japanese/fusion: i strongly recommend DOZO

DOZO IZAKAYA DINING BAR
No. 102, Guang Fu S. Road
(02) 2778-1135

MRT: Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall

website: dozoizakaya.com

hours: 6pm to 3am (last food order at 2pm)

$$-$$$

Kid friendliness: loud atmosphere more lounge bar than restaurant

Visit reviewed: 12/4/2009



Dozo- I had heard the name quite a few times, but didn't know much about the menu. Even noticed its grand entrance and glowing red sign when driving by on Guang Fu South Road- it's a few blocks away from SYS Memorial Hall or United Hotel. But I never got a chance to eat there until my friends chose it for late birthday dinner after a screening of New Moon. One of my good friends is a true Twi-hard fan and watching it with her definitely made it more fun.



More Hollywood hotspot than homestyle, Dozo is the perfect sort of trendy place for those birthday dinner and drinks celebrations. On, the first floor, the elevated walkway is more of a runway, but they had reserved a room upstairs in the VIP tatami rooms where you can see if you are louder than the room next to you or the taiko drummers that come out to perform (I think after 10pm).



And like any good izakaya, the Chinese and English picture filled menu offers up many drinks and dishes to choose from, from grilled skewers to deep fried and stir fried dishes, from modern sushi rolls and appetizers to traditional sashimi, from beer bongs to hot sake.




Yup, I said beer bong.



In addition to the Japanese fare, there's a bit of creative fusion going on- Italian-style fried udon or korean style rice in stone bowl- or a new spin on the familiar, like spicy tuna.



Two of my favorite dishes at Dozo were tuna appetizers, especially since I love spicy tuna and it's hard to find it done well here, though I've been slowly finding it at more places. The Seven Spice Flavored Tuna Pate (NT$180) is served in a chilled ceramic dish and you mix the seven spices with the tuna, and scoop it onto the fresh romaine lettuce.




The other was the Tuna and Avocado Salad topped with Shrimp Roe which was also a mix and scoop thing, but this time on toasted bread slices. The texture of the cruncy toast and popping shrimp eggs is a good contrast to the soft tuna and avocado - a spicy tuna bruschetta if you will.



If I came back, I wouldn't order the Grilled Beef Sushi, (NT$220) which was a bit dry.



Instead get the Boneless Beef Spare Ribs which was a plate of bite sized slices of juicy beef.



Or for something different, you can try the Charcoal grilled beef with garlic sauce which was like beef sashimi, as it is pretty much raw. I think the first time I had raw beef, I can't remember where, I just went for it- I didn't even want to think about what I was eating. And it does taste sort of like sashimi, but with the texture of... raw beef. Haha. Something for someone who like their prime rib and steaks rare.



I also found myself going back for more of the Gigantic Grilled Rice Ball- it was basically as the name sounds. If you are like me and like the browned bits of crisped rice at the bottom of a stone bimbimbap bowl, then you'll love this since the entire ball is all crispy rice underneath the bonito.



And the soft Deep fried homemade tofu with peanut which had a distinctive, nutty flavor that was almost dessert like.



I wasn't crazy about some of other seafood dishes- the sashimi "Japanese Jack Mackarel with salsa" (a tad fishy),



the sliced octopus with korean kimchi and mayonaise, and



the Grilled squid with seven spice powder. I don't think I would have remembered these dishes if it wasn't for the pictures.



Instead, you can try the Deep Fried Mini Dumplings which were perfectly crisp,


the rolls like the Avocado and Salmon


and the Assorted skewers with chicken, intestines and beef.



By the time the Spicy Korean rice cakes came, I was too full to really taste more than a bite, but it was very spicy!



As you can see, we had a lot of food and this was only the tip of the extensive menu. If you want to try more things, then it's a great excuse to round up your friends for dinner, try a bite of each dish and reorder what you like. The food came at a good speed for our hungry group, and we added new rounds of orders a few times. Open until 3AM, Dozo is the perfect place to grab a late night bite.



Anyone else been to Dozo? What's your favorite dish there?

CLOSED! dessert/french: i strongly recommend SUZETTE (CREPES & GAUFRES)

CLOSED- a/o summer 2010

SUZETTE (CREPES & GAUFRES)
at NY NY Building (near to McDonald's)
No. 12, Song Shou Road
(02)2722-5352

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: tw.suzette-asia.com Chinese only

hours: 11 AM- late

$

Kid friendliness: roomy patio seating; salty and sweet options available

Visit reviewed: 6/2/09 & 12/25/09



PREFACE: I'm bit annoyed that they weren't selling crepes during the afternoon on 12/31 so that I could buy a few crepes to take some more pictures for this post and nosh on before the New Year's Eve madness- but they were essentially waiting for the night crowds. Why bother even being open and having two people standing around if you aren't selling to paying customers? Anyways- isolated event. So here are the pics I have. End rant. Happy New Year! END PREFACE.

Perfect place for picking up a post-movie snack or catching up with someone in 101's shadow, Suzette is place for those who want a real crepe. If you're like me, then you were in shock at the taste of your first "Taiwan crepe" which was crispy, papery dry and not at all like the velvety crepes back home in the states.

So when I saw the signage for Suzette opening(I thought the name was Crepes Suzette, but I think it's just Suzette), I was beyond excited. Occupying a small outside corner of NYNY (just right around McDonald's), they have quite a few umbrella covered tables for customers to lounge. The location is so perfect for people watching near 101, that they even had VIP reservations available for New Year's Eve for the midnight fireworks.

Crepes are made to order on one of their two crepe hot plates, and there are over 20 kinds available- both sweet (Crepes sucrees and roulees) and savory (Crepes Salees and bechamel) available on their English/Chinese menu. Butter, butter & sugar, nutella, nutella & bananas, apple & cinnamon- all the standards. It's fun to watch them at work while you are waiting for your order. I noticed that the savory crepe I wanted to order didn't have cheese and when I requested to have some added, they agreed without questions.



I was happy that the crepes were a fraction of the price of my former crepe favorite, Mamm Goz, which unfortunately closed down.





I was a bit surprised to see the final result to be rolled up like a burrito, but I am not sure if that's only when it's to-go. The Mushroom, Pork and Egg crepe (NT$150) was good, but nutella crepes were worth coming back for again and again.

That was over six months ago.

When I walked by Suzette after a Christmas day screening of Sherlock Holmes, jonesing for a nutella and banana crepe, I was surprised to see it so crowded at 10pm. After all, every visit I had for a few months over the summer, I was barely their only customer. Tonight it was a 20-30 minute wait after ordering and they were out of Apple Cinnamon crepes (NT$130). I didn't know if it was the holiday crowds in the area, the cold weather, the word of mouth had finally spread, the revamped counter menu with more pictures or the non-Chinese owner/crepe maker making the crepes- or maybe a combination of all the above. Then again, that night was some of the longest lines I'd seen at Burger King, Coldstones and Starbucks.

My banana nutella crepe (NT$80) was warm, gooey and soft- a perfect late night bite while walking home amongst the Christmas lights and cool winter night.

where can you find... restaurants near 101 to watch Taipei New Year's Eve fireworks afterwards?

Happy new year!

Wherever you are celebrating New Year's Eve, whether it's with the hordes of people in drizzling rain near the 101 Fireworks in Taipei, listening to Mayday, Wang Lee Hom and SHE in front of Taipei City Hall tonight, or celebrating at home with family and friends in front of the TV, have a happy and healthy new year!

I can't believe it's going to be 2010!

If you are looking for last minute place for dinner for Taipei's New Years Eve in the 101 area, you can browse the this label. Everything will probably be packed and crazy, but it's worth a shot if you want to party it up. Keep in mind, there will be a ton of street vendors out tonight though so you can nosh your way through the night too. And of course, you don't have to be in the immediate area to see the fireworks, you can have a great view from across the river in Dazhi or Miramar too.

Here are the eateries in the 101 area off the top of my head- you can search the name in the upper left hand box for the review/number.

Neo 19 building (these eateries are usually packed on weekends, 1 hour plus wait without reservations, probably even crazier tonight)
-Macaroni Grill
-Chili's
-Ton Sushi
-Momo Paradise
-Watami
-new Thai place spotted

Vieshow building
-Food court
-Bellini Pasta Pasta

Mitsukoshi
-Thai Town
-Saboten tonkatsu
-Liang Ban Jia Korean BBQ
-Shanghai Shanghai
-Chun Tsui Tang
-Gordon Biersch
-Paul

NYNY building
-Food court
-Cafe Grazie
-Suzette Crepes
-McD's
-Mr.Donut/Starbucks/Coldstone's

101
-Jiu Riu
-Crystal Spoon Thai
-Shinyeh 101
-Food court

Bellavita
-L'Atelier Robuchon
-Ton Sushi
-Food court

Grand Hyatt Hotel
-Ziga Zaga
-Pearl Liang
-Cafe
-Cheers

nearby 101
-Chez Jimmy
-Joyce East
-NY Bagel
-Outback
-Da Fang Teppanyaki
-Micasa
-Agora Garden Hotel
-Brown Sugar
-Xinyi Eslite Mall

I'm curious if any of you readers are eating out here tonight and if so, what are the crowds/wait like?

my kitchen: christmas cookies

When a friend asked me if I wanted to make Christmas cookies together, I jumped at the chance. I always wanted to, but never was motivated enough to do it. She made the dough the night before, I had the oven/baking supplies and the sprinkles/icing (from LA) and we both had a mini-spree to get cookie cutters from CitySuper, so we were all set.



She wasn't able to find shortening, so she just substituted butter, but it made the dough quite soft. Despite being in the fridge overnight, our dough would get too soft to work with. So we stuck the batch in the freezer when we weren't working with it, which made it nice and firm to roll out and cut cleanly to decorate and put on the tray.



I loved this icing from LA which made it super easy to decorate. Why can't we find this stuff in Taipei- or can my baking readers divulge where the stash is in this city? If you're having trouble finding sprinkles, you can order the ones I have - Wilton 6 Color Christmas Sprinkle Mix from Amazon.com. It's an awesome combo that you can use for eyes/buttons, general sprinkling.

Mmmm, cookies baking in the oven are awesome and it's actually my first time making Christmas cookies! (Not counting the time that I _watched_ my friend L make a ton of different amazing Christmas cookies in high school).



I realized after looking through these pictures, I could have taken cuter photos, but it's okay- I was too busy decorating and eating to art direct. Next time! :)



Here are a few of the cute ones, packaged up and ready to be eaten by friends.




Merry Christmas everyone!! Hope you're having a holly, jolly holiday whether you're in Taipei or reading from somewhere else around the world. :)

snapshot/brunch: i recommend VVG Table

VVG TABLE
No. 14, Lane 40, Alley 181, ZhongXiao E. Road, Sec. 4
(02) 2775-5120

MRT: ZhongXiao/DunHua

Hours:11:30 am-9:30 pm
Brunch: Saturday/Sunday 11 am-4 pm

$$

Visit reviewed: 12/13/2009
Last visit written: 3/2006




VVG Table still offers a weekend bento-ish brunch for those who are tired of plain old eggs and pancakes. Instead- you get grilled pork over couscous, a soft boiled egg, a crepe and baked half pear stuffed with cherries. Not to mention the latte in a bowl and cinnamon red wine and the huge grape/berry juice. It's different every time I come, so it's sort of a surprise each time.

One thing that has stayed the same is the starter- be sure to try all the different sauces and breads- nutella, honey, marmalade and fruit preserves. I have witnessed the nutella spoon being licked, but luckily not on this visit.



We were advised to eat the soft boiled egg first, and how I do like a soft boiled egg.



I was pretty excited to have couscous, but not excited to see raisins and have to pick them out. Ugh.



Everything tasted lovely as usual- delicate and with finesse. If only brunch at VVG Table weren't so dang expensive- (about NT$500-600) I could eat here more often. But despite the price, the eclectic space is full of people, some others also armed with cameras. If you don't get a seat without a reservation, you can try VVG or VVG Bon Bon.



I had a fun tweet up with two new friends. Perhaps we'll brunch again soon.

indian: TAJ

TAJ
No. 12, Alley 6, Lane 170, ZhongXiao E Rd, Sec 4
(02) 8773-0175

MRT: ZhongXiao/DunHua

hours: 12 PM - 10 PM

$$

Kid friendliness: only a few non-spicy options

Visit reviewed: 12/4/2009



My first visit to Taj has been long overdue. I had tried to eat there on a few occasions. Once I stopped by with some friends, but it turned out they were closed. Then another time, but they were not open until noon and we were ready to eat at 11am. So when I was in the neighborhood with my friend V deciding on where to eat a few weeks ago, I thought we could finally give Taj a try.

It's in the alley behind Zhong Xiao E. Road, not too far from the Dun Hua Eslite or San Want Hotel. Once you find it, you can browse the specials on their sign outside.



The English and Chinese menu is full of pictures and has a range of appetizers, curries and tandoor items. But while browsing the menu in detail, a lot of things that I've grown to love were crossed out or unavailable- eggplant curry, okra curry, mango lassi. There's also a few lunch sets available (NT$150-$250), which come with yoghurt, sago ki kheer and choice of naan or rice.



The space is roomy with some decorative elements with some touches that could make it a nice date night place.



While it would be easier (and more cost efficient) to order a set lunch when dining alone, I had the chance to try both the ala carte curry and the set curry and it was a world of difference.

If I could make a suggestion- don't order the lunch set curry- it curry was more watery and the meat seemed tougher/smaller cuts. Between the four of us friends, the ala carte curry was finished, but the chicken and mutton curries sat and no one wanted to take them home afterwards. It's too bad they don't make a more equal quality of curry to match their regular offerings, but I guess they can't at that price point?



Instead opt for their hearty tandoori chicken which came with decent sized pieces and was perfectly grilled.



The garlic naan was fantastic and one of the best parts of the meal. Hot, chewy and garlicky.



While I mentioned to the waiter I usually favored chicken tikka masala, he suggested the butter chicken. While the curry had a nice creamy, spicy flavor and tender chunks of chicken, I still missed the slight sweetness of the tikka masala.



My friend who came a little later added a spinach curry to our order. I was surprised (and not happy) to taste a strong bitterness in the spices that were used for the spinach curry. I couldn't handle it and had never tasted anything like that before in other Indian spinach curries I've tasted, but my friend was okay with it.



The samosas were also disappointing. While crunchy on the outside, they were quite dry on the inside, which intensified the spiciness.



Combined with the also dry skin of the samosa, I wouldn't order it again.



I was bummed I didn't have a better overall experience at Taj. Have any readers been before- and what did you order?

I might go back and try the flavors of some of the other curries, like my standby chicken tikka masala, but I was hoping that I'd discover something new to have love-at-first-taste with. I really wanted to find a closer go-to Indian restaurant in the DaAn or Xinyi district since my other experiences have been inconsistent, or the restaurants that have been great, like Saffron, are too far away. For now, I'll just have to settle for fast food mall joint Indian Palace.

CLOSED/new in town/pizza: i strongly recommend FIFTEEN PIZZERIA NAPOLETANA

FIFTEEN PIZZERIA NAPOLETANA
No. 4-1, Ln 118, Heping E. Rd, Sec 2
(02) 2377-1142
(CLOSED. it's an OOH CHA CHA a/o 2018. i loved all the responses to this post)

MRT: Technology Building/Brown Line

hours: 11:30am to 10:30pm

$$ (Cash only)

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted. small park right outside

Visit reviewed: 12/8/2009



I think for this post, I'm going to let the pizzas, I mean the pictures do the talking.



Thanks to reader Gil for giving me the heads up on this tucked away new pizzeria, just opened in October. It's actually on the same alley as my favorite Shan Xi Dao Xiao Mian place, near the Heping and Fuxing intersection.



Why the name Fifteen? Apparently, they are Jamie Oliver fans and the name is a bit of an homage to that (it's the name of his restaurant in London). And if you sit at one of their barstool seats, you'll have a front row seat to some pizza making action just as if you were watching your favorite Food Networks show. Travel and Living show for those of you in Taipei.



Fresh pizza dough gets flattened and topped with selections like prosciutto and arugula, clams and garlic or pesto and mushrooms, and of course mozzarella and parmasan cheese.




After being baked in the stone brick oven, the pizzas come to our table surprisingly quickly.



The space is not large, but has a few window-side tables as well as tables outside which look right out to the adjacent park. It doesn't seem tableready for groups larger than 4, which is too bad because their pizzas are the perfect kind to order a few different kinds to share.



The menu right now only has pizzas and a soup of the day (despite the first page of the menu having appetizers), but there are a range of gourmet toppings you can choose from. From the traditional mozzarella and basil to the more unusual include Pizza Cavolfiore (cauliflower), Pizza Patata (sliced roasted potato) or Pizza Fiorentina (spinach, bacon, eggs) in the NT$300 plus range. The prices on the menu are for the 10 inch, but ordering the 8 inch saves you NT$60/pizza.

We got the Pizza Portobello Mushroom (NT$260 for 8") which chose because it had pizza sauce (only the ones listed with having sauce have sauce, otherwise, they just come with cheese and toppings) which definitely on the light side. But the toppings were fresh and plentiful and the mushrooms retained a juicy flavor.



While we were enjoying our slices, the Pizza Prosciutto di Parma (NT$300 for 8 inch) came. Just say the word prosciutto and I'll drool, not to mention that it also came with the perfect partner, a spicy arugula (which is really hard to find in supermarkets here!)



The pizza was dusted with a tad too much salt as the prosciutto is already cured, but alternating a bite with the springy crust took care of it. The prosciutto was velvety and softened a bit with the heat of the pizza.



My friend and I had intended to just have a bit of each and save the leftovers for other friends, but we ended up eating almost the entirety of the two 8 inch pizzas between us. The crusts are soft and chewy and while the base of pizza is thin, it's not crispy, like you'd find at Alleycats. The pizza reminds me of Primo Trattoria, especially with the Fiorentina being available at both places, but Fifteen seems like a more casual and cozy hangout.

Stuffed and happy, I got a Pizza Genovese to-go, which has pesto sauce, mixed mushrooms and basil. I discovered that to-go pizzas get an additional 20 percent off, which is perfect because it saves you the sit-in 10% service fee and then you save a little extra.



Definitely give Fifteen Pizza a try- it is a bit unusual in that alley of Chinese eateries, and they said business has been so-so after their strong opening. I only wish it was a bit closer to my neighborhood, but it will give me an excuse to wander in that direction.

I got a text today saying they'll have various promos on the 15th of each month, like buy one, get a smaller size free. I did want to give the clam pizza a try...

Don't forget to vote for your favorite restaurants in the BEST OF TAIPEI READERS' CHOICE POLL!! Only a few weeks to go and I need y'all to chip in!