Tasting Journey #158 - 巴黎米咖啡 Cafe 8mm

巴黎米咖啡 Cafe 8mm
台北市大安區新生南路三段60巷1號
02.2363.3237

One of the top 10 must-try coffee shops in Taipei, according to some blogger site.
They are right.

Located next to a university district, this place is open till 3am, and is a perfect study spot for students (though I think most of them were surfing on FB).  Cozy ambience, and quiet atmosphere.  Aside from the unfinished wall with revealing red bricks, as well as the wall full of beer bottles, what really struck my interest is the shades used for the light bulbs - McDonald's brown paper bags... Through the bags, warm yellow lights shone through, creating a home-like atmosphere.



Menu selection is great - it's got all the bare essentials such as late, espresso, americano...etc. Cake is at a really great price, most at below $100/piece.  They were out of a lot of the dessert selections, but of the ones we had, the cheesecake was by far the best. It is so rich and creamy in texture, that I can easily say that I don't want to share.  Their chocolate cake is also oozing in chocolate flavour.  All is made loaded with ingredients.

Love this place!

Tasting Journey #157 - 大盛豬排專門店

大盛豬排專門店
台北市大安區新生南路三段76巷10-1號
02.2369.3017

Affordable Japanese set menu's located next to the University of Taiwan where lots of students on budget roams. 

What a surprise find!  We were walking around the area hunting for a place to eat, and we came across this tiny little Japanese place that had a constant flow of crowd.  We walked in, and we were captivated by the ambience - every is wooden, and true to Japanese-style.  The building is tiny, and has 2 floors - just tall enough so your head won't hit the ceiling (well, for my height at least hehee). 



The dishes are well worth the price range, but the portions are for ladies.  I ate my set, and I was only 80% full. I guess perfect for a lady, but not enough if you are a guy.  I had the Pomello fried chicken, and it was presented like a taco-yaki dish.  Mark had the burger, and he had a giant meat-ball patty sitting ontop of a bowl of rice.  Their Japanese beer is also interesting - Vanilla scented.  I wanted to also try their coffee-scented beer, but since we were going for coffee afterwards, I held back.

 

Overall, I would say that it is a decent find.  The food is great, and the ambience is welcoming.  Though satisfactory, I probably wouldn't travel all the way there just for the food, but would definitely pay them a visit again if I were ever in the neighbourhood.

Tasting Journey #156 - El Cielo

El Cielo
台北市大安區延吉街137巷26號
02.2731.7007

We are on a hunt for our company's Christmas Gathering place, and we came across this lounge bar that had great rating on ipeen.com.tw.

Maybe because we came during a weeknight, there were no crowds. We were the only guests for the entire evening - more servers than guests.  The service wasn't great, and their upper floor wasn't open so we weren't able to see what the restaurant is really like.

Part of the reason why we thought this place would be a good choice is because it offered meal-type dishes such as pasta, and at the same time, a bunch of finger-foods such as nachos, wings, grilled items.  To our disappointment, most of the options are not available till after 9pm.  In other words, our only choices were pasta, pasta, and pasta. 

 

Their drink menu seems quite interesting.  We ordered a "gentleman" and a "perfect lady".  The Perfect Lady was very light, and fruity. I barely tasted any alcohol in it.  On the other hand, the Gentleman was bold.  It had a very strong taste of vodka.  Noticeable dinstinction between men verus women. hehee....

The pasta dishes aren't bad, though I have to say that the sauces were all very heavy in cream and cheese.  Some may like it, others may prefer to taste a bit more of the natural flavour of the ingredient.  Of all the dishes we ordered, the mushroom risotto is by far the best.  My mentaiko (roe) pasta dish had too much mayonaise that it tastes like a sweet dish rather than a savoury dish.

Overall, I think the experience was fine. I probably wouldn't go back given the price point and the service, well more correctly, the LACK of service received at El Cielo.

Tasting Journey #155 - le zinc 洛 cafe & bar

le zinc 洛 cafe & bar
台北市民生西路362巷34號
02.2552.1367 #16

How we found this place is that it is ranked on the top 10 "must try coffee shops in Taipei".
Suprisingly, it offers more alcoholic beverages than coffee. 





The location is quite interesting, as it is in an old district known for selling textiles and bulk dried goods.  The cafe is difficult to find.  It has two addresses, of which, one address is in the back of 2 shops.  The other address is hidden in a small alley way.  Nonethess, there was a constant flow of customers, many passing by to head to the 2 shops, but also lots stopping by for a sip of wine and coffee.



Originally, my colleagues and I met to have coffee. After looking at their menu, I decided to have wine instead.  They all had beer as well.  Le Zinc carried lots of interesting imported beer, as well as a huge selection of red and whites. 



The ambience is awesome.  Non-noisy guests, all chatting away quietly, and enjoying the laid back vibe.  Lots of wine bottles served as the interior decoration for the place. 

 

Tasting Journey #154 - 文慶雞

文慶雞
台北市忠孝東路三段219-1號
02.2731.5522

Hainanese chicken has always been a favourite dish of mine.  However, good Hainanese chicken dish is hard to find.  I recently told a friend of mine that I had found a restaurant that offered tasty Hainanese chicken dish at a super affordable price (Tasting Journey #146).  His response is that he knows of the place, but has another better recommendation.  Well then, I must give it a try.

 

This place, unlike the other place that serves just the chicken rice dish, this place offered a bit more selection.  The price range is also slightly higher.

Chicken texture is a bit more tough, like free-range.  The sauce only came in the red chili version, and no green ginger paste...ones you'd expect to see on a Hainanese dish in Vancouver.  The side dishes are great though, offering a balanced meal.  What struck me as most interesting, is the soy sauce provided.  Minimal sodium, but full taste of the soy sauce flavour, the sauce is to be poured onto the rice, and blended.  It adds an interesting flavour to the chicken rice cooked properly with the padang leaf.

If I were to pick, I'd still pick the other one.  Both for its taste, and for its price.