japanese/italian: NAGOMI PASTA

NAGOMI PASTA

No. 20, Lane 50, YiXian Road

台北市信義區逸仙路50巷20號

MRT: Taipei City Hall

hours: 1130AM-9PM:

Price: $$ (cash only)

website: Nagomi's FB page 

kid friendliness: lots of pasta dishes and some fried calamari/chicken appetizers. 

VIsit reviewed: 10/21/2015

Couldn't get seats at the pasta place I wanted to go to, so we ended up trying Nagomi Pasta, a Japanese Italian restaurant with lots of fusion dishes like duck with yuzu pepper pasta, mentaiko seaweed pasta or fried chicken soy sauce spaghetti. Turns out the owners are the same as Primo Trattoria, which serves more traditional style Italian pastas and pizzas. There are quite a few Japanese Italian pasta places in Taipei, one of the most popular being Bellini Pasta, but Nagomi has a larger variety of pastas with over 20 pastas on its menu, but doesn't offer up any pizza. 

The menu is in Chinese, Japanese and English (thankfully) sprinkled with a few photos. There are daily specials in Chinese on the board and you can make your lunch a set with a small salad and dessert by adding a small fee. Besides pastas, there are also baked pastas with cheese, Japanese hamburger, steak with teriyaki sauce-- all the sort of things that would fit in at a restuarant on Sawtelle. The menu reminds me a little of the now shuttered West LA Little Osaka restaurant Blue Marlin, except that there's no uni pasta at Nagomi.

Nagomi sits about 20 people in the front of the restaurant and there's additional section of seating in the back. 

Caesar Salad NT$160

Fresh and crisp, but nothing you couldn't put together yourself at home. Dressing was also lighter and not as creamy as the American style Caesar dressing.

Salmon Ikura pasta with butter, onions and mizuna NT$360

First reaction was that the pasta was quite buttery, the second was that some of the pasta was torched since they seemed to have seared the salmon atop the pasta. This would be nice with udon instead of spaghetti, but it's mostly pasta here, imported from Italy. 

Chicken, deep fried gobo, chili, sesame, soy sauce spaghetti NT$260

This had a kick to it, though my friend didn't seem to notice. 

Mixed mushrooms, egg, homemade meat sauce, grana padano NT$280

I saw the soft boiled egg on the menu, and I had to order this dish. This is probably the least fusion-y of the 20 or so pasta dishes on Nagomi's menu with a bolognese meat sauce and freshly grated grana padano cheese. The sauce here does taste like Bellini's version, as it is on the sweeter side. 

While I enjoyed this dish, I didn't like that the soft boiled egg was cold, especially with a hot dish. I've had bad experiences in the past with cold soft boiled eggs and since that means it was premade, you don't know how long the egg has been sitting around. From my recollection, the egg at Bellini (the first place I've ever had the soft boiled egg on bolognese pasta) is served hot.

The first time I spied Nagomi Pasta was when I went to Solo Trattoria (opened by Solo Pasta) around the corner. The next time, I think I would still prefer to go to Solo Trattoria. They have a stewed beef cheek zitoni pasta that is divine. Or come back with more people to order more dishes to try. Had a little bit carb overload with three pasta dishes and not as much protein.

taiwanese/dessert: i strongly recommend SAN HE MIFUN TANG & TAI DA PANG NIU SHAVED ICE

SAN HE MIFUN TANG 三禾米粉湯
No. 3, Lane 61, Linsen S. Rd, Zhongzheng District
台北市中正區林森南路61巷3號
(02) 2392-5489

TAI DA PANG NIU BING 胖妞冰店

Lane 18, XuZhou Rd

台北市徐州路18巷口

MRT: Shandao Temple or NTU Hospital

hours: closed Mondays 6:30AM - 3PM 


visit reviewed: 

If you want to eat like a local in Taipei, a bowl of mifun tang 米粉湯 (rice noodle soup) isn't a bad place to start.  A sign that a place serves mifun tang (besides the characters in Chinese) is the huge vat of boiling tofu and noodles at the front like the one at San He Mifun Tang. Pair it with a plate of mushrooms, tofu, pork belly, seaweed, offal and bamboo, you are good to go for less than NT$200. Even though I've lived here for so long, I usually don't go to local shops like this because I don't know what to order. Luckily, I tagged along with some friends on this day and they did all the ordering and it was one of the better bowls of rice noodle soups that I've had in awhile (better than the bowl at Keelung night market and just as good as the one at Tonghua Night market.) Because the broth is clear, it doesn't look as flavorful as the more well known beef noodle soup or the popular Ah Chung flour rice noodles in Ximending, but don't be deceived. A hot bowl of fat, slippery rice noodles has a broth that rivals any ramen broth you'd slurp in its umami for only NT$25.

A photo menu is always a helpful reference.

I shared a bowl with a friend, and the restaurant kindly gave us a bowl filled with extra broth rather than an empty bowl. Sometimes some places overcook their rice noodles, but I found the texture here just right. 

Mushrooms and "oil" tofu 油豆腐 (NT$20)

Pork belly (NT$40), chicken heart (NT$50) and seaweed. I liked all the side dishes we ordered and would order them all again. These three plates were shared between 6 people.

Fresh Bamboo (NT$30) is always a favorite side dish.

On our way back to my friend's hotel, we came across a corner shaved ice stand- Tai Da Pang Niu Shaved Ice. It looked too good to pass up on a hot day, so we decided to get a bowl. You can pick as many toppings as you'd like and I got it with condensed milk of course (NT$50)- tapioca, green mung beans, grass jelly, peanut...

Generous with the condensed milk and we polished off the shaved ice before it melted. If you're staying at/near the Sheraton Hotel or near NTU, you can come look for this corner at XuZhou Road. So good. Can't beat it. For this price, you could have two bowls.

taiwanese/breakfast: i still recommend FUHANG DOU JIANG

FUHANG DOU JIANG 阜杭豆漿
at Huashan Market, 2F
No. 108, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Sec. 1
台北市忠孝東路一段108號華山市場2樓
(02) 2392-2175

MRT: Shandao Temple station

hours: 5:30AM- 12:30PM; Closed Mondays

$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted. room for strollers and family seating

Visit reviewed: 9/22/2015

Last visit reviewed: 9/2010

My favorite thing from FuHang Dou Jiang is the thick sesame flatbread hou bing 厚餅 (NT$38 with egg 厚餅夾蛋) and the only thing I'd wait in line here for. Waiting in line took about 25 minutes last week and the line was still around the block when I left with my to-go order at 10am weekday. 

Before this place was known to mostly (only) locals until #CNNfood asked me for some non-touristy places and I mentioned this to them. Little did I know CNN's list of 40 must eat foods in #Taiwan they compiled would be passed and copied around the world. So now there's a line everyday and filled with mostly tourists, many clutching Japanese guidebooks. The good thing is that Fuhang is efficient, spacious and clean and provides service in multiple languages. The bad- it became a tourist destination rather than a local's secret and us locals gotta wait longer now. #mybad 

The first time I took a friend there after the list had been published a few years ago, I was shocked that the line went down the stairs and down the street on a weekday morning. Now those lines are a regular sight so I don't go to Fuhang very often since there are other great neighborhood Taiwanese breakfast places to grab and go. 

    

But when I had some stuff to do in that neighborhood recently, I decided I wanted to get some breakfast to go. When I got there on a Tuesday morning, the line of people patiently waiting was already around the block. 

So I started waiting at 9:37AM hoping the line would move quickly, since I had to be somewhere nearby at 10AM. 

Finally saw the entrance at 9:48AM. 

Still have to wait in line going up the stairs. 

Once you get up to the second floor and can see the food court, then the wait isn't too long. If you are planning on eating there, then I would have someone scope out an area to sit while the other person waits in line to order. 

You can see the busy kitchen working nonstop to make sure there's enough shao bings and you tiaos to go around. 

Got to the front at 10:02AM, so about a 25 minute wait that day. 

Once I got to the ordering counter, the first lady asked me "what do you want to order?" in Chinese. Lots of people are taking pictures, so it's her job to move us and the line along. When the people in front and behind me didn't respond, she quickly launched into the question in Japanese to which the people responded. You give your drink order first, then your food order to the next person, then pay the third lady before you carry your order away. It's fairly quick so it's best if you know what you want ahead of time, so the line keeps moving. If you can't read the Chinese characters, they do have an English printed menu to look at upon request. 

The only thing I would wait in this line for is the hou shao bing since its the only place I've found it. I added an egg that day so it was NT$38. There are other places where I prefer the salty soy milk and you tiao and more in my neighborhood. 

"I love the thick sesame flat bread at Fu Hang because it has a slight sweetness, a thin crispy layer and soft center from coming straight out of the hot metal barrel," quoting myself from CNN.com. Lol.

 

SO have you waited in line for Fuhang Dou Jiang? Was it worth the wait? 

CLOSED/cajun/seafood: i recommend BROOKHURST SEAFOOD BAR

BROOKHURST SEAFOOD BAR 布魯克海鮮吧‬ 

No. 43, Lane 308, Guangfu S. Road,
台北市大安區光復南路308巷43號
(02) 2741-4857

(update in 2019. became a restaurant called Nomad Bistro which I think didn't make it even 6 months. )

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

website: Brookhurst Seafood Bar's FB page

Hours: 5:30PM - 12AM (last order 11PM) Closed Mondays

Kid friendliness: for seafood loving kids, you can order non spicy versions or fried appetizers available.

Visit reviewed: 9/12/2015

Anyone who's eaten at Boiling Crab has likely joined the cult of digging into bags of cajun spiced boiled seafood, getting your hands dirty and leaving the carcasses of shrimps, clams and crabs all over the table. While I was a little late to the game, my cravings for the Whole Shebang buttery seafood has led to me to look for Boiling Crab inspired restaurants knockoffs  in Taipei. Currently in Taipei, there are three that I know of Brookhurst Seafood Bar (the newest and only open at night), Shrimp Daddy (they have Taco Thursdays) and Chili Crab (the one on Minsheng E. Road.) RIP those who were too early to bring Cajun seafood boil to Taipei-  Firebite, Spicy Alley and the Boiling Seafood.

The menu has a few appetizers like onion rings, cajun fries, baby calamari, chicken wings and honey mustard fish and chips, but the focus is on the seafood. You can choose from clams, mussels, white shrimp, hokkaido scallops, grass shrimp, lobster or king crab legs to boil in one of three sauces- Lemon Zing, Cajun Steeeez or Brookhurst Bang. There are four levels of spiciness to choose from- non spicy to the hottest level "I Dare You." Add ons include potatoes, corn, broccoli, okra, oyster mushrooms, sausages, baby corn, or sides of rice, baguette or noodles as your starches. There is also Boston Lobster, Dungeness Crab or Hokkaido Hairy Crab available, but only if you order it in advance. Since most of the items are by weight, then shrimp is the best deal since its shells are comparable lighter than crab or lobster.

If you want to get a combination of seafood, then you can do a BS Combo as our waiter suggested as well, which is a mix and match ranging from NT$999-NT$5990.

Bibs available for everyone to freely get messy.

Excuse the blurry photos- I think I was too hungry to focus and anyone who's ever eaten seafood knows how messy it gets, so after a few obligatory photos, I dug in and my hands were too buttery to take more pics. #grubandchug The seafood was fresh, flavors were there and though I was missing the fresh limes and salt and pepper that I'd grown to love at Boiling Crab, I would go back to Brookhurst Seafood Bar again.  I might even have to order a dungeness crab in advance.

I couldn't tell the difference between the two sauces at first, but once we hit the bottom of the bag, one sauce was spicier than the other. We would have also ordered some raw oysters, but our waiter told us they were also cooked in the bag. Doh. Their instagram and Facebook seems to disagree.

Some of you might wonder if it's related to Brookhurst Pho, and it's actually in the same spot. It started taking over Brookhurst Pho at night in March and it was so successful, I guess they took over the whole space as you can see from the signage change, so RIP Brookhurst CaliPHOnia. Brookhurst Seafood Bar is currently only open at night and advance reservations strongly recommended.