not Taipei: Prague, Czech Republic

Hi everyone! So part of the reason I have not been a prolific, hardworking blogger this month is that I've been traveling and had spotty internet. I went to Europe for the first time in my life and found lots of good food in Prague. We ate everything from a local sweet- Trdelnik- in a touristy spot at Old Town Square (pictured above!) to fried chicken + mashed potatoes + coleslaw from KFC on the way to the airport (They have KFC in Taipei, but not the mashed potatoes and coleslaw which I actually miss sometimes). Everything I ate was pretty good- maybe it was the escape from Chinese food 24/7- or maybe I had good luck, but here is a little culinary postcard to you guys from my trip to the Czech Republic.

day 1
dinner at Restaurant Mustek in Prague


I don't know how touristy or not this place is (located in a touristy area), but we were starving and wanted to try something "local." The pork, dumplings and goulash was good (above), but the pork medallions and grilled tomatoes and mozzarella (below) were even better.



The steak skewer (St. Charles) was a bit dry, so I'd stick to the less showy stuff. The mushroom risotto was also surprisingly good, but the pasta was bland. Both the chicken and potato soups were good and as I discovered, the potato soup is pretty traditional here.



day 2
breakfast buffet at Marriott's Brasserie Praha


I had been craving a good waffle for the LONGEST time and finally got one here, even though it was part of a breakfast buffet. Though on the pricey side, the buffet was huge, with lots of fresh fruit, breads/pastries, made to order omelettes/waffles, cheeses, cereals- everything you'd want in a western breakfast. Even though there are a lot of great bakeries in Taipei, it was just a different spread in Europe. Probably because a lot of the bakeries in Taipei are still influenced by the Japanese/Chinese flavors, even if it's bread.



lunch buffet at Ambiente Restaurante Brasileiro, my first time at Brazilian BBQ


I've never had brazilian bbq before, so I don't know how authentic Ambiente is... but it was GOOD. If you are a meat lover, then you should definitely look for one near you. You basically just watch the servers come to your table with huge racks of meat and say "yes please" or "no, I'm stuffed!" There's also a salad/appetizer/sushi buffet as well as sides you can order. My favorite was the fried bananas (sort of like plantains) and fried onions. I ate wayy too much, but all the meat was tender, flavorful and worth the calories.

day 5
afternoon snack: coffee and crepes at a cafe in the main square of Pardubice


There are so many little cafes all over Czech... it's a refreshing change from seeing Starbucks on every corner. The funny thing is that they do have a local coffee chain, Coffee Heaven and Starbucks is slowly making its mark, but it feels more romantic to sit in a random cafe, sipping a latte. We got a chance to sit down and have coffee and dessert. The coffee seems stronger here (since I'm not a big coffee drinker) and you don't always know what you are going to get.



day 6
snack: Trdelnik in Old Town Square


A lighter, fresher distant cousin of the Cinnabun- a trdelnik is a pastry made from rolling dough over a stick, covered with cinnamon, sugar and nuts and baked over heat. The smell got to me as we were walking around and I just had to try it. I peeled off pieces to eat and it's crispy on the outside and a bit softer/doughy on the inside.

Interestingly enough, I did spot Chinese restaurants here and there, but we didn't stop to eat at any. I wonder how the Chinese food is there!

There were also a ton of gelato places everywhere...


gelato

I could have eaten a lot more than I did, but there wasn't any more room. Plus everything was om the expensive side-- the US dollar is just not strong anymore. I'm looking forward to going back again someday and exploring more of Europe!!

--
RESTAURANT MUSTEK
in Wenceslas Square
Na Mustku 8, 110 00 Praha 1
Phone: 420 224 219 974

BRASSERIE PRAHA
at Prague Marriott Hotel
V Celnici 8
Prague, 111 21 Czech Republic
Phone: 420 2 2288 8888

AMBIENTE Restaurante Brasileiro
Na Příkopě 22, 110 00 Praha 1
tel.: +420 221 451 200

KAVARNA EVROPA
in Main Square, Pardubice

Trdelnik vendor
in Old Town Square/in front of Astrological Clock

dessert/bakery: i strongly recommend the cookies from SUBWAY

I never thought I'd be so happy to eat something from Subway, but if you are craving white chocolate chip macademia nut cookie, this is the place to go.

I'd actually been craving (Mrs. Field's style) soft baked chocolate cookies for quite awhile, but most of the cookies here are thin and dry and more like crackers. So sad.

I even bought the oversized tin of cookies from Costco but their cookies are TOO sweet, believe it or not.

So when my aunt said that we should eat Subway for dinner, and by the way, have I tried their freshly baked cookies and how delicious they are? I said, yes!!!

And it was melt in your mouth goodness with the butter and sugar and crunchiness of the nuts and the sweetness of the white chocolate chips.

I don't like raisins, but they also have Oatmeal Chocolate Chip as well as a Candy chocolate chip (NT$17). There's also a price break if you order more. If you eat it in the store, sometimes you can catch it out of the oven!

But it's bad for the waistline. I think I ate two in one sitting and then inhaled another three in the next few days. YUM.

If you've been craving cookies too, check my other Subway review for addresses.

my kitchen: guacamole

Hey everyone! Sorry for being away so long without updates... did you miss me??

I had a huge new project that took over my life and I didn't even have a lot of time to be online, much less writing posts. I'll try to not let it go so long again without posts. Lately, I have been eating out less (or at least at new places) and have been having crazy cravings for sweets, especially chocolate chip cookies like you would get in the states. Then I'd want to eat something savory. Then something sweet again. Sigh.

I think avocados is one of those things you love or hate. I used to hate it until I met guacamole!

But I still can't get a handle on avocado milk which is popular here.. ugh..the thought of it makes me think that it's just WRONG.

While making your own guacamole is not that hard, there are a lot of variations to all the basic elements that make it taste slightly different- the amount of avocados, garlic, onions, tomatoes, lime/lemon juice and spices. I like it best with Haas avocados from Costco and chips!



I basically followed the recipe on the bag, but altered it for 1 avocado since it doesn't keep that well and I was just making it for myself. The first time, I didn't chop the onions fine enough and it was too strong. I learned my lesson the next time!

Anyone have any killer recipes to point me to?

japanese: FURUKAWA

FURUKAWA
No. 1, Lane 132, Zhongsan N Road, Sec 2
(02) 2562-1115

website: furukawa.com.tw

hours: Lunch: 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM ; Dinner 5:30PM - 10PM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available. friendly service.

Visit reviewed: 2/23/2008



The best thing about this dinner were the fried oysters or kaki fry. They were hot, crispy, juicy inside and what I expected. Everything else, was to be honest, sort of a let down.

I had mentioned to my friends that I was craving a good bowl of udon with tempura, but this was before we discovered Tenpura Sanuki Udon. So he did some research on blogs written in Chinese and said that he had found a restaurant that had been recommended.

The restaurant was pretty full with families and groups, with a cool modern-ish atmosphere.



The menu doesn't have any English, but is full of pictures. There is a wide variety of combos to choose from (around NT$300), as well as appetizers, sushi and sashimi.



The udon tempura sushi set was calling my name. But when I got it, the udon was soggier than I would have liked and there were only 2 pieces of tempura to eat. I was used to the fried shrimp hanging out on a mountain of fried vegetables, but this was more like 1 lonely shrimp on top of an anthill.



My friends who had gotten the cold soba set with sashimi were better off. The soba was chewy and you can't go wrong with the dipping sauce. They liked it so much (and since I ended up eating some of their soba instead of my udon), they ordered another plate of soba, though we agreed the second round was not as good as the first.




We also had a weird experience with the sha-ba or the fish chin/jaw. The first time, it was a huge piece, but wayyy too salty. Inedibly salty. When we complained to the waitress, they took it away and replaced it with no problem. But the second piece was soo bland. The chef just couldn't find the middle ground for us that night, so we just let it go.

While the service was quite friendly, the food that we had ordered didn't give us a reason to return, especially since it's farther away from my part of town. But it's too bad since everyone else seemed to be enjoying their food so maybe there are other things on the menu more worth trying out.

CLOSED! italian/fusion: CANOVIANO

CLOSED! a/o 2013

CANOVIANO
No. 9-2, Jianguo N. Road, Sec 2
(02) 2515-5855

website: http://www.canoviano.com.tw/ Chinese only

hours: lunch: 12-3 pm
dinner: 6-10 pm
closed the last Sunday of every month

$$-$$$

Kid friendliness: business/romantic ambience not suited for loud toddlers/kids unless you book private room upstairs or have very well behaved kid. no high chairs. only set menu

Visit reviewed: 3/27/2008

My friend called it Italian Japanese fusion and after a little bit of googling, it turns out it was opened by a Japanese chef who didn't want to use "butter, garlic or cream," traditionally found in Italian cooking, but instead bring out the natural flavors of the meat and vegetables and has already opened Canoviano with a loyal following in Tokyo and Kyoto.

If you want to try out Canoviano, be prepared to get the set menu as they only offer a set menu (in Chinese) with choice of main dish. However, the portions are on the small side, so my girlfriends said their husbands left not completely full after their previous dinner experience.




Everything is beautifully prepared and presented, with light, natural flavors. The atmosphere is a white linen, high ceilings setting perfect for ladies that lunch, business meeting you need to impress or even a romantic dinner, especially with prices like NT$1380 for six course lunch.

Before our food came, they served bread rolls to each person, but not on bread plates. They said it was on purpose that they wanted the crumbs to be on the table (more rustic?), but it just felt kind of messy and out of sync with the rest of the experience.

The meal started with an angel hair with sweet shrimp and roe that left you wanting a bit more. The pumpkin soup was a pond for the grilled fish that laid upon it.




The handmade pasta definitely tasted like fusion with the vegetables it was combined with. The duck breast I ordered again was perfectly flavored, but portion wise, left you wanting more.




They served different desserts to our large party, without asking what we wanted, so we oohed and aahed as each elegant plate came out and passed each around to taste. Surprisingly, they did a good job choosing the right dessert for each person. I liked my caramel ice cream, atop chocolate mousse and sliced bananas the best, as they also gave it a slight caramelization creme-brulee style.




The other desserts had other unusual flavors of ice cream (green tea, rose) and looked too sculpture-like to eat.





The menu changes daily as the chef uses what's seasonal, (with some chef's signature dishes constant), so I think I'd try it again if I wanted to splurge (or someone wanted to splurge on me!) Dinner sets run from NT$1880 to Chef's special NT$2880. If you don't want to splurge as much, but want a similar experience, you could try out the business lunch or set dinner at Joyce or Joyce East which runs around NT$1000.

afternoon tea/western: ROSE HOUSE

ROSE HOUSE
No. 15, Lane 233, Dun Hua S. Rd, Sec 1
(02) 8773-2519

website: rosehouse.com Chinese only

hours: Weekdays 11 AM - 10 PM ; Fri-Sat 11AM- 12AM

kid friendliness: Not recommended. Quiet, delicate atmosphere and friend with nursing baby was asked by servers to take baby outside if he started to cry. Have heard that others were refused entry when with babies at other locations.

$$

Visit reviewed: 5/15/2007

If you're looking for a quiet place for a cup of tea with your friends or business associate or your significant other, then Rose House is a pretty good choice. If you are looking for a place to have lunch with your friends and their babies/kids or have boisterous conversation, then you should probably go somewhere else.

Rose House is a chain tea shop/cafe that you might have spotted around town. With its frilly logo on the sign to its equally frilly interior with bone china in cabinets and along the walls- it's a ultimate setting for afternoon tea, English style in Taipei.

With a wide offering of teas, coffees and drinks, Rose House's signature rose tea and fruit teas are a refreshing and tasty accompaniment to conversation at the table. However, they want to maintain that atmosphere for all their guests, so it's not the most kid friendly place.

While having lunch with a friend with a relatively new baby, the server actually asked my friend to take her baby outside if he started crying when he started quietly fussing at the end of our meal. We were quite surprised because the baby had not made any noises past our table and also a squirmy toddler at our table that we thought that they would have complained about first. I think if the baby actually did start to cry, my friend would have automatically walked him around outside, but to have the server approach us first was definitely a surprise, especially when there only a few scattered guests inside. I guess I could understand that they would want maintain their quieter setting for those who came to sip their teas in silence, but it was still the first time it's ever happened to me at any restaurant around the world.

While you should go to Rose House for their teas, they also offer various sandwiches, meat dishes and curries for lunch which seem more Taiwanese than English. But then again, I've never been to England.

My friend said his pig knuckle dish was just okay, as was my steak. My other friend's baked risotto was made with white Jasmine rice rather than Arborio, but she said the cheese and sauce made it tasty enough.

There are quite a few locations and I tried to find an English source for the addresses, but you will have to check the website.

OTHER LOCATIONS (thanks to Google Translator and some elbow grease!)

No. 95, Nanjing East Road, Sec 2
TEL: (02) 25603112
Sunday - Thursday Hours: 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Friday - Saturday Hours: 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM

No. 5, Nanjing West Road
TEL: (02) 25235170
Hours: 11 :00 AM - 11: 00 PM

No. 3, Zhengzhou Road (at Chengde Lu Avenue intersection)
TEL: (02) 25585399
Hours: 11 :00 AM - 11: 00 PM

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Mall (Xin Yi), B2
No. 12, Songgao Road
TEL: (02) 87809932
Hours: 11 :00 AM - 9: 30 PM (weekdays)
11 :00 AM- 10: 00 PM (Friday and Saturday holidays)

No. 9, Lane 450, Xinyi Road
TEL: (02) 87896606
Hours: 11 :00 AM - 10: 00 PM

No. 11, Chongqing South Road, Sec 1
TEL: (02) 23121282
Hours: 11 :00 AM -11: 00 PM

Shihlin shop
No. 604, Zhongshan North Road, Sec 5
TEL: (02) 28338464
Sunday - Thursday Hours: 11:00AM to 10:00 PM
Friday - Saturday Hours: 11:00AM to 11:00 PM

Yongkang shop
No. 3-1, Lishui Street
TEL: (02) 23948202
Sunday - Thursday Hours: 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Friday - Saturday Hours: 11:00AM to 11 PM

NTU/Shida shop
No. 1, Lane 86, Shida Road
TEL: (02) 33651977
Hours: 11 :00AM-11: 00PM

Tienmu shop
Dayeh Takeshimaya Mall
No. 55, Zhongcheng Road, Sec 2, 4th Floor
TEL: (02) 28345848
Hours: 11: 00AM - 9: 30PM (Mon-Thur, Sun); 11: 00AM- 10: 00 PM (Fri, Sat)

No. 218, Ruiguang Road
TEL: (02) 77202070
Hours: 11 AM - 10PM

No. 19, Jinhu Road
TEL: (02) 27927205
Hours: 11 :00AM -11: 00PM

Taipei Tienmu shop
No. 15, Lane 14, Chungshan North Road, Sec 7
TEL: (02) 2872-3630
Hours: 8 :30 AM - 10: 00 PM

TEAROOM
at Miramar Mall
No. 20, Jingye 3rd Road, B1F
TEL: (02) 2175-3023
Hours: 11: 00 AM - 10: 00 PM

TEAPUB
at Miramar Mall
No. 20, Jingye 3rd Road, 1F
TEL : (02) 8501-1360
Hours: 11: 00 AM - 12: 00AM (M-Th, Sat); 11: 00AM -1: 00AM (Fri, Sat)

chinese: i strongly recommend CELESTIAL RESTAURANT

CELESTIAL RESTAURANT
(or TIEN CHU)
1 NanJing West Rd., 3F

(02)2563-2380

hours: Lunch 11:30 AM -2 PM
Dinner 5 PM - 9 PM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available.

Visit reviewed: 11/23/2007 and 2/24/2008



Overall, Celestial Restaurant has a very family friendly, impress your guests menu with lots of Chinese favorites such as xiao long bao and a variety of stir fried dishes , but everyone in the packed restaurant is probably there for the Peking Duck.

YUM- I can't say how much I love Peking duck. If you have been looking for Peking duck in Taipei (or anywhere), this is where to find it.

The carved slices of crispy skin and duck meat bundled inside the warm flat pancake, with a do-it-yourself layer of hoisin sauce and optional sliver of green onion- together has got to be one of the world's perfect finger foods.



Kind of like a mini Chinese burrito without the rice and beans.

I try not to think about how fattening each bite is while I chew on each heavenly crispy morsel. I also try to not look like I'm waiting for the lazy susan to wander back my way, and politely let each relative at the table have their turn when I just want to stockpile a whole plateful for myself. The skin should be crispy and the pancake is slightly doughy, so the textures mesh together so it's not too greasy. Plus the skin shouldn't have too much fat on it, otherwise, they didn't do good job carving it (as I've had at other restaurants).



The nicely presented plate of duck meat comes out after the initial plate of crispy roasted skin... you can also have them cook the remainder of the duck (meat and bones) into a soup with rice noodles and vegetables that is also very tasty (and filling) that comes at the end of the meal (around NT$1100 for whole duck + soup).



To be honest, I can't remember much about the rest of the food on the table because I was so focused on the duck, but it was good. Plus when you eat with relatives, you don't really get to look at the menu- they order all the good stuff. There was this interesting appetizer dish- celery with a mustardy, wasabi-ish sauce that was addicting- that I'd try again.







The second time we went, they had private rooms on the 3rd Floor. Look for the entrance below or the Royal Inn Taipei. The atmosphere is busy with lots of large tables- it's sort of a middle ground ambience- not a hole in the wall, but not as a fancy as a hotel restaurant, and so the prices are somewhere in the middle too. The menu is in English and Chinese and Japanese, and I've heard popular with tourists and locals alike, so it's best to call ahead for a reservation for dinner and weekends.



While they don't carve the duck in front of you like other restaurants that might be a bit more showy, what matters is how the food tastes, right?

The first time, I had some almond tofu to finish the meal.



The second time, there were these hot fried tang yuan that were so good. If you've never had it, you should definitely give these babies a try.





Just forget about counting the calories for one night.