No chicken in the 'hood

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It's been quite a few months since I last caught up with the Specialist, and it's been a couple of years since I last sat down with BFF and the others. I took the opportunity to take them to Neighborhood, as I happened to have booked a table, and it's somewhere they haven't been to in quite a few years.

The Kitchen Nazi is still MIA, which means once again, I get to order what I want to eat. As it is still 休漁期 where there's a moratorium on fishing in the South China Sea, we weren't likely to get any amazing seafood specials for the next 3 months. I guess that's why he's off galloping halfway around the world.

Escargot / ramps - I'm so happy to have this again. Love the classic flavor combinations of escargot with garlic, but in a different form.

Fish congee

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I'm still kinda in pain from indigestion, so for lunch today I chose to have congee. Now that we live relatively close, we should be hitting Ho Hung Kee (何洪記) more often for our noodle and congee fix.

Congee with pinspotted spinefish (泥鯭粥) - nice to see that they have a whole fish to go with the congee.

It was nice to see them put chiffonade of aged tangerine peel in the congee for the fragrance. Along with ginger and spring onions, these help balance out any "fishy" flavors.

House specialty wonton in soup (正斗鮮蝦淨雲吞)

The Chairman in pain

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Two days after we first met, I'm sitting down with my new friends from Europe again. They had visited The Chairman (大班樓) a few years ago, but that was before the menu format change and the move to the current digs. I seem to be always taking visitors and other friends to dine here, but the good news for me tonight was that for once, I didn't have to order the signature flower crab!

The bad news for me was that immediately after lunch, I suffered pain in my digestive system that prompted a visit to a clinic... where I was diagnosed with indigestion and prescribed meds to (hopefully) alleviate the symptoms. That meant I wouldn't be at full capacity tonight, and would be nibbling more than devouring.

I know that my guests have big appetites but I chose to stick with the "regular" or "basic" menu, without adding any extra dishes. I figured that since they are eating their way around town with two big meals a day, this should be enough in terms of calorie intake...

Ginger and vinegar pig trotter terrine (甜醋子薑豬手豬耳凍) - since being introduced in 2023, this has quickly become one of my favorite starters here. I made sure to give the download on the origins of this dish to the visitors, as those not familiar with local customs would never make the connection with birthing mothers. I do love the sweet and sour vinegar, and how the jelly reminds me of what the original dish looks like when I first take it out of the fridge. The signature pickled young ginger of the restaurant has been finely diced and used as garnish, alongside really finely chopped kaffir lime leaf for their beautiful fragrance.

The golden roll

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I'm entertaining a couple from Europe who are eating their way through town. I had been trading messages with one of them for a few years but we had never had the opportunity to meet until now. I did take the last-minute opportunity to check if was an axe murderer by following him on social media, and I felt reasonably sure that he is not.

So I showed up for our dinner at Wing (永). Vicky had very kindly let me book a table early to ensure we get the date my new friend had asked for, and I was initially somewhat surprised that no one had asked us which of the restaurant's two menus we preferred. Of course, I knew we would be in good hands with Vicky.

We started with the seasonal welcome drink, which is designed to work for each of the 24 seasons (節氣). As the start of summer (立夏) was just two days ago, we would be enjoying a cup of loquat, preserved apricot, and hawthorn drink (枇杷杏乾山楂飲). One of the benefits was meant to be coordinate between the intestines and the stomach, and I could only hope that it does that job well.

Before the start of our meal, we were shown a collection of special ingredients which would be used for our dinner tonight. The humpback grouper (老鼠斑) was still alive and breathing, although obviously not happy about being out of the water at this moment...

Double the pleasure, double the fun

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Our stay in Taipei was much longer than we had originally planned for, and this resulted in us having to cancel a few gatherings with friends. Now that we are back for a few weeks, we figured it was time to make it up to the chefs and restauranteurs who were incredibly understanding of our situation. I had checked the booking website for Godenya (ごでんや) and found plenty of open seats, so I grabbed 2 at the counter tonight to start off our long weekend.

It's been far too long since I was last here, and I was bummed about missing the special little flowers this season. Foursheets and I still looked forward to all the goodies coming our way, though...

Hotaru squid, udo, wasabi leave, sansyo-leaf (螢烏賊 独活 花山葵 木の芽) - I'm always so happy to see all the variations of this dish during this season, because it features all the elements of spring.