Tasting Journey #198 - 連進酸菜白肉鍋

連進酸菜白肉鍋
台北市洲子街108號
02.2798.7696

Another pickled cabbage hot pot. All you can eat.

The restaurant is clean, and the pricy is acceptable. They are slightly tricky though, as not everything on the menu is part of the all-you-can-eat selection.
The broth isn't very sour, so I don't find it a true pickle cabbage dish, but it isn't bad if you treat it like a standard broth hot pot.

 

Probably wouldn't go back unless I am in the area and am looking for food.

 

Tasting Journey #197 - RAW

RAW
台北市樂群三路301號
02.8501.5800 / 0905-353-897
www.raw.com.tw

This is probably the most difficult restaurant I've ever had to make a reservation for.
Known for its michelin-star rated chief, this Singapore chief decides to open up a menu-less restaurant in Taipei that serves nothing but local ingredients.

With all this hype, the reservation takes place exactly at noon, 2 weeks in advance.  After many many many attempts, the only way to get a reservation (unless you know someone who knows someone who can get you a booking), is to sit in front of a computer at 11:50am, log onto their website, and be ready (not to mention you need fast internet connection). Like cindarella and her pumpkin, you need to be extremely quick with your fingers as soon as the bell hits twelve. All reservations typically are gone within the first 30 seconds (hence the copy & paste function becomes critical). This is also tricky when you are at work, and have to set aside everything to stare at the clock.

So the day finally arrives and I am so excited to finally be able to try it out.  The service is extremely professional. The food is amazing, utilizing so much local Taiwanese ingredients that you could possibly imagine. From fly fish sauce (orchid island) to popping candy, every dish is infused with some ingredient that represents different parts of Taiwan.  Not to mention the presentation of each dish is amazing.

 

What's even more unbelievable is that this five-star rated meal costs only $1,800/person!
All in all, I strongly suggest a revisit, as you get so much value out of your buck. The only thing is, I don't know if it's worth so much trouble to get a reservation.  Maybe be a bit more patient and wait another few months till the reservation hype dies down a bit?
 

Tasting Journey #196 - 一凜日式拉麵

一凜日式拉麵
台中市精誠九街23號
04.2329.2992

I saw an article of this restaurant on a travel blog one time, and have wanted to pay this place a visit.  The hype of this restaurant isn't that it is tasty, but that it follows a similar ordering process as many of the popular ramen places in Japan where your order is taken via a vending machine.

Ichirin Ramen is located in a quiet area of Taichung where there are many unique independent shops. The exterior of the restaurant is built with strong Japanese taste. The inside is like all other ramen places - wooden interior.

The menu selection ranges from curry sets to donburi's to ramen. I tried their basic tonkotsu (pork broth) as this is my bench mark against all ramen's.  Nothing jumps out asking for a return visit.

 

 

 

Tasting Journey #195 - PapaRich

PapaRich
台北市市民大道四段102-1號
02.0751.2188

Malaysian restaurant that serves all varieties of South East Asian cousine - Hainanese chicken, Laksa, pho, Pad Thai...etc.

Every dish we ordered tasted sweet. Kind of like how Szechuan are spicy, Shanghainese are sweet. A little bit too sweet to my liking, but probably authentic.

The Hainese chicken was disappointing as the favour tasted just like any other water boiled chicken.
Slightly infused with the Padang leave flavour, the rice was soft & wet, consistent with what I had experienced when I went to Melaka.  My preference is still MaMaLee's in Vancouver.

 

We did order an interesting dish that I've never had before - toast with margarine + sugar + Kaya. According to wikipedia, kaya is a type of coconut jam. Interesting, but not my favourite.

 

Satay, a common dish in south east asia. Again, the peanut sauce is sweet.  Lastly, the fried rice with the crab sauce was also sweet.

Tasting Journey #194 - 永福樓

永福樓
台北市大安區忠孝東路4段59號2-3樓
02.2752.8232
http://www.yunfulou.com.tw/


A long standing restaurant located on the 2F of one of the main street of downtown Taipei, that serves authentic Chinese dishes and dim sum.

The serving speed is quite fast, granted that there were only one other table there at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon.  Don't expect full on service as the waitress are much older in the sense that they have been with the restaurant for a long time.

The presentation of the dishes are all quite well. Taste is appealing too.  Well, this is all reflected in the pricing, as two can easily dine for over TWD$1,500.