Tasting Journey #123 - 2F Lite 貳拂

2F Lite 貳拂
台北市內湖路一段300號
02.2799.7922
http://www.2flite.com/#!

The Lite version of 2F Restaurant.

It serves sandwiches, drinks and pastry.  Like a modern self serving station, you find your seat first, proceed to order and payment, then the food will be brought to your table. 

Large wooden table, open-space design, the restaurant portrays a very young, easy and flexible space for group hangouts.  What's even more amazing is that the ordering process is all via ipad - first pick your food from a paper menu, then walk over to the "ordering station", place your order, pay either via MRT card or at the cashier.  The cashier will then give you a number so that waitor know who to bring the order to.

In addition to this unique serving experience, the food is actually very tasty as well.  Well portioned for its price, the sandwishes and the fries are well made.  The pastry is also amazing.  The strawberry danish is unbelievably droolingly tasty.  Crispy and freshly made.  I could eat it everyday! A must try definitely!

 

In addition to dining in, they also have a bakery section where you can buy pastry for take-out.  Their pastry is mostly danish-based...chewing and crispy at a very affordable price.

 



 

I recommend this place to anyone looking for a place to chill, as well as a place to hang with friends.

 

Tasting Journey #122 - 曹家屯酸菜白肉火鍋

曹家屯酸菜白肉火鍋
台北市士林區天玉街38巷4號
02.2874.2054

All you can eat pickled cabbage hot pot.

Pickled cabbage hot pot is one of my favourite cuisine because it is light, yet rich in flavour.  This restaurant is fairly local with minimal interior decoration.  No fancy display, nor designed cutleries, the guests that visit are those who are looking to dine for the food, and not for the ambience.

The hotpot is served in a traditional charcoal heated pot.  Sauce includes purree chives, green onion, sesame paste and vinegar.  Apparently, this is how the real Northern Chinese eat. 

 

Quite interestingly, the flavour isn't what I expected.  Typically, in dishes like this, the pickled flavour is so strong that no additional sauce is needed.  However, this hot pot is quite mild like plain hotpot, thus requiring additional dipping sauce to make it flavourful.

The meatball is good.  Unlike typical chinese meat ball, the texture is more like the meatball in a spaghetti dish. 

The quality of the pork slice is average.

Tasting Journey #121 - 日光大道 Sonnentor Cafe

日光大道 Sonnentor Cafe
various loctions
台北市富錦街421號
02.2767.6211


We were looking for a place to eat and we happened to come across this place.  Although in a cafe setting, this restaurant also serves some entree dishes.  The price range, is also set at a higher price point.

The interior decoration is made of lots of steel and wood...like a warehouse loft in NYC.  Lots of interesting deco art pieces hung on from wall.

The presentation of the dishes are well displayed, and the quality of food is decent for the price.

 

Tasting Journey #120 - BAFA Cafe

BAFA Cafe
台中市惠來路一段161號
04.2251.7701

This cafe was first introduced to me by my coffee-addict colleague.  He gave me a pack of single bean coffee from Antigua, Guatamela. Amazingly, it tastes sweet when drank black.  Since then, I've fallen in love with this cafe eventhough I've never visited it in person.  Therefore, the first opportunity to visit Taichung, this cafe becomes a must-visit.  The cafe is small with less than 15 seats.  However, it serves a very warm and welcoming ambience, perfect for a group of 2-3.  I heard there's a larger room in the back where you can rent to host meetings and a party for a larger group.

With high expectation, comes high disappointment.  The long awaited bean was out of stock.  Nonetheless, I still got to enjoy a nice afternoon coffee with friends.  We all ordered a drink and dessert.  According to my friend who ordered winter melon lime soda, it was refreshing and perfect for this summer hot weather.  I had of course, black coffee to compliment my pickled apple.  I do have to give their lemon tart a thumbs up. It is sour and perfect.

 

Tasting Journey #119 - Forty Cafe

Forty Cafe
台中市公益路155巷88號
04.2302.8627

Forty Cafe is located in the recently popular district of 勤美綠園道.
Since the opening of the mall, there's been many new cafe's that opened up along the two sides of the green pathway.

Forty Cafe is small and contemporary. Bustling with guests coming in for weekend brunch, this cafe only offers 3 set menus to choose from. I guess it makes preparation and serving time a lot quicker and easier.

The food quality is decent, and the price is affordable.  The service isn't as friendly as I had hoped despite all the positive ratings read online.

 

Tasting Journy #118 - Café Prague

Café Prague
臺北市溫州街20號
02.2369.7722


My colleague and I attended a conference, and after the conference, we felt we needed some type of caffeine to keep us going for the rest of the way.  So I quickly turned on my food app, and searched for a coffee shop near by.  Cafe Prague showed up.

Cafe Prague is hidden in a residential area, and covered by fences that didn't reveal itself as a cafe.  For a moment, we thought we were at the wrong location.  We walked into the cafe and were immediately captivated by the scent of the cafe.  It wasn't coffee, but full of floral smell. I'm not an expert in flowers, but it definitely smelled nice.  It brought a sense of calmness to those who inhaled the air, like magic.



The cafe was spacious. Lots of open area and minimal table.  Right in the middle of this openness is a grand piano.  every decoration reeked of European taste and a strong sense of laidback vibe.

 

 

We looked at the menu. It's not cheap. All coffee costs $250 each. Dessert's not listed on the menu, but we later found out that they were all at $150 each. Each of us ordered a cup of coffee and an order of their handmade dessert.  I had their Prague coffee.  It was light, yet flavourful.

The entire experience was very welcoming.  I'm not sure if I would ever go back given the price range, but I do have to say that the price is worth the therapeutic calmness you get from being there.