breakfast/brunch: i recommend McDONALDS

McDONALDs
almost everywhere

website: mcdonalds.com.tw Chinese only

hours: until 10:30AM or so at most locations

$

Kid friendliness: Who hasn't been here as a kid? High chairs available and some McDonalds here have small playgrounds. Seasonal toys with the happy meals are collectible!

Visit reviewed: 6/24/2007

It's classic, it's fast and it's affordable. Sure, it's not the healthiest thing in the world, but neither are eggs benedicts! It's almost the same you'd find back home and definitely quicker than when you don't have time to wait in line at NY Bagel or the Diner on the weekends for American style breakfasts. Offering breakfast sandwiches on McMuffin or bagel (NT$30-40 only sandwich/$65-75 combo) - you can have egg, sausage, cheese or bacon in various combos as well as hotcakes (NT$40 alone/NT$75 combo). Don't forget to get the hash brown (my personal favorite!) and an OJ or coffee or milk to go with it.

Even the packaging looks familiar with the bold sans serif lettering paper wrapping or styrofoam plate for your hotcakes. The service will vary depending on location, but there will be plenty of picture menus for you to point to what you want, even if the server doesn't understand "hotcakes" or "hash brown" in English.



The hotcakes come with the prepackaged super sweet syrup, but they are perfectly round and soft and hot as if you griddled (or microwaved them) yourself. Somehow everytime I eat McDonald's hotcakes I'm reminded of when I went camping with my girl scout troop and saw for the first time someone make perfectly round American style pancakes that would slowly turn golden and fluffy- as opposed to the odd shaped homemade crepe style pancakes my dad would concoct out of flour and butter and sugar at home. So I have a special place in my stomach for hotcakes, especially since these are a huge improvement over the hockey pucks from NY Bagel.

Personally, I like the biscuit better than the mcmuffins since I think the mcmuffin tastes a little more 'preserved'- but they don't have that option here. I also wanted to get some of the berries and yogurt parfait, but they didn't know what I talking about at this location. Now that I think about it, they might not have brought that into Taiwan at all yet.

Also, if you spot the McCafe locations around town, they have more specialized coffee/lattes as well as waffle options though it's more like an afternoon tea snack here. The seating is more cozy corner coffeeshop like and less fast food plasticky than the regular McDonalds.

Lastly, the Minute Maid orange juice tastes like standard semi-pulpy OJ rather than the more watery or sugary versions of orange juice that you might find from some local brands.

I heard that some McDonalds back in the states might have breakfast available all day. That would be awesome! I remember some mornings trying to get myself out of bed in time to the 10:30am cut off time and going to the drive through in my pajamas. Something about the hash browns really gets to me- the crispy hotness when you bite into it. You can't eat it everyday, but once in awhile it's a treat.

middle eastern: i strongly recommend SABABA PITA BAR

SABABA PITA BAR
8, Alley 54, Ln 118, Heping E Rd, Sec 2
(02) 2738-7769

website: sababapita.com

hours: 11 AM to 9 PM
closed Sundays

$

CASH ONLY

Kid friendliness: no high chairs and small seating area - so tough for strollers, though finger foods quite kid friendly. Recommend calling ahead and getting food-to-go if you have lots of kids or baby.

Visit reviewed: 6/6/2007

The hummus here will make you hum about Sababa to all your friends afterwards. And if you've never had hummus before, you should give it try and have one of their sandwiches as well. After having it a few weeks ago, I had been thinking about the food ever since. It's simple and light and easy on the wallet- yet there are complex and hearty flavors in the food. They have pita sandwiches (NT$98) and plates (NT$158) with combo option of adding fries and a drink (add NT$50).

So last night, I got some more Sababa food to go and I have to say it traveled better than I thought it would back to my dining table.

The first time, I made the mistake of just ordering a hummus combo plate, the plata sababa (NT$158), as my lunch. Hummus is a creamy blend of chickpeas and sesame tahini with lemon and garlicky flavors to keep everything interesting, and plated with the roasted eggplant gives it a slightly sweet partner to dip your pita bread in.



While it was sizeable- it was more like an appetizer with a plate full of hummus, roasted eggplant and sliced pita to dip it in. I had to ask my friends to try it out so that I didn't feel forced to finish it- all hummus and pita and no meat was starting to feel a bit heavy and I was eyeing my friend's combo pita sandwich.



my friend's combo sandwich, not my chicken pita!


This time, I was smart, I ordered a Chicken Soulvaki Pita (NT$98) as my protein and the plata sababa to share, as well as some Moroccan cigars (NT$88 for 2) on the side. Everything came in paper bag (smartly imprinted with Sababa's info and a map) so the cigars stayed crispy and didn't get soggy like some fried foods to-go do. My chicken pita was stuffed full of large diced chicken breast pieces with some tomato slices and filled with green homemade yogurt sauce which made the sandwich moist without being too greasy (like mayo). The pita was soft and fresh- and they even stuff the part they cut off into your sandwich- which I promptly used to dip into the hummus.

The Moroccan Cigars were like I remembered the first time- a bit spicy with ground beef and pine nuts, wrapped in long cigar-like egg roll skin, deep fried and crispy.



It's usually made with phyllo dough, but the egg roll skin gives it a unique fusion twist which is perfect to cater to the Taiwanese tastes without taking away from its original flavor. My vegetarian friend had the Egyptian Cigars (NT$88 for 2), which were made from spinach and herbed cheddar- but must warn you, it's quite spicy! Much spicier than the beef and without warning on the menu. I also didn't spot any spinach in my bite, but he liked it. I think I also like it because it reminds me of taquitos and while it's quite different, it's similar enough to make me happy.

It's not easy to find since it's located off in the alley off a lane off a street, but check out their map on the website and look for the red sign hanging outside their little shop. They also don't have any sweets/desserts, so if you are still hungry afterwards, you can get a smoothie or drink next door, especially on a hot day. (I got the guava/grapefruit juice and it was very refreshing and surprisingly good combo).



The English menu is written on the chalkboard behind the counter, as well as menus with both English and Chinese floating around the front. You order at the bar as well as pick up your own food when your number is called and I recommend getting there a little before noon to beat the lunch college crowd to get a seat.



We lucked out by doing just that and getting a table in the back before it quickly filled up. There's probably no more than 18 seats or so as well as seating at the pita bar, and it feels sort of like fast food joint with all the tiled tables, but a wee bit nicer. They also make everything to order, so if you get there before the rush, you don't have to wait extra long to eat! If you are getting food to go, I recommend calling ahead so you don't have to wait. Also, to-go orders are buy 5 get 1 free, so try something different next time for your office lunch or order food to go and let the kids try something different.

There's also quite a few options for vegetarians that are filling and satisfying for even non-vegetarians. Besides the plata sababa and Egyptian cigars, there's also an Eggplant or Falafel pita sandwiches as options, or the Labneh Eggplant Salat, which had a lot of homemade yogurt cheese - which is more an appetizer plate rather than a lunch or dinner plate as we discovered.



Opened by the same people who brought Citizen Cain to Taipei, Sababa has quickly gained many loyal customers. I heard a lot about it on the various Taiwan forums before getting a chance to visit and now they have opened another location, as well as offer franchising opportunities- so you might see more and more Sababa's around town.

Our dinner to go was NT$530 (US$16) for 2 sandwiches, 4 cigars and 1 plata sababa and very satisfying- can't beat that price at most of the western/foreign eateries in town! Even in LA, 2 pita sandwiches, hummus and sides would be about the same, maybe even more.

OTHER LOCATIONS

Gong Guan branch
17, Lane 283, LuoSiFu (Roosevelt) Rd, Sec 3, 1F
(02) 2363-8009
Hours: 11:30 am-9:30 pm

Yong Kang branch
No. 3, Lane 12, Yong Kang St
Phone: (02) 2327 9159
Fax: (02) 2327 9159
Sunday~Thursday 11am~10pm
Friday&Saturday 11am~10:30pm

Breeze Center at
Taipei Main Station
(02)6632-8999 # 2557
Fax: 02-2389-5720
Monday - Friday 11am ~ 9:30pm
Saturday - Sunday 11am ~ 10pm

Who else recommends it?
Taipei Times

random: cold foods to beat the summer heat

It's too hot to blog.

If it's not raining, the sun is out to get us with its global warming revenge.

But here are some things I've been eating to beat the Taipei heat.

Cold ramen noodles at Watami (can you spot the ice cube?). Even better- I found the Korean cold noodles in a sweet and vinegary-sour soup I loved from Korea in Yonghe.



I've been day dreaming about the mint chocolate chip ice cream from Movenpick ever since I shared a banana split.



And of course, shaved ice. Shaved ice is one of the best things about living in Taipei! Can we eat it everyday?




I know it's not nice to tease you with the pictures and not tell you exactly where to get them. I'm working on the reviews and the restaurant name and address translations. Blame the restaurants for not having English on their business cards and websites!!!! Hope everyone is staying cool.

WATAMI
at Neo 19, 2nd FL
No. 22, Song Shou Rd
Xinyi District, Taipei
(02) 2723-2623
Hours: 11 am-1 am

TBA KOREAN RESTAURANT
Yonghe, Taipei
(02) 2929-7667

MOVENPICK
at at Miramar Mall, 3rd FL
22 Jing Ye 3rd Road
DaZhi, Taipei

TBA SHAVED ICE at NIGHT MARKET
Yonghe, Taipei

TAI YI TBA POPULAR SHAVED ICE
across from entrance of TaiDa University
on XinSheng South Road

revisited/american: i still strongly recommend THE DINER again

THE DINER
No. 145, Rui-An St.
(02) 2700-1680

HOURS: 10AM-11PM
closed Mondays

website: thediner.com.tw

kid friendly?: I believe that they don't have any high chairs, but there is some room for strollers (when they are not packed) and booths along the side. There is a few Diner-like options on the kids menu (NT$100)

$
CASH ONLY

visit reveiwed: 6/5/2007
original visit reviewed: 12/17/2006

So their pastrami sandwich (NT$260) doesn't look like this- but their burgers and fries (NT$120-260) are pretty close to what you'd expect if you were in some burger joint in the states, with all the trimmings as options (NT$20-30)- swiss and mushrooms, cheddar and bacon, pickles/tomatoes/onions and self serve mustard and ketchup. The only thing I wish they had was Haas avocado slices as a add-on option.

It's also almost half the price as a burger you'd get at Chili's. You can also pair your burger with a icy cold milkshake (NT$120-160) or yogurt/fruit smoothie (NT$120).



This time around, I even discovered their off the menu dessert counter with temptations (NT$90+/slice) like key lime pie, cheesecake, carrot cake, pumpkin pie & non-desserty but equally delicious looking quiche!

The service can sometimes get a bit slow especially when they get packed and backed up, but that's why you self serve your coffee and water. We also had to wait about 15-20 minutes for a table for 3.



I got a carrot cake slice to go and it was tough to pick one! Tall, three layers and calling out my name the next day- the cake would be just what Bugs Bunny would order from his baker with lots of cinnamon and grated carrots, but the frosting was not cream cheesy at all. Instead it was a bland white frosting that committed a sin against the flavor of the carrot cake.




Still can't beat their American style breakfasts (NT$150-240)- this is especially evidenced by the sight of other customers busting out their cameras and artily taking pictures, perhaps for their food blogs, asking their friends to move all the background stuff out of the way and making them wait to eat their plates while they get just the right shot.



Okay yes, I'm guilty of it too! But then you wouldn't have all these nice pictures. :)

See what I said last time I went to the Diner.

OTHER LOCATION:

No.6, Lane 103, Dunhua S. Rd., Sec. 2
(02) 2754-1680

blogger chinese > english

hi guys!

So a few of you emailed me saying that you wanted to leave comments, but couldn't read the Chinese when you clicked on the comment area. Thanks to one smart reader, I have a suggestion-

(1) Either click on the orange B in the top left corner or go to blogger.com and then click on the fourth word from the left at the bottom.

(2) It should take you to language selection. Scroll down and click English and click select and it should change your Blogger from Chinese to English!

OTHERWISE...

You can leave your comment, enter the anti-spam word, click on the second bubble at the bottom of the form, enter your name and then click on the Orange button!

Thanks for reading and hope you have a happy dragon boat festival and get to eat some great food this weekend.

my kitchen: goat cheese avocado sandwich

I love my sandwich maker. It sears and toasts the bread so it tastes like I had baked it in the oven for hours. Today I made a goat cheese (Costco), Haas avocado (Costco), tomato, ham (Costco) sandwich. It's like grilled cheese with a twist. And it's not easy to find good sandwiches in Taipei- it's usually easier to make your own.

Nothing beats comfort food on a rainy day.

CLOSED & MOVED!/japanese: i recommend KITCHEN KAMAKURA

ED NOTE (6/15/2007): Tried to go there last night with relatives after discovering that Jiu Ru was only selling zong zi for zong zi season. But, the windows were dark and a sign with their new address was there, along with another group of confused would-be customers. Boo hoo!!! Will post the new address soon, but I think I overheard my uncle say that the new place is izayaka style so more like a bar/cafe. Hm.



KITCHEN KAMAKURA
No. 7, Lane 83, Da An Road, Sec 1
(02)8773-2037

$ - $$

kid friendliness: no high chairs, no booths, but friendly servers & room for strollers

Visit reviewed: 5/1/2007


We wandered down a lane behind the Dun Hua Sogo looking for a place to lunch- past the mom and pop noodle shops into Kitchen Kamakura not sure what to expect. I felt like I could have walked into a shop in Japan with the food, flavors and ambience at Kitchen K with its calm, modern (and yes, Zen-like) atmosphere and a few scattered customers. With the daily specials on the wall in Japanese, the menu was only in Japanese and Chinese with a few pictures, with most dishes ranging from NT$300-400.



We started off with a sashimi platter to share, and it was surprisingly fresh and well presented from my expectations. I got to eat most of the uni (YAY!) and the rest of it melted in my wasabi soy-sauced mouth.



I was very happy with my choice of the tonkatsu-don, which is a deep fried pork cutlet bathing with a soft scrambled egg pool. It came as a set menu, with a bowl of miso soup, a big bowl of white rice, tsukemono or some pickled vegetables and seaweed and a fried tofu-like ball (which I am trying to figure out the Japanese name for!)


what is this called??

The portion was sizeable for the price and it was one of the best tonkatsu-don's I've had in a long time. I like my egg a bit soft to wash down the hardness of the steamed rice, and I didn't mind that it was even a little soupy that made the already tender katsu a bit soggy- that's sort of the whole point. I didn't like the tofu ball enough to finish it- very mushy texture and lacking in flavor like the sesame one I had at Peony(though the rest of the food here had Peony beat by a long shot). My friend who had the unagi-don or the eel equivalent of mine also polished his dish. We traded bites and his eel was savory, soft and slightly sweet- just right.



My other friend ordered a grilled chicken, which seemed lonely and plain next to our meats which were chilling out in their glorious eggy baths. The table consensus was that hers was our least favorite. Good, but ordinary.



We might have been a bit greedy, as I ordered a side of steak as well. It was simply grilled with a bit of wasabi sauce on top.



Included in the set menu was a red bean dessert and choice of hot/cold tea/coffee- we had to rush so I didn't try the dessert, but for the price and taste (in contrast to other similarly priced eateries) I will definitely be back!

foodcourt: VIE SHOW CINEMAS FOODCOURT

VIE SHOW CINEMAS FOODCOURT
No. 16, Sung Shou Road, 2F

$

kid friendliness: no high chairs, but room to put your strollers. Play area and arcade in the back, as well as downstairs, though the downstairs arcade is quite loud and noisy

website: vscinemas.com.tw

last visited: 6/ 8/2007

I have to say I'm pretty fascinated with the food courts in Taipei. They are mostly the same in the different malls with different variations, but sometimes you might find some unique offerings. If you need a quick bite to eat before you watch a movie at Warner Vie Show Cinemas near 101 or you're in town for a trade show (like Computex), what do you eat?

Since I've seen quite a few movies, I've circled around this food court many a times. There's Burger King, Haagen Daaz, Doner Kebab, Teppanyaki, crepes, Korean bimbimbap, Vietnamese pho, Indian curry, Chinese wonton noodles, Japanese omelette and curry, Taiwanese snacks, shaved ice, Buffalo Steak, Dennis Deli, even a Froot juice bar and Bellini Italian cafe to the outside of it and LA Cafe downstairs.

There used to even be a Mexican shop-Taco Taco, but it's now extra seating area. (And yes, I tried it and yes, there's a reason why it's out of business).



Well, here's my shortlist of hits and misses-

HITS

• BURGER KING- because you can't go wrong with a whopper. Quick and same as you'd expect at any other BK
  
• DONER KEBAB- This place is growing on me. You can get the chicken or beef or both in a wrap or bun, and with the lettuce, tomato, olives, onions and sauces customized to your preference- it's like Subway, but better. With fries and a drink (NT$150).
  
  
  
  
• CHINESE NOODLE SHOP- the wontons and noodles are cheap and food court-level tasty
  
  
  
  
• HAAGEN DAAZ- although their service is terribly s-l-o-w sometimes. If so, just go downstairs and around the corner to the much faster and friendlier new kid on the block, Coldstones.
  
• FROOT- It's not Jamba Juice, but it's close. They have a few tasty drinks (NT$80+) especially on a hot summer day.
  
• BELLINI PASTA PASTA- usually tasty Japanese style Italian pasta, but bit longer wait than food court food. Just come a little earlier than your movie time.
  
  
• TAIWANESE SNACKS- just a few bags to sneak into the theater, and they supply the long toothpicks for your green beans, tofu, tempura or other traditional Taiwanese snacks. Good flavor and slightly healthier than Burger King.
  

MISSES

• PHO- haven't had the pho here yet, but it's the same chain as the one in Eslite and I never see anyone ordering from there. Ever.
  
• KOREAN SPECIALISP- (their typo, not mine) WIthout asking, they drench the bimbimbap with hot sauce, so that it's unbearably hot (spice wise and temperature wise) without much flavor to the beef or pickled vegetables. The rice gets burned on the bottom without getting crispy and what's up with the lettuce? I do like the side of thousand year old egg and tofu with the set lunch (NT$150). If you're craving bimbimbap, go to the foodcourt at 101 instead. They also have many side order options where this place doesn't.
  
  
  
  
• CREPE PLACE- Maybe it's better now that it's moved where the tako-yaki place used to be. But when I last got a crepe a few years ago, it was stiff and tasted like cardboard.
  
  
  
  
• BUFFALO STEAK- It's not buffalo, but I'm not sure it's beef either. Tough yet mushy and bland- though you can't tell by looking at it.

Of course, you could always stick to popcorn (I like to get mine mostly sweet and some salty- personally, I'm addicted to the kettle corn option here) and a slurpie from 7-11 in the Neo 19 building.

BTW, looking for movie times or buying tickets online in English? Try vscinemas.com.tw

I'm hoping to cover more foodcourts and mall restaurants the same way, with all the info in one post. The businesses in Taipei don't make it easy for you though, with all the websites in Chinese and on several occasions, I've even asked their information desks and they always seem to have "run out" of their English brochures.

my kitchen (sort of): zong zi

I was lucky enough to check out a lesson wrapping the Taiwanese treat- zong zi- where they supplied all the ingredients and we just had to perform the origami-art of wrapping the bamboo leaves into a pocket to stuff our sticky rice and goods and then around again so that the rice didn't squeeze out.

Not a half bad job if I say so myself! I did two meat ones, one vegetarian and one sweet dumpling with black rice and red bean paste.




before


after

I think my relatives are going to wrap some for the upcoming Duanwu festival, so I will be prepared to get my hands dirty!

• When you fold the two bamboo leaves over, make sure one side is much shorter so you have a longer area to work with.
• Make the pocket deep enough to stuff the goods.
  
• Flatten out the rice a bit to layer your meat and yolk and such
  
• Squeeze gently on the sides before you tuck the leaf over the rice
  
• Tie the string tight!
  

Why do we eat zongzi for this holiday? I am still not sure since it's something I just remember doing since I was a kid- it's like why do you eat gingerbread men at Christmastime- but check out wikipedia.

Can't make it yourself? There are a ton of restaurants that offer it on a daily basis such as Little Shanghai and Jiu Ru, and you can order it from places such as Grand Formosa Regent Hotel or pick some up at Nan Men (South Door) market.

Speaking of cooking, I saw this from the Epicurious newsletter and I don't know if it's a sign I've been in Taiwan too long, but the stuff from homebistro.com looks REALLY good! Too bad they don't ship internationally. :( But the grilled meats and the souffle and the bisque looks good!

japanese: i strongly recommend A-PLUS DINING SAKE BAR

A-PLUS DINING SAKE BAR
33, Anhe Road, Sec. 1
(02) 2731-9266

website: aplusdiningbar.com.tw

lunch:12 PM - 3 PM
dinner: 6 PM- 2 AM

$- $$

Visit reviewed: 5/30/2007

Yay! Spicy tuna rolls! Yay! California rolls!

Yay for A-Plus. I can't tell you how hard it has been to find spicy tuna rolls in Taipei. They have been basically inedible or non-existent up to this point. (I even attempted to order spicy tuna roll in Beijing at the Japanese restaurant in Shangri-La hotel, but it was awful as well. Spicy tuna is not just tuna with tabasco sauce okay?)


a beautiful sight for sore eyes

But now, I have a place to go when the craving hits me in Taipei. They also had a wider selection of "rolls" (NT$100+) than most other more traditional Japanese restaurants in town, but not doused with mayonaise with paper thin unagi like practically scarring experience I had at Niko Niko.

Their unagi over rice almost blew me away. First, the portion was huge! Second, it was tender, perfectly grilled and seasoned- and didn't have the moisture grilled completely out of it.



The menu is in English and Chinese with a few pictures, though the set lunch special is only in Chinese. You can choose from a few main dishes, and comes with a ordinary salad and miso soup, as well as a coconut flan-like dessert.




It's self proclaimed "fusion"- Japanese food made with local ingredients and with South American embellishments served in a sophisticated NY inspired environment. And the environment is definitely nicer than your average Japanese restaurant, but still reasonably priced- perfect for casual business lunch, lunch with your friends or maybe evening a night out. It's also definitely less hectic than the similarly priced Watami nearby.



My friends heartily recommended the grilled Mackarel- but I was in the mood for rolls. And I polished off all of my share.





The cold udon was smaller than I expected, but it was al dente Q and the sweet sesame sauce was the perfect accompaniment.



All in all, I heartily recommend A-Plus. Supposedly, they remodeled and revamped their menu recently and has been packed ever since. I think we grabbed the last table during this lunch hour. It's down the block from Dun Hua Eslite bookstore a little past Space Yoga and open late as well for late night grazing and drinks.