CLOSED! mexican: i strongly recommend DOS CHINOS

DOS CHINOS 多斯奇諾
No. 8, Lane 38, TongHua St.
通化街38巷8號

a/o 11/2013 CLOSED indefinitely! It was a good 9 month run

MRT: Liuzhangli or DaAn (probably a 20-30 minute walk away)

website: Dos Chinos' FB page

hours: Closed Tuesdays.
M, W-TH: 12PM- 3:30PM; 5:30PM-10PM,
Fridays 12PM-3:30PM, 5:30PM-12:30A,
Saturday and Sundays only open for dinner 5:30PM-12:30A (Sat), 5:30PM-10PM (Sun)

$-$$

Kid friendliness: limited barstool seating

Visit reviewed: 3/13/2013

Barely four weeks old, Dos Chinos is the newest "Mexican in Taipei" spot to try. While not as small as Taco to Go (which I saw smartly revamped its space to make the kitchen smaller to make more seating available), it's pretty dang tiny with only seven seats inside.

Dos Chinos= two Chinese guys opening up a taco shop in Taipei. 

Dos Chinos keeps it simple by offering only soft tacos and burgers with fries and drinks. No chips, no pico de gallo, no hard taco shells, no quesadilla fussiness. Just chorizo, carnitas, chicken and veggie tacos. Don't know if that will change in the future, but they make the most of their supplies by also offering a pulled pork or chorizo egg and cheese burger.

The tacos are NT$50 each, or 3 for NT$130, with a fries and drink meal option for NT$175. 

Chorizo is definitely a rare find in Taipei and Dos Chinos makes a good rendition of the spicy ground pork. Tortilla, a pile of meat, cilantro, onions and some green chili sauce. Squirt on some lime and you're good.

There's also a spicier red chili sauce that we had on the side. 

I like how everything is made to order so the food comes out hot. While places like Juanita are quick, a complaint I've heard from friends is that the food sometimes is not hot, especially towards the end of the day. I also don't mind that the tacos have only one tortilla instead of two.

Next up, the pulled pork tacos. Spot on. While the tacos are not huge (as they are not supposed to be), I think they put a fair amount of meat in them. That being said, one would probably need to eat 4-6 of them to be full.

My two friends and I shared two trio of tacos which wasn't really enough, so we ended up trying (and splitting) a pulled pork burger (cuban style) (NT$175) which came with muenster cheese and pickles.  The chef was kind enough to cut it into thirds for us. Haha. Mostly everything at Dos Chinos is housemade, including the pickles and the chorizo.

While Taipei will probably never get a taco stand that will please everyone, Dos Chinos is one step closer and definitely worth a try. It's definitely better than the overpriced tacos you'd get at many of the sit down restaurants around town. You could drop by before going to the Tong Hua night market or late night on friday nights for their happy hour. Thanks to reader Jackie for giving me the heads up!

chinese: i recommend ZHU JI

ZHU JI XIAN BING ZHOU DIAN 朱記餡餅粥店

No. 106, Ren Ai Rd., Sec 3 台北市仁愛路三段106號

(02) 2702-9411

MRT: Zhongxiao/Fuxing or DaAn (both a 15-20 minute walk from MRT)

website: http://www.zhuji.com.tw/

hours: $-$$ (NT$200/person)

Kid friendliness:  high chairs available, additional seating on second floor- stairs only

Visit reviewed: 2/1/2011 & 1/24/2013

Zhu Ji was one of the first places my family friend took me to when I visited Taipei when I first started spending more time here, probably 9 years ago- it was near her office, it had vegetarian options for her and my mom and it had great prices. The red and golden storefront made for a memorable and lasting impression, so on my repeat visits, I recognized it even before I knew where RenAi Rd was or a "xian bing" was. In fact, a version of a post for this restaurant has been sitting in my blog posts folder for at least 8 years. 

The two story restaurant is busy at lunchtime, but not touristy enough yet that you can't grab a table by walking in. It also helps that they have many locations across Taipei. Upstairs has more tables to seat larger groups, while the main floor has peek into the dumpling wrapping open kitchen. 

Small plates of cold dishes (NT$40/each) are available in the back, perfect for sharing until your food arrives. Find the decked out shelves and help yourself to your choice of pickled vegetables, spicy eggplant or choice of tofu/soy. My favorites include bamboo, eggplant and thousand year old egg with tofu.  They have a pretty large selection compared to most places, which works for my mom who is vegetarian.

Hey, I just noticed the plates have gotten slightly (considerably) smaller since my last visit two years ago. 

Ordering is off a check off sheet in Chinese, but if you ask for an English menu, they have one. It's funny to also see how the English menu has evolved from a greasy, one page laminated sheet to a full fledged fancy book, with pictures next to each item for easy identification.

So what to order? You have to order the house specialty- xian bing (NT$40)- which comes filled with beef, pork, vegetables or leek. In English, it's listed as a "beef pastry," in the past as a "beef meat pie," I've also heard it called a "beef pancake." Tastewise, it's probably can be described as a pan fried, flattened dumpling. The dough  is thinner than a bao, but breadier than a regular dumpling, while the patty-like meat inside is juicy seasoned ground beef with spring onions. Like a burger, it's a bit hard to eat without making a mess, as you can't eat it in one bite without having juices dribbling down your chin.

Another one of my favorites is the beef roll which is a spring onion pancake rolled up with beef and spring onions and hoisin sauce. The chewy yet flaky wrap makes for a surprisingly satisfying compact appetizer and is not as messy as the xian bing. Everytime I see this, I have to order it and I think Zhu Ji makes some of the best ones.

I usually pull out the spring onions and just keep the cucumber inside, since I don't really like raw spring onions. 

There's also quite a few noodle soups to choose from- beef noodle soup, won ton noodle soup, hot and sour soup, cold noodles with shredded chicken or to name some. The great thing about Zhu Ji at this location is the knife cut noodles, which come in long wavy strips and have a fresh chewy bite. The soup was a tad salty for me on this visit, but I've enjoyed it on other occasions at their Mitsukoshi location (which doesn't have the knife cut noodles). For my favorite knife cut beef noodle place, check out Shan Xi Dao Xiao Mian- it's not as nice of an atmosphere, but the food is great.

Skip the wonton noodles, a bit mushy and bland.

And of course there's no shortage of dumplings to choose from- steamed pork dumplings (NT$110), veggie dumplings (NT$110), shrimp pork or pork wontons, pan fried dumplings.. the best thing about eating with family or a large group is that you can share to sample them all! 

I quite like the veggie dumplings which come with finely chopped chives, glass noodles and mini cubes of tofu.

Shrimp pork wontons with chili oil on the side (NT$120) 

I probably wouldn't order the pan fried dumplings (NT$100) again as they were not crispy as I've had at other places (for perfectly pan fried dumplings try Ma Shan Tang or Zhang Ji Fried dumplings or the local chain Ba Fang Yun Ji).

Come hungry since you will leave full.. Order a table full of food for less than two baskets of Din Tai Fung XLB and use your savings on dessert.

OTHER LOCATIONS 

No.32-B1, Baoqing Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City

遠東百貨寶慶店 台北市寶慶路32號B1 

02-23825809 

No.12-B2, Nanjing W. Rd., Zhongshan Dist., Taipei City(Hall 1) 

新光三越南西店 台北市南京西路12號B2(1館) 

02-25676169 

No.152-12, Sec. 1, Zhongshan Rd., Banqiao Dist., New Taipei City

遠東百貨板橋店 新北市板橋區中山路一段152號12F

(02) 8953-8858 

No.203-B2, Sec. 2, Dunhua S. Rd., Da’an Dist., Taipei City 

遠企購物中心敦南店 台北市敦化南路二段203號B2 

(02) 2739-4175 

No.11-B2, Songshou Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City(Hall A11)

新光三越信義店 台北市松壽路11號B2(A11館) 

(02) 2723-7292 

No.7, Zhongshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng Dist.

誠品台大醫院店 台北市中山南路7號B1 

(02) 2322-5465#626 

 

No.202-3, Sec. 2, Zhongcheng Rd., Shilin Dist.

新光三越天母店 台北市忠誠路二段202號3F 

(02) 2874-6669

No.77-8, Sec. 6, Zhongshan N. Rd., Shilin Dist

SOGO百貨天母店 台北市中山北路六段77號8F 

(02) 2835-3619 

No.323-9, Xida Rd., East Dist., Hsinchu City 

遠東百貨新竹店 新竹市西大路323號9F 03-5238120

(03) 5238120

my kitchen: pesto, avocado toast with grape tomatoes and truffle cheese

Simple has never tasted so good. No recipe needed. Just slather a spoonful of pesto, then spread a slice of ripe avocado atop your choice of toasted bread. What kind of bread? I am currently obsessed with the torta bread from La Brea Bakery, available at Costco (where I also bought the pesto and avocados), which I've also gotten all my friends addicted to. Definitely don't try it if you want to avoid carbs. 

I ate this three days in a row. For breakfast. Damn you, torta bread!

Creamy, crispy, cheesy and awesome. Variations can include adding arugula, bacon, prosciutto, poached egg, salami or cheese- in my case, truffle cheese from Trader Joes that I brought back from LA. (You can also buy truffle cheese in Taipei from Goodwells or Breeze Supermarket for a small fortune) The grape tomatoes add a layer of sweetness and extra juice. And please don't try using Taiwan avocados for this (shudder!!). It won't be the same.

Call it an open faced sandwich. Tartine. Toast. It doesn't matter what you call it, just don't blame me when you are obsessed too.

snapshot/dessert: HELLO KITTY at CLOUDY CUPCAKE

CLOUDY CUPCAKE 克勞蒂杯子蛋糕 
at Eslite Xinyi B2 誠品百貨信義店
No. 11, SongGao Road
台北市信義區松高路11號
(02)2722-2586

MRT: Taipei City Hall

Hello Kitty kind of gets around. I've been seeing her face everywhere and on everything. Taipei (and the world) is obsessed with Hello Kitty. We used to spend money on Sanrio stationary and pens and bags, but now it's moved onto Hello Kitty hamburgers, cupcakes and honey toast.

You can spot her lovers posing for a picture in front of the homebase Hello Kitty restaurant- Hello Kitty Sweets- any given day of the week.  I often spy her at 7-11, making me buy stuff to collect trinkets or stamps or magnets or whatnot, and now strawberry stuff. Dazzling Cafe also has been featuring Hello Kitty honey toast and desserts the past few months for a limited time (until March 11th, I believe).

from Dazzling Cafe's FB page

And now Cloudy Cupcakes has also been getting in the Sanrio action with the big red bow and some white chocolate candy faces. What is about the cuteness that makes us squeal and open our wallets? I didn't try them (since I've heard multiple meh reviews about their pricey little cupcakes), but I admit I was tempted. Don't know how long the cuteness will last at Cloudy, but had to share.

OTHER LOCATIONS

QSquare B3
No. 1 ChengDe Road B3
中正區承德路一段1號京站店B3
(02) 2552-5719

CLOSED! indian/food court: i strongly recommend CAFE INDIA

Closed! summer 2015

CAFE INDIA 歡迎寶來屋印度風味餐廳
at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A4 food court
台北信義新天地A4館
No.19, Song Gao Road, B2
台北市松高路19號B2

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: cafeindia.com.tw English, Chinese and Japanese

hours: $-$$

Kid friendliness: food court seating and limited bar seating

Visit reviewed: 2/6/2013 and 2/27/2013

I know that you guys are looking for great places to eat Indian food in Taipei too... my slightly outdated shortlist page is one of the top most visited pages for hungryintaipei.com so lots of you are googling for "Indian food in Taipei."

The first time I tried Cafe India was last month when I was looking for a quick bite in the area and I wasn't feeling like the usual food court suspects. I was a little hesitant to try Cafe India since my last experience with the food at that location, previously housing Indian Palace, was less than ok.

But a new name should mean a new owner and new chefs right? So I quizzed the Indian cashier and chef in English and settled on the butter chicken set menu, which comes with a similar looking mini salad and watery cream corn soup. The English and Chinese menu has about 15 different types of curry, including vegetarian options, fried rice, tandoori sets and lamb and fish curry options.

At first glance, the curry was already a lot better last my last time- the butter chicken (NT$250) looked creamy and ready to be sopped up the naan and was the right vivid color. The taste was perfect too- sweet and spicy with sizeable chunks of boneless chicken and the huge naan was fluffy and airy, the way I love it. 

Following the tradition of other Indian food court trays, the curry comes with a choice of naan or yellow rice, a soup and small salad. The creamy corn soup is bit too sweet and syrupy for my tastes and the salad falls into the "pleasing the Taiwanese customer" flavor.

I had been thinking about Cafe India so much that I ended up choosing it as a dinner spot for some friends before watching SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. I kept getting texts from them confirming "Where? In the food court?" and responding "Yes! The food court! B2!"

I think the best way to eat Indian food is to have an assortment and share family style, so I was excited to be able to try more. I reordered the butter chicken (NT$250), then also got the palak paneer spinach, chicken lababdar, aloo gobi and tandoori chicken. I also upgraded one of our naans into a buttery garlic naan. I definitely recommend the naan over the yellow rice which was too mushy for me. 

I was happy the food was consistent with the first visit and still excellent so that my friends didn't think I was crazy. It was my first time having chicken lababdar (NT$250) and I really loved it. It had a strong creamy tomato flavor and notes of cumin. 

The aloo gobi (NT$220) wasn't too heavy and had a good mix of fork tender potato and cauliflower. I also really liked the Indian cottage cheese in the spinach palak paneer.

The tandoori chicken was a good size- 6 tender, meaty pieces for NT$298. Super tender and perfect for sharing family style (or hoarding to yourself). Came steaming hot to the table.

I didn't know until I asked the second visit that Cafe India has actually been around a long time. The A4 food court location is a branch of the original Tianmu restaurant, which also has buffets . Lucky for me, this location is much closer for me (as well as all those visiting the conventions in the TWTC Halls).

We ended up sharing four curries and one plate of tandoori chicken between 5 people, basically one set per person. I loved everything and we devoured everything. What I ordered was only mildly spicy, but if you like it extra spicy, be sure to tell them and I'm sure they can add the heat. The prices are good compared to what you'd get at a sit down Indian restaurant in Taipei (especially somewhere like Saffron in Tianmu which I also love, but also so far away for me), so as long as your friends don't mind congregating in a food court and have everyone stare while you take over a table and fill it with completely with Indian food, then get a group together ASAP.

OTHER LOCATIONS
No. 30, Koqiang Rd, Tianmu
台北市克強街30號
(02) 2837-7365