CLOSED! mexican: EL GALLO

CLOSED! a/o 2011

EL GALLO
No. 42, Chung Shan North Road, Sec. 7,
Tianmu
(02) 2874-1366

website: elgallotw.com

hours: M-F 11:30 AM to 3 PM; 5:30 PM to 10PM
Sat/Sun 11AM to 3PM; 5PM to 11PM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs and kid menus available.

Visit reviewed: 11/2/2008



Any time I hear about a new Mexican restaurant in town, I think to myself, nah, can't be good, don't want to get my hopes up. Then I drool over any decent review, forums about good experiences, pictures and the more time passes, I think the more my expectations build and get too high. It took me awhile to get to El Gallo from when I first heard about it, as it's in Tianmu which is far for me, and took me awhile to write up and post this review (from when I first started it over 8 months ago), but I'm sure it will still be new to some of you.



El Gallo is definitely a cute, little sit down restaurant that's elegantly festive, with a decent sized English or Chinese menu that include appetizers and main dishes that are more than just tacos and burritos, with dishes like Chile Colorado Pork Stew or Chile Rellenos Stuffed Bell Peppers.



They even offer a weekend brunch.



I was extremely excited about the enchiladas, as that is one of my favorite dishes back home and the guacamole. My love and familiarity with Mexican food is from Southern California, probably starting with family dinners at neighborhood restaurant El Paso Cantina in Torrance when I was a kid with their warm crispy chips and sweet, spicy salsa- continuing to discovering places like the awesome Mexican/Salvadorian Gloria's Cafe on Venice. In LA, often you get huge hot plates with pools of refried beans and rice almost overwhelming the enchiladas or chimichangas.

I've been to hole in the walls, taco stands, sit down family restaurants and chains, so I'm open to the variations that exist. With El Gallo having a Mexican chef/owner, I thought I'd have something that reminded me of home. But then a number of "different than my expectations" happened.



"Different than my expectations" number one was when the guacamole (NT$150) came and we tasted it, we could tell it was made with Taiwan avocados (which was confirmed when I asked the waitress). Taiwan avocados are just more stringy and less sweet and creamy than Haas avocados. While I know that Haas avocados are expensive here and not always in season, if I'm paying NT$150 for a tiny bowl of guacamole, then I want the real deal, or don't serve it. Or at least the waitress to ask "it's made with Taiwan avocados, is that ok?" But it was my fault for not asking.

"Different than my expectations" number two was that when the carnitas (NT$450) (or roasted pork) came they weren't spiced, browned and shredded. The flavors of the dish was very light. But this wasn't a big deal- it was still tender and nothing a little salsa couldn't fix.



But "different than my expectations" number three when I bit into my enchiladas (NT$380) was the deal-breaker. The texture of the corn tortillas was chewy rather than soft and the sauce was like a thick salsa and I realized that the dish wasn't piping hot and it wasn't baked.



And wait, there wasn't any melted cheese anywhere.

I took a few more bites to convince myself that it had just been too long since I had an enchilada, but the textures, flavors and elements just didn't add up to be what I was craving. I even asked "aren't enchiladas usually baked?" and they said "no, they were pan fried and then served with sauce."

Huh. I've never had them not baked.

That night, I googled up a storm, extremely confused and I guess in some parts of Mexico that that IS how enchiladas are served? So perhaps El Gallo is a bit too authentic for me and people who are expecting Mexican American versions of Mexican food. Maybe it's sort of like people who come back to Taiwan and wonder where their favorite neighborhood Chinese restaurant's beef and broccoli or moo shu pork went? Even if we eat the original versions, our favorites are the incarnations that we've grown to love, a sort of comfort food that reminds us of home.

After that, I was a bit too disappointed to enjoy the rest of the food, which was decent, but I had really hoped for baked, cheesy enchiladas to eat. I think I might have been okay if I had ordered a burrito or tacos, as their rice and beans were not bad, although sort of randomly served. Some dishes, like mine, came with both. Others came with only one or the other.

There was a very spicy shrimp dish or Camarones a la Diabla... (NT$380)



and chicken fajitas (NT$450)...



and a kid's meal which had 1/2 a quesadilla and rice...



and a strawberry margarita.



If I lived in the neighborhood, I'd definitely give them some more tries with other items on the menu, like the Carnitas Tamales or the Mexico City Steak, and I think they have a weekday lunch special, but they are just too far for me to make the trek without a special occasion.

CLOSED/desserts/bakery: i strongly recommend PATISSERIE LA DOUCEUR

PATISSERIE LA DOUCEUR
No. 223 JinHua St.
(02)3322-2833
(updating in 2019. sadly closed a few years ago. they had the cutest packaging)

website: ladouceur.com.tw

hours: 1PM - 9PM; fri/sat until 10PM

$

Kid friendliness: small space, but a few couch areas in the back

Visit reviewed: 5/20/2009



Patisserie La Douceur is the perfect place for an afternoon retreat for spoiling your sweet tooth. It is a tiny shop near Yong Kang St that has some of the best pastries I've had anywhere. Bright, airy and sweet- just like a lot of its offerings.



A girlfriend insisted that we stop by when we were in the area and it's bright white sign stood out among the rest of the street. I couldn't help but smile at the adorable drawing of the girl that beckons you inside. There's even a white sculpture of her sitting on the steps outside.



The menu includes coffees, teas, juices and hot chocolate (NT$110-240), but you have to drool at the selection at the counter, which includes large macarons, chocolate cake, vanilla custard and other too-beautiful-to-eat confections.



The handwritten labels are all in Chinese, so I quizzed the counter guy to see which one would suit me best.



I ended up getting the large lemon macaron (NT$130) which was big enough to share a bite with three other friends.



It's airy but very sweet and you can taste the sugar as the macaron melts in your mouth. Similar to a meringue, macarons are made from egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar and sugar. It's almost three times the size of a regular macaron, so it's too sweet to finish on my own.



Be sure you don't miss their signature dessert, the apples and caramel mousse mille-feuille. (NT$135) It's made to order, so there's only a Chinese written sign and illustration in the display case. I would have totally missed it, but this was the dish my girlfriend brought us here for.



We oohed and aahed when it came to our table and gently cut it in four bite sized pieces after taking our pictures. It was like meeting a delicate Parisian cousin to the apple strudel and apple pie. Or if apple dessert was Audrey Hepburn in "Sabrina" and back from Paris, more sophisticated and darling.

Since the mille feuille is made of several layers, everything combines together to take you on a flavor roller coaster. The diced fresh green apples were surprisingly cold. The sweetness of the caramel mousse balanced the slight tartness of the apples. The puff pastry layers crackled when we chewed.

Mmmm. Tastebud heaven.


View Larger Map

bakery/desserts: MY SWEETIE PIE BAKERY AND CAFE

MY SWEETIE PIE BAKERY AND CAFE
No. 3, Lane 93, ShiDa Rd
(02) 3365-3448

Hours: 11 AM - 12 Midnight

Kid friendliness: roomy sofas and seats

$

visit reviewed: 5/18/2009



A cute little nook for American style cakes and pies, My Sweetie Pie also offers a few dishes such as pizza, chili dogs or lasagna, as an extension of across the lane Grandma Nitti's. A cozy casual place for afternoon tea or dessert in the Shida area, you can also treat your sweet tooth to smoothies, milkshakes or floats.

I drooled over all the choices.




Chocolate chip cookies. Blueberry cheesecake. Apple pie. Luckily I came with friends, so we could order them all.

They also had black forest cake, carrot cake, tiramisu, scones and other cakes. Selection changes day to day.



Slices are around NT$80- NT$100, and whole cakes or pies can be ordered with advance notice. The slices are a bit small-ish for the price, but you're paying for the "novelty" of American desserts in Taipei. It would be awesome if they were going to be really American style and give us some fat slices. If you order a meal, you can add dessert for an extra NT$60 which is a better deal.




Our favorite was the blueberry cheesecake, with the perfect crumbly graham cracker crust. The density and sweetness of the cheesecake was just right.



The apple pie had raisins (ew) and hearty chunks of baked cinnamon apple. I think I've been ruined for apple desserts since I now compare everything to the deliciousness of the swedish apple cake from Flavors.



Unfortunately, the chocolate chip cookie (NT$35) was a bit dry, and not chewy, like the way I like to bake them. A little disappointing.



You might even catch a glimpse of the bakers in action if you grab a seat towards the back, near the windowed open kitchen. Or you can bring your laptop to do some work with the free wifi.

I'd like to eventually try Grandma Nitti's as I've heard a lot about their American style breakfasts and Mexican food. They are right across My Sweetie Pie and next to a Gerge's.



Anyone else have any favorite cakes/pies that I should have tried?


View hungry in taipei restaurants in a larger map

chinese/dim sum: i recommend PARENTS RESTAURANT

PARENTS RESTAURANT
200 Dunhua S. Rd., Sec. 1
(02) 2772-8888

hours: 11:30am - 9:30pm

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available. lots finger foods

Visit reviewed: 8/12/08 & 5/19/2009



Parents Restaurant is a classic Cantonese and dim sum restaurant, hiding in plain sight near the busy Dun Hua and Zhong Xiao intersection.  Just look for this bright red signs and all the purple flags.



Without crowded windows like nearby City Star Dim Sum, you might never find the equally busy dining hall in the restaurant's basement.



The huge menu in English and Chinese has everything braised, fried, clay pot, stir fried or dim sum that you could want and a picture for each and every dish. 




The prices are average ranging NT$70-$150 for dim sum and around NT$200-NT$400 for main dishes, though anytime you eat dim sum, the dishes add up since it takes a lot of siu mais to get full, so it can run about NT$500 for lunch per person. There are no carts, so you just order off the menu and when they are busy, orders can be on the slow side to come.

You MUST get the desserts. My favorites are the mini egg tarts or "dan ta" which come piping hot, with hot out-of-the-oven soft custard centers and layers and layers of flaky crusts, and the almond tofu which comes in a bowl of firm, thick cubes accompanied by a bit of peach and fruit. Just be sure to order the egg tarts before you are done eating, as it takes about 10-15 minutes for them to bake them and bring them out, otherwise you'll be waiting with nothing to eat like we were. And they are tiny, so you want to order more if you like egg tarts! One could probably eat all three in a sitting, if you really wanted to!




The dim sim regulars are a good bunch- siu mai, shrimp rice noodle or "xia chang fun",  sticky rice in bamboo leaf, fried glutinous ball or "xian shui jiao". 





The things I wouldn't order again are the pineapple shrimp because the mayo sauce was too sticky and there was too much and made the dish gross and the BBQ pork siu which was not crispy or flaky as it should be.



The main dishes we got were also good- fried oysters, the noodles, omelette egg with pickled vegetables, tofu claypot. There are two different types of noodles you can get- a harder chow mein or a soft stir fried one. Both are good, although the crispy fried noodle has a lot of gravy.







If you couldn't tell, I combined two visits into this review, so thanks to my friends A and J for introducing me to this restaurant! If you think you will go there a lot, you can also sign up for a VIP card, which gives you a 10 % discount and other coupon specials. It's good to have a couple good dim sum places up my sleeve now since in the beginning I was running into a lot of bad ones.


View Larger Map

news/dessert: LV and Chanel cupcakes photos

Spotted these fashion cupcakes photos on HighSnobiety.com via Tastespotting. The photographer and stylist were inspired by luxury brands like Chanel and LV, in case you couldn't tell.

If someone made cupcakes like these, they would probably sell like crazy in Taipei. Especially if you had the boxes and cute packaging.

I feel like Taipei or Asia in general is more label conscious than LA- or maybe the Chanels per square foot is a higher ratio. Maybe because LA is more spread out, or maybe because there are just so many high end stores in almost every Taipei mall. I swear I've even seen people carrying real Chanels at the night market!

I never even heard of the brands Tod's or Ferragamo, or stepped into a Marc Jacobs store until I lived in Taipei. Was I oblivious? Or has our culture become more knowledgeable about labels with celebrities and the internet and bag blogs?

Anyways- this seems like it could be a fun thing to do for the fashion obsessed girlfriend or daughter in your life. And beware- don't click on the Tastespotting link if you are hungry or have hours to drool over all the food porn pictures.

my kitchen: homemade bulgogi kimchi tacos

I'm. Too. Busy. Eating.

to give you better looking pictures than these from my iPhone, but trust me, when I say, I now "get it."

Bulgogi + Kimchi + corn tortillas + onion/mushrooms = frickin deliciousness
(made possible by Costco in Taipei and tortillas from LA)

I never made the leap to wait-in-line-for-hours for the all-over-LA Kogi trucks, but once had my sister's cold leftovers which left me unenthusiastic. But having it hot out of the kitchen- it's a weirdly odd satisfying combination that works. The smoky sweetness of the marinated beef mixed with the spicy heat from the pickled cabbage held together by the fragile corn tortillas. I'm sure the imaginative and adventurous have been creating other fusion combos, but the basic one is best.

I already inhaled 4.

Could this work in Taipei? They like the kimchee here, and not so much the cheese, so maybe if I had a little taco truck, I could make some cash on the side?