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Uncle Last-Minute struck again. Some time past 12:30pm today, dad got a phone call from him, inviting us to lunch at Dragon Restaurant (龍都酒樓). I haven't really been a fan of this place based on previous visits, but I was told we'd be having Peking duck today. Dragon Restaurant is pretty famous for its Peking duck, so I was kinda looking forward to this meal.
Not surprisingly, Uncle Last-Minute hollered and dragged us to the restaurant without a reservation nor a confirmed duck. When he arrived, the restaurant had sold out its allocation of duck for the lunch session. Fortunately he ran into a family friend who's a regular, and in the end managed to convince the restaurant to sell us a duck from the batch reserved for dinner...
July 27, 2011
Romantic lunch
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I had a lunch date with the Chairman today, as I haven't caught up with him in quite a while. He introduced me to one of his regular hangouts, which just happens to be steps away from his office, and a short walking distance from mine.
Taishoroman (大正浪漫) is named after the period in Japan during Emperor Yoshihito's reign, where the Japanese really started to import Western culture and adopting foreign customs. This is a Japanese restaurant tucked away in an alley, and there is no menu. Diners are asked two questions - how much they'd like to spend; and what, if anything, they don't wish to eat. The rest is up to the kitchen.
I had a lunch date with the Chairman today, as I haven't caught up with him in quite a while. He introduced me to one of his regular hangouts, which just happens to be steps away from his office, and a short walking distance from mine.
Taishoroman (大正浪漫) is named after the period in Japan during Emperor Yoshihito's reign, where the Japanese really started to import Western culture and adopting foreign customs. This is a Japanese restaurant tucked away in an alley, and there is no menu. Diners are asked two questions - how much they'd like to spend; and what, if anything, they don't wish to eat. The rest is up to the kitchen.
July 23, 2011
NOT the king of chefs
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About a week ago I was checking out some stuff on the net when I came across Scubagolfer's Plurk page. He had posted the link to my blogpost about the cheese dinner at Caprice, and wondered how many so-called fine dining restaurants in Taipei would actually meet with my approval. Well, it's true that there are currently less than a handful of places I find worthy in Taipei, and I'm on a mission to see if I could increase that number.
A few years ago the name Antoine Room (安東廳) - named after Marie-Antoine Carême - came up during a discussion I had with a senior banker, on the topic of the best French restaurants in town. Despite having a history of more than 20 years, I had never heard of the place - because I haven't stepped foot in the Lai Lai / Sheraton Hotel since my days in grade school... It's in a weird location for me, and is basically off my map. That changes today.
About a week ago I was checking out some stuff on the net when I came across Scubagolfer's Plurk page. He had posted the link to my blogpost about the cheese dinner at Caprice, and wondered how many so-called fine dining restaurants in Taipei would actually meet with my approval. Well, it's true that there are currently less than a handful of places I find worthy in Taipei, and I'm on a mission to see if I could increase that number.
A few years ago the name Antoine Room (安東廳) - named after Marie-Antoine Carême - came up during a discussion I had with a senior banker, on the topic of the best French restaurants in town. Despite having a history of more than 20 years, I had never heard of the place - because I haven't stepped foot in the Lai Lai / Sheraton Hotel since my days in grade school... It's in a weird location for me, and is basically off my map. That changes today.
July 22, 2011
Not your average noodle shop
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At about 5:30pm today, as I was contemplating packing up and heading home for dinner, I received an unexpected call from uncle. His reputation for going out to dinner on the fly is well-known to me, but I guess I just didn't expect him to call me directly, at least not so soon after my arrival in Taipei... He was already in the car and coming to pick me up on the way to dinner tonight.
The last time I had dinner at Tainan Tantsumien Seafood Restaurant (台南担仔麵) was towards the end of 1998. I brought together a mix of my friends from Taipei and Hong Kong, and even opened a bottle of Latour from the early 90s. It was kinda the thing to do at the time...
This is a rather kitschy place, as the claim to fame here is the setting - everything looks bling around here. Then there's the place setting - Wedgewood porcelain, Christofle silverware, and crystal wine glasses I forget from where... They may not look like much today, but go back in time 20 years and you can probably count the number of restaurants in Taipei with that kind of silverware on one hand. It was said at the time that the setting for a full table (of 10 or 12) cost TWD 1 million. The juxtaposition from the restaurant being located in Snake Alley (華西街) - one of the oldest tourist areas in town, with shops selling live snakes and licensed brothels dotting the area - is part of the attraction.
At about 5:30pm today, as I was contemplating packing up and heading home for dinner, I received an unexpected call from uncle. His reputation for going out to dinner on the fly is well-known to me, but I guess I just didn't expect him to call me directly, at least not so soon after my arrival in Taipei... He was already in the car and coming to pick me up on the way to dinner tonight.
The last time I had dinner at Tainan Tantsumien Seafood Restaurant (台南担仔麵) was towards the end of 1998. I brought together a mix of my friends from Taipei and Hong Kong, and even opened a bottle of Latour from the early 90s. It was kinda the thing to do at the time...
This is a rather kitschy place, as the claim to fame here is the setting - everything looks bling around here. Then there's the place setting - Wedgewood porcelain, Christofle silverware, and crystal wine glasses I forget from where... They may not look like much today, but go back in time 20 years and you can probably count the number of restaurants in Taipei with that kind of silverware on one hand. It was said at the time that the setting for a full table (of 10 or 12) cost TWD 1 million. The juxtaposition from the restaurant being located in Snake Alley (華西街) - one of the oldest tourist areas in town, with shops selling live snakes and licensed brothels dotting the area - is part of the attraction.
July 17, 2011
Taiwanese kaiseki for lunch
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Lunch today was with some of the parental units' old friends, fromour their days in Bangkok a couple of decades ago. The chosen venue was Shintori (新都里), a Taiwanese chain of Japanese restaurants with branches in Shanghai. My last visit to the restaurant was 4 jobs ago, and I wondered if I'd still find the cuisine interesting.
I wanted some variety but didn't want to eat a ton of food, so I settled on the kaiseki lunch set (懷石套餐). I should have remembered, of course, that these types of sets in Taiwan are often extremely good value for money... and you'd still get a lot of food.
Lunch today was with some of the parental units' old friends, from
I wanted some variety but didn't want to eat a ton of food, so I settled on the kaiseki lunch set (懷石套餐). I should have remembered, of course, that these types of sets in Taiwan are often extremely good value for money... and you'd still get a lot of food.
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