western/coffee: i recommend COFFEE ALLEY

COFFEE ALLEY
at ATT 4 FUN, 3 FL
No. 12, Song Shou Rd.
(02) 7737-0700

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: coffee-alley.com.tw

hours: 

$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted though some room for strollers. 

Visit reviewed: 10/5/2011

Coffee Alley is a popular chain of coffee shop/cafes that serves Western fare, including sandwiches, waffles and of course, lots of coffee and tea. Be warned there's a one drink per person minimum here, so you'll get to try one of their drinks whether you like it or not.

Surrounding the sofas, the walls are decorated with some interesting art. At the ATT4Fun location, one wall is lined with live potted plants, so you see a wall of greenery. Another wall has framed rows of stones.

 I thought the menu was fun, designed like a newsletter which had lots of helpful pictures and English. Sandwiches, salads, waffles and desserts.

The sandwiches were solid, kind of like ones you could make yourself at home, with tiny scoops of egg salads on the side of some.

Grilled Chicken Ciabatta Sandwich (NT$160)

Barbeque Pork Sandwich (NT$160)

Tuna sandwich with egg salad (NT$130)

But the real must order dish at Coffee Alley were the waffles- there was a plate at almost table in sight. Cushiony and thick, these were the cake-like type of waffles that had become so popular in Taipei ala Melange Cafe, which garnered lines outside its doors and wait times of an hour or more.

I typically don't like cake-like waffles, so I've either been living in Taiwan too long or the salted caramel sauce was the perfect accompaniment because I liked these. I guess if you put salted caramel and whip cream on anything it'll taste pretty good. 

Besides the Salty caramel and vanilla ice cream waffle  (NT$150), you can also get waffles with fresh strawberries with strawberry ice cream, chocolate ice cream banana, azuki red bean and green tea ice cream, or the more unusual, peanut butter and condensed milk waffle or the tuna waffle, possibly only popular in Taiwan.

If waffles aren't your thing, there are plenty of other desserts to order. Ice cream, brownies, or mille-feuille, or ice cream with cotton candy and espresso.

Some things on the menu get lost in translation- when I thought I was ordering a vanilla latte, was actually a latte with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

My friend ordered the pizza toast which seemed to take a disproportionate time to come to our table, after all of us were done eating, despite us asking our waiter repeatedly about it.

Advance reservations strongly recommended, especially during lunch and afternoon tea hours.

OTHER LOCATIONS: 

No. 45, Lane 101, Zhong Xiao E. Rd, Sec. 4

(02) 2711-1912

No. 42, Lane 187,  Dun Hua S. Rd, Sec. 1

(02) 2711-1910

No. 253, Zhong Zheng Rd, 2 FL

Shih Lin District

(02) 2888-3322

No. 18 Guan Chian Rd, 2 FL

MRT: Taipei Main Station

(02) 2388-3000

spanish/event: SPANISH MICHELIN CHEF RUBEN TRINCADO at DN INNOVACION press luncheon

CLOSED! a/o 2014

Michelin Star Spanish Chef Ruben Trincado at
DN Innovacion
No. 93 Song Ren Road
(02) 8780-1155

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: dninnovacion.com

hours: Chef Trincado's menu available from Nov 9-12, 2011. Reservations strongly recommended.

$$$

Visit reviewed: 11/8/2011

Ever since Robuchon set up shop in Taipei, it seems that "Michelin Starred Chef" has been the buzzword around town. So for three nights only from November 9-12, Chef Ruben Trincado, owner and chef of Michelin-starred restaurant Mirador de Ulia in Spain, takes over DN Innovacion to showcase his avant-garde techniques and dishes.

Andres Rodes Tejada, Secretary General of Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Taipei with Chef Ruben Trincado

Thanks to the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Taipei for inviting me to the press luncheon to get a taste of Chef Trincado's special menu. I don't often go to media events, so it's been an interesting learning curve. At this one, they had plated dishes on a table for bloggers and media to take photos of which looked slightly different from the samples we were served cocktail style later on.

The Sardines Ajoblanco Watermelon and Bitter Orange featured a thin slice of raw sardine and strong flavors underneath the creamy foam. 

Introductions and speeches in Chinese and Spanish. I didn't know that Fun Taiwan's Janet Hsieh spoke Spanish! She sounded fairly fluent, joking with the chefs and beverage sponsors.

Chef Daniel Negreira has a roster of Spanish Michelin starred restaurants on his resume- El Bulli, Arzak, Akelarre and Mugaritz- and had a Spanish restaurant in Taipei, El Toro, before opening DN Innovacion.
. 

The Wild Italian Porcini on His "Ambience" featured porcini mushrooms on a bed of black sticky rice, playing into the visual that we were plucking and eating them from the field and soil.

Spanish wines from Ramirez de Ganuza.

Which came first- the chicken or the egg? Well with this dish, named The "Farm" on a Plate, they come together. Tender chicken roll slices with slow cooked egg yolk made for a creamy bite.

For a while there wasn't any food coming out of the kitchen to eat but this, so I might have eaten three spoonfuls of them.

All of us Top Chef fans have seen various things being frozen or made into ice cream, but this was the first time I've seen squid ink getting the liquid nitrogen treatment.

So Grilled Squid was paired with the Freeze Dried Ink Sauce which kind of melted in your mouth.

Digestive liquors Meigas Fóra to be paired with dessert.

My tastebuds were unsure of what to do with Foie Gras "Stone" with Smoked Almonds, sort of like a foie gras pate ice cream. Rich, creamy, savory and cold.

Coated with a edible metallic coating, the Chocolate Screw and Nut looks a lot like the real thing.

Chef Daniel Negreira's DN Innovacion has been open for a year and I've been wanting to try it since it opened, but haven't had the chance. I was definitely encouraged by the delicious bites I had at last week's TAS Fair- Galician styled octopus with "pimentón", a sweet and smoky Spanish paprika, and mushroom croquettes to try out Chef Daniel's creative menus after this international Michelin star chef pop-up is over. There's no where else you'd find Spanish molecular gastromy in Taipei!

chinese: i strongly recommend MA SHAN TANG

MA SHAN TANG
No. 24, Lane 280, Guangfu S. Rd
(02) 2773-5559

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

hours: 11AM - 2:30PM; 5PM-10PM

$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted

Visit reviewed: 10/3/2011

I had passed by Ma Shan Tang a number of times, on the way to Wendel's and on the way to Lane 280 to Osteria by Angie, Ari or Fifteen Pizza, but never really thought about what was inside. I can't believe I kept passing it by for over a year.

Thankfully, Sugared and Spiced picked Ma Shan Tang as a place to meet because it really hit the spot as a noodle and potsticker place for hole-in-the-wall prices, but not a hole-in-the-wall space.

We luckily got there before the lunch crowd peaked and office lunch crowd started to line up outside (and in the rain as there isn't much space to wait inside). 

Unfortunately, it's one of the only in Chinese check off the box of what you want places as well. So bring a Chinese speaking friend or some pictures of what you want to eat. The main attraction are the bowls of insanely chewy noodles- mala spicy, clear broth or sesame- and their steamed or pan fried dumplings. Other popular menu items include shrimp fried rice or shrimp wontons in chili oil. The small plate cold dishes are self serve in the small fridge in the back of the restaurant which we didn't notice until the meal was over.

Probably one of the most popular dishes at Ma Shan Tang is the bowl of mala beef noodle soup (NT$140), complete with sliced beef, blood cubes, chewy noodles and chili red spicy broth. The bowl is a good option for those who craving mala hotpot without the fuss of calling up a bunch of friends to get a reservation at Ding Wang. Portions are generous and can easily be shared.

The beef slices were slightly overcooked and a little dry. I don't know if the other meats would be more tender. It's also kick-your-butt spicy, so I kept taking bites of the other things we ordered to ward off the burning sensation.

When the sesame noodles came to our table, we kept asking the waiter if we got the right order. It looked  way too spicy with the orange red tinge...

But once it was mixed up, the familiar looking sesame paste color coated the QQ noodles. The sesame noodles (NT$60) were sweet with only a faint tinge of heat and I could not stop eating it. Maybe the favorite of all the sesame noodles I've had yet.

And the perfectly crispy potstickers (NT$60 for ten).

I probably could have devoured the whole plate myself, but I was trying to be polite. 

You would think that it's easy for restaurants to serve crispy bottomed potstickers, but more often than not, they are soggy and greasy. Ma Shan Tang's potstickers were bite sized, perfectly crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. SO good!