Tasting Journey #72 - 好好 (台中)

好好
台中市西屯區朝富路232號
04.2258.0196
http://www.gooddays.com.tw/find.html


Like most restaurants in Taichung, 好好 restaurant is comfortable, spacious, and serves as a good afternoon place for chit chats with girl friends.

Food is acceptable. Price is a bit on the higher-end cosidering that this is Taichung, a city known for competitive eateries.  Still acceptable though, per Taipei standard.

Not a lot of food selection on the menu, but one drink is worth mentioning - yam latte.
Interesting, and filling, like a pumpkin creme soup. I would probably consider it more like a soup dish, and not a drink on-the-side.

 

Tasting Journey #71 - 舒果 新米蘭蔬食

舒果 新米蘭蔬食
台北市南京東路二段65號
(various locations)
02.2541.2511
http://www.sufood.com.tw/

 

Delicate vegetarian served with quality at a great price.
Great ambience, great service, perfect dining experience.
Suitable for family gatherings as well as date nights.

Fine dining at eatery price. What more can you ask for? A definite must-try!

 

Tasting Journey #70 - 玉麵堂

玉麵堂
新北市新店區中華路113號
02.2910.3654

This is a family-style noodle house that serves Taiwanese dishes.
The place is small, but jammed pack with people.  I'm not sure why so popular, but surprisingly, you really need to make a reservation to get a seat at this place.   Unlike small eateries where most of the tables are for 4-6 people, this place consists of big round tables, like 辦桌.

Service quality is only an OK because it's so busy.
Food quality is decent.
Price is acceptable.

 

 

  

Tasting Journey #69 - 湛廬咖啡

湛廬咖啡
台北市忠孝東路四段553巷6弄4號1樓
(various locations across Taipei)
02.2763.9909
http://www.zhanlu-coffee.com/main.htm

Decent quality, and decent taste.

I am a heavy coffee drinker, ranging from 1-3 cups a day.  I am not a picky coffee drinker, sometimes drinking coffee for the purpose of caffeine, and for that dose of adrenaline.  I am not an expert in coffee, but my eefinition of a good coffee is if it is aromatic and smooth to my liking, then it's considered "good" coffee for me.

For me, a good latte is a drink that offers a fine balance between coffee and milk; a drink that captures the aromatic taste of coffee bean, as well as the richness of milk.  I find that many of the latte's served in Taipei tends to shift a bit too heavy on the milk side - I oftentimes find myself drinking frothed warm milk despite ordering a latte.

Zhanlu's latte gets a passing grade; The coffee is strong enough to finely balance out the richness of the milk.  I also had a sip of the Americano.  It is a bit more on the acidic-side, yet it is still smooth.  I guess maybe it is the quality bean used that differentiates this acidic tastes from the sour taste oftentimes found in over-night coffee.



Tasting Journey #68 - 七道.鮨.新食

七道.鮨.新食
台北市松山區延吉街40號
02.2570.1080

My cousini is a frequent here, and I was first introduced to this place for a "welcome to Taipei" dinner.

 

 

Taipei is a city full of small izakaya's.  The restaurant is small, yet rich in Japanese coziness.  You can probably only fit a dozen or two of guests all at once, with approximately 9-10 people at the counter max. 

 

This restaurant is menu-less, and serves from price ranges of $1,200+up.  I don't believe the chief ever asks for food preferences (I've never been the one making the reservation), but the selection is definitely enough to fill you up, even if you've got a bottomless stomache.  I've tried both the $1,500, and the $2,000 selection.  Frankly speaking, I cannot tell the difference as I felt like the dishes I ate are quite similar.  I guess I'm just not an expert in seafood in the sense that certain fish is pricier than others.  For a North American who grew up eating salmon, tuna, salmon, and tuna... all other fish are out of my realm of knowledge. hahaa...

  

Of worthy  mention is the sake glasses.  You pick your sake, then you pick a glass of your choice.

 

 

Quality-wise, it is fresh and decent.  For a meal to be priced in the thousand's NTD, the quality's got to be at least acceptable.  However, I would say that the price is more for the menu-less experience, as well as how each dish is served on a separate plate, all nicely displayed.