american: I recommend SPROUT

SPROUT 初芽
No. 33, Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 7, Tianmu
台北市士林區中山北路七段31號
(02) 2876-6080

MRT: Shipai

hours: 8:30-21:30

website: Sprout's Facebook page

price: $$-$$$ (NT$300-500/person)

kid friendliness: kid's menu and dishware available 

visit reviewed: 9/30/2016

Avocado and spinach grilled cheese sandwich. Roasted vegetable quinoa salad. Lemon ricotta pancakes. Feta spinach turkey burger. Spinach and turkey lasagna. The menu from Sprouts, a casual and busy cafe in Tianmu, reads like a menu from a restaurant in LA and one of the hardest things to do at Sprout is to decide which dish to try first. 

Serving up brunch, salads, sandwiches, pastas, smoothies and desserts, Sprout joins the latest wave of Taipei restaurants offering up American menus that were nearly nonexistent here just a few years ago. Pricing is on the higher side, but reasonable considering the portions, especially for the salads. Quite a few vegetarian friendly dishes as well as some unusual hot plates like jambalaya or Hungarian chicken.  Reservations recommended, especially for weekends. Customers are expected to place orders and pay first at the register, get a number and grab utensils, plates, cups, water, condiments at the self serve station in the center of the room. 

Self serving station

I was torn between a lot of things on the menu, but I decided to try the prime rib roast with caramelized onions sandwich (NT$400) and add the tomato soup and iced green tea for an extra (NT$120). The sandwich came with a choice of a side dish, which you can see at the counter, and I was happy with the roasted vegetables, though I wished the portion was slightly bigger.

Loved the tomato soup as it had the right amount of creaminess, sweetness and tomato sourness and it was a satisfying portion to lead into the meal. Hard to find a good tomato soup in Taipei, and I would definitely order this again (maybe along with the green monster grilled cheese sandwich).

I used to always order the french dip at 1Bite2go, but they've recently taken it off the menu. The prime rib sandwich version at Sprout might be even better than 1Bite2Go's,  as it came with a fat tomato slice and pickled onions on the side, along with the caramelized onions that were already with the beef. The provolone and horseradish also add some depth to the flavors, so you almost don't need the au jus, though I still found myself dipping pieces of the fluffy ciabatta into the sauce.

I enviously eyed the heaping bowls of salads my lunch meeting friends ordered- the mexican chicken and avocado salad (NT$360) came with chicken, corn, baby tomatoes and avocado on a pile of lettuce  and the roasted vegetable quinoa salad (NT$340) had a touch of crumbled feta cheese atop the roasted bell pepper, zucchini, carrots and tomatoes. Some of the restaurants in town have salads on their menus, but when it comes, there's no lettuce in sight, so it's great to see these American sized portions so you could potentially share dishes or pack half the salad to go for later. 

Scallops and salmon pasta in pesto sauce (NT$530) 

I wished I had saved room to try some of their desserts on the menu, like the caramel banana cream pie or the apple and maple cake, but I will have to make a return visit to try them then. I also wanted to try the breakfast smoothie bowl, which you can choose any smoothie and make it into a bowl topped with bananas, berries, chia seeds, coconut and granola. (NT$150 + price of smoothie) Otherwise, you could always swing by Dairy Queen which is right next door for a blizzard or ice cream sandwich. 

bistronomy/modern: i strongly recommend RAW (fall 2016)

RAW
No. 301, Lequn 3rd Road, Zhongshan District
台北市中山區樂群三路301號
(02) 8501-5800

MRT: Jianan Road

website: www.raw.com.tw

hours: Lunch: Wed- Sun / 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Dinner: Tues - Sat  / 6 PM - 10 PM
Closed Mondays

$$$$ (NT$1850/per person plus 10% service. Chef's table menu in back of restaurant is slightly more expensive)

Kid friendliness: only set menus available so only probably only foodie kids will appreciate

Visit reviewed: 8/22/2016 Fall 2016

Previous RAW Taipei menus: 
5/26/2016 Summer 2016
1/21/2016 Winter 2016
 4/7/2015 & 3/4/2015 Spring 2015

LOVED loved love the new menu at @raw_taipei. Might be my favorite set yet. Loved the "All about duck" and the "Taco, tako, t-a-c-o-s" and dual basil pesto abalone and bamboo.  So many wonderful flavors and interpretations of Taiwan infused with the world for the latest menu.

Of course, it helped to have Chef Andre Chiang and Chef Alain Huang to talk about dishes and not be afraid to quiz the servers about details. I've been lucky enough to come to almost every season (thank you to my friends who manage to snag reservations) to RAW, but this was my first time coming as an invited guest of RAW to their media luncheon. I was the only English language media/blogger, so I'm working my way up in the world! Haha.

CORN / CHARCOAL / BBQ 
The first course at @raw_taipei definitely evokes Taiwanese street corn #🌽, smothered in sticky sweet sauce and grilled, but in miniature form. I thought it was a giant baby corn at first but someone pointed out it was made out of individual kernels taken off and reassembled onto a baby corn popsicle , so you still have the mouthfeel of regular sized Bbq corn kernels. Playful start to the 8 course meal.

ABALONE/ BAMBOO / SANBEI PESTO 

Chef @andrechiang_sg played with the idea that both east and west "use basil with different flavors. What if you used it (Taiwanese basil) in a Western way?" Taiwanese cuisine uses Thai basil in dishes like three cup, or san-bei, while Italian/Western uses a sweet basil for pesto. The addictive sauce was a mash up of the two, making the perfect match for the crunchy bamboo, touch of caviar and chewy abalone. I scooped up the extra pesto and pine nuts with the bread. So so good.

SCALLION / ONION / LEEK  蔥蔥蔥
Every season, RAW Taipei "Always has one vegetable driven dish" and this dish is it for the new menu. Paraphrasing Chef Andre's thoughts about this "onion family" dish, he said, "Interesting how when you cook the leaf, the roots, it shows different levels of sweetness, (it's) almost meaty." The leek and zucchini purée was definitely very creamy and sweet, with an underlying saltiness from the mackerel, while the onion petals cup drops of EVOO and balsamic. What I thought were bacon bits were fried shiitake mushrooms to give the purée a satisfying crunch. You almost don't need the uni, but I will never complain about uni. Later I found out that there are several touches, like the uni that come with the Chef's Table, which are the two elongated tables in the back near the kitchen, which cost slightly more per person.

The TACO / TAKO/ T-A-C-O-S takes a spring onion pancake as tortilla, octopus (with is tako in Japanese) as the meat with a soft boiled egg and T-a-c-o-s standing for teriyaki, avocado, cabbage, onions and sour cream. A playful interpretation and play on words to combine the flavors of multiple countries. The spring onion pancake is thicker than a regular tortilla would be, and the flaky layers provide the satisfying crunch, while the chewy cubes of octopus and runny egg contrast and complement the pancake.

ALL ABOUT DUCK used all parts of the duck including duck heart, duck tongue and duck liver. I mean #FOIEGRAS SOUP. How can you not love it? With barley, Taiwanese red quinoa and corn. One of my favorite dishes.

OCEAN TROUT/RADISH/SALTED OLIVES

Ocean trout served two ways. First as fish chip with the fish skin fried into a crispy chip, then sous vided into tender submission and topped with salmon roe, paired with radish and salted chinese olives. (And looks sort of like the island of Taiwan) If you weren't paying attention, you might even think it was salmon. Every dish RAW serves always has contrasting textures, something smooth, something crunchy and this dish follows the rules. 

BURNT TOMATO/ MOLE/ SMOKED SAGO 

Beef cheek with mole sauce and burnt tomato, light dusting of chocolate shavings. Unexpected dish for me- curious how locals will like this menu. 

Spying into the kitchen between dishes

And ICE / SNOWBALL / MANGO modernizes the popular mango shaved ice and gives us a meringue snowball with sweet #mango cubes and tableside snowfall.

So that's the new menu at @raw_taipei. I really enjoyed every single dish and love that they are introducing flavors like mole and tacos to Taiwan, but in an unexpected new way by marrying the ones we find familiar. Inspires me to try to do the same at home.

dessert/snack: i recommend STREET CHURROS TAIPEI

STREET CHURROS TAIPEI

No. 24, Lane 260, GuangFu S. Road

DaAn District 

(02) 2776-5663

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall 

Hours: 10AM - 10PM

Price: $$

Kid friendliness: kids will probably want their own. Seating inside or grab to go 

Visit reviewed: 9/6/2016

Churros were always a treat when I was a kid. I can't remember if my first churro was at Disneyland or Costco, but I remember being happy when finding out Costco Taipei as well as the movie theaters also sold churros here. So it's interesting that we've seen a resurgence of churros, but with a twist, literally.  

Opened a few months ago, Street Churros sells churros bent into horseshoe loops that are made to order, and pretty tastyyyy, rolled in cinnamon sugar. (NT$80) There's also a mini churro version w soft serve ice cream (NT$120) or a savory version as a bun for a hot dog (NT$130)!!! 

After you place your order at the window, you can see the churros being extruded into the fryer and made to order. There's something to be said about freshly fried dough.

 

Rolled in cinnamon sugar 

Roomy Indoor seating 

Soft serve with mini churro loop (NT$120) 

You can see the regular churro is probably twice as long as the mini version with the ice cream. So depending on if you want all churro or a bit of each. 

I've spied this for awhile on Instagram with places like The Loop in LA, which take it a step further by letting you coat your churros with sprinkles or cereal.

There's something so satisfying about eating something hot out of the fryer. It's moist yet crispy and has enough sugar and sweetness to please a sweet tooth like me. That's why I like to try to only buy Krispy Kreme when the "hot doughnuts now" sign is on because something magical about the optimal taste and temperature when it's fresh. I can understand why this could be an occasional treat, especially compared to some bad experiences with dry reheated frozen churros. It didn't taste oily and I would totally try it again.

Even the paper that the churro comes in comes with cute doodles on the back. 

Other options for churros in Taipei include Churro K (I've never been) and Macho Tacos which offer mini churros. Spanish/Mexican street churros by a Korean company in a Taipei shop is definitely a sign of globalization. Now just waiting for @churroboroughla to come to Taipei! 

hungryintaipei recommends: 7 PLACES TO SATISFY SO CAL CRAVINGS IN TAIPEI

Whether you've lived in Taipei for one year or for eleven (like me), you will inevitably end up craving a few things from home. When I first moved back to Taipei in 2005, the things I missed most was Mexican food as it was difficult to find and when you did find it, it didn't mean it would be very good. Then it was trying to find LA style pho or kbbq. Then salads. Anyone who has lived here longer than five years can appreciate the new waves of cafes, restaurants, bistros, brunch and bakeries that make Taipei more diverse in its food choices every year, when you don't feel like Chinese food.

Every summer, I get a chance to go home to LA and eat at all my favorite places, and this year I found some new favorites. The biggest trend in LA this year?  Build your own poke bowls, with at least a dozen different shops opened across LA just in the last year or two. This one is from SEA SALT POKE on Sawtelle.  Let's see who brings pokemania first to Taipei. Maybe NCIS?

Inspired by my travels this year, I'm going to try to put together a series of posts of how to find different cities in Taipei-- Paris, Tokyo, Boston and LA, for starters. Here is my take on where to take yourself when you just can't eat another bian dang and you're craving pie or tacos. 

7 PLACES TO SATSIFY SO CAL CRAVINGS IN TAIPEI

LA: Craving DTLA's LOBSTASHACK or LOBSTATRUCK's lobster rolls?
TAIPEI:  Try LOBSTER BAR in Taipei.  No. 17, Lane 116, DaAn Road, Sec. 1, (02)  2771-0333

Lobster Bar was the first to cause a flurry of lobster roll photos to spread on my social media in Taipei when it opened a few years ago. Lobster Bar's lunch menu is a limited business menu, while they have more options like oysters and uni pasta at dinnertime full menu. Note they also do not serve the lobster roll on weekends, instead they have a brunch menu with a lobster sandwich and eggs benedict. The lobster roll and fries are not cheap at NT$680, but you know, they are pretty expensive in LA and Boston too! I will also have to try the newer Lobster Foods and Le Kief.

Lobstashack is super hidden shop near DTLA's Chinatown

LA:        Craving Sawtelle's TENTENYU tori paitan ramen?
TAIPEI: Try NYC's TOTTO RAMEN. No 9, Lane 16, DaAn Road, Sec. 1 (02) 2778-9866

Both Totto Ramen and Tentenyu offer tori paitan ramen, which simmers chicken and chicken bones for hours rather than pork, for an equally rich and satisfying bowl of ramen. Both are relatively new shops in their neighborhoods. Totto Ramen opened in Taipei in late spring of 2016 this year, while Tentenyu also just opened a few months ago.

Tentenyu trying to get in on Tsujita's tsukemen business

LA/OC: Craving BOILING CRAB's cajun spiced whole shabang seafood boil?
TAIPEI: Try Taipei's BROOKHURST SEAFOOD BAR or SHRIMP DADDY.

My dad absolutely loves the dungeness crab in whole shabang sauce (mild spiciness) so much that we have taken him to Boiling Crab for the last four years since we first took him. So I was fairly excited to try Brookhurst (and other restaurants that were inspired by Boiling Crab but have since closed) to see if they could be a good spot to take my dad. Brookhurst has done their own thing by adding options like scallops, lobster or noodles, and even serving the combos in large skillets instead of plastic bags. 

Boiling Crab. Salt and pepper and limes for dipping!

LA/OC: Craving OC's SAIGON 9?
TAIPEI: Try the pho at CYCLO. No. 9, Lane 75, DaAn Road, Sec. 1 (02) 2778-2569 or No. 137, Section 3, Chenggong Rd (02) 2796-1313 

I haven't been to Cyclo since it moved to its new shop near ZhongXiao/Daan, and their offerings aren't going to be as varied as the shops you'll find in Garden Grove, but they have a solid bowl of pho, bottles of Sriracha and crispy egg rolls. Yes, there are ton of mom and pop Vietnamese shops in Taipei, but this is going to be the one most like what you'd find in LA. They've also opened a branch  in Neihu last year. 

Saigon 9, quick lunch right next door to Great Wolf Lodge

LA: Craving tacos from GUISADOS?
TAIPEI: Try TWINKIES TACOS or MACHOS TACOS in Taipei 

Let's not even pretend that what you are going to find in Asia is going to be the same level as what you would find in LA/Cali, but unless you are going to make your own Mexican food or fly to LA, you have slim pickings. And you know what, Machos delivers a solid baja style fish taco and chimichanga (though their nachos could use more cheese) and Twinkies is off to a good start with their tacos, but I don't want to hear complaining it's not as good as Cali. That's a fact, IT WON'T BE THE SAME, just like how beef noodles and dumplings aren't going to be as good and cheap in the states. 

drooling so badly at this mini tacos sampler from Guisados. only $7!

LA: Craving Korean cold noodles from Ktown??
TAIPEI: Try SAM WON GARDEN No. 45, Ln. 188, Ruiguang Rd.  (02) 8752-3222

Sam Won Garden is my go-to place for when I'm craving galbi and mul naengmyeon, or short rib and cold noodles. Just like the Vietnamese food scene in Taipei, there are a ton of little localized places here, even in every food court, for when you want bibimbap or Taipei style kbbq, but Sam Won is the most LA-ish of them all. It's a big enough restaurant to host your group of 20, they give you a bowl of the Korean lettuce salad that has the slightly sweet and spicy dressing, and they have chewy, soupy cold noodles on the menu. 

LA: Craving GULFSTREAM's lemon meringue pie? 
TAIPEI: Try DRIP CAFE No. 26, Lane 553, Section 4, Zhongxiao E Rd (02) 2764-8181

I can't be the only one craving American style pies in Taipei. There is no shortage of lemon tarts in bakeries here, but it's not the same as a towering slice of pie with a crown of torched airy meringue. I semi-regretted getting the slice at Gulfstream since it's $12 a slice now (you can practically get a whole pie at Marie Callender's for that price), but it was still amazing. While Drip Cafe is known for their cronuts, I fell in love with their lemon meringue pie (and banana cream pie). 

Gulfstream's lemon meringue pie