ramen/japanese: SANTOUKA

SANTOUKA at FUXING SOGO 山頭火 
No. 300, Zhongxiao E. Rd, Sec. 3, B2
台北市忠孝東路三段300號B2
(02) 2731-7533

MRT: ZhongXiao/FuXing

website: http://www.santouka.co.jp/

hours: 11AM to 9:30PM

$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted, but kids should like ramen, pork cutlet and fried dumplings

Visit reviewed: 6/6/2014

Be prepared to wait. I wasn't prepared for the 20 minute or so wait for Santouka, since I assumed the hype had died down, but there they were, 10 or so people standing in line in front of me for a late weekday lunch at 1PM. If you expect a wait, and there isn't one, then it's a happy surprise. So by the time I sat down, I was ready to order, ready to eat. 

The first time I tried Santouka was in Los Angeles, at Mitsuwa, a chain of Japanese supermarkets in the US. Yelp and word of mouth already made it a place for legit ramen on the westside, so there were lots of people in line at this random supermarket food court. So there I expected a wait. I struck up a conversation with the tall, blonde guy in front of me and he said, "You must order the spicy miso ramen." So I did. The spiciness and saltiness of the broth was great, even though the deep red color was intimidating. So it was with high expectations I tried Santouka in Taipei, which supposedly had four hour waits when it first opened in 2012.

The Santouka Taipei menu is quite similar with shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), miso, hot miso ramen, tsukemen, or cold ramens, or order a la carte or combos with fried pork tonkatsu, fried chicken, gyoza or a small salmon sashimi rice bowl chirashi. Prices range from NT$200-NT$320 for noodles, and you can choose regular, small or large sized bowls. The menu has some English and photos, but is mostly in Chinese and Japanese. And if you really love meat, then try the toroniku ramen, which comes with a plate of simmered pork cheek slices. 

That day I opted for a cold ramen (NT$300) which is comes with julienned cucumbers, ham, cold pork and a shrimp on a bed of cold ramen with a vinegary sauce. After my first few bites, I regretted ordering it because I'm not a fan of cold char siu pork and this was basically the main element of Santouka's cold ramen (unlike some cold ramens that also have egg, carrots, tomato or chicken). WHY DID I NOT ORDER THE SPICY MISO RAMEN? DOH! The toppings and sauce were kind of skimpy for the price, and in proportion to the ramen, and the meat was kind of dry. But I didn't look at the menu carefully and the details of the dish were in Chinese, so it was my bad.

Luckily, my dad got a miso ramen combo (NT$370) which came with a small sized ramen and a fried tonkatsu. It was mostly good except the egg was a dry yolked hard boiled egg, not the gooey soft boiled egg we are used to seeing in ramen egg-porn. WHY DID I NOT ORDER THE SPICY MISO RAMEN?!! With pork bone broth boiled for over 20 hours??

I also have to note that service was incredibly slow. We probably waited nearly 15 minutes after sitting down, even after preordering while waiting in line for over 10 minutes, and got our food after the people next to us, who sat down after we did. So I was a bit hungry and annoyed throughout this lunch, which is never a fun experience. But luckily my dad is the best and he shared some of his soupy ramen with me. Thanks Dad!

OTHER LOCATIONS: 

QSquare
1F, NO.1, Sec.1,Chengde Rd.
台北市大同區承德路一段1號1樓
(02)2558-2577

Tianmu Sogo
8F., No.77, Sec. 6, Zhongshan N. Rd., Shilin Dist.,
台北市士林區中山北路六段77號8F
(02) 2837-1211

snapshot/bakery: i strongly recommend the BISCUITS and WAFFLES from FLORIDA BAKERY

FLORIDA BAKERY  福利麵包公司
No. 26, Ren Ai Rd, Sec. 4
(02) 2702-1175

MRT: ZhongXiao/FuXing or ZhongXiao/DunHua

website: bread.com.tw Chinese and some English and Facebook page

hours: 6AM - 11PM

$-$$

kid friendliness: lots of fun cookies and snacks


I found biscuits in Taipei, totally by accident! They are perfect with some honey butter, jam or lemon curd, which I brought back from the states (but you can find at Smith & Hsu or Jason's at 101).

I actually went to Florida Bakery for their belgian waffle, which is yeasted, so it's crispy and airy at the same time, unlike the dense hockey pucks you'll find around town. I had to wait about 20 minutes when I went after 9AM for the waffle iron to be hot enough for them to make it, since people in Taipei don't eat waffles for breakfast, they eat it as a dessert.

So after I had wandered around Florida Bakery a few times and eaten a tuna salad sandwich  (a tad sweet with pickles and corn in the tuna salad and way too many slices of bread for me, but good for a quick bite) for breakfast in their little sitting area in the front, I paid for my goodies and magically a plate of biscuits were placed on the counter.

A golden pyramid of BISCUITS stacked upon each other!!! I immediately grabbed a few and rushed home to try them. They were buttery, flaky, warm and dangerous. Not as light as the freshly baked scones from Smith & Hsu, but a lot cheaper. LOL.

Florida Bakery also has the sweeter breads and cakes you'd find local bakeries, as well as little jars of salsa, garlic butter, corn & flour tortillas and super cute iced cookies.

news: restaurant round up summer 2013 - 2014

Yup! There are cronuts in Taipei!

Eeek! I haven't done a restaurant round up in TWO years! I found one from earlier this year and one from last year sitting in my drafts folder. Oops! So I've combined the two lists and added some more to just mark it down while it's fresh in my memory. It's always hard to get e-v-e-r-y single restaurant, as the Taipei restaurant scene changes constantly, but here's just a few places that are new-ish and notable and some that have closed. This list is just from the top of my head, so please add in the comment section below if something opened or closed near you!


NEW and NOTABLE (that I haven't tried yet)

• Coco and Bencotto at Mandarin Oriental
• L'Air
• Angelo's
• Very Thai Noodles
• Dairy Queen
• King Burrito in Shilin
• Lucky Ribs
• Tribeca
• Cyclo at Dunhua 
• Whalen's
• Chicken in Bok and Beer
• Pico Pico
• Bite2Eat at Zhongxiao
• Biteology
• L'Idiot (reopening)
• Yiamas Greek Taverna
• VVG Action and Cafe Showroom and lots of eats at Eslite Spectrum Songyan
• Leo's Tuck Shop
• Shrimp Daddy
• MVSA
• Perfume Dance at ATT4Fun
• Schaffer's Kitchen
• Campus Cafe
• Queen's Cuisine
• Homie Cafe
• Black as Chocolate World
• Leo's Tuck Shop
• Quiznos
• Fiesta Cafeteria
• Kinfolk Cheese and Coffee

NEW REVIEWS TO COME (otherwise known as my to do list) (what do you want to read about first?)

• Balle Balle Indian 
• Lobster Bar
• Kanpai Kurogeya Shabu and Sukhothai at Mitsukoshi A4
• EIEIO Gastropub
• Brookhurst Pho
• Sunflower Kaiseki
• La Farfalla at Humble House
• Cafe De Riz
• Mayan Xinyi
• Belle Epoque
• Butcher's Kitchen
• Burger and Co
• Major K
• Laduree
• Senju Sushi Bar (Members only)
• Drip Cafe 
• Krispy Kreme
• BLT Burger and Mazendo at Xinyi Vieshow 
• Mia Cucina
• Whinos Too
• 1776 Cyrille Courant (Eclairs!)
• Dearlicious
• Yellow Lemon
• Gaucho Grill (Argentinian!) and Three Lions and all restaurants at Maji Square
• Sen Sushi
• 1Bite2Go Xinyi
• Sonnetor Cafe
• La Creperie
• Drip Cafe at Zhongxiao
• Ma Shen Mala
• Botega del Vin
• Pin Chuan Lan
• Matsubishi Teppanyaki
• Opa Greek Tavern
• Ducky's
• Kiko's Diner
• Beer and Cheese
• Yun Sushi
• Inaka Udon 
• Honey Creme
• LMNT Eat
• 1Bite2Go Truck
• Solo Trattoria

CLOSED (Darn it, some closed before I could write about them!!) (Sadface)

• Fire Bite
• Elephant Cafe 
• Manhattan Gold Burger
• Happy Hong Kong
• Belgian Beer Cafe
• Uptown kitchen
• Nonzero (temporary closure?)
• Mayan Grill
• Joy's Creperie
• Toast
• Tim and Mel's Patisserie 
• Ari Korean Tofu
• Dos Chinos
• the Loft
• Mooooo Pho
• Hielo on ZhongXiao
• Papa Gio

sushi/japanese: i recommend YUN SUSHI 允壽司

YUN SUSHI 允壽司
No. 9, Lane 160, Yanji St
台北市延吉街160巷9號
(02)2751-9828

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

website:Yun Sushi's FB page

hours: Mon-Sat Lunch: 12PM- 2:30PM; Dinner 6PM- 10PM. Closed Sundays

$$$-$$$$

Kid friendliness: sushi bar seats only

Visit reviewed: 6/19/2014

Just opened a few months ago, Yun Sushi feels like one of those secret sushi spots that have been proliferating around Taipei. Hiding in plain sight in a busy alley in Dong Qu, with a steel door and understated sign with no windows to spy inside, Yun Sushi sits about 10 to 12 people at its sushi bar.

Set menus for lunch and dinner run NT$1380, NT$1800 and NT$2500, while dinner sets start at NT$2500, NT$3000, and NT$3500, so it's definitely a splurge. It's expensive for Taipei, where you can get great sushi omakase or chirashi for under NT$500 (a few of my favorite secret places), but comparable to prices in the US.  Yun Sushi could easily join the list of a handful of names that get mentioned on the English blogosphere for favorite sushi bar in Taipei- Sasa, Kitcho, Niu, Addiction Aquatic Development, Yuzu, Sumie, Mitsui (I have my own ranking for these spots, but I'll save that for another post). There's so many great sushi spots in Taipei, many I've yet to try, that the adventure of trying them all could be its own blog.

Yun Sushi's sets include both sushi, sashimi and cooked dishes like grilled fish or waygu beef, but friends who I told about Yun Sushi and visited later asked for less cooked items and more sushi, so depending on what you like you can request it, or you could leave it up to the chef. I did leave Yun Sushi with a strong impression of a lot of unique flavors and technique in preparation in the meal, like the bite of foie gras marinated in sake and sawara smoked with cherry blossom wood.  

I'd definitely go back to try out the omakase with just sushi. And of course uni! Haha. Thanks S for the special treat. 

loved the vinegar seaweed with ikura

clam

hirame, salmon (the chef said that this particular salmon "doesn't know the time" so swims upstream at the wrong season, and maguro tuna

hotaru ika (soy marinated baby squid)

organic tomato broth

chilled foie gras marinated with sake. luscious, fatty and creamy

crab, figs and tofu with sesame sauce

botan ebi (prawn)- so good!

sawara (spanish mackerel)- smoked with cherry blossom wood 

saba with a thin slice of glossy cucumber- still not a fan of the fishier saba

waygu beef two ways- the one with puffed rice with delicious and perfect with garlic chips. precious small bites so you wish there were more and have to chew slowly!

end of the meal- miso soup

mini chirashi with uni and otoro and ika

delicious white sesame ice cream

japanese: INAKA UDON at SONGYAN ESLITE SPECTRUM

INAKA UDON
稻禾烏龍麵
at SONGYAN ESLITE SPECTRUM
No. 88 YangChang Rd.
信義區菸廠路88號
(02) 6636-5559

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

website: Inaka Udon's FB page

hours: 11AM - 10PM

$-$$ Cash only

Kid friendliness: seating is first come, first serve.

Visit reviewed: 3/8/2014

Ever since people lined up for Marukame Udon at Mitsukoshi's food court, I've been seeing the self serve tempura cafeteria style udon outlets pop up everywhere. Inaka Udon at the newly opened Eslite Spectrum Songyan is very similar with its menu of assembly line hot and cold udons, tempura by piece offerings and popularity.

When the line is long, you can be entertained by watching the noodle maker pull and cut the udon at the front window.

So for first timers, you basically get in line, grab a tray and then grab whatever looks good while shuffling forward along the line. First are the drinks and cold appetizers. Skip the kimchi which on that day was a little sticky and off tasting. The seaweed salad was good though.

Then grab a plate or two and start getting your fried stuffs. I didn't realize until it was too late that they were out of tempura shrimp and I should have asked/waited for some, but I ended up grabbing some fried chicken skewers instead. 

At this point, you have to glance up at the menu and decipher the photos to see what you want to order before the people behind you get antsy. No English here, but hot udon soup choices range from tonkotsu pork broth, to curry, to the popular garlic beef (NT$100-160) or a cold udon with a dipping sauce (NT$90). I considered getting the mentaiko udon but the raw egg freaked me out a little. So I ended up with the curry udon (NT$130).

After you order, a flurry of scooping, pouring and condiments go together to make and hand you your bowl. You pay at the end and then find a seat in the food court area unless you already designated someone else in your group to lock down some seats first. 

Garlic beef udon (NT$160) has a nice flavor in the soup enhanced by the garlic, while the beef is mostly fat.

Cold udon (NT$90) is good for when the weather is hot and you just want to dip and slurp. I love the chewiness of cold udon, but this is a super bare bones version. For a more souped up version, you could consider the cold udon at Fu Yu Wu, or making your own like it by adding in tempura shrimp and soft boiled egg.

When I have time, I definitely want to do a little write up about Songyan Eslite's food court and the whole mall in general. If you get a chance, I'd recommend visiting it as well as the neighboring Songshan Cultural Park and the nearby alleys which have new cafes and shops popping up. This whole area is going to be insane when the new stadium is also open. 

OTHER LOCATIONS
No. 21, Lane 16, Zhongshan N. Rd Sec 2
台北市中山北路二段16巷21號
(02) 2536-2828

at Xinyi Eslite 誠品信義店
No. 11, Song Gao Rd, B2
台北市松高路11號B2捷運大街 
(02)2723-5252

Banqiao Eslite 誠品生活板橋店
No. 46, ZhongShan Rd, Sec. 1, B1
新北市板橋區中山路一段46號B1
(02)8953-5298

Tainan Shin Kong Mitsukoshi 新光三越台南小西門店
台南市西門路一段658-1號B2 
(06)213-6989

勤美誠品綠園道店
台中市公益路68號1F 
(04)2326-2186