breakfast/brunch: i strongly recommend WENDEL'S GERMAN BISTRO

WENDEL's GERMAN BISTRO
No. 28, Lane 260, GuangFu S. Rd.
(02) 2711-8919

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

website: wendels-bakery.com English, Chinese and German

hours: 9AM - 10PM

$-$$

Visit reviewed: 10/3/2011 and 10/7/2011
previous visits reviewed: 12/7/2010 and 5/5/2011

Wendel's is a German bistro/bakery that has been in Tianmu for over 10 years and opened up a branch in East District last year. It was last year at TAS' food fair last year (or was it the year before that) that I got a taste of the sauteed mushrooms and was convinced I had to try more. Besides having a wide array of breads and cakes for in house or take away, there's also a breakfast and lunch menu to dine from, including pizzas, salads, bratwurst, pork knuckle (which I heard is very good) and goulash.

Their breakfast sets include various options such as the Heidi Klum (NT$260) which includes an egg white scramble, or a gourmet brunch for 4 people that has the works plus champagne.



Each breakfast set also comes with a basket of their breads, in miniature sizes, as well as orange juice and coffee or tea.

I also like their bretzels and if you're super hungry, you can order one to eat there and they will warm it up for you.

My friend got the 1932 Wendel's (NT$290) which looked pretty impressive as it arrived to our table, with cold cuts and cheese, baked tomato, scrambled egg, sausage, petit bread basket and fresh fruits.

I really wanted the mushrooms and since they were only available on the vegetarian choice set (NT$260), (and ala carte during other times) that's what I ordered. But something got lost in translation when I asked for no watercress and bean sprouts with my eggs and no eggs came with my set.

But after letting my server know, they were quick to talk to the kitchen and a turkey ham and tomato egg scramble was served to me.

Everything tasted so good, the eggs were creamy and not overcooked and the mushrooms were hearty and juicy as I remembered. The little touches separately Wendel's from many of the brunch places in town like the cushiony petit breads in very MoMA-ish bread baskets and the tilted cup of ice tea that had a slightly dizzying affect on us.

And the tasty housemade jam that complimented the chewy breads perfectly. Larger versions of the semmel, walnut rye roll, sesame twist and malt roll can be picked up to take home at the counter.

Even though the sets seem on the pricier side, it's tastier than the typical scramble eggs with bacon and hash browns plate around town. Also, when it's not busy, Wendel's is a nice place to chat and brunch with friends.

Wendel's Da An branch is having its one year anniversary soon on November 22, and doing special promotions that day with their baked goodies. Perfect day to pop in and try it out.

OTHER LOCATIONS:

No.5, Dexing West Rd.
Tienmu, Taipei
(02) 2831-4592 - deli
(02) 2831-4415 - bistro
MRT: Zhishan

Takashimaya branch, B1
No. 55, Sec. 2, Zhong Cheng Rd.,
Shilin
(02) 2834-5447

Lolli Gelato Q-square branch, B3
No. 1, Sec. 1, Cheng de Rd.,

not Taipei: NEW YORK- CLINTON ST BAKERY, BIG GAY ICE CREAM, PAESANO's, LUKE's LOBSTER and SHAKE SHACK

`

Need to do NYC in a hurry? This is one afternoon of eats that my sister and I accomplished only because my dad drove us around in a Budget rental and parked on the side streets, waiting us to eat and go. Thanks Dad!

Originally I was supposed to have 10 days in NY this past September, with plenty of time to be touristy around our cousin's NJ wedding, but thanks to Hurricane Irene and the laborious flight rebooking process, our trip was cut in half and I didn't have much time in the city. Bummers. Didn't even get to see my friends that I had promised to visit when I "ever made it to NYC."

-CLINTON ST. BAKING COMPANY

A cozy cafe that offers up all day brunch worth waiting half an hour for (and paying US$13 for!), the thing to order are the blueberry pancakes. Fluffy yet with crispy edges, the pancakes are served with a decadent warm maple butter that you'll be trying to emulate at home. How do they do it? It was so good, almost every other table was wielding a camera taking shots. The chunky corn and potato chowder ($7) was a nice way to warm up.

-LUKE's LOBSTER

One of the things that was recommended to me that I really wanted to try was Luke's Lobster's lobster rolls. And if I hadn't had Lobstatruck's roll in LA first, then I probably would have been in love. Instead I preferred Lobstatruck's warm toasted bun (opposed to Luke's cold bun), but the sweet fresh lobster in both were to be savored.

-BIG GAY ICE CREAM SHOP

And talk about multitasking- I ran down the street from Luke's Lobster to the newly opened Big Gay Ice Cream to pick up a Salty Pimp ($5)` and a Mermaid, which was soft serve vanilla ice cream with key lime curd, crushed graham crackers and whipped cream. The combination of the dulce de leche and chocolate and sea salt on the Salty Pimp made it a grown up version of the Dairy Queen chocolate dipped cone. The owner cracked us up with his flair and we were lucky to get some without a wait. 

 -SHAKE SHACK

My friend Cynthia told me that I HAD TO visit Shake Shack as it was her favorite burger in the world and that she drove through a snowstorm to eat there. While I enjoyed the burger and the $5 shake even more, I wasn't impressed with the school cafeteria-like crinkle cut fries, nor the steep NY prices. Sorry, Cynthia and East Coast readers, I'm still an In-N-Out fan at heart!

-PAESANO's 

On the way to the airport, my dad wanted to get some coffee from Dunkin Donuts and that's how we ended up on Staten Island. But thankfully I decided to grab some pizza by the slice and tasted the creamy, amazing wonder that is vodka pasta pizza. Sadly, we were in a rush and I only bought one slice of each (even the marinara cheese was delicious with its zigzags of cheese) that they warmed up in the oven and am daydreaming about when I can go back to NY to eat some more, or at least experiment with making my own vodka pasta pizza in the meanwhile.

CLINTON ST. BAKING COMPANY

4 Clinton Street
Lower East Side, NYC
(646) 602-6263

BIG GAY ICE CREAM

125 E 7th ST
East Village, NYC
@biggayicecream

LUKE's LOBSTER

93 East 7th Street
East Village, NYC
(212) 387-8487
@lukeslobster

SHAKE SHACK

691 8th Street, (at 44th St)
Theater District, NYC
(646) 435-0135

@shakeshackfans

PAESANO's PIZZERIA

12 Bradley Avenue
Staten Island, NY
(718) 761-2070

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