Tasting Journey #100 - 壺同燒肉 (胡同)

壺同燒肉
台北市松山區八德路三段12巷70弄18號
02.2577.3738
http://www.hutong.com.tw/

I came across the name of this restaurant while searching for BBQ restaurants in the past.  This time, while searching for a dinner gathering place, my cousin suggested that we come here instead.  Yay, another opportunity to try out a new restaurant.  

 

Apparently, this restaurant has quite a few locations, and all uses a different Chinese character that sounds the same.

For example, 胡同燒肉, 古月同燒肉, 壺同燒肉, 衚同燒肉, 醐同燒肉... all of these are pronounced HuTong, although they are all written with different characters.

 

 

This is a BBQ place that offered quality food at a higher price point.  According to some food reviews, one can easily spend NTD$1,000/person/meal there.  The service comes with price.  Though you have the utensils to grill your own food, the server rotates around the tables and makes sure that the food is cooked to the right timing/temperature.  All you have to do is eat and chat.  I guess part of the “service” package is the “friendly” environment.  The server, while cooking, is supposed to engage themselves into your conversation as well, regardless whether you like it or not.  My cousins and I were chatting away about work and stuff, and they kept butting into our conversation. It’s all fun, but if you’re not the type that enjoys strangers giving you opinions on things, then maybe this isn’t the place to go.   

 

Food selection is good.  Like all BBQ places, it’s better to go in a larger group so you can try more selections. 

 

 

Tasting Journey #99 - 美觀園

美觀園
台北市峨眉街47號
02.2331.0377
http://www.oldshop.com.tw/


If you love value sushi, then this is "the" place.  Located in the centre of the bustling tourist area, 西門町, the restaurant is a stand-alone, four-stories tall building that is packed with families of all ages.
As soon as you walk in, you can tell that this used to be, and continues to be, a popular place to dine at.  The interior decoration hasn't been updated to match with the nowadays fashion, but rather, remained in an era that I would assume would be the mid 50's-60's.

 I came here to have lunch with a friend from Taichung. She said the food is fresh, big portioned and very decently priced. I looked at the menu. It served food from sashimi to home style cooking such as stir fry udon, to curry rice.  This is a place where you can be sure that everyone's taste buds can be looked after.

 

I ordered the deluxe assorted sashimi don, and my friend ordered a salmon sashimi don.  My deluxe sashimi is sooooo good. The bowl came with overflowing sashimi, and the rice was fully covered in furikake (seaweed flakes) which I absolutely love.  The dish was completely what I was looking for.  The salmon rice bowl is a bit smaller, and came covered in generous slices of salmon sashimi.  Perfect for salmon lovers and for someone who doesn't have as big of an appetite.  Well, it is also reflected in the price since the deluxe is NTD$550, and the salmon is NTD$260. 

Looking at the price point, I would say the strategic way of dining at this place is to round up a few people to share the dishes so that you can order filler dishes such as stir-fries/noodles (these range in the mid $100's), and then a few sashimi platter to average out the cost.

I would absolutely no doubt recommend this place to anyone who is looking to enjoy a meal of fresh sashimi and not have to pay an arm for it.

Tasting Journey #98 - 風林火山

風林火山
台北市中山北路二段77巷16號1樓
02.2581.3565

This is 'the' drinking place for one of my colleague at work. She had mentioned it a few times, and we never really had the opportunity to go with her.  Finally, another colleague of ours from HK came to visit, and we decided to take her there for dinner (well, we as in a few of us less the colleague who normally goes there).  So it was a new experience for all of us.

 

Small izakaya place but strong in Japanese atmosphere and culture.  According to my colleague, the family lived in Japan for quite a long time.  It is a family run business, and the dad has pretty much retired and focuses just on mingling with the guests. Very very hospitable person.  Apparently, this place is supported by returning guests mostly.  We went on a Tuesday evening, and it was loaded with people, and every table was occupied. 

What really made it a homerun is the night we were there, someone was there for a birthday celebration.  The owner decided to pour all of us free rice wine (高粱) so that we can all bottoms-up with the birthday girl.  She was first led behind the bar table.  The owner then demanded that the entire restaurant all sing happy birthday once in English, followed by once in Taiwanese (yes, that was hard) and handed out tambourines for the beat.  Everyone participated, and it was definitely a pleasant show.  The birthday girl is then requested to bottom up 3 glasses.  Super cool!

Food-wise, as soon as you sit down, they serve you a dish of sashimi appetizer regardless.  The sashimi's quite fresh.  In addition, I have to say that their plum wine, although they label it as plum juice, is quite good in the sense that it is not too sweet.  The grilled skewers are OK. Not bad, but quite pricey.  We ended up spending around $1,400/person that night.  Although we ordered a lot, and ate a lot, I still don't think it is worth that much money.  I guess we are also paying for part of the entertainment as well.

 

Definitely an interesting izakaya, and would strongly recommend everyone to experience the livelihood and enthusiasm from the crowd, but I may not go back if my main objective is for the food.

Tasting Journey #97 - A House

A House
台北市復興南路一段107巷5弄18號
02.2778.8612

One of my favourite ways to search new restaurant is this Taiwan-version of Yelp called iPeen.
I was looking for a café for a group gathering around the 東區 area, and I came across A House on iPeen.  The rating seemed quite decent, and the location seemed perfect. I was surprised what a great choice - like finding gem in a haystack.

The cafe is tucked away in the alley, which you can tell by the address.  According to the waitress, this is the ONLY live acapella performance cafe/restaurant in Taiwan.  The interior decoration was designed for acapella performances.  Every Friday/Saturday evening, there would be live acapella performances where they invite international groups to come and sing.  With cover charges around $400, you can enjoy a night of instrumental-free singing, and a free drink.

In addition to all the necessary music props for the gigs, the restaurant also uses very interesting furniture and dishes.  The most noteworthy is their water glass - a humpty dumpty shaped glass that sits tilted but never tilting over.  I couldn't stop spinning and playing with it.  The chairs were also interesting in the sense that it is made of strips of cardboards constructed in a honey-comb shape for maximum compression strength. 

Coffee is decent, and made using a french press. Again, uique.  I ordered a sponge cake, and it was light and fluffy.  A perfect compliment for my coffee.

This is a restaurant that focuses more on the ambience and experience, rather than bringing you on a coffee journey.  I would still strongly recommed this place if you are looking for a place that offers comfortable and friendly ambience to chill out at.