news: 2019 TAIPEI MICHELIN GUIDE STARS REVEALED

If you didn't make your reservations at one of the 24 newly minted Michelin starred restaurants before they were awarded stars today for the 2019 Michelin Guide Taipei, then good luck getting a seat the next few weeks! I remember last year going to L'Atelier Robuchon a week or so after the inaugural awards and it was a packed and busy house. 

After screenshotting and cropping the Michelin Guide announcements like a madwoman, I've compiled a list of every Taipei Michelin starred chef and their restaurants on Instagram (and updated my previous post of Taipei chefs to watch with instagram handles as well!)

New to the Taipei Michelin Guide list are Sushi Amamoto with 2 stars, while RAW and Tarroir both moved up to two stars (!!), joining neighbor Shoun Ryugin, taking the number of 2 starred restaurants in Taipei from two to five. RAW and Shoun Ryugin are in the same building in Neihu, while Tarroir is right next door, so there are six Michelin stars just in that one block. 

I'm surprised by the some of the 1 starred restaurants that have remained on the list (there are a few I think that I personally wouldn't recommend), but happy that Impromptu by Paul Lee and Logy earned a star. Both were very buzzed about since they opened, and well deserved honors. 

Out of nine Chinese restaurants awarded stars, four are Taiwanese restaurants - Golden Formosa, Ming Fu, Mountain Sea House and Tainan Tantsumien Seafood Restaurant. Personally I think Din Tai Fung and Shin Yeh also deserve to be honored, but I think their multiple branches works against them.

Five sushi bars make the list, but Michelin still might not have been able to get seats to Adachi, one of the hardest sushi bars to book in Taipei (and one of the best imho). Le Palais remains the lone three star restaurant. 

If you prefer street food to fine dining, check out the 2019 Michelin Guide Taipei Bib Gourmand Street Food list here  and the new entrants to Taipei Bib Gourmand selections here. Also, last fall I wrote an article about Gastromonth for Taiwan Scene that featured Sushi Ryu and Guest House. I've linked it here!

Congrats to all the chefs and teams! 

TAIPEI MICHELIN THREE STARS

• Le Palais / @palaisdechinhotel

TAIPEI MICHELIN TWO STARS

• RAW / Chef Alain Huang & Andre Chiang @raw_taipei @alainh001 @andrechiang_sg
• TaÏrroir / Chef Kai Ho and pastry chef Angela Sy  @tarroir @kaiho1011 @angela_sy
• Sushi Amamoto / Chef Shogo Amamoto 
• Shoun RyuGin / Chef Ryohei Hieda @hiedaryohei
• The Guest House / @sheratongrandtaipei 

TAIPEI MICHELIN ONE STAR 

• Da San Yuan
• Da-Wan
• Danny’s Steakhouse
• Golden Formosa 
• Impromptu by Paul Lee / Chef Paul Lee @impromptu_tw @paulhwlee
• Ken An Ho 
• Kitcho  (I don't recommend Kitcho, it's one of my least fave sushi bars in Taipei)
• L’ATELIER de Joël Robuchon / Chef Olivier Jean @olivierjean_23
• Logy  / Chef Ryogo Tahara @logy.tw @ryogotahara
• Longtail / Chef Lam Ming Kin @longtail.taipei @kin.cooks
• Ming Fu
• Mountain and Sea House
• MUME / Chefs Richie Lin and Long Xiong @mume_taiwan @richie_lin 
• Sushi Nomura / @sushinomura
• Sushi Ryu 
• Tainan Tantsumien Seafood Restaurant
• Tien Hsiang Lo
• Ya Ge / Chef Tse Man @mo_tpe

news/michelin: 10 TAIPEI CHEFS TO WATCH (+ 1 IN TAICHUNG)

Ever since Michelin launched its inaugural awards last year, Taipei has had a wave of chefs relocating here to try their hand with local ingredients, new restaurant openings, and passionate discussions about who belonged on the list (or not). 

With Asia's 50 Best wrapped and Taipei Michelin awards around the corner, I thought it would be the perfect time to highlight a few restaurants and chefs that have been on my radar and should be on yours too. 

1. JL STUDIO / Chef Jimmy Lim 
@jlstudio_tw / @jimmy_jlstudio

Chef Jimmy Lim and JL Studio was honored with the Miele's One to Watch this year at Asia's 50 Best Restaurant Awards putting this Singaporean restaurant in Taichung on the map. (and yes, I know he's not in Taipei, but he's definitely One to Watch!)

2. IMPROMPTU BY PAUL LEE / Chef Paul Lee
@impromptu_tw / @paulhwlee

3. LOGY / Chef Ryogo Tahara
@logy.tw / @ryogotahara

4. ORCHID / Chef Perin Gildas
@orchidno.83 / @gildasperin

5. ADACHI/ Chef Hiromasa Adachi 

6. VERDE / Chef Timothy Lu 
@verde_taipei / @cheftimothylu

7. ANIMA / Chef Marco Compagnin 
@anima.taipei / @compa89 

8. AMAMOTO/ Chef Shogo Amamoto

9. BENCOTTO/ Chef Iacapo Frassi
@mo_tpe / @iacopofrassi

10. SUGAR PEA / AVENUE / Chef Sandy Yoon
@sugarpea.taipei / @avenue.taipei / @sandyyoonn

11. INGE's BAR AND GRILL/ Chef Vincent Weng
@inges_taipei / @vincent_inges

I wanted to post this before the 2019 Michelin star announcements were made, so I will post first and add details later! The only two restaurants I have not been to on this list are Logy and JL Studio, but I hope to be going there SOON!!

And these are some of the chefs that earned Michelin Stars last year that you should know if you don't already. Currently, Mume, RAW and Ryugin are the three Taipei restaurants to hold the honor as one of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2019. 

• L'ATELIER ROBUCHON TAIPEI / Chef Olivier Jean * @olivierjean_23
• LONGTAIL/ Chef Lam Ming Kin * @longtail.taipei @kin.cooks
• TARROIR / Chef Kai Ho * @tairror @kaiho1011 
• SUSHI RYU / Chef Yolong Yang*
• MUME / Chefs Richie Lin and Long Xiong * @mume_taiwan @richie_lin 
• RAW / Chefs Alain Huang and Andre Chiang * @raw_taipei @alainh001 @andrechiang_sg
• RYUGIN / Chef Ryohei Hieda ** @hiedaryohei

And speaking of Michelin, they should definitely honor Din Tai Fung and Shin Yeh with stars imho, as Din Tai Fung is definitely a place that people travel across oceans to eat at- the OG shop that made xiao long baos a household name. How can it have earned a Michelin Star in Hong Kong, but not in Taipei? 

western/drinks: i strongly recommend AVENUE

AVENUE

Hi guys. Long time, no talk. I have a TON of drafts like this, just waiting to be sent into the world. I wanted to add some more photos from other visits to this post before posting this, but today I decided to just hit "publish" because Avenue is definitely one of my favorite new places that has opened recently. 

You probably get a good idea of Avenue's vibe just from this. Starfruit cocktails, mini corn dogs and cobbler skillets? I would say so.

Current faves from Avenue are the beet and apple salad, the burger, the truffle cheesy orzo and the beef cheek tagliatelle. And the mini corn dogs if you have room! Will have to dig up those photos buried somewhere in my 100,000 photo stream to add later. Until then, have a great week!

flashback/dessert: i still recommend KRISPY KREME

KRISPY KREME

No. 20, Songshou Road, Xinyi District

(02) 2345-3798

MRT: Taipei City Hall

hours: 11AM - 11PM

$

OPENED 2013

I TELL PEOPLE ALL THE TIME that when Krispy Kreme opened its doors in Taipei in 2013 that the lines were INSANE. It was a FOUR HOUR wait, with lines around the block of Vieshow and this went on for a few months. YES, you read that correctly. FOUR HOURS.

Why are people so crazy about donuts? I remember hearing this about Mister Donut when they first opened in Taipei too (in Tianmu.. who remembers this?)

this is only the part of the line that is closest to the shop

So I've been trying to cleanup my computer, make sure my backup drives are still working, so it took me down memory lane. When I saw these (blurry) photos of people waiting IN THE RAIN for Krispy Kremes, I had to write a flashback post because I don't think I ever wrote about this when it was happening. Since no one blogs anymore, there are NO RULES. lol.

I was, though, lucky enough to be one of the first to receive a box of Krispy Kreme originals without having to wait in line (it's nice to have friends in high places) and it was so satisfying after such a long dearth of donuts. This was around the time that BLT Burgers and CPK opened up at Vieshow as well, and only Krispy Kreme still remains in 2019.

Sadly, they have moved to a spot much smaller than their original location pictured here, and they don't make the donuts on site anymore, thus no "hot doughnuts" to grab off the assembly line. They have, however, expanded to 5 different shops around Taipei, as well make the cutest seasonal donuts, and I do see people still buying them, though these ridiculous lines have moved onto something else, thankfully. 

I still go there for an original donut once in awhile, sometimes I go crazy and get a salted caramel one too. 

other locations: 

at Breeze Nanjing, No. 337 Nanjing East Road, Section 3, Songshan District,  opens 10AM

No. 49 在站內，M3, Zhongxiao West Road,  Zhongzheng District, opens 7AM

No. 20 Jingye 3rd Road, Neihu, opens 11AM

 No. 53, Tianmu East Road, Shilin District, opens 8AM

at Global Mall, No. 7號, Section 2, Xianmin Boulevard, Banqiao District, opens 11AM

event: TAIPEI DANGDAI INTERNATIONAL ART SHOW 2019

Hello you guys! It feels sort of strange to be typing on a laptop instead of trying to peck out letters on my iPhone, but it feels good. You know how January resolutions go, you cross your fingers and hope that it sticks at least for the first month. So here come some new posts for the few of you guys still reading, as long as my hardware and software cooperate with me! 

Wanted to share some of my fave pieces from the Taipei Dangdai (January 18-20, 2019) with you guys in case some of you wanted to catch it on its last day (Sunday, January 20, today!). Tickets at the door are NT$700. Kids under 12 are free and seniors/students/disabled are NT$400. There's some food and drinks in a mini bar in the back corner by Gastrojoy. 

I usually miss these sort of things because the word doesn't spread far enough, but luckily I had a few friends with an extra pass and they invited me along on Friday (yay for cultured friends). It's much less intimidating to walk around a show than into individual galleries, which most of us not in the art scene rarely do.

With pieces from Japan, Korea, Singapore, Europe, NY, and of course, Taipei, It's the first year for this size of an international art show it seems,  or one poised to become a "global contender." Co-founder Magnus Renfrew brings his experience from Art HK which turned into the extremely popular Art Basel in Hong Kong, and is also the co-founder of the shiny and new Art SG for Singapore. 

Walking around Taipei Dangdai, there were definitely a lot of international art galleries and art dealers in the house. Whenever there are THAT many new people in town for an event, I always wonder, where are _they_ eating in Taipei and did they come across my blog? lol!

So, anyways, here is a small glimpse from the Nangang Exhibition Hall. I'm sorry I didn't catch all the names, until walking around halfway I realized I should take notes. There's quite a lot to take in and fun to wander and gaze and admire and see which ones spark joy. 

Going to try to type up a few more posts while the words are flowing!

can't escape baby shark, THE song of 2018

hungryinTAINAN: 5 DESSERTS TO TRY IN TAINAN

 

THERE'S ALWAYS TOO MUCH TO EAT AND NEVER ENOUGH TIME, especially when you travel to a new place.  The past two years, I’ve slowly been exploring the cities outside of Taipei after years of just staying in town- Taichung, Kaohsiung and Tainan- but there is still so much of Taiwan I've yet to visit. I've never been to Kending, Chiayi or Changhua despite the bookmarks from my instagram feed. 

If Tainan is on your to visit list (as it should be) and you need some ideas of where to find dessert worthy of wearing your stretchy pants, I've got you covered. A few weeks ago, I returned to Tainan for an epic day of eats, with desserts on my checklist. After one full day,  a high speed rail roundtrip ticket, five official stops (and a few unofficial ones) and 8 hours of eating my way through the city, here is my dessert crawl of sorts (though be warned they are all over the map and not walking distance at all). I kind of fell in love and would totally revisit these places if I ever made my way back to Tainan. 

This is my second time accepting the gig from the Tainan City Government- they've worked with over 50 shops in 2018 to help business owners with the translation of their menus and to be featured  by English bloggers like me. Check out where I went last year to write up 5 spots for the Tainan English Friendly program.  

 It was definitely a LOT of dessert for one day, but it can be done. 😂 Three short day trips definitely can’t capture the entirety of what to eat in Tainan and my first visit to the night market showed that there’s so much more to explore.