italian/pizza: i recommend PRIMO TRATTORIA

PRIMO TRATTORIA
No. 14, Lane 107, Fuxing S. Rd, Sec 1
(02) 2711-1726

MRT: Zhong Xiao/Fuxing

hours: 11:30AM - 10PM, Fri/Sat 11:30AM - 11PM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available

Visit reviewed: 4/23/2009 and 4/28/2009




Primo Trattoria is the kind of place that I could imagine stopping by for lunch or dinner more often if I lived in walking distance. An elegant Italian restaurant serving appetizers, pizzas and pastas as well as a deli counter that you can take home imported cheeses, pastas and wines. The modern, white space is nice enough to have a romantic night out or a large group celebration, yet not too stuffy to have a casual dinner out. The restaurant is split into two sections which can see each other through the glass windows, a semi-open kitchen in the center and a private room in the back.



The lunch specials are an affordable NT$260-$340 with a range of pastas and pizzas and come with soup, salad and coffee or tea.




That day we could choose between six different pastas like the Spaghetti alla Vongole or Penne alla Carbonara e Limone or a penne pasta with cream sauce and egg yolk with shrimp and asparagus or 4 different pizzas.



My favorite dish was the tripe in spicy tomato sauce with Primo bread (NT$340). The bread was made from the same dough as the pizza and was a wonderfully chewy sponge to soak up the spicy sauce. We liked it so much we asked for more bread, but got regular side bread instead- I guess we should have asked for Primo bread.



The Zuppa del Giorno soup of the day and Insalata di cesare caesar salad were light and made with fresh ingredients. They have parmesan that they shave for the salads.




We also tried a few of their appetizers- the bruschetta and caprese. The portions are perfect for one person or a couple. The toast for the bruschetta (NT$100) was slightly burnt and flavors of the tomatoes were not as robust as I would have liked.



The mozzarella for the caprese (NT$120) wasn't as milky as I'd had before and the tomatoes not as sweet- but I did like the arugula to add a layer of sharpness. After the appetizers, my friends and I agreed that we preferred Macaroni Grill's.



But the pizzas... the pizzas were a hit. If you aren't avoiding carbs, then you'll happily devour the chewy crusts, which rises above the rest of the thin crust pizza topped with fresh ingredients. Our Pizza Genovese (NT$300 for set lunch) had pesto sauce, mixed cheese and sliced mixed mushrooms. The lunch special pizzas are smaller than their regular pizzas, but still large enough to share.



On my second visit, we got the recommended Fiorentina pizza (NT$360) which has a soft cooked egg in the center of spinach, bacon, garlic and cheese topped pizza. The egg is put on the pizza after it's taken out of the oven and breaks when the pizza is sliced.



My friends and I were a bit nervous about eating a practically raw egg and asked if they could put the egg on a little earlier. I think they obliged, but the egg was still far from being done. But it mixes in with the flavors of the pizza and provides a unique (though runny) layer to the pizza. Definitely give this a try if you want to try something different.

On my second visit, I gave a different set of appetizers a try. The Proscuitto di Parma (NT$360) was pretty classic, and the Fritto Misto (NT$200) was a lot smaller than I expected it would be, with one shrimp and a couple of calamari rings.





The Spaghetti alla Pescatora (NT$400) is probably a better bet if you are looking for seafood with al dente spaghetti.



At the end of the meal, you have the dessert tray to ooh and aah over, which includes tiramisu. panna cotta, gouda cheesecake or puddino bianco. One of their specialties is a freshly made Mascarpone Dolce (NT$100) which is fresh mascarpone cheese with raisins mixed in. Ugh- I wish they offered something else, chocolate chips or something along those lines, to mix in because I loathe raisins.



So we settled on the panna cotta (NT$120) topped with berries which was a nice way to end the meal.



Just look for the Primo signs with the Disney-esque lettering if you want to go. Reservations are also recommended as the restaurant were very full both times I went.




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snapshot/vegetarian: i recommend MINDER VEGETARIAN

MINDER VEGETARIAN
at Dun Hua Eslite Food Court
No. 245, Dun Hua S Road, B2

$-$$

website: minder.com.tw

Kid friendliness: depends on if your kids like veggies

iphone pics: 4/29/2009



If you've had one too many nights of night market eats or fried meat on a stick or carb-heavy lunches, you can refresh your tastebuds with some vegetarian fare. Minder Vegetarian is chain of "pay what you weigh" buffet style vegetarian food- mostly spotted at mall or hospital food courts, the Xindian location has an all you can eat on their second floor.

Veggies, mushrooms and soy galore- at Dun Hua Eslite, you can add rice and soup for a little extra

Now if only someone would open up a Souplantation or decent salads and soup place here!


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ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS:
(note XinDian can also be spelled Sindian or Hsindian)

XinYi Eslite
No. 11, Song Gao Road, B2
(02) 2729-8969

Breeze Taipei Main Station
No. 3, BeiPing W. Road, 2 FL
(02) 2361-3566

XinDian shop (all you can eat on second floor)
No. 137, Minchuang Road
(02) 8218-7858

No. 47, Lane 63, Dun Hua S Road, Sec 2
(02) 2325-5695

No. 3, Alley 17, Lane 300, Ren Ai Road
(02) 2707-6753

No. 30, Lane 151, Jianguo South Road
(02) 2703-3703

National Taiwan University Hospital Shop
No.7, Zhongshan S. Rd, B1
(02) 2396-3088

Taipei Veterans General Hospital
No. 201, Shih-Pai Road, 1 FL
(02) 2873-9465

XinDian Tzu Chi Hospital
No. 289, Jianguo Road, B1
XinDian

Tri Service General Hospital
No. 325 Chenggong Road B1
Neihu
(02) 2793-5202
(02) 8219-2232

snapshot/dessert: i recommend MUNG BEAN & PEARL BARLEY DESSERTS

MUNG BEAN & PEARL BARLEY DESSERTS
(or LU DOU YI REN)
No. 192, Da An Road, Sec 1
(02) 2325-8990

website: http://wretch.cc/user/luewu (Chinese only with pictures) or online menu (Chinese only)

$

Kid friendliness: kid friendly!

iphone pics: 7/3/2009



It's always great to have friends that feed you, right? When my friend handed me this cup, I had finished lunch, I was full and didn't really want to try it. But she said, you have to try it. And once again, I'm glad I did.



Taiwan is full of shops with drinks and ice and soups filled with mysterious things and so I'm not always sure what I'm eating, but if it tastes good, then I don't mind as much.

Mushy and chewy, my milky dessert had soft green mung beans, pearl barley, QQ jelly cubes and fresh milk.



Not too sweet or cold, it reminded me of the dessert mung bean soups my mom made when I was growing up, which we called "green bean soup" since in Chinese the direct translation of "lu dou" is green bean. This would confuse (and gross out) people thinking about long string green beans in a dessert soup, but this is totally different.

In a very good way.

Other locations:

No. 165, BaDe Road., Sec. 4
(02)2747-4369

Tianmu store: (02) 2384-6911



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chinese/mall food: i strongly recommend XIAO NAN MEN at BREEZE

XIAO NAN MEN DIAN XIN SHI JIE
(or Little South Gate Dim Sum World)
at Breeze Center
No. 39, FuXing S. Rd, Sec 1

$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available.

Visit reviewed: 9/6/2009 and 3/22/2009



When you first come back to (or visit) Taipei, you think, wow, most of this mall food is awesome! It's way better than any Asian mall food back home. And for the most part, that's true- it is better than the mall food back in the states. But once you eat at enough mall joints, you discover that a Taipei hole-in-the-wall is usually better and more filling than the average food court ramen/tonkatsu/korean bim bim bap.



But when I ate at the corner of Breeze Center's food court at Xiao Nan Men, it was like eating at a hole in the wall, but in a nice air conditioned food court.



A long list of the usual suspects on a Chinese-only check off menu, you can't go wrong with the beef noodle soup, the hot sour soup, the steamed dumplings, the beef roll, stir fried vegetables, or my favorite, the crispy, pull apart pancake or zhua bing. But I think here it's called lao4 bing. I really wanted to order another one after everyone took their piece. Zhua bing was one of my favorite things to order when we'd go as kids to Happy Family, a vegetarian Chinese restaurant in LA. It's something you can find from certain street vendors, but Xiao Nan Men perfected the crispy edges and soft doughy center, so you must must order it here.



Don't forget to grab a few of the colorful liang tsai or cold appetizer dishes at the front near the register. Everyone has their own favorites- pickled cucumbers, eggplant, or soybeans wrapped in tofu skin



The pan fried dumplings or guo tie (NT$110) weren't as crispy the second time around. Longer and flatter and greasier versions of the steamed dumplings with ground pork, they come in a set of 10.



The steamed dumplings (NT$110) can be ordered with pork, beef or vegetable fillings and come 10 in 1 steamed basket order. The dumpling skin has a nice handmade bite to it, and the fillings are soft and finely chopped/ground.



I've had better steamed and pan fried dumplings elsewhere, but they were decent.



And you can't forget the noodles. There's rice noodles in a tofu soup,(NT$100) pan fried hand cut noodles, or jia jiang mian. BTW- what the heck is the right spelling? Is it mien, mein or mian??

The tofu soaks up all the soup and makes for a juicy bite. The noodles and soup seemed a little blander on second visit, but it mights a light choice for those not wanting anything too heavy.



The Moo shi chow mein are chewy stir fried noodles with sliced pork, eggs and vegetables mixed in.



The ja jiang mian (NT$100) is thick and slightly oily, you should mix the sauce and everything together. The noodles are al dente and chewy and slippery.



If you just feel like soup, the hot and sour soup(NT$45) is peppery and with strong vinegar flavor without being too spicy, with bits of rice noodle, congealed pig's blood and silky tofu that tastes like Xiao Nan Men's famous dessert soy tofu dou hua. In Chinese, the name suan la tang is a literal translation- sour spicy soup.



Or this tasty seafood soup that my uncle ordered back in March- had a slightly sweet flavor that I couldn't figure out.



The total damage after everything is devoured on one visit- a little over NT$1100 (US$33) for 7 people. Awesome.



OTHER LOCATIONS:

Breeze Food Court at Taipei Main Station
No. 3, BeiPing W Rd, 2F
MRT: Taipei Main Station

Xinyi Eslite, B2
No. 11, Song Gao Road, B2
MRT: Taipei City Hall


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snapshot/brunch: i recommend weekend brunch at VVG BISTRO

VVG BISTRO or HOW YANG
20, Alley 40, Lane 181, Zhongxiao E Rd, Sec 4,
(02) 8773 3533

$$

snapshot with iphone: 3/14/2009
previous review: 4/2006

The more I eat at the different brunches around town, the more I appreciate the variety and inventiveness and flavors of weekend brunch at VVG Bistro. While it's not a traditional pancake and eggs breakfast by any means, it's a changing set course that always manages to surprise and delight me.

This particular set is a flashback to earlier this year in March, and included fat, crispy crab cake and cheese, mushroom, sausage omelette.



If you can't get a seat at VVG Bistro, they might just redirect next door to VVG Table whose brunch is equally good, or the nearby girly VVG Bon Bon. Brunch is available weekends at a leisurely 11am until 4pm in the afternoon.


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western/fusion: CHEF SHOW TIME

CHEF SHOW TIME
No. 8, Lane 20, Anhe Road, Sec 2
(moved from Dun Hua S Road address in summer 2009)
(02) 2702-5276

website: chefshowtime.myweb.hinet.net Chinese with some English for menu

hours: 11:30AM- 2 PM; 5:30PM- 9 PM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available

Visit reviewed: 5/2/2009




With a name like Chef Show Time, I expected vegetables juggled in the air, flaming desserts or some table side chef magic. Or at the very least some fireworks inside my mouth. Wouldn't you?

Instead Chef Show Time was a sprawling menu of East meets West meets East again dishes including appetizers, salad, pasta/rice, seafood, vegetables (NT$180-2500) or a bowl of lu ro fan (NT$40) or a popular Taiwanese braised pork over rice dish. The brick red interior gives it a nice European feel and suitable for large dinner parties, like the one we spotted that night. The waitress helped us choose items from the menu after making some recommendations, and chose items that I saw echoed on plates for the large table in front of us.



There was some flair in the presentation and some good dishes during the night, but after ordering our various set menus, we were still wanting and ordered the lu rou fan which was probably my favorite dish of the night.

I thought the steamed egg with scallop and sea urchin (NT$480) would be a treat, but was overpriced for the chawamushi we got topped with uni.



A light vegetable soup, salad and trio of bite size appetizers starters for the set.





The bread that came with set was pretty good, and there was a mysterious homemade olive oil sauce that was strangely addictive.



Then the main dishes come out to be shared family style. I liked the creamy Seafood spaghetti with cream sauce with large pieces of fresh shrimp, scallop and mushrooms with al dente spaghetti.



The grilled lamb chops (NT$600) were chewy and thick, though I couldn't help but to yearn for the tender lamb chops from Sumie, which has a slightly sweet marinade.



The fried fish had too many baby bones for me- it's a personal dislike for me after too many bad experiences of not find it and having it caught in my throat.



Unfortunately, I didn't like the Thai style chicken either, which came in a thick gravy-like sauce that had too much of something in it for me- basil? oregano? I wasn't sure, but the chicken was also a bit dry and tough.




Fortunately, we tried the lu ro fan just for a taste, and it was good enough to want to order another bowl (but we didn't). At the end of the meal, I was wistful and wishing that more of the dishes were like the simple bowl of pork over rice dish- hearty, comforting and familiar.



Earl grey mousse cheesecake at the end of the set menu.




I did see some other things on the menu that looks interesting- pan fried asparagus with grapefruit sauce, stewed seafood with saffron sauce (bouillabaisse), pan fried scallop with soy and cream sauce- so perhaps a different set of dishes would have showed off Chef Show Time better?

I am still not sure as I'm writing this if I would feel the same or different after another visit, or if the effusive reviews on other blogs I've read are outdated with items no longer served on this menu, or if my tastes are just different than people who like these flavors. Maybe I'll find out someday, or maybe there are just too many good restaurants otherwise to eat at.

Since I've been to Chef Show Time, it's moved from its original location off of Dun Hua to new digs off of Anhe Road (that I haven't seen).


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