Playing tourist in Taipei

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I'm back in Taipei this weekend, playing tour guide to Mrs. Tigger's family.  It's their first trip to Taiwan, and the guy who's often told he's not really Taiwanese was taking them to all the touristy destinations.  To be very honest, I hadn't actually been to some of these places myself…

After getting some soybean milk (豆漿) and deep-fried Chinese crullers (油條) for breakfast, we headed to the National Palace Museum (故宮博物院).  Despite the fact that the parental units live only a short drive from this place, it's been some 14 years since my last visit.  To say that I don't know much about the place would be an understatement…

We walked around a bit, then moved on to the Shihlin Official Residence (士林官邸) - the former residence of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).  This place is even closer to the parental units' home, but I have never been here.  We waited until the lunch break was over, and went inside the actual building where Chiang Kai-shek and Soong May-ling (宋美齡) lived during their years in Taiwan.  I later learned that the actual house has only been open to the public since January last year year, and the second floor has only been accessible since January this year.

More piggy

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I was hanging out with Tigger this afternoon when he asked me to join the family for dinner.  Due to horrendous traffic conditions in a particular part of town, we decided to change plans and go to Fook Lam Moon (福臨門) instead.  Can't really go wrong here...

Deep-fried frogs' legs (椒鹽田雞腿) - Mrs. Tigger's favorite, and something that she (and the rest of us) quickly devoured when starving…

Missing Kim

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A bunch of us got together to go watch Noma at Boiling Point, the documentary about the restaurant in Copenhagen that has replaced el Bulli as THE place to go for foodies.  As there were quite a few of us, it seemed logical to go and grab dinner together afterwards.  Someone suggested that we go to the Kimberley Chinese Restaurant (君怡閣) for the pig, and I honestly couldn't think of a better idea!

Double boiled fresh ox bone and turnip soup (蘿蔔鮮牛骨清湯) - not surprisingly, we started with a giant clay pot of this as it's become the tradition.

Dinner interview

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Some time ago, I was approached by someone from the Fruit Media for an interview.  It seems that they were interested in talking to a food and wine lover, and - for reasons that remain baffling to me - they thought I would be a suitable subject.  As I'd only recently moved back to town, it took a while for the meeting to happen.

I was asked to pick 6 of my favorite restaurants, and they would choose one and do the interview there.    After I gave them the first 6 - Caprice, 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, Gold, Fook Lam Moon (福臨門), Tim's Kitchen (桃花源) and On Lot 10 - I realized that the majority had Michelin stars and most (if not all) were probably hard to book on short notice.  So I added Island Tang (港島廳) as #7.  I was then asked to pick one place where I would be able to order a number of off-menu items, and as Connor McLeod would say: "There can be only one!"

So I shamelessly called up David and begged for a table at On Lot 10.  I told him about the interview, and specifically - although this is nothing different from any other time I come here - asked him to prepare off-menu items.  As usual, David very kindly obliged.

Lunching with vultures

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A few friends were having lunch at Caprice today, and very kindly invited me to join them to fill out a table of four.  I was, of course, only too happy to accept the invitation and return to one of my favorite places in town.

We were informed that the menu was changing tomorrow, so today would be the last chance to savor some of the dishes.  With that in mind, we dispensed with the set lunch and picked out dishes from the à la carte menu.

As usual we found these savory canelés on our table.  Love the anchovies and olives inside.