Tainan

The wife was excellent planning this trip to Taiwan as she made sure I saw more than just Taipei this time around. Our first city outside Taipei was Tainan - known as a food nerds paradise and the food was pretty damn delish. Tainan is near the water (west-side), so you see a ton of oyster dishes. Here’s a sampling of the more memorable dishes from Tainan.

Our Menu
Owa-Zen (Eggs and Oysters) ***
I’ve had this dish a ton in Taipei and back home in the states, but this was the best version (at Gua Hwa Jeh 國華街三段) I’ve ever had. Egg flavor was very prominent (which usually is not the case) and the oysters were so flavorful and juicy. The texture was definitely sex on a plate as it was so silky and perfectly cooked. It made sense as this 70+ year old dude just cooks that dish only all day – nothing else. He also cleaned up the tables which I thought was funny, but this dude works hard for his money.

O-Deh (Fried pork and oysters) **
This reminded me of an arancini – a big fried ball of goodness. Inside was juicy oyster and delicious ground pork. Another prevalent thing I’ve noticed in Taiwan were bean sprouts which I saw in a ton of other dishes – here it adds a nice crunch. We were eating this and I was freaking out on the street how good it was that two American tourists stopped by and said I need to have me some…you’re welcome dudes.

Yuen Zhu Ming Shi Ban Kao Ro (Aboriginal Grilled Pork) **
Like all cultures, the Taiwanese had their original Aboriginal peeps before the Chinese moved over. At most night markets, you'll see these homeboys with their headbands listening to their tribal music. If you see these dudes, you need to stop and immediately order their mixed pork dish. It's friggin phenomenal - bacon and pork that's so juicy, porky, and slightly sweet. Great with the accompanying pickled vegetables and raw garlic. All for $3USD. Side note - the Tainan Night Market is one of the most organized night markets I've ever seen - multiple rows of food stalls all side by side. Much better than the chaos that is the Shilin night market - a jungle of long roads that's difficult to find where the food is located.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way | (no stars - poor to average) | * Good | ** Great | *** What the F – in a good way

Chil House Restaurant - Review

Intro
Chili House Restaurant - Dude Grade: A
四川吳抄手 (Szechuan Woo Chao So)
No. 250-3, ZhongXiao E. Rd, Sec. 4
台北市忠孝東路四段250號之3
Phone: 886 2 2721 6088

We’re incredibly lucky as we have a good amount of friends in Taiwan and our homegirl Paulina took us out to this ridiculously delicious Szechuan joint. When I think of Szechuan food, I think of blow your socks off spicy food, but not so at this place – there’s a ton of balance and restraint with some good heat as an undertone. Really delicious stuff and we’ll have to up our ante next time Paulina visits since she keeps on taking us to phenomenal places.

Our Menu

Glutinous Rice with Pork Ribs **
Rice had this great sticky texture which was permeated by this porky goodness. Ribs were knock your socks off delish.

Dan Dan Mien **
Nice and chewy noodles with this awesome balance between meaty, sweet, and heat – both very subtle and not overpowering.

Pork Dumplings **
These were incredibly addicting – the meat flavor/texture with the spicy sauce was friggin awesome. The texture was pretty silky which was something new for me as most dumplings I'm accustomed to have either a thin or chewy texture.

Bamboo ***
Bamboo is in season in Taiwan so we’re seeing them all over Taipei and these were the best we had. Fried and crispy on the outside with that pleasing soft crunch on the inside. The flavors were so nutty and sweet which were intensified by the chilis/shallots/garlic coating. So pissed we can’t get this quality of bamboo in the states – everything is jarred here and the vacuum packed stuff sucks.

Fried Tofu ***
Another amazing wtf type dish. Soft silken tofu with a light frying on the outside – not crispy, but just to set it so it’s not all soft. Flavors were dyno-mite. Slightly sweet, a little salty, very meaty, and a lil spicy.

Hot Pot **
The last time I had Szechuan hot pot, I felt ill since it was so damn spicy and I love me some spicy food. This was phenomenal – very spicy, but not so much where your innards are melting. We ordered a ton of meats and they were the best I’ve ever had in a Chinese hot pot. Lamb was intensely lamby, pork was ridiculous, and the beef had marbling like I’ve only seen in Japanese restaurants via shabu shabu or yakiniku. After cooking/eating all the meats, the flavor of the broth was magical.

Fish with Hot Bean Paste (Do Ban You) **
Very fresh fish with this meaty spicy bean paste going on. The fish was incredibly soft and delicious.

Fried Shrimp Balls **
Crispy and insanely light and fluffy on the inside. Pretty spectacular texture and solid flavor.

Peas and Chicken **
Very tiny peas that were almost crunchy, but pleasantly so. Great flavor and uber tasty with the rice.

Beef Stomach ***
I always order this dish at Szechuan restaurants and this was the best version I’ve ever had. Great flavor, incredibly spicy and awesome with the julienned scallions which were sweet and spicy.

Tofu Soup **
A nice delicate tofu soup – flavor of the sweetened water was very pleasant and the tofu was incredibly soft and delicious.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way | (no stars - poor to average) | * Good | ** Great | *** What the F – in a good way

Overall Restaurant Experience

• Food (A) – Best Szechuan restaurant I’ve been to.
• Service (C) – Food comes out quick and the servers were standard Chinese efficient but not very pleasant.
  
• Atmosphere (B) – A nicer looking joint with darker wood for tables and well lit inside. Place was packed when we got there and packed when we left – maybe 4 families waiting for tables.
  
• Price (N/A) – As with all our friends, we were not allowed to pay since we were visiting. The bill came out to around 5000NTD/181 USD for 8 people / 22 USD per person – a ridiculous value for US standards.
  

Closing Comments
I absolutely looove this place. I dig me some spicy food and this was the best spicy food place I’ve ever been to – such great balance. Definitely on the long list of places I want to go back to when I’m back in Taipei.

On a side note, our homegirl Paulina also bought us this award winning Taiwanese bread - the bakery placed first place in the 2010 Bakery Masters held in Paris. This bad boy has wine soaked litchis and walnuts - a surprisingly uber delicious bread.

Guest House - Review

Intro
Guest House - Dude Grade: D
1 Nanking West Road 3rd Fl, Taipei, Taiwan
Phone: 886 2 2563 2171

After a great experience eating at high end restaurants in Shanghai, I wanted to see what Taipei had to offer. These type of restaurants with set menus allowed us to try multiple dishes since we could never order this many courses just for the two of us – we tried that our last time at Shin Yeh and I needed a vomitorium afterwards. At first inspection, I noticed all the high end restaurants served either Hong Kong or Shanghai food - guess it makes sense since those two areas are considered very international and posh. I decided to go with the Guest House which was ranked #2 in some local food guide in terms of Non Western high end food. Food was decent, but nothing really great and the service was awful. A big time pass for this dude.

Our Menu

Double-boiled Fish Maw Soup with Bamboo Pith *
Relatively flavorful broth that was a little meaty and a little sweet. Some nice balance in the soup.

Steamed King Prawn with Garlic Sauce *
Decently sweet prawns that were not overcooked. It was good and the sauce was delicious, but the shrimp temperature was borderline cold and it definitely wasn’t meant to be. A bad sign of things to come.

Stir Fried Scallops and Clams with Asparagus
I love me some scallops, just never from a Chinese restaurant. The beauty of scallops is to have a hard sear on them to give them texture and also bring out a nice sweetness to them. Chinese scallops are usually boiled in oil till rubbery and lacquered in some thick sauce...here is a representation of that.

Braised Red Yeast Pork Ribs
The dish I was looking forward to the most – it was written about in a lot of papers/blogs out there. Unfortunately, this dish was pretty disappointing. I dig texture and chew on some things – chicken is OK in my book to have a little chew. However, chewy ribs/pork belly is not acceptable. Chewing on hardened fat/gelatin is not a pleasant texture and pretty eff’n nasty. Flavor wise it was OK too, not as much porkiness more sweetness.

Braised Baby Vegetables with Crispy Garlic *
Again, a dish you might expect in NYC Chinatown with the heavily thickened sauce, but this was pretty tasty.

Deep Fried Bream with Crispy Garlic **
The only dish that showed some restraint and delicateness. Texture was light and delicious and the flavor of the fish was definitely the star. The fry dude should get some props for this dish.

Seasonal Fresh Fruits ***
Sad that this was by far the best course of the night. Eating fruits in a tropical environment leads to explosive flavors. The kiwi was by far the best I’ve ever had – sweet and such a pleasing flavor. The pineapple was also intensely flavorful. Some great fruit they picked out here.

Sweet Fuguo and Taro Soup *
A pretty delicious sweet soup. Think taro milk bubble tea and you get pretty close. Another of thinner soups which kicks massive ars.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way | (no stars - poor to average) | * Good | ** Great | *** What the F – in a good way

Overall Restaurant Experience

• Food (C) – Not terrible, but not great either.
• Service (D-) – The worst fine dining service I’ve ever had in my life (Bouley is 2nd worst). So we got a set tasting menu with the same exact number of dishes, but my wife got two of her dishes before I got anything. When she got her third, then I got my first. They finally caught me up, but it turned out to be the opposite where I was 2 dishes ahead over her. The food also took way too eff’n long to come out. My wife had fried dumplings as her final course and I think it took around 20 minutes to get to her – it was only 2 eff’n fried dumplings that was nothing to write home about. Also, servers didn’t apologize, but we complained to the manager and she gave us a free course (hence the D- instead of an F). Big time wtf in a bad way.
  
• Atmosphere (B) – Classy looking joint that reminded me of Shanghai where you eat in these almost private rooms – sharing a room with only 2 other tables. Place consisted of large groups with some Japanese tourists – no doubt suckered in by the shitty reviews from the other non-dudes blogs.
  
• Price (F) – Incredibly pricey for Taiwan standards (1500 NTD|55 USD for me and 2000 NTD|73 USD for the wife) for shitty service and average food. Fail. As a reference point, you can get some delicious food at the food court for 150NTD|5 USD or street food where a ton of delicious dumplings cost 20NTD|0.72 USD.
  

Closing Comments
That was my last time at a high end restaurant in Taipei for just the wife and me. If other people take us out, that would be fine since they’ll know what’s up, but the wife and I will stick with the street food and phenomenal food courts going forward.

Mountainside Eats - Review

Intro
Ching Tsai Yuen (青菜園)- Dude Grade: A-
112 Taiwan Taipei City Beitou District
(台北市北投區竹子湖路55號之11)
Phone: +886 2 2861-9165

One of the main places I wanted to eat at was in the mountains (yang ming san), since I had such a phenomenal mountain side meal during my first trip to Taiwan. Something about eating up in the mountains breathing that fresh air and eating all food grown/raised nearby makes for a phenomenal eating experience. Although expectations were very high, it met them in every way.

Our Menu

Mountain Chicken (San Gee) ***
Although I had this just a couple of days ago at the phenomenal Jabez Lohas, this was better. Flavor was so intensely chickeny and it was so awesome with the sweet soy, chili dipping sauce.

Cabbage (gali chi) *
Slightly sweet and a tad crunchy cabbage. Good textural contrast and almost palate cleansing qualities for the rest of the meal. The inlaws make their cabbage very soft and sweet, but all the cabbage I’ve had on this trip have been more this style.

Stir Fried Noodles (Chao Mien) *
Pretty good stir fried noodles with cabbage, carrots, and shrimps. This was similar to the stuff you get in NYC Chinatown, but definitely done better. The wife was a big fan of this dish.

Stir Fried Clams **
Delicious sweet baby clams garnished with almost thai style flavorings – basil, chilis, slightly sour/slightly sweet (nowhere near as aggressive as normal Thai food). I’ve been noticing this style of cooking a lot in Taiwan, which was kinda surprising to me.

Snow Pea Shoots **
Perfectly cooked veggies – tender with a little bit of crispness. The flavors were perfect, so delicate, nutty, and slightly sweet.

Taro and Taro Leaves **
I had no idea what to expect of this dish, but I ended up being blown away. I’ve had taro many a time and this was delicious (starchy, slightly sweet), but I’ve never had the roots/leaves of the taro plant. It was almost like the sweetest leek braised down completely. A big time delicious dish that I’ll never get stateside.

Chicken Soup and Bamboo ***
Whereas the chicken soup at Jabez Lohas was the rich man’s version – tons of expensive ingredients (shark fin, abalone, etc), the one here was the simple version which was still completely wtf phenomenal. Massive chicken flavor with this great sweetness throughout due to the incredible bamboo. This bamboo was lights out good – nutty, sweet, and texturally off the charts, slightly crisp but still very tender.

Sweet Potato Soup ***
The Chinese love their soups, so this was the second of the night and it was equally incredible. Such a light pure flavor of yams and it was so simple – just yams, ginger, and maybe a little sugar. The one thing I love about this soup is the texture is basically like water, not thick and creamy like most European style soups. This leads to a very pure focus of the star ingredient.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way | (no stars - poor to average) | * Good | ** Great | *** What the F – in a good way

Overall Restaurant Experience

• Food (A) – Awesome comfort food and so in my strikezone.
  
• Service (B) – Food came out very quick and the servers were nice to our table since our guests seem to go there often. I expect most people would get the standard cold shoulder treatment there otherwise.
• Atmosphere (B) – Super ghetto inside with cheap plastic tablecloths (think saran wrap) and cement floors. But looking outside and you have the mountains and a gorgeous view of Taipei. That negates any ghettoness inside for me. The place was 75% full when we got there and 100% when we left which was near closing time. All Chinese/Taiwanese in there and no English anywhere.
  
• Price (N/A) - We weren’t allowed to pay although my wife tried which almost caused our host to judo throw her – she was furious unlike any anger I’ve ever seen before. It would have been entertaining except for the violence in the hosts eyes.
  

Closing Comments
Whenever I’m in Taiwan, I have to go back to the Mountainside for eats. It’s simple cooking with the best ingredients done incredibly well.

Pork Jerky

The great thing about Taipei is you can walk down any street and find some awesome eats. As we were walking by a ton of shops, I saw Bee Cheng Hiang, a joint that specializes in dried pork - originally from Singapore. Think beef jerky, but 1000x better. This thing is still juicy since it's got a good amount of fat in it and it's slightly sweet and spicy, but still intensely porky. A complete WTF moment and highly recommended by this dude.

This joint is a chain, so you should be able to find a bunch.

Bee Chen Hiang
Roosevelt Road, Sec 6-1 (opposite Taiwan University)
No.6-1, Sec.4, Roosevclt Rd, Taipei, Taiwan ROC

Labor Day Dawgs

Lord fluffernutter had some people over and I discovered pickled chiles and caramelized onions make an explosive topping for a hot dog. No other condiment needed.

Shark fin soup faces extinction in California

Looks like a local delicacy shark fin soup maybe banned in Cali. Shark's fin soup although pretty tasty is not all that great. I'd rather have a great chicken soup any day...

Din Tai Fung Revisit

After the disappointing xiao long bao from Shanghai last year, I wanted to see how one of my favorites, Din Tai Fung, would stack up against it. Light years better than the stuff in Shanghai which is a shame since Shanghai and that region is the birth place of xiao long bao.

Our Menu
Pork Xiao Long Bao *
The dumpling skin is beautifully folded and insanely resilient – no matter how you poke and prod it with your chopstick the skin will not rip. Pork flavor and broth is solid, but I like something with a little more punch.

Pork and Truffle Xiao Long Bao **
Gimicky, but still delicious. The truffle amps up the flavor and complements the pork nicely.

Pork and Crab Xiao Long Bao **
My favorite of the XLB’s. Crab and pork are such an awesome combo in terms of texture and taste.

Squash Long Bao
A pass for me. We had the same version in SF and it was much better – subtle sweetness of the squash is kind of hidden and almost bland.

Fried Rice ***
I know I know, fried rice is Americanized food, but the wife loves the stuff and the ones they serve here are friggin’ phenomenal. Not too oily with all the components (eggs, scallions, and sweet/juicy shrimp) perfectly distinct in terms of flavor/texture, while at the same time being perfectly harmonized. A complete WTF fried rice.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way | (no stars - poor to average) | * Good | ** Great | *** What the F – in a good way

Closing Comments
Din Tai Fung is a phenomenal xiao long bao place. The skin is the best here, but the combo of meat, broth, and skin I've had better elsewhere - maybe Cali?