afternoon tea/hotel: ECLAT LOUNGE at HOTEL ECLAT

ECLAT LOUNGE at HOTEL ECLAT 怡亨酒店
No. 370, Dunhua S. Rd, Sec. 1 台北市大安區敦化南路一段370號
(02) 2754-8011

MRT: DaAn

website: eclathotels.com/taipei

hours: 2:30PM- 5PM (for afternoon tea)

$$ 

Kid friendliness: business lunch crowd with lots of delicate silverware and art, couch seating only

Visit reviewed: 1/6/2012

In LA, I had afternoon tea once. It was for a friend's bridal shower and at this cute little cafe donned up as a frilly English tea shop and we felt like ladies who lunch. 

Somehow in Taipei, afternoon tea is a thing, like brunch or food trucks or meeting at Coffee Bean. I've never had so much afternoon tea in my life since moving to Taipei, but I suppose that because there are so many options to have it here.

Hotel Eclat, a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, is a boutique hotel near the corner of XinYi and DunHua Road, with a silver foot sculpture near the entrance- can't miss it.

There's just as much to look at inside the hotel.

Sitting in the open lobby admist all the painting and sculptures kind of feels like afternoon tea in the middle of the Musuem of Modern Art, (or your friend's rich, eccentric auntie's house). The ombre lavender, hand blown glass chandeliers by a Czech glass artist, the towering gold Salvadore Dali sculpture, the scattering of paintings and scupltures by modern Chinese artists like Li Shan, Yin Jun and Gao Xiaowu- it's almost too much to take in at once.

A little bit of googling revealed that there are two original Dali sculptures (worth millions of dollars) at Eclat, this one stands near the elevator, said to be from the Eclat's owner's personal collection.

Eclat Lounge's menu is modeled after the tradition of English afternoon tea- three tiered trays, scones and tea.

Usually the charge is for NT$520 a person, but we talked them into letting us share the set and ordering additional coffees. Good thing, since it would have been too much food if we had all ordered the full set. I'd say the sets could be shared between 2-3 people. The drinks are pricey, but they have some unique offerings like chocolate mint truffle or organic detox infusion.

The first tier has organic soft boiled eggs and prawns with tomato salsa... 

The second tier, mini smoked duck sandwiches and smoked salmon and vegetable crepe roll...

Bottom tier has ginger chocolate mousse and strawberry cream puff...

There's more cookies and things to munch on...

The strawberry scones were pretty...

as was the rose pattern china that everything was served with, including my latte.

In additon to the tier, they offered some freshly made waffles topped with strawberries as well as some crepes.

At Eclat Lounge, the focus is on the decor- more eclectic than frilly, more opulent than zen- and definitely an interesting place to spend an afternoon in Taipei.

CLOSED! hotpot/taiwanese: ASIA-MILAN HOTPOT

ASIA-MILAN HOTPOT 東方米蘭精緻鍋物

No. 2, Xinsheng S. Rd, Sec. 3 大安區新生南路三段2號

(02) 2365-7777 ‎

CLOSED!

MRT: Taipower Building

website: Asia Milan's FB page

$$ (about NT$300/person)

hours: 11AM- 12midnight

kid friendliness: roomy atmosphere

visit reviewed: 4/6/2012

Sometimes you pass by a place so many times, crowded with diners and make a mental note to try it sometime. After the Cranberries concert in Taipei at NTU Sports Center (yes! the Cranberries from the 90s of Linger and Zombie!), we wanted to find somewhere in walking distance to eat that was open at 10pm and ended up at Asia-Milano, a two story hotpot restaurant on the corner of Xinsheng and Heping, near Daan Park. All of us had always passed by, but none of us had ever eaten there before.

Asia-Milan Hotpot offers up hotpot sets with various types of soup base, including spicy mala, sour cabbage, coconut curry and Chinese herbal soup. In the back, there's an array of sauces to mix up to your liking, thankfully all labeled in both English and Chinese. I ended up with just sesame sauce and some scallions.

With the set, each person gets a small appetizer, choice of starch (udon, vermicelli or rice), choice of meat (pork belly, lamb, sirloin or duck), vegetables, dessert, drink and choice of soup base (NT$288-388). There are also seafood sets available (NT$888), as well as ala carte add ons. I chose the Japanese shabu shabu broth, the lightest (and blandest) of the bunch and udon, which came in a frozen puck. Different people can choose different soup bases and share with the dual sided hotpot. The appetizer seemed like a dried out ham wrapped around something- skipped it.

The veggies are fresh and the pork slices were plentiful as well as came with a small bamboo spoonful of fishcake to self scoop in, so I could see how Asia Milano could be popular with Taida students or families. With so many hotpot options in town, I wouldn't venture out of my neighborhood to come here, but it might be a roomy late night option for those looking for a last minute dinner spot....

Unless you're a fan of this soap opera, which I found a screenshot posted on Asia Milan's Facebook page, which shot a scene at the restaurant. I don't watch Asian soap operas so I have no clue, but maybe some readers out there are fans?

CLOSED! dessert/western: i recommend TIM & MEL PATISSERIE AND BISTRO

CLOSED! a/o 2014

TIM & MEL PATISSERIE AND BISTRO
No. 39, Lane 345, RenAi Rd, Sec. 4, 台北市仁愛路四段345巷四弄39號
(02) 2752-1829

MRT: Zhongxiao/Dunhua

website: timmel.com.tw

hours: 12 PM - 9 PM

$$ (about NT$600/person; NT$300 for afternoon tea)

Kid friendliness: no high chairs, limited space.

Visit reviewed: 3/7/2012

Opened last summer, Tim & Mel Patisserie and Bistro joins the growing myriad of chic and cute cafes dotting the alleys and lanes in Taipei. A rainbow of macarons, shelves of dainty pastries like yuzu hazelnut bombes and an centered, open kitchen greets you in this tiny bistro that seats about 20 or so people.

There's bar seating at the open kitchen to watch the chefs hard at work, or group seating available at tables in the front and back where you can gaze from afar.

The lunch menu is limited to seven or so savory dishes to be ordered ala carte, and on the day we went there were quite a few things not available- steak, gnocchi and souffles. We ended up ordering a few pastas and a roasted duck breast to share, saving room for dessert. 

The food took quite a while to come out of the kitchen and a dish at a time, so it would be hard to wait for all the dishes to arrive to eat. My favorite was the elegantly plated roasted duck breast with sauteed mushrooms and green beans (NT$580) which was very tender and juicy, with the right amount of salt and pepper.

I ordered the Scallops with truffled gnocchi  pasta (NT$660) which was supposed to come with gnocchi, but since they were out, they replaced with pasta. I was fine with that since I don't like gnocchi anyways. The scallops were cooked well done, rather than seared medium rare and the pasta was gone in a few bites. 

I felt for the price they charged for the scallops, they could have served more pasta, but I guessed that the plate was chosen for gnocchi and not switched up make more room for more pasta. Since Tim & Mel's bucks the Taipei trend of offering sets and everything was ala carte, a meal could get pricey with the portion sizes- since this portion was not filling as a main dish.

My friend's pan crisped chicken pasta (NT$380) was a better size for the price, but I didn't try it. He said it was a little over seasoned, but finished it.

If I came back for the savory, I'd order the duck breast again and maybe try the waygu beef salad.

Tim & Mel Patisserie should be more popular for afternoon tea- they offer a set that has a strawberry mille-feuille, selection of three macarons, panna cotta and drink for NT$360. Or you could pick and choose your own desserts. Browsing the flavors, it's hard to choose just three for the set. 

Let's go back to the macarons... cassis, mint chocolate, blueberry, raspberry...

black sesame, mango, lemon lime...

Macaron boxes are tucked along the back wall and framed news clippings to read about the brother and sister chefs from the East Coast while you wait for your food.

   

Since they didn't have souffles (bummer!) that day, we shared an afternoon tea set and a strawberry crepe (NT$160).

The desserts were all very drool worthy and competitively priced. The macarons here slightly bigger and at NT$65, a better deal than the other famed macarons around Taipei which usually run NT$80-100 a piece (Patisserie La Douceur (which recently expanded to two floors and opened a second location in DaAn district), Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki (which is going under renovation at Bellavita to expand the seating area), Paul (which has expanded its menu), Robuchon, Boite de Bijou- am I missing any?), which makes me feel slightly less guilty about paying US$2 for a bite of sugar. 

Ok, a bite of happiness is priceless. Happiness times three.

The strawberry mille-feulle is slightly awkward to share, but the crispy and creamy layers elicit mmms around the table.

I also end up picking out two flavors to try that my friend didn't pick, that ended up being my favorites- mint chocolate and lemon lime macarons. 

After finding out about Tim & Mel Bistro, I found out that Chef Melissa Chang also opened another shop nearby called Tartine Bakery that served even more macaron flavors and goodies to discover- so of course I had to try it out. Stay posted!

my kitchen: peanut butter smores cookies & hello kitty version

Peanut butter smores cookies! With all the goodies lying around my kitchen and a cookie craving, I had to experiment.

I used salted chocolate caramels and marshmallows from Costco and threw in some Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal instead of graham crackers. Tossed in a few eggs and tablespoons of oil and sugar into a bowl with a bag of Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookie mix from Carrefour (just follow the directions).

I tried making the cookies three ways- (1) stuffing the smores in the center for fat cookies, (2) stuffing the smores in the center and then stuffing in a Hello Kitty silicone mold, (3) chopping up the caramels and marshmallows and mixing them for regular sized cookies.

Experiment with half or quarter sized marshmallows and chocolates- or dice it up more finely to spread the love.

With detailed molds like this, I use a ball of dough to push into the grooves first and then fill up the rest.

I LOVE this Hello Kitty silicone mold! I'll have to do a post about all the different experiments I've tried with this mold- for Hello Kitty shaped ice cubes, biscuits with nutella, cornbread, chocolates, even pineapple cakes!

The Hello Kitty cookies turned out kind of like muffin cookies, with the dough spilling over the top, but when you flip them over you get a surprise. The bottom parts were softer and more cake-like.

It's best to let the cookies cool down considerably before trying to take it out. Otherwise, you'll get the picture below- this is what happened when I tried to take it out straight out of the oven. I can never wait and always have to sample first. I love it when its all gooey and hot and sticky.

Out of the three versions I made, I liked the chopped up version the best taste-wise... it tasted the most like smores with the marshmallows getting all toasty and salted chocolate caramels melting even further for a very chewy cookie.

I had to share so that I didn't end up eating them all myself. But I find it amusing that my Taiwanese friends offer up compliments like "It's really good, it's not too sweet" when I think the cookie is ridiculously sweet with three times the sugar of a normal cookie (marshmallows + chocolate + caramels). I think the peanut butter and salted caramel plays well with the smores and makes the flavors more layered and more palatable than regular chocolate chip or oatmeal chocolate chip. And as you guys know, it's tough to find a good chewy cookie in Taipei. If you're looking, try We Love Cookies or Subway. Have you found them anywhere else I should try?