolate chip ice cream or japanese mochi). This is probably why on my second visit the restaurant quickly filled up during lunch, with groups of students dressed in uniforms, sitting alongside with the business crowd.



The ice cream tastes similar to Movenpick's slivers of chocolate chips rather than chunky, which is a good thing.

They also offer a kid's set menu (NT$148) which includes a drink and pudding dessert, though it's disappointing that it's frozen chicken nuggets alongside fries and a onigiri (or rice triangle) without an option for kid's size tonkatsu like my favorite Taipei tonkatsu place, Saboten. Although for the difference of NT$20, you could just order the adult set of the Japanese Deep-Fried Pork (NT$168).



I think the tonkatsu may be their specialty, but they offer a wide array of choies including ramen, sukiyaki, roast eel unagi bowls and roast mackarel, teriyaki chicken bowl, deep fried chicken leg and rice bowls (oyako-don and katsu-don).

There's a lot of tonkatsu/Japanese places around Taipei, even in the food courts, but I've tried many that were just so-so... too dry, not hot enough, not crispy enough, not flavorful enough... so this was a good find in a modern, clean, bright setting. It can be a bit hard to find, tucked in a small alley. The address states an alley off of Da An Road, but if you are taking the MRT/taxi/walking, it's in the alley adjacent/behind Dun Nan Sogo (right past Lao Yo Ji if you know where that is).



Other location:

No. 54, Lane 346, Kuangfu South Road
(171 Yanji Street, adjacent rear lane)
(02) 2740-6288

various locations in Taichung

revisited/breakfast/brunch: i do not recommend BRASSERIE (ala carte menu)

BRASSERIE
Grand Formosa Regent Hotel
41 Chung Shan N. Road, Sec 2
(02) 2523-8000 x3870

website: grandformosa.com.tw/english Chinese, English and Japanese

hours: breakfast until 10:30 AM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available

Visit reviewed: 2/10/2008
Original review here : sometime in 2003/2004

Trying to reconfirm the search and recapture the magic of my memories of a decent waffle in Taipei, I headed over to Grand Regent Formosa one morning. I don't know if my fuzzy memory served me incorrectly or that the hotel has just changed, but I can no longer vouch for the waffles there, much less their breakfast.

Okay.. a few years ago, when I went on the hunt for an American style breakfast, my cousin and I taxi'ed all over town to finally land at a hotel that would serve us breakfast past 10am. I remember driving up the steep hill and sitting in an open space which is why I thought it was for sure the Grand Regent Formosa.

But present day, Azie (their lounge-y restaurant) is not open for breakfast so we're directed towards their buffet, Brasserie, which already feels not right.

But we still forge ahead, we're here, we're hungry and we'll check it out. We don't have the appetite for the full buffet breakfast, and they do have an ala carte breakfast menu. It's not a bad price for a hotel eatery, but later on after we get our food, I suspect it's because they just plate stuff that is being served from the buffet!



The waffles were cakey and dense, far from the crispy lightness I remember from so long ago. I think I saw the waitress bring it from the buffet waffle chef. It's made to order, but the batter is just too thick for the waffle to be fluffy. I barely finish one quarter of the waffle and leave the rest on the plate.

The eggs (pictured first) are overdone and inedibly dry, and served with a side of broccoli (for breakfast?), reheated triangle hash browns and dry slices of ham.

The omelette was a tad better- a lot of ketchup helps too.



In the end, the hash browns (though probably frozen and reheated (not even refried)) are the best thing even though even they aren't good.

I can't say if the food we ordered reflects on the food at the buffet, but it has to a little bit if it's coming from the same kitchen, right?

Because it's a buffet setting, there's not really any service even though we ordered from the ala carte menu. I almost hope that since it's a fancy hotel that they would ask if there was anything wrong with our food when most of it is left on the plate, but they do not. I even dare ask the waitress if there is a different waffle available, to which she gives me a very confused look.

I guess it's back to making my own breakfasts.

chinese: SHANGHAI TEA BISTRO

SHANGHAI TEA BISTRO
17, Lane 233, Dun Hua S Rd, Sec 1
(02) 2773-3183

hours: 11 am - 10 pm

$ (cash only)

Kid friendliness: high chairs available.

Visit reviewed: 3/28/2008

Shanghai Tea Bistro is a relatively new addition to the growing Lane 233 (one alley away from Dun Hua Eslite) of eateries that include Ginjer Bakery, Rose House, Casa Della Pasta and the also new-ish Dubu House.

There are various menus (but all in Chinese) offering traditional and low priced Shanghainese eats and drinks-from rice and noodle dishes to sandwiches to



After sampling three different things, the Sorrowful Rice (NT$100) with slices of char siu bbq pork, an over easy egg and a few bites of bok choy over a heaping bowl of rice was the easy favorite. From the looks of it, a popular order for a lot of the other tables nearby as well. The pork is slightly sweet and very tender and you wish there was more of it. It's even better than the char siu from Lao Yo Ji.

If you want to order it, order #1 from the pink House Specialties menu. It comes with a soup of the day- today it was a scary looking herbal lotus soup, but actually tasted quite pleasant and like a vegetable broth.

The pan fried noodles were decent, though it came with too much sauce and mystery meats on top. After a few bites of the meats which were brown, chewy, and okay, nasty- who knew what the heck they were, I just stuck to the crispy noodles and greens.



My friend also ordered a pork sandwich. After my bite, I still wanted to eat more char siu and rice.



The drinks were also just okay. A lemon and honey drink was too sweet while the lemon ice tea tasted just like the tea they served for free. If you want to lounge over tea and snacks, then you're better off with the teas and milk teas at Chun Shui Tang which has quite a few locations now.



While I strongly recommend the Sorrowful Rice (AKA the char siu egg rice bowl), everything else that day seemed to be a miss. While eating, my friend told me that the inspiration for this dish is actually from the the Stephen Chow film GOD OF COOKERY, which I haven't seen yet, but after hearing his story and trying the dish, I want to check it out.

CLOSED/japanese: i strongly recommend TENPURA SANUKI UDON

TENPURA SANUKI UDON

CLOSED!
16, Song Shou Rd, B1
(02) 8788-3099

website: aubergine.com.tw/tenpura

hours:11:30 am- 9:30 pm

$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs, only booths/tables.

Visit reviewed: 2/29/2008 and 3/16/2008

In a city full of noodles everywhere, why would you choose to eat a bowl of udon? One of my favorite things to eat is a pile of cold udon noodles alongside hot crispy tempura shrimp and vegetables (or on a cold day, a bowl of udon with tempura) - sounds basic, but it can be made extremely well or disappointingly average- sort of like the barometer of the dishes overall at a Japanese restaurant.



I had seen signs for Tenpura Sanuki Udon at the Vieshow (aka formerly Warner Village) for awhile, but didn't make the effort to try it out until recently. Luckily, I did because it offers freshly made udon, served in an array of ways, that is wayyyy better than the average bowl you'd find in most food courts or even Japanese restaurants. It's on the side of the Vieshow Village building, in the alley between Neo 19 and Vieshow.



The menu is only in Chinese and Japanese, but there are plenty of pictures. They have cold and hot udons (NT$220-290) with various broths and options. If you can't make up your mind, you can try a sampler set with three small bowls of udon (NT$330) that features a cold noodle w/ egg, a udon soup with tempura shrimp and another udon soup with different broth. There's also various rice bowls and appetizers, salads and hot pot available.



The result of the freshly made udon is that the noodle is chewier or more QQ than your average noodle. I think there is even a viewing window upstairs (though I haven't seen them make it.) I personally like QQ, but the cold udon in the tenzaru could be too chewy for some.

The setting is stark and modern with lots of booths and tables in the basement floor. It's moderately busy during lunch and dinner and empties out during non-rush hours.



They serve a cold winter melon cube as a starter while your udon is "made to order" as the server explains.



The crab salad (NT$140) is quite refreshing too, with lots of corn, tomatoes and a japanese dressing.



The agedashi fried tofu (NT$100) is another option as a starter.



You can choose to order the tempura with a side of udon or get the udon pot. I personally like my tempura crispy and not soggy, like the tempura shrimp that comes in the soup in the pot. You also get fried vegetables like pumpkin, eggplant and shiitake mushroom with the non-pot option. The broth is also really flavorful yet light.




The meal ends with a small bowl of hot red bean soup- it's very sweet, so I can only have a few bites.

Tenpura Sanuki Udon is a great spot when you feel like a bowl of hot (or cold) noodles, or an alternative to the Western eateries in the Vieshow/Neo 19 area or foodcourt before you catch a movie. Before trying out this place, I actually trekked across town to find a good bowl of udon (based off a review my friend read) to be sorely disappointed by a soggy and sad bowl of udon that I couldn't even finish (to be reviewed).

BTW- if you ever want to learn more about udon making or see an amusing movie, you can look for a Japanese movie called UDON which I saw on a plane last year. It made me appreciate a good bowl of udon that much more and learn a little bit about Sanuki udon craze.

british/dessert: POT PIE CAFE

POT PIE CAFE
No. 325, Fuxing S Rd, Sec 2
(02) 2736-0905

website: potpie.com.tw

hours: 8am to 8pm

$ - $$ (Cash only)

Kid friendliness: tiny space. Reservations necessary. Not a lot of room for strollers.

Visit reviewed: 3/31/2008

I was super excited to try out this place after reading about it at haochr. After all, who the heck sells pot pies in Taipei? Well, Costco did for awhile, but they were not very good- the crust of the chicken pot pies was not bad, but there was not enough sauce/gravy inside with all the chicken and vegetables.

So I swung by one rainy afternoon around 2pm and was very surprised to find it PACKED. I figured it was after lunch hour, but apparently they are also very popular for afternoon tea (with their hot apple walnut crumble or brownie) in their cozy space with about 8 tables. There was one open table, but it had already been reserved. The manager said that it's best to call and make a reservation/check.

No worries... I ordered some to go. A shepherd's pie (NT$180), a chicken pot pie (NT$150) and a apple walnut crumble (NT$150). Their English Chinese menu also offers fish and chips, English breakfasts (with eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, bread and coffee or tea). A 10-15 minute wait later, I got two brown paper bags to take home. After paying I realized too late, that I wanted to get the ala carte chicken pot pie for NT$100, but they had given and charged me for the regular set (with side salad & garlic bread). You could also opt for the full set with soup, salad and coffee/tea for NT$280.



Getting home, my first impressions were that the pot pies were tiny. Smaller than I expected. Maybe because they packed it with the garlic bread, but it was barely larger in width than the slice of bread. My second thoughts were that I was disappointed that the chicken pot pie did not have a flaky crust- instead it was also covered with mashed potatoes (like shepherd's pie traditionally is).



The salad greens had a light vinaigrette that was a good balance to the heaviness of the pot pie. If I had to order again, I would order the chicken and mushroom pot pie over the shepherd's pie (which has lamb), but overall, there was too much mashed potato and not enough meat and veggies for my personal taste. Don't know if this is different from the pot pies they make for the in-restaurant servings or if the portions are bigger. It would be good if I was craving mashed potatoes, but not quite the picture of a chicken pot pie I had in my mind.

On the other hand, the apple and walnut crumble was delicious. I know it would have tasted awesome out of the oven at the cafe, but it was still warm and sweet with chunky diced apples and a sprinkling of walnuts. I would strongly recommend this for anyone who loves apple pie or wants a warm healthy-ish dessert.

I've heard of other pot pie places around Taipei- Pie Boy and Frankie's? It's interesting that they are all sprouting up around town. Anyone been to the other ones and can say which is their favorite between the three?

chinese/dim sum: i strongly recommend CANTONESE at BROTHER HOTEL

CANTONESE RESTAURANT at
BROTHER HOTEL, 2-3 FL
255 Nanjing East Road, Sec. 3

(02)2712-3456

website: brotherhotel.com.tw/eDining.htm English, Chinese and Japanese available

hours: 9 AM - 9:30 PM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs and toddler plates/utensils avail. lots of finger foods!

Visit reviewed: 2/18/2008



Yum, yum dim sum!! Finally, some awesome and tasty dim sum in Taipei. I've had many disappointing and expensive experiences. Brother Hotel's Cantonese restaurant just makes it look easy by doing the basics (har gow, siu mai, cha sau bao, shrimp chang fun) well and presenting a large variety of other choices. They also offer non-dim sum Cantonese dishes if you are looking for other vegetables or dishes to round out your meal.



For those of you not familiar with dim sum, it's basically lots of small dishes of bite sized eats to share- in all sorts of ways- wrapped, steamed, fried with little sauces to dip in at your choice. Consider it as tapas done Hong Kong style or the perfect snack foods any time of day. It's popular to go weekends brunch in LA with your family, where you'll wait in endless lines at the more popular spots- but Brother Hotel offers dim sum all day through the night (NT$80 - $180) and makes it easy with menus with pictures in English, Chinese and Japanese as well as the carts rolling by the tables (which quite a few of the dim sum places don't even have anymore).



Everything tasted fresh, crispy, meaty, shrimpy, tasty and just right- a place that I would take my relatives, friends, business meetings or even a date- especially in contrast to eating at another popular dim sum place just yesterday (which was packed but had very AVERAGE dim sum). The flavors and textures were just spot on to what each thing was supposed to taste like.






I like to try the almond tofu/jello where ever I see it on the menu, and this place served it nice and cold and firm with a bit of canned fruit. It was a sweet and refreshing end to the meal.

vietnamese: i recommend VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT

VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT
No. 1, Lane 380, Keelung Road
(02) 2720-9777

hours: lunch: 11 am- 2 pm; dinner: 5 pm - 8:30 pm

$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs/only tables, small space, but very friendly service.

Visit reviewed: 2/28/2008 and 3/5/2008



I passed by this place about a month ago and then ended up going back twice. Once for take out and once for sit down. I've been seeing more and more hole in the wall type Vietnamese places, all in little alleys with hard to find locations if you haven't been before. Location-wise, it's not too far from Omelete to Go or the alleys across from the Grand Hyatt hotel and it's across from a Korean restaurant I also have my eye on.

You'll know you're there when you see red and black sign that simply says "Vietnamese Restaurant" in Chinese (or Yue Nan Fan Dien) and spot the front window filled with lots of blown up pictures of their spring/summer rolls, pho, rice dishes and sandwiches. This one is worth searching out if you've been craving Vietnamese because its mom and pop styled food offers a varied menu, friendly and efficient service and cheap eats in a clean, enclosed setting quickly fills up during lunch with lots of business types.



Plus they gots the sauces! Fish sauce, hoisin sauce and chili sauce.



Okay.. my first visit I was in a bit of rush and ordered pho (NT$80) and summer rolls (NT$50) to go. I had an upset stomach a few days before, so the owner recommended chicken pho instead of the rare beef. The smell of the broth in the car was a bit fishy and overwhelming on the way home, but after pouring it all in the bowl and tasting it, it was fine. They put in all the sliced chili peppers and cilantro and I didn't spot any fresh basil or lime or hoisin on the side (though I didn't request any either).



I don't remember the pho being this fat/wide in the states.. so I don't know if it's an adjustment for Taiwanese customers or US customers.. how is it really in Vietnam? I think I still like the noodles on the thin side.



The summer rolls were also decent- 3 for NT$50- on the smallish medium size.



Waiting for my food, it was funny seeing an older Taiwanese couple trying out a bowl of pho and a pork plate and commenting about it while they were sharing. The owner/guy said that they had been open for about 8 months or so and business was best during lunch.

The second time I went for lunch, they had a menu in English (instead of the picture menu that they have with Chinese and Vietnamese).. I used both to try and figure out what I wanted and decided to try the Vietnamese pork plate(NT$70) since it was too hot that day to eat pho. I also wanted to try the spring rolls (NT$50) along with the summer rolls (NT$50).

The spring rolls were piping hot and stuffed with ground pork and veggies. I wasn't sure what they were wrapped in, but it was very crispy and bite sized with lettuce on the side to wrap them in.



The Vietnamese pork dish came with homemade side veggies- I liked the bamboo but didn't really care for the lukewarm tomato egg and greens. The pork was flavorful, but had a weird texture on the surface on the meat- hard to describe, that made it sort of rough/grassy to eat? I don't know if the marinade could do that or the way they grill it? It seemed to be a popular dish, or maybe the other customers who followed me saw it and wanted to try it. On the other hand, the rice was really good. You know sometimes rice is over or undercooked? This was perfectly cooked rice.



Spotted in the corner: Made in Vietnam, that's a good sign right? :)



Seriously, the prices here are so low, you could just got a bowl of pho or rice plate for under NT$100 and be full, but you should try the rolls too. (My rice plate plus 2 dishes of rolls was under NT$200 since they charged a 10% service fee or NT$15 (Or 50 cents), so I had to let them keep the NT$20 change to which I think they were pleasantly surprised). I also want to come back and try the curry or the sandwiches which they also have. Plus gotta keep them in business especially it's much better than the faux chain Pho (which is now closed at Warner/Vie Show Village, but still spotted at Breeze Taipei Main Station and Eslite) and since my previous tasty Vietnamese hole in the wall discovery is apparently closed.

revisited/pizza: i strongly recommend ALLEYCATS at Zhong Xiao

ALLEYCATS
2, Lane 248, Zhong Xiao E. Road, Sec. 4
(02) 2731-5225
(updating in 2019. moved and branched out since this post so long ago. should do a new post)

website: Alleycatspizza.com

hours: 12noon - 10 PM

$ - $$

Kid friendliness: to-go location with only 1 table.

Visit reviewed:3/18/2008
Original visit: 5/3/2006 at Li Shui location. Read review here

Lately I've been craving deep dish pizza. Specifically, the spinach and mushroom stuffed pizza from Zachary's in Berkeley/Oakland. Chunky tomatoes, lots of spinach and mushrooms, crispy crust to hold everything together and CHEESE. It's quite painful to crave something you can't have since it's impossible to find anything like that here- I crave it even when I'm in LA since I haven't found a good deep dish pizza place there either that can compare.



So to fufilll my tomato sauce crust-cheese-fix, I decided to get 2 small pizzas from the new-ish location of Alleycats. They've expanded from their original Li Shui location to four other places, each with their own unique menus. This location in a little alley off of Zhong Xiao is tiny, basically the kitchen with the stone ovens and one patio table to sit down, so most of the customers order their pizzas to go. Sometimes they sell pizza by the slice, but I recommend calling ahead and ordering so you can pick up the pizza and eat it hot at home (or on the way home). You can check out their online menu, but the pricing is slightly different at the Zhong Xiao location for smaller pizzas and they only offer pizzas and calzones. The prices range NT$85 for a small 8" Marghertia pizza to NT$200-$400+ range for 10"-12" pizzas.

I ended up trying the Napoletana (NT$150) which has fresh tomatoes, goat cheese, anchovies, olives and spinach (and successfully requested to have the anchovies swapped for mushrooms) and the Maialona (NT$150) which has Italian sausage, pepperoni, chorizo and salami (I think they are 8 inch). This Alleycats is right across from Chili House and actually not too far from Pizza Hut. They said the pizzas would be ready in 15 minutes to pick up.



It hit the spot.. though it was more CPK (the Neopolitan versions) than Zachary's, it was full of flavor, had the amount right cheese and mix of toppings and the crust balanced everything perfectly. You can also customize your pizza with the number of toppings such as anchovies, artichokes, fresh tomatoes, goat cheese or pineapple, though it might be cheaper to get their pre-set combos since each topping would add up at NT$15-50 each.



My last visit to Alleycats was quite awhile ago, before they expanded and I discovered this location. I'm happy to have this quick and closer location to get my pizza fixes. Much faster than trying to make pizza myself and much closer than to pizza in the states than practically any other pizza place in Taipei. As much as I like the occasional personal pan pizza from the nearby Pizza Hut, Alleycats is much fresher, healthier and, yes, yummier - although you wish they'd deliver!

Where do you guys get your pizza cravings satisfied and does Alleycats serve one of the best pizzas in town?

PS- Right to the right of this Alleycats, there seems to be a new place (competitor for your cheese fixes) called Toasteria serving all sorts of grilled cheese sandwiches, panini style.

Mmm.. will have to go back and try it sometime, although I will probably default to making my own. Anyone tried it yet?


OTHER LOCATIONS:

LI SHUI STREET near YONG KANG ST
B1, No. 6, Li Shui Street
(02) 2321-8948
Sunday-Thur: 5pm-11pm
Fri-Sat: 5pm to 2am

SONGREN - NEW!
285 SONGREN RD
(02) 8780-5421
Mon- Thu 5 pm- 11 PM
Fri/Sat 12 pm- Late
Sun 12 pm - 11 PM

TIANMU
31, Lane 35, Zhongshan N. Rd Sec. 6
(02) 2835-6491
near ZhiShan MRT Station
Mo ~ Fr 5pm- 11pm
Sa/Su 12noon ~ late

NEIHU/DONGHU
67-1 Cheng Gong Road, Sec 5
(02)2630-6278
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 2pm, 5pm - 11pm
Weekends: 12pm - 11pm

mall food/foodcourt: i recommend KOREAN at FUXING SOGO

KOREAN at FOODCOURT
green Fuxing Sogo, B2 FL
No.300, Zhong Xiao E. Rd., Sec. 3

$

Visit reviewed: 2/14/2008

One flaw in a lot of the Korean restaurants here is Taipei that there is not enough side dishes, or banchan, like we are used to in LA or Korea, where it can almost cover the table before your meal comes. But, if you are willing to head to the foodcourt of the various malls, especially if you just want a quick and cheap bite to eat, they offer up a lot more choices.

At this Korean foodcourt place at Fuxing Sogo (which I believe also has a branch at 101 Mall foodcourt), if you choose the bim bim bap (NT$150), you can choose 3 sides to go ontop of your rice, egg and beef. (But if you pick the stone bowl, you have to go with the preset kimchee/offerings), or you can pick three alacarte for NT$80 to go with your meal.

Personally, I really like the jap chae (or rice noodles), tempura and cucumber slices. I guess all three are slightly sweet and the tempura is slightly spicy and the cucumber adds the vinegar, pickled flavor to the mix. I also like their potato offerings- potato salad or slightly spicy and sweet potato chunks, or soybean sprouts. They have spicy and non-spicy offerings as well as a lot of vegetarian options.



There's no English available, but they have their menu offerings (such as little hot pots or seafood pancake) shown in the case to the side as well as all the offerings in trays on the counter for you to point to. The foodcourt can get crowded during peak hours, but otherwise it's one of the nicer and newer food courts.