Another burger joint

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My cousin Maria wanted to try a new restaurant for our get together tonight, and since I had heard good things about it from my friend Susan, I decided to give Duke's Burger a try.

I felt like drinking wine with my burger, so I brought along a bottle of 1999 Torbreck Descendent. I had actually opened the wine at home to let it breathe, so I fully expected to drink it with dinner. When I got to the restaurant, however, I was informed that the corkage was a whopping $400! This is ludicruous, considering that they offer about 10-12 wines on their poor wine list, and there aren't really any good wines on the list in my book (other than a German Riesling). What they charge is equivalent to what a 5-star hotel would charge, and about the cost of 2 burgers on their menu!

Maria and I considered leaving the restaurant altogether out of principle. In the end I decided to stay and try out the burgers, but felt that I probably would not return in the future.

Just to be different, I ordered the Kurabuta (they can't even get the name right - it's kurobuta 黒豚 dammit!) pork belly and pork crackling burger. Maria chose the beef short ribs burger with foie gras. We also ordered the sweet corn and Parmesan fritters because it looked tasty at the next table.

The burgers arrived and we dug in. There was a fair amount of black pepper in the food, both in my pork patty and the fritters. The fritters were tasty, a wise choice on our part. As for my pork burger, well it wasn't bad. But it wasn't outstanding for the price. The marinated cabbage worked reasonably well with the pork, but the crackling was just way too hard. I could have chipped my teeth on the thing...

The Torbreck Descendent was a bit disappointing. Even with extended aeration, the wine never showed its power. I had fully expected that this wine, having aged for 9 years since harvest, to fulfill its potential. Maybe the vines were simply too young when the wine was made, even though it was made from cuttings of old vines. To be honest, the bottle of 2003 Torbreck Juveniles I had in Taipei a week ago blew this bottle away, and Descendent is meant to be a better wine.

Including the $400 corkage and a glass of wine, the bill came to $1,100 for two. Not exactly cheap, and with the wine service (or lack thereof) I'm not exactly dying to go back.

Restaurant Magazine's Top List 2008

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The list of "World's 50 Best Restaurants" have just been published yet again by UK's Restaurant Magazine. The updated list for 2008 remains unchanged at the top, and since I haven't made any visits to Europe and the US since 2006, I have only been to 4 out of the top 10.  I would certainly agree that El Bulli, French Laundry and per se all merit a place within the top 10. Not so sure about Arzak.  I have been to 18 of the top 100 restaurants listed.

Honestly, some of the restaurant rankings make me choke, and I question whether some of the people on the panel really know what they are talking about, particularly when it comes to Asian/Japanese food.

As Chubby Hubby has already mentioned in his blog, restaurants from Japan are glaringly missing - there are NONE among the top 100. The top restaurant in Asia continues to be Bukhara in New Delhi - at #55. While I have been to Bukhara and really enjoyed my dining experience there, I feel that there are many, many better restaurants across Asia. Can this be a result of the heavy British influence, where many of the Brits have visited India while travel less to Japan?

Other British/western influence end up with some glaringly ludicrous rankings. Hakkasan at #19? Puh-leeeze! Chinese food for Brits in a hip setting, only a step up from serving chop suey and General Tso's chicken... Nobu London, Nobu New York, Zuma London and Zuma Hong Kong?! These guys clearly have never had a good meal in Japan! Why does Zuma Hong Kong even deserve its #99 spot?!

I am happy, however, with the fact that Singapore's Iggy's has shown up at #77. I have always liked Iggy's and felt it was the best western restuarant in Singapore by a long shot. Pierre Gagnaire in Hong Kong has also made it at #88.

Let us hope that the list improves every year, in terms of having more people on the panel who actually know Asian cuisine...

A pleasant little discovery

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I was walking around Taichung today and looking for a place to lunch around the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, when I came upon Gulu Gulu (咕嚕咕嚕), a cute little joint with whacky decor. It turns out to be a theme restaurant focused on Taiwanese Aborigine culture, and I stayed to check it out.

The specialty of the restaurant was roast meats, and after some introduction by a waitress, I chose roasted mountain dove (山鳩). There was a simple salad and a vegetable/seafood soup that wasn't bad. Then the roasted bird came. It was smaller than a pigeon, and had been roasted outside using charcoal to perfection. Basically, it's a healthier (less fatty) version of the pigeon. Crispy on the outside, and still tender and slightly moist on the inside. I relish the moment by crunching on the tiny wings of the bird. This was pretty good!

There was traditional aborigine music playing from a CD. The restaurant also seems to have live music in the evening. The interior is decorated with tons of aborigine paraphernalia, and they really try to promote the culture. A pretty interesting place.

At NT$ 330 including service for the set lunch, I got a glass of mixed fruit and veggie juice, a salad, the soup, the main course with loads of veggies and a bit of rice, a plate of ripe pineapple slices and ice tea. That's a real bargain considering the quality of the food. I'll try to come again the next time I'm in town!

Andrea Bocelli in Taichung

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Yesterday I travelled to Taichung to attend Andrea Bocelli Live in Taichung. This was one of three stops on the tenor’s Asian tour, and the only one in the Greater China region. After a negotiation process reported to have been as long as two years, Bocelli finally agreed to make his first trip to Taiwan. Kudos to Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) for the achievement.

It was a star-studded evening of sorts, where lots of local celebrities and politicos made the pilgrimage to the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. President-elect Ying-jeou Ma and wife entered the stadium to a round of applause, accompanied by Jason Hu and other KMT heavyweights.

I was lucky to have secured seats on the floor, 4 rows behind the VIP section and directly behind the sound engineers. In terms of acoustics I don’t think I could have done better. However we did sit behind a couple of camera scaffolds, so we didn’t have a good view of Bocelli and the conductor. But never mind, in a venue like this there is no choice but to look at the screens – you are just too far away from the performers.

The night was perfect for an outdoor concert, although the acoustics of an open-air stadium left a bit too much echo for my liking. The conductor, Marcello Rota, took his position and started the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra on the first piece. The first few notes sounded, and it was…the National Anthem...?! This took us by surprise and we slowly rose to our feet. It has been 8 years since the National Anthem was heard at events like this, and it was an emotional moment for KMT supporters inside the stadium. My parents and uncle were certainly ecstatic, as this was but another reminder that the days of DPP running the country were coming to an end.

The first half of the program focused on Italian opera, with solos and duets in turn by Bocelli, soprano Maria Luigia Borsi and baritone Gianfranco Montresor as well as performance by the Taipei Philharmonic Chorus. Quite frankly I was a bit disappointed in this part of the performance. Borsi gave a terrible performance of O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi, and I felt Bocelli’s performance during Brindisi from La Traviata was a little off in terms of tempo. His rendition of E lucevan le stelle from Tosca was interesting, showing the softer side of the character rather than continuing to hit the high notes with full force like Pavarotti. Or did he simply not have what it took to hit those notes with power?

The second half of the program was a bit more modern, including Italian classics such as O sole mio, which Bocelli sung with Borsi. I always felt that the real magic of Andrea Bocelli was his delivery of modern classics, and not his operatic work. The highlight came during the last song of the regular program, when Heather Headley sang a duet of Canto della terra. This was a great show of Bocelli’s powerful vocals at its best, coupled with the angelic voice of Headley. She was way, way better than Borsi in my opinion. The song itself, composed by the same team behind Con te partiro, is another masterpiece.

There were five encore performances, including The Prayer, another duet with the wonderful Heather Headley. I just couldn't get enough of Heather, and I wished she had a bigger role in the concert. The third encore was his international hit Con Te Partiro, which, fittingly, is usually his last encore song to close out the concerts. Here he invited Borsi on stage, but she only played backup and did not have a duet role like the original version with Sarah Brightman.



Bocelli finally closed the event with Nessun Dorma from Turandot. Now, EVERYONE knows this song, so this brought the crowd to their feet. Everyone left the concert with a feeling of elation after these two crowd favorites.

I was still a little disappointed, as I had hoped the concert would be more contemporary. But Bocelli's voice has no doubt wowed everyone, and I'm happy I was here.

La Petite Encore

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Last night I went back to La Petite Cuisine in Taipei after a very long absence. I had only been there once before, almost 4 years ago after it first opened, and have chosen not to go back after that experience. While it is famously run by Justin Quek - formerly of Singapore's Les Amis Group and currently the man behind Le Platane in Shanghai - unfortunately he is almost never in Taipei and I felt the service and food qualities didn't match my expectations.

When we arrived at 8pm, we were the only table seated at the restaurant. Now, I know that Taiwanese people usually eat dinner early, but to finish by 8pm is a litte bizarre. The maitre d' claimed that there was a big group who arrived earlier but had already left...Anyway, this wasn't the first time that I found myself to be the only table at a fine dining restaurant, and it certainly won't be the last.

I had been eating a lot recently, so I chose to order a la carte instead of taking a degustation menu. We were served two types of bread - sourdough and a small French roll with pointed ends. The sourdough was OK, but the French roll was terrible - soft and mushy in the middle. Not a good start.

I was given a complimentary cup of tomato consommé, which was not bad. The mild acidity of the tomato worked well with the beef flavor.

My starter was the Salade Printemps, which was actually very enjoyable as it had some unusual elements. It's a medley of spring vegetables such as frisee, baby corn, asparagus, radicchio and included crunchy lily buds. Nice and refreshing.

For main course I had Challans duck two ways: duck leg confit and pan-fried duck breast. The confit was pretty good, crispy and fragrant on the outside, tender on the inside. Somehow it's a notch below the one I had at the Legend Concept - maybe it's not fatty enough and a tiny bit dry? The sliced duck breast was also good. There was truffle sauce all over the plate to add flavor. I'm glad I chose this course.

I didn't have a bottle of wine with me, so I ordered from the wine list. The 2003 Torbreck Juveniles was a really nice bottle to drink. It's a bit young, but already drinking a very well, with nose of strawberries, tropical fruits such as lychee, grilled meat, some floral notes. The wine was incredibly sweet, both in terms of nose and palate. Finish was also reasonably long, possibly due to the high alcohol content. It's a big, powerful wine in Parker style and quite reasonable in terms of pricing. Yummy.

We were told that the restaurant is due to move into the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Taipei by the end of April. I hope that being in a hotel would bring them more traffic.