a hungry girl's guide to taipei

Monday, June 16, 2014

CLOSED! burgers/american: BLT BURGER

closed a/o spring 2015

BLT BURGER

at Vieshow Cinemas

~~No. 18, Song Shou Rd.~~

~~台北市信義區松壽路18號~~
(02) 8786-5668

MRT: Taipei City Hall or Taipei 101

Hours: 11 AM - 11:30PM

website: BLT Burger's FB page

visit reviewed: 12/4/2013

BLT Burger has made its way to Taipei with a trendy outlet at Xinyi Vieshow Cinemas, right next to the also newly opened Krispy Kreme and Mazendo. BLT Burger is part of the BLT food empire, with branches in Hong Kong, New York, Las Vegas I had a chance to check it out last November during its soft opening.

The inside is spacious, perfect for group lunches or booths for couples, or a private room in the back for parties. While there are quite a few places nearby to grab a burger- the Diner, Gordon Biersch, Chili's- there hasn't been a dedicated burger spot in this area until now (unless you count Burger King or McDonalds. Lol). Does anyone else vaguely remember when there was another burger place in this same area back when it was Warner Village? Ruby Tuesdays? Haha, haven't thought about that place in ages, until this moment.

The menu features lots of different types of burgers, including Wagyu, Tex-Mex, Buffalo Chicken or even a Salmon burger. BLT Taipei's menu is missing a few things from what's offered at the Vegas branch (Lamb Tandoori, Wagyu truffle, Pimento cheese), instead it's more similar to the Hong Kong BLT.

Sides include onion rings or fries (which were incredibly small portions the day we went) or starters include bbq nachos, wings, mozzarella sticks, chili bowl or savory waffle fries bites. I eyed the milkshakes, and there are also spiked milkshakes and cocktails/beer. I really wanted to try a milkshake, but I wasn't about to pay NT$238-300 (US$7-9) for one!

Burgers don't automatically come with fries, unless you order the lunch set. Everyone in our party missed the small type for the lunch set underneath the burgers except for one person who order the classic burger set (NT$398), so be sure to look for that and order it since the fries come on the plate and looked like more than what was given ala carte (and you can switch out the regular fries for waffle fries etc). So that being said the burgers are pretty expensive, paying about NT$400 for just a burger especially if you want to order one of the more creative ones.

My favorite burger, taste wise, was the signature BLT Burger (NT$368) though I wished the bacon was crispy and there was less sauce. It was kind of a mess to eat, but we cut it into fourths to share. Came with a tiny coleslaw that no one ate.

My next favorite was the St. Agur Blue burger (NT$428) although the balsamic grilled onions dominated the flavor and the melted cheese did not taste like blue cheese at all.

One friend was adventurous by trying the Shumai Burger (NT$388) which had ground shrimp and pork patty, but actually tasted Vietnamese (banh mi) -inspired with the finely julienned pickled carrots, radish, cilantro and cucumbers.

I also wasn't crazy about the Pulled Pork (NT$368)- it was slightly greasy and the strips of pork were too long to eat in neat bites. It didn't taste like the usual bbq pulled pork- you could find better versions at Gordon Biersch, Burger and Co. or Ed's Diner. I regretted ordering this and was glad my friends shared their burgers with me.

Again, let me say how disappointing the size of the ala carte sides were- sweet potato fries (NT$90) and onion rings (NT$120).

Also probably wouldn't order the salad or nachos again. Wasn't enough cheese on the nachos (NT$268) and chips were surprisingly a bit stale. More cheese please!!

So while BLT Burger seemed so enticing when I first spied the menu, I haven't been back since my first visit as there are so many burger options in town that are just as good (if not better) for more affordable prices.

Monday, June 09, 2014

japanese/hotpot: i strongly recommend KANPAI KUROGEYA

KANPAI KUROGEYA 乾杯黒毛屋
(HEI MAO WU or BLACK HAIR HOUSE)
at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A4
No. 19 Song Gao Rd, 6F
台北市信義區松高路19號6F (新光三越A4)
(02) 2723-7722

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: kurogeya.com.tw

hours: 11:30AM - 2:30PM; 5PM - 12AM

$$$ (about NT$800-1000/person)

Kid friendliness: plenty of options for shabu loving kids; no high chairs spotted; table positions fixed so can't move tables together for larger groups (or odd numbered groups)

Visit reviewed: 4/30/2014, 4/4/2014 & 1/3/2014

Last fall, Xinyi Mitsukoshi's A4 revamped their sixth floor into a row of enticing restaurants- Sukhothai, Kanpai Kuroegeya, Hachi Bei and a teppanyaki restaurant. I had been hearing my friend raving about this place, calling it Black Haired Pig, for the longest time as she was in a shabu phase. But finally when I did the write up, I realized it's Black Hair House (Wu) not Pig (Zhu). Lol.

Anyways, Kanpai Kurogeya (which is its official Japanese/English name) is an upscale, modern shabu shabu place offering unique options such as soymilk broth hotpot and adding touches like freshly grated radish, melted mozzarella cheese and at the end of the meal, an option of having parmesan cheese risotto.

First time having hotpot with boiled cheese!

The first time I tried it, I thought it was good, but not particularly special. But after trying the soy milk broth hotpot, I'm a fan. Instead of using water, or in this case water with kombu kelp, you can opt to have a soy milk broth made from soy milk, dashi and white miso, which lends a richer flavor to everything you cook in it. I ended up even drinking a bit of the broth and not needing to dip much of my veggies or meat in soy sauce.

The menu is in Chinese only, but basically most of the choices are sets with the choice of meat (beef, pork) and hotpot broth, prices for sets run about NT$700 and up. Options for broth are either a clear kombu broth, a soy milk broth or a sukiyaki style hotpot.

Sets come with vegetables, assorted fishcake, and one plate of meat to cook in your hotpot as well as a choice of rice, noodles or xi fan which is made with the broth of your hotpot at the end of the meal. The servers does some of the cooking for you to start off the meal, but if you are impatient, you can start shabu-ing away.

Assorted mushrooms and fishcake - the first time I came, they set out a little glass timer and told us that when the timer was done, the fishcake would be ready. My server didn't give me a timer on my second visit, as well as forgot to give me freshly grated radish. Boo. So if you don't get it on your first visit, be sure to ask for it.

The soymilk broth looks like it will bubble over, but the server checks the temperature and lets us know when it's ready.

It's ready!

This is a yuzu pepper condiment I've seen seeing all over town. It's very potent so use sparingly.

One of the first things the server will cook and plate up for you is the tofu.

Two styles of pork come with the soy milk broth hotpot and pork is the only option. If you want beef, then opt for the kombu broth or the sukiyaki. Each person gets their own pot and own plate of meat, which is pretty satisfying and filling.

Extra plates can be ordered ala carte.

The servers will start off some of the cooking for you and depending on how many other people they have, you can toss the rest of the stuff in there at your own pace.

Just start throwing everything in there to cook...

Before and after of the fatty pork belly slices...

After you are done eating your meat and veggies, the servers will come and give you your starch- for kombu you can opt for a bowl of rice or noodles, for the sukiyaki they cook udon in the soy sauce and for the soy milk broth, they make a cheese risotto, which I loved. The empty out the pot by spooning the broth into another container then putting back a little broth for the rice to soak up. The cheese risotto only comes with the soy milk hotpot- the other hotpots come with regular porridge or noodles.