One last feast

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We're back in Taipei again, this time primarily to celebrate - a few days belatedly - mom's birthday. It had been a more casual affair last year, but I was determined to take the Parental Units out for a nice meal this time. Coincidentally, this would also be the last fancy meal they would have before some major changes in their lives, so this meal would be more significant than usual. In retrospect, had I known earlier, I probably should have chosen a nice sushi restaurant for the occasion... but I already had my heart set on opening a bottle of red this year.

And I needed a competent sommelier to handle this delicate bottle - someone who could do a better job than the person who broke the cork from dad's wine last year. I immediately thought of Kevin Lu from logy, who is a Master Sommelier and received the Asia's Best Sommelier Award at Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2024 - after receiving the Sommelier Award from Michelin Guide Taiwan the previous year. I asked Little Rabbit to help pass a message about the bottle I was bringing, and booked us a table at the restaurant. Now that they have moved to new digs and done away with counter seating, the four of us would have a much easier time engaging in conversation while dining.

But there was a downside to the new location. The lighting now was much, much dimmer. Not only did it make it tough to take any decent pictures without jacking up the ISO, it also meant mom had a difficult time seeing her food. This was a real bummer.

As was the case on our first visit, there was no menu presented before service started. We didn't know how many courses were coming our way.

Soymilk / lactic acid / pine nut - this amuse bouche was apparently a signature, although it was new to me. We had a cold soymilk custard topped with a layer of tomato water and acid whey leftover from yogurt, garnished with pine nuts. The acidity from the whey helped to whet one's appetite.

Bottarga / scallop / butternut - so... yet another chef follows the trend of using kueh pie tee... This was stuffed with raw Hokkaido scallops marinated in pumpkin seed oil, yuzu mayo, butternut squash purée, "Korean spicy sauce", then topped with a generous shaving of Taiwanese dried mullet roe (烏魚子). The mullet roe was, expectedly, a little bitter... while the scallop was cool and sweet.

Caviar / hijiki / cannelé - the "canelé" was made with soymilk and kelp so it was meant to be savory instead of sweet. Filled with hijiki (ひじき) purée, grated wasabi from Shizuoka (静岡), and topped with caviar (and of course GOLD!) However, I still thought the canelé tasted sweet. I actually didn't ask for the brand of caviar they use - which was so unlike me - but I believe they use Astrea.

Oyster / mint / hazelnut - this looked awfully like the dish I had on my first visit 4 years ago. We have oysters from Akkeshi (厚岸) in Hokkaido, fresh teardrop peas and pea mash, housemade ricotta granité, and mint granité. Once again there was hazelnut oil in the mix, and this was clearly noticeable. The mint was very refreshing, and the sweetness of the granité together with the cream of the ricotta helped to balance out the briny flavors of the oyster. Just as it was last time, I thought this was a very nice dish to start the main portion of our meal.

Abalone / apricot kernel / gamtae - another signature dish that I'm having for the first time. This was apparently inspired by the Cantonese almond and pig's lung soup (杏汁豬肺湯), but abalone from Yilan (宜蘭) has been used in lieu of pig's lung. Milk from both sweet and bitter apricot kernels (南北杏) [NB: "almond" is the common but incorrect translation] was added to chicken stock to make the soup. The flavors from the apricot kernels were pretty rich, and the consistency was thick and grainy. There was also some saffron oil. This was really nice.

In addition to the abalone, we've got white water snowflake (水蓮), snow fungus, and morels stuffed with horse mackerel (鯵) roe.

Mackerel / bamboo shoot / blue cheese - one immediately sees the shaved French black truffle piled on top of everything, along with a velouté made with blue cheese and white miso from Kyoto. Gotta say that the velouté was really nice, with full-on flavors but not overly rich thanks to a good amount of acidity.

The mackerel had a very nice and smoky flavor thanks to being cooked warayaki (藁焼き)-style, with flames from dried straw.

The mochi at the bottom was stuffed with crunchy diced bamboo shoots before being grilled and charred on top.

Eel / chocolate / green Sichuan pepper - another "signature dish" (the third signature so far!), this one featuring eel from Kouhu (口湖) in Yunlin County (雲林縣). Like the version I had 4 years ago, it was deep-fried tempura-style before being torched with muscovado (黑糖). Underneath the eel we had both 100% dark chocolate as well as Comté.

As Foursheets cannot have caffeine, chocolate was not included in her serving.

Then drops of green Sichuan peppercorn oil was added along with mushroom broth seasoned with white balsamico. Loved the broth thanks to its peppercorn fragrance, acidity from balsamico, and bitterness from the chocolate.

Taiwan tea rice - We were first shown the donabe (土鍋) with all the tea leaves on top of the rice...

The rice came with a light fragrance from the tea. This would accompany our main meat course.

The condiments for the rice included green soybeans seasoned with yuzukosho (柚子胡椒) and fermented tofu (豆腐乳); baby Napa cabbage fermented inhouse; Korean perilla leaves wrapped around Taiwanese spicy pickled radish (辣蘿蔔) and paired with white sesame sauce.

Lamb / mala-spiced sauce - this was saddle of lamb from New Zealand (didn't ask about the source) topped with ice plant from Penghu (澎湖) as well as hosta (ウルイ). The sauce was made with a combination of 18 herbs used in Chinese medicine, and once again the flavors from Chinese angelica (當歸) dominated and was front-and-center.

The lamb was surprisingly fatty as I expected saddle to be more lean, and I really love how tasty this gets. Love the doneness as it's so tender, and so nice.

Pear / jasmine / marigold (???) - we have a compote of loquat (琵琶) grown in Taitung County (台東縣)'s Taimali (太麻里), topped with physalis jam and thyme. There was a gelée made of Oriental Beauty (東方美人) tea at the bottom, as well as a chilled "soup" made with some IPA. Very fruity and refreshing.

For Foursheets, they substituted Genmaicha (玄米茶) in lieu of Oriental Beauty.

Buckwheat / lily bulb / olive oil - we have a ball of buckwheat ice cream topped with some olive oil sitting on caramelized puff rice, which was really toasty and fragrant.

A chose to have a cup of 30-year-old Oolong tea with my petit four.

Sweets: the petit four for a sweet ending.

Flash-frozen preserved persimmon

Osmanthus and verbena jello

Matcha mochi - with a stuffing made with cream cheese, lemon, vanilla seeds, and white adzuki bean paste (白あん). Mine was coated with matcha powder but the one for Foursheets (not that she would eat it) came without. Topped with some caramel and passion fruit jam.

The dinner tonight was actually all about a bottle of wine, and the food played a supporting role. I had picked up a 3-bottle case of Château Mouton-Rothschild that was released direct from château in 2015.

1943 Mouton-Rothschild, rebouchée au château en 2003, purchased from the Sotheby's Mouton-Rothschild ex-château auction January 30, 2015 - around half the bottle was served in the first round, and around 10 minutes in the nose opened up to reveal smoke and stewed fruits. Understandably acidity on the palate was on the high side, but the wine was still very fresh considering its age. About 20 minutes after open the nose developed further with woodsy fragrance. Almost 1½ hours in, there was a hint of sweet grass on the nose.

Since the wine was recorked in 2003 at the grand old age of 60 years, the cork looks pretty new.

I don't often take pictures of the birthday girl or boy with their bottle of wine, but tonight I made sure to do so. I felt very grateful that I could spend another birthday with them... and yes, there ARE more bottles for the years to come.

I'm really happy that we "returned" to logy tonight. It's always interesting to watch a chef's cuisine evolve, and we had some dishes which were similar, some familiar but different, and then completely new dishes inspired by different Chinese flavors.

I also have to give a shoutout for their service. Aside from Kevin making sure that the wine was treated with the respect it deserved, the kitchen accommodated for Foursheets' dietary restrictions and made every effort. The front of house team was also incredibly patient and attentive. This was wonderful hospitality that makes one eager to return sooner rather than later.