Tasting Journey #175 - Yellow Lemon

Yellow Lemon
台北市中山區明水路561號1樓
02.2533.3567

 

I came across this restaurant in an article that was recommending dessert places.  It supposedly, is known for its 分子 (atomic) style dishes.  Frankly speaking, I don't quite understand what that really means, but either way, if it tastes good, then I'm all up for it.

The restaurant, like its name, uses mostly yellow as the base colour, and open-kitchen style. As soon as you walk in, you are hit with sunshine and sunniness.  The glass displays are filled with desserts that are made into shapes of all kinds of fruits.  My guess is that they're made of fondant, but they look so real.

 

Sitting down, we looked at the menu. To my surprise, this place not only serves dessert, but has quite a selection for proper meals.  From weekend brunch sandwiches, to veal dishes.  Because we were there for Sunday brunch, we didn't try the desserts.  However, I did end up getting one cake to go.

 

I ordered a sandwich and a coffee.  Presentation was lovely, and I can smell that it is made with fine ingredients (well, plus the cost reflects it too, lol).  However, the sandwich did taste a bit greasier than my liking.

The dessert was by far, mind blowing - Pineapple mimosa.  Rich in pineapple flavour, every bite filled your mouth full of citrous.  The fibrous pineapple also added rich texture to the cake.  I must say that it was the highlight of this restaurant, though technically I wasn't served the dessert there.  The whole cake was $780, and I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't on sale for 50% off.  Definitely made the right decision there.

 

 

 

Tasting Journey #165 - Mia Patisserie

Mia Patisserie
台北市大安區敦化南路一段235-2號
02.2741.2000
http://www.mia-patisserie.com.tw/

I came across this place while searching for recommendations for good high-end afternoon high tea.
This pastry shop also sells their pastry at several different deli stations in the malls.  This is their café version.

 

The café is located on the 2nd floor, and it is well-lit, tables are comfortably spread apart, and rich in high-tea ambience. 

There were 3 of us, and we took the server's recommendation to order high-tea set for 2 + and additional drink for the third person.  We were told that the bites were filling enough to accommodate for 3 girls.  He was wrong, or possibly we had appetites like dudes.  The set even started off with bread and soup... and that wasn't enough. We ended up ordering a single quiche dish that were small, but decent to fill the stomach.  

 

The high tea selection weren't that great either - Tiny, and so-so tasting.  We did end up having to pack a few pieces away, but that wasn't because we were full.  Rather, we were tired of eating dough-based delicacies.  We were craving for something savoury.

 

Price-wise, it came to around $1,000 per person.  I wasn't too excited at the quality given the price point, and hence the chance of me revisiting is probably slim.

Tasting Journey #140 - 煎餅磨坊

煎餅磨坊
台北市永康街30-1號
0939.333.402

I first came across this dessert parlour from watching a TV show that was introducing eateries around the touristy area of 永康街.

 

I go to 永康街 every now and then to get a dose of my favourite 酸菜白肉鍋 at 東門餃子館 (Tasting Journey #54). It is also a popular spot to take tourists to, for its famous mango ice, and steamed dumplings... and what better ways than to complete a meal with dessert.

 

This parlous is tiny, no AC, and is hidden away in an alley way.  With any place to sit nor walk, guests keep coming in to order take out.  I only had the chance to try out their dessert, but their salad looks amazing as well, and the price looks very reasonable.  Each creme brulee costs $50NTD.

Their creme brulee is what was recommended by the TV show.  Rich and creamy, the brulee goozes right out of the cup....and perfectly compliments the the crispy sugar flakes at the top.  The owners carefully sprinkles the sugar and toasts it with care, as if creating a piece of art. 

 Each of us first had one each, and ended up going back for a second round. The brulee tastes good both warm and cold.

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.

Tasting Journey #90 - 古早味豆花

古早味豆花
台北市民生西路210號
02.2558.1800

Located next to the popular Ning Hsia Night Market, this place served traditional-style tofu dessert.  This place is recommended by a friend of mine from Taichung.  "recommmended" in the sense that she hasn't tried it before, but is recommended by a Japanese magazine.

 

The restaurant front is clean and tidy.  Service not so great.  Food-wise, it offers all the varieties that you would expect in a typical tofu dessert parlour.  I'm not a big fan of soy bean products, and therefore I can't say that I've had enough tofu dessert to really tell whether this is thumbs-up or thumbs-down.  Supposedly popular, the parlour is not busy at all. 

 

In a tranditional tofu dessert dish, the tofu slices are served with a sugar water.  This parlour however, offers the option of replacing the sugar water with soy bean milk.  I'm guessing this is an original dish, so I ordered it and added a taro ball topping to richen the flavour.  Finished the dish, and that was it.  Not eye-opening nor tongue twisting.  I'm inclined to assume that this is a parlour that is catered for Japanese tourists only.

Tasting Journey #60 - Ice Monster

Ice Monster
台北市忠孝東路四段297號
02.8771.3263
http://www.ice-monster.com/

Unlike traditional shaved ice, this place serves snow flake ice.
Traditional shaved ice is like slurpee where the ice is finely chopped into sizes of grains.
Snow flake ice is where the flavour itself is already part of the ice (i.e. they freeze the juice directly into ice blocks).  In addition, it is so finely chopped that it is soft like snow flakes - melts in your mouth.

This place is known for its mango flavoured ice and its bubble tea flavoured ice.
Mango ice is tremendous and awesome. Bubble tea ice is interesting, but if you're not used to drinking bubble tea at full sweetness, this dessert does become too much after a few bite, especially when the portions are huge.

Price-wise, we are looking at $240+/dish.  I recommend sharing one dish with another friend.

 

  

 

Tasting Journey #55 - 萬華龍都冰店

萬華龍都冰店
台北市廣州路168號
02.2308.3223

Located across from the MRT Long Shan Temple station, it is a 40 year-old traditional shaved ice store that serves both hot and cold desserts.
The dessert is decent, but I'm not sure why it is so popular. I would say that it's worth stopping by if you're in the neighbourhood, but not really worth the trip to go just for the dessert.