revisited/western: i still recommend NONZERO

NONZERO
& MONOCLE SHOP TAIPEI
No. 5, Alley 4, Lane 27, Ren Ai Rd, Sec. 4
(02) 2772-1630

MRT: Zhongxiao/Fuxing

website: nonzero.com.tw

hours: 11:30AM - 8PM

$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted. smaller seating area and limited menu

Visit reviewed: 5/11/2015
Previous review: 12/2007



It's been a long time since I have been to Nonzero (over seven years), so when a friend who was "eating clean" asked to meet there, it was a good opportunity to try out their current menu. I had also heard about its recent revamp turning half of its dining space into a Monocle Shop. Where there used to be a huge table for shared seating and a section for take home veggies, is now an assortment of colorful home goods, notebooks and accessories for "high end global lifestyle."

Nonzero's menu is also notedly different than its previous typical Taipei set menu where soup and desserts are included. Nonzero now serves "comfort food from around the world" that's "healthy and delicious" as well as friendly to solo diners. With less than 10 menu items to choose from, like masala vegetable stew, lemon thyme fish with roasted potato and beef bourguignon, there's a flavor profile here that's rare in Taipei.

 

Nonzero lunch set NT$500 meal of the day, quinoa rice or bread, salad and americano or Aveda tea. The meal of the day was stewed lamb. The lamb was tender and I like this better than the off the menu Malaysian curry chicken which had a strong spice that I didn't love.

The rice was a quinoa rice blend, so it wasn't completely quinoa, but maybe more palatable to those unfamiliar to quinoa.

Off the menu special- Malaysian chicken curry (NT$350) which was slightly spicy and had large chunks of potato.

Lemon thyme fish with roasted potato (NT$550) was very light, but healthy with thin strips of zucchini wrapped around the fish. I liked the roasted baby potatoes that came with the fish too. Fish was fork tender and fresh. 

Nonzero's menu might not be for everyone, but those looking for distinct flavors can probably tell from the menu and photos if it's for you. At the very least, Monocle fans can browse the shop. Next time I go, I want to try the desserts- the cherry clafoutis, lemon cake and the strawberries with balsamic strawberry compote.

revisited/middle eastern: I still strongly recommend SABABA PITA BAR

SABABA PITA BAR 
No. 17, Lane 283, Section 3, Roosevelt Rd
台北市大安區羅斯福路三段283巷17號
(02) 2363-8009

MRT: Taipower Building or Gongguan

website: sababapita.com 

hours: 11:30 AM to 9:30PM

$-$$

CASH ONLY

Kid friendliness: kids might like chicken pita and french fries or meatballs

Visit reviewed: 5/21/2015

Previous visit reviewed: 6/6/2007

When craving hummus, baklava or pita sandwiches in Taipei, I've always headed to Sababa, tucked behind one of my favorite Taiwanese shaved ice spots Tai Yi Milk King. Everytime I'm in that area, I notice a bunch of cafes and restaurants I want to try. What's great is that since Taida University is across the street, most of the eateries in the neighborhood are priced to be student friendly, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Sababa had kept its portions generous while having very budget friendly prices.

Sababa's menu had expanded a lot more than I had remembered, but it had also been years since I had last eaten there. Besides the popular falafel pita and soulvaki pita sandwiches, egyptian cigars and salads, there were also now Mama's meatballs, roasted Iranian chicken plates and crispy fish fillets (which are only at this branch).

Sababa's space is casual, cozy and can get crowded, but service and food can be fairly quick.

Sababa Pita Bar's menu has starters, salads, plates, pitzas and 11 types of pita sandwiches, with plenty of lamb, chicken, beef, fish and vegetarian options from NT$160-410. Combination plates are a good way to go to try different flavors. 

I strongly recommend getting the Plata Sababa  (NT$260) which has hummus, baba ganoush (mashed roasted eggplant), falafels and hard boiled egg, as well as plenty of pita slices to dip and devour. I ended up also getting the Meatballs pita (NT$220) which turned out to be two half pita sandwiches so you could actually share it, if you wanted to try different things. The meatballs were huge and perfectly sauced with a Arabian spiced tomato sauce, but a tad softer than I would have liked, but still very delicious. (Probably better that they were slightly soft than too hard and overdone). The pita didn't fall apart despite holding the juicy contents, and was perfect with a bit of hummus and cheese. I was definitely ambitious when I ordered this for myself, and packed the leftovers to eat for dinner.

Sababa used to have more locations, but the ones at Taipei Main Station and Yong Kang Street closed down and this location in Gongguan has the largest menu. Sababa Bakery Kitchen branch at Heping has a slightly more limited menu than here, but offers half pitas at NT$75-100 and salads, stuffed pitas, platas, shashuskas and baked pitzas NT$100-210 (link to menu here). Or you can look for their stand at the Gongguan night market with 5 pita sandwiches to choose from for NT$75-95 (although if you want meatballs, you'll have to come to this location). It's definitely worth trying and great to know they've maintained the quality over the years, since it's nearly impossible to find delicious Mediterranean eats in Taipei. I'm getting hungry just looking at the photos and it definitely won't be as long until my next visit. 

OTHER LOCATIONS

Sababa Pita Bakery

No. 9, Alley 54, Lane 118, Heping E. Road, Sec. 2

台北市大安區和平東路二段118巷54弄8號

Gongguan Night Market stand
No. 18, Alley 286, Roosevelt Road, Sec. 3
台北市大安區羅斯福路三段286巷18號

afternoon tea/dessert: MOCKTAIL TEA

MOCKTAIL TEA
at ATT4Fun
No. 12, Songshou Road, 4F
松壽路12號4F
(02) 7745-2168

MRT: Taipei 101

website: www.mocktail.com.tw 

hours: 11AM- 10PM

$$

Kid friendliness: kids will want try the soft serve boba mocktails, but glassware not too kid friendly. probably can ask for extra bowls for sharing.

Visit reviewed: 4/29/2015

Afternoon tea, Taipei style. There's no shortage of dessert/ boba milk tea places in Taipei, let alone at ATT4Fun, where the whole fourth floor is a collection of cafes and dessert shops. Recently on my dessert crawl with Kirbie's Cravings, visiting from San Diego, we stopped at Mocktail Tea. Mocktail has that annoying 1 drink minimum per person, but if you are doing afternoon tea, then it's the price to pay for an air conditioned place to chill for 90 minutes.

The signature and most visually striking "drink" is actually a dessert served in a cocktail glass, the signature Pearl Milk Tea Soft Serve Ice Cream (NT$160) so you can see the layers of oolong tea tie guang ying jelly, boba, soft serve and milk tea. It's not even served with a straw- instead it's served with a spoon that doesn't quite easily scoop up through the smaller rimmed opening of the glass. The separate elements aren't too memorable tastewise, but the presentation is key.

There's also fruity teas and sparkling drinks, with flavors like passionfruit and lemon or an odd iced tomato honey tea (I couldn't imagine the taste and didn't give it a try, but the waiter said it's popular). Drinks marked with the crown are house specialties.

There's light cafe fare- quiche and soupy rice dishes- in case you're looking for something savory.

I ended up ordering the iced lemon matcha (NT$140) and I quite liked it. It was frothy from being freshly shaken and stirred, and the matcha worked well with the lemon and sweetness.

The tie guang ying soft serve ice cream NT$130 is easier to eat, served in an open glass and is the same as the pearl milk tea mocktail except it doesn't have the tapioca pearls. 

Personally, I'd prefer the classic Chun Shui Tang at Mitsukoshi A9 for a tall glass of boba milk tea (and fried radish cakes) or Ice Monster for bubble milk tea shaved ice and a side of gooey chewy boba, but Mocktail is less crowded and piles the soft serve ice cream inside, like a Taiwanese root beer float. 

dessert/taipei food trend: GLAM AIR

GLAM AIR
at Xinyi Mitsukoshi A11
No. 11, Songshou Road
(02) 8780-2334

MRT: Taipei City Hall or Taipei 101

website: Glam Air's FB page $

Kid friendliness: kids will definitely want one.

Visit reviewed: 4/29/2015

Google "cotton candy ice cream" and spheres of sky blue and glowing pink swirled scoops of ice cream show up. (Personally, as a kid, I was more partial to rainbow sherbet kid rather than the sickly sweet cotton candy ice cream, but that's another story)

The first time I ever had actual clouds of cotton candy stacked on top of ice cream was at Coffee Alley in 2011, where it was more of an interactive experience. A small pitcher of espresso is served to pour on top of the cotton candy so that it melted into a caramel coffee sauce over three scoops of vanilla ice cream. I've since spied imitations at a cafe in LA that opened a few years ago.

Then I spotted wisps of cotton candy on soft serve at Honey Creme, which was more known for their honey comb ice cream.

Glam Air takes it one step further, by making the cotton candy into literal eye-candy. Sugar rainbows are molded and stacked high like Taipei 101 and dry ice is added so that each cup has its own special effects of fog drifting out, its own "Glam Air". The visual result is hypnotizing- you can't help but to feel like a kid again,  those times that your parents agreed to buy you cotton candy. The concept is so simple it's brilliant- cashing in on those kid at heart fantasies for NT$150 a cup. 

Glam Air also has soft serve without the cotton candy (NT$110-140)- plain, with caramel, honey, honey comb, chocolate or with fish taiyaki instead of a cone, or as a float with bright hued sodas or shake.  

Everyone taking selfies with their cotton candy ice cream (and not eating it. Lol)

It's amazing to see how crowded it usually is, even on weekday afternoons, especially in comparison to other ice cream shops in the Mitsukoshi malls. One news clip on Glam Air's Facebook page reported a 40 minute wait on weekends. There's a liquid nitrogen ice cream shop in a different building that had no buzz going on. The thing with liquid nitrogen ice cream is that it looks cool when it's being made, but the end result looks just like regular ice cream- while Glam Air's final result is purposely eye catching.

Each Smokie Cloud is made to order. The three tiers of cotton candy tower are made from freshly spun puffs of sugar then molded into doughnut rings to fit around the soft serve. When it's done, a small scoop of dry ice is put in a larger cup and then the smaller cup of soft serve is placed inside and served.

Selling #dessert #clouds and #sugar #rainbows 🍦🍭🍦🌈 #glamair #cottoncandyicecream #hungryintaipei_dessertcrawl #hungryintaipei #hungryintaipei_dessert #taipeieats #taiwanfoodie

A video posted by Joan (@hungryintaipei) on Apr 29, 2015 at 3:47am PDT

I know by posting this, I'm perpetuating the hype, but dang it if it isn't pretty. It's only a matter of time we see a copycat in the states. I know some of you will go and get one just for the photo ops and it won't even matter how it tastes! Isn't that crazy? Thanks Kirbie's Cravings for the excuse to finally try one during our Xinyi dessert crawl.

Glam Air is one of those businesses that succeeds in the age of social media- you see it online, you try it once for your own post/selfie, but unfortunately it doesn't taste very good.  It's much prettier than it tastes. The cotton candy tasted like cotton candy and I found the soft serve overly sweet, but in the end, most people won't care. We'll have gotten our sugar high and photos and Instagram likes and endorphins from the rainbow hued memories of being a kid again.