I'm going to Beijing next week for the first time since 2008!
Where to go? What to eat? I'm meeting up with a good friend from LA and we'll be playing tourist. I've already got Da Dong Roast Duck reservations, but where should I go for dumplings, ja jiang mian and local eats?
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Monday, May 06, 2013
CLOSED! japanese/grill: i recommend ROBATA YAKI
closed a/o 2015
ROBATA YAKI 久食 爐端焼
MRT: Zhongxiao/Dunhua
hours: 5:30PM - 12AM
$$-$$$$ (about NT$1200-2000/person)
Kid friendliness: high chairs available
Visit reviewed: 4/30/2012 and 6/21/2012
Robatayaki, yakitori-ya, yakiniku, izakaya... being in love with food means learning a whole new language- in this case Japanese. What is the difference between all these types of Japanese restaurants?
There's a ton of interesting restaurants along ShiMing DaDao or Civic Boulevard and of course not enough time to explore them. One of them is Robatayaki, opened by the owners of Ton 28 Sushi, featuring gourmet grilling Japanese style with sushi bar style seating where you can order from the chef.
From the outside, it's hard to tell what's inside except that it's a Japanese restaurant.
But once you step inside, there's a plethora of fresh vegetables sit in baskets along the long seating area, which can seat about 18 people. There's also some seating upstairs for bigger groups, but of course sitting along the bar is more fun. Rumor has it that there's also a separate room for VVIPs to have their own robatayaki space.
There's even some fresh seafood to choose from- scallops, oysters, shrimp and fishcake to throw on the grill.
Diners can choose to order ala carte or a set menu. Sets will include small salad with light Japanese dressing and small amuse- in this case housemade tofu.
Our set also included fresh sashimi- tuna, salmon and scallops tonight. If you're a fan of Ton Sushi, you won't be disappointed.
While there are a lot of Japanese/Korean bbq grill eateries where diners can grill themselves, Robatayaki has a hands on chef and one grill to cook for everyone. The benefit is that you don't have to do any work, the negative is that sometimes the food comes out quite slowly since there's limited space and one person doing the work.
Then plates are served on a long paddle to each diner around the table. I've had a lot of skewer experiences, but this was a first for me.
The fresh bamboo resembles an overgrown spring onion, with a thick white base and a longer green tail, before being chopped off and grilled.
And this is the bamboo (NT$60) looks like after, with a slightly sweet flavor and crunchy yet juicy meatiness.
The grilled onigiri (NT$60/each) was one of my favorite things at Robatayaki. The grilling of the rice triangle made the rice crispy on the outside, stuffed with bits of salmon inside.
It's a lot of little dishes to add up to one meal and some of the guys in our group were hungry even after our set menu completed, since after one meat skewer, it was all vegetables. Potentially this could be a great place for vegetarians. While it's not expensive per piece, say NT$50-150 per dish, the portions are small so it could add up to be really full.
Grilled shiitake mushroom (NT$50)
Buttery grilled potato
Grilled zucchini (NT$60)
Another must order dish is the grilled mountain yam topped with ikura NT$150.
I also liked the grilled Keelung tempura (NT$90), which puffed up on the grill and had a slightly crispy charred "skin" to the densely chewy fishcake.
Order the grilled mochi to finish off the meal (I've also seen them give toasted marshmallows for kids. Cute).
The emphasis here is definitely on vegetables and then seafood, with not a lot of meat options like typical Japanese barbeque places. You won't find any chicken liver or beef tongue here, so if you're better off elsewhere if you want to fill your carnivore cravings (Shinshengumi anyone?). Sets are available for NT$800-1600 with limited options, or you can just have fun ordering picking and choosing.
Grilled pork neck
Grilled sweet potato
Some of the sets also include seafood not served up on a stick, but overall the grilled vegetables stood out more.
All in all, a cool place for a dinner date or to celebrate a birthday if you don't mind dining at a leisurely pace, drinking some sake while you wait for your food. The atmosphere is unique if you sit at the bar and I really haven't seen the paddle service anywhere else and the salmon onigiri really is delicious, so order a few extra to munch on throughout the night.
Monday, April 29, 2013
CLOSED! cajun/western: FIREBITE
FIREBITE
(02) 2362-2468
(CLOSED a/o 2014)
MRT: Gongguan
website: FireBite's FB page
hours: 12PM - 12 AM
$$
Kid friendliness: non spicy seafood and appetizers available
Visit reviewed: 3/18/2013
Cajun in Taipei? I always thought it was a concept that would be a hit in Taiwan, the land of seafood and spicy loving eaters, as long as the flavors and concept were right. I spotted and heard about a few restaurants that came and went before I got a chance to try them (Spicy Alley and The Boiling Seafood in Urban 1 Mall), so when I heard about Fire-Bite from thethousandthgirl Stephanie (thanks Steph!), I was sure to be quick about it.
Like quite a few Western restaurants in Taipei, Fire-Bite expands its menu beyond what's unfamiliar to the Taipei locals in order to attract more business, so instead of just Cajun food, there's also Tex Mex appetizers like quesadillas, nachos, sliders and honey wings. I'm here for the main attraction, the "fire seafood" or your choice of shrimp, mussels, clams or all three tossed up in your level of fire spiciness. You can also add corn, sausages, or potatoes to the mix.
Along the walls are amusing photos of various customers (friends?) that look like they have tried something extremely spicy.
Quesadillas (NT$160) with some salsa. We actually ordered the chicken quesadillas, but got plain cheese. We were hungry so didn't bother sending it back.
Now those of you who are Boiling Crab fans in LA will make the obvious comparisons as will I, as I heard about the popular chain for the past year and finally gave it a try a few months ago. Because the memory is relatively fresh, I will end up comparing this experience and taste to Boiling Crab.
Not too long after we order, our bucket of combo seafood in mild spiciness (NT$900) comes in a plastic bag to dump into the bowl and a big roll of paper napkins to use. The cajun spices coat the seafood, but there isn't any extra liquid to dip in (unlike Boiling Crab). The mild flavor is quite spicy, with strong chili and paprika notes, but I miss the stronger lemon pepper and garlic butter mix that evened out the spiciness at Boiling Crab. For me, I think that would make it more finger licking and saucy. It would have been nice to have some fresh lemons or limes too.
I liked the shrimp the best, though the sauce doesn't really permeate the shell, so a pool of extra liquid for them to sit in or to use to dip the shrimp in would have been nice. The clams are smaller than I expected and the mussels are a bit tough. If I ordered this again, I'd order only shrimp. For lunch, they have NT$199 plate specials that feature fire shrimp with rice or pasta that is quite affordable.
Bring your own wetnaps.
Of course it's important to note that with seafood places, turnover is important. If there isn't a lot of turnover, then you don't know how fresh the seafood is as it is definitely an expensive inventory.
Otherwise, you could go with the sliders - my friend's Lucky 4 sliders (NT$280 ) came with bacon and cheese, salsa and cheese, jalapeno and cheese and fire sauce and cheese and cajun fries, which were quite addicting.
The honey wings were also good and provided a sweetness to soften some of the heat.
I wasn't crazy about the nachos (NT$200) as there wasn't enough cheese and the chips were a bit stale but made better by being toasted, but the guys at the table finished them.
It's worth a try if you love seafood and spiciness, or you're looking for something different to try. It probably won't satiate picky Boiling Crab fans, but you gotta admit that it's pretty cool that there's something even close in Taipei. And afterwards, you can cool off with some shaved ice at Tai Yi Milk King that's right down the street.
Monday, April 22, 2013
CLOSED/western/italian: i recommend LONGTABLE
LONGTABLE
updating in 2019. CLOSED. It was then a Hooters (very shortlived) and now Buckskin Beerhouse.
MRT: Taipei City Hall
website: Longtable's FB page
hours: 11AM- 11:30PM
$$-$$$
Kid friendliness: lot of high chairs available
Visit reviewed: 9/16/2012 & 10/10/2012
Longtable is a little off the radar with its Xinyi location in an office building across the street from the Le Meridien Hotel, but is worth seeking out. The menu includes brunch, pizza, pasta, salads, sandwiches and other western fare and the spacious dining space perfect for large groups.
The first few times I went in September, the restaurant was relatively quiet, maybe too much so for such a large space. But on my last visit on 10/10, word of mouth seemed to spread and lots of families were taking advantage of the roomy space and long tables.
Like most restaurants, there are some dishes that I liked more than others, so here's what I would order again:
(1) The Fish and Chips (NT $440) - a monster huge piece and the batter was fried perfectly crispy with flaky white fish. Would totally order this again, as this is not always easy to find in Taipei. A splash of worcestershire or tartar sauce to dip in. My uncle, who passed away last year, used to always love eating at Long John Silver when he visited us in LA, but if he was still around, I would totally order him this.
(2) The grilled veggie sandwich (NT$380)- another thing that is hard to find in Taipei.. so I was quite happy with this on my first visit. Grilled red and green peppers, thin slices of eggplant and layers of creamy goat cheese to bring it all together, with a side of fries to munch on.
2) Both the Chicken Tagliatelle (NT$370) and Rigatoni Bolognese (NT$390) disappeared quickly from the table and had to be reordered (I think I never got a picture of the rigatoni- that's how fast it was gone). Rigatoni pasta is not found as often in Taipei and the fat tubes creates pockets for the sauce which makes it quite flavorful.
I'd pass on the Seafood Linguine ($440) - I think because it was soft opening, they subbed spaghetti for linguine pasta, but the seafood also was frozen, not fresh. After eating the fresh seafood at Thai Made before my first time at Longtable, the texture and flavors of the frozen seafood was noticeably less appealing.
The pepperoni pizza (NT$440) actually comes trimmed with a bit of arugula which makes it a little more worth the pricier cost. I liked the salami over the sausage that's offered in the Toscana pizza (NT$440) which resembles more a hot dog than the ground pork sausage that I like. The size is fairly large and the crust is thin, but pliable.
There's about 8 salads available at Longtable, including grilled halloumi cheese salad or grilled beef salad. I've tried 3 so far, and each one seems to have hearty toppings and portions. My favorite is probably the Nicoise salad (NT$390) which had lots of hard boiled egg, tuna, potato chunks and green beans to go around.
Caesar salad (NT$360) had some grape tomatoes and fresh parmesan cheese.
The Greek salad (NT$380) had the standard feta cheese, diced tomatoes, cucumbers and black olives, dressed with herbed olive oil vinagrette. It was probably my least favorite that I tried and a bit pricey for what is basically an appetizer since it was a small size. But those craving something different, you can give it a try.
I'd also pass on the steak sandwich (NT$490) which I felt was too expensive. I also had tried a bite of this sandwich around the time I fell in love with the sandwiches from Dressed, so I preferred the steak, arugula, goat cheese combo from there.
If you're looking to splurge, you could try the Cafe de Paris Tenderloin Steak (NT$890), as was recommended by the waitress to my friend.
Longtable's menu is quite varied, including breakfast/brunch options, but I felt like my favorites were the pastas and pizzas.
And if you love chocolate, can never go wrong with a chocolate lava cake.
So while the menu is hit or miss for me and you pay a premium for dining in the Xinyi district, the convenience of the large space makes it a prime option for large groups or gatherings with your friends and their families, especially when you know what to order and avoid. Next time you're looking for a last minute spot for brunch for you and your big extended family, you might find yourself appreciating the long tables at Longtable.
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