lonely girls in Taipei

KC. One of the first restaurants we visited in Taipei is of course, the original Ding Tai Fung 鼎泰豐.

This is Jen trying to get a table for the 3 of us, while we wait with the growing crowd on a super windy and incoming-typhoon weekend in September.

Okay, confession - this photo was actually taken at another Ding Tai Fung (the one at Sogo of Zhongxiaofuxin). But all the Ding Tai Fung's have this clear-glass kitchen wall at where you can stare creepily as they make your food.

Since we were at the original Ding Tai Fung store so of course we had to order the xiao long bao! That's right, Ding Tai Fung originates from Taiwan, not Shanghai.

Thin dumpling skin + minced pork meat + a lot of juice = awesomeness.
To be honest, it tasted awesome .... but just a tiny bit more awesome than the one at Ding Tai Fung at First Markham Place back in Toronto >_>. It wasn't thaattt big of a difference. However, JC and I both agreed that this original location was LOADS better than the Ding Tai Fung at Zhongxiaodunhua which we both had the chance to visit on separate occasions.

Stir-fried vegetables. Because I grew up with a mom that insists on veggies everyday to clear your colon away. :)

We also ordered a simple fried rice with just egg and onions for Jen who is vegetarian. And it smelled too good for JC and I not to have a bite. MMM simple is always good.

And because JC loves 酸辣湯 (hot and sour soup?), we ordered that too. She loved it.

Some vegetarian dumplings to share. They were okay.

And this, this here was the most spectacular dish of the evening (yes, it even beats the xiao long bao).

Taro dumplings for dessert. If you love taro, you will adore these. Wrapped in a very, very thin dumpling skin, enjoy a mouthful of taro filling in every bite. Delicious!

The bill came up to ~$1000 for 3 people, including tips. A bit more expensive than our usual dinners, especially for the portions they serve. But if you're going to visit a Ding Tai Fung in Taipei, make sure it's this one at Xinyi district (which conveniently turns out to be closest one to TaiDa).


Ding Tai Fung 鼎泰豐
PRICE: $300+ per person
WEBSITE: http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/ (you can find all the locations here)
LOCATION: The one we went to (the original) is the Xinyi Restaurant:
No. 194, Xinyi Road Sec. 2, Da-an District, Taipei City 10651, Taiwan (R.O.C.) (Intersection of Yunkang St.)
PHONE NUMBER: 886-2-2321-8928
BUSINESS HOURS: Mon-Fri 10:00-21:00; Weekends & Public Holidays 09:00-21:00
BY MTR：Daan Station (Muzha line)

KC. I'm going to tell you straight up - one of the best things about Taipei is the food.

I am not exaggerating at all, not even a bit. So far, I've only blogged about street food, but what I'm talking about is the abundant amount of options to simply dine here. Street food is merely one very inexpensive and convenient option. Start factoring in small homely restaurants opened by a sweet couple, popular franchises that line up every brightly lit street, cozy tea houses that you can chat in as loudly as you want, small but delicious eateries that only word of mouth can bring you there, and upscale restaurants that are worth every dollar. It's amazing how there are so many restaurants here with every cuisine and every price point possible. Can't imagine it? I wouldn't be able to either if I were you.

This is the picture I'm trying to paint: Taipei is filled with rows and rows of alleyways, little roads one after another, most of which are occupied by restaurants of one cuisine or another, one for every price level possible. Each one looks so tempting to try, so you find yourself walking around these alleyways, pondering which one to go into for today's meal. The only problem is you have only one stomach.

Money isn't a problem because food is ridiculously cheap here. Yeah, that's right - ridiculously cheap. On campus, the food ranges from $60 - $120 NT for a complete meal. This roughly translates to $2 - 3 CAD for a meal set includes main entree, drink and sometimes bread/soup. If you go off-campus to eat, the range becomes higher, around $100 - $300 NT usually for a regular restaurant = $3.33 - $10 CAD. And if you're paying $300 NT for a meal, consider yourself dining at a fairly nice place already. Yes, for $10 CAD you're already dining at a restaurant pleasant enough for a date. Don't forget that you usually don't need to pay tips either. Of course, there are also expensive restaurants here, but I'm just talking about the regular restaurants that line up the streets of Taipei.

So you see my problem? As a Toronto-based foodie, finding a good restaurant is my usual problem. Here in Taipei, finding room in my stomach is my dilemma.

This is not a gloating entry of the food bliss I found in Taipei, but an introduction to dining in Taipei, to what to expect when you live in Taipei.

Actually, my new problem is getting better and healing this throat so I can start my eating mission again. And what's there to do better when you're trying to get better than blog!


Solo Pasta is one of the first places JC took me to on a weekend last month when we wanted to reward ourselves by indulging in a slightly more expensive meal.

A nice, romantic Italian restaurant near Zhongxiaodunhua 忠孝敦化 station. Perfect for a date!

I love restaurants with chalkboards for walls. Love the idea and the endless creativity you can do with it.

The glowing people in the center is actually the kitchen. They are so amazing that they glow har har.

An Italian restaurant hence pasta, pasta, pasta! Each plate twice the price of my usual dinner cost. Awesome.

And the entire time traveling here and even when we arrived, JC couldn't stop raving about their Smoked Duck Breast in Balsamic Cream Sauce with Spaghetti. She claims she even dreams of it sometimes. Of course, I had to order it too and attest to it myself.

I took this photo when we were waiting for our entrees to arrive. Love the little shapes on the utensils. I remember seeing something similar on the utensils of the Agnes B. restaurant in Hong Kong.

And here's the pasta in all its glory.

Smaller portions than usual but scrumptious. I must confess - I have never been wow-ed by pasta before, never. Pasta was always alright, nothing I would crave for. While this pasta didn't exactly make me piss my pants from its deliciousness, but it was damn good. The duck breast was smoked nicely, a little chewy for texture. The little brown pieces are bacon bits that I actually didn't enjoy too much. But what was commendable was how the balsamic cream sauce coated each strand of pasta perfectly, not too much sauce that it was like soup nor not enough either. Just perfect. Although I find balsamic sauce usually bitter (especially on salads), this cream sauce version had no such taste. Delicious!

Then we ordered a serving of Tiramisu to share. Because we are girls after all.

This is just a picture to recall how my camera told me to turn the flash on for this snapshot. I trusted you GF1, but you were wrong, very wrong.

Tiramisu - dusted heavily with cocoa powder over a creamy mixture of mascarpone cheese and mild taste of alcohol.

Love the creaminess of the mascarpone cheese, however I didn't like the bottom crust which was like a soggy cookie.

Our bill in the end. $330 NT per person = $11 CAD. Worth every dollar.

A cute shot I snapped upon exiting - no hamburgers allowed inside! :)

Solo Pasta. MMM. We totally recommend it.


Solo Pasta, Cucina Italiana
PRICE: $220 - $300 NT for pasta (~$10 CAD)
LOCATION: 台北市安和路一段29－1號
NUMBER: (02) 2775-3645
BY MTR: Exit 4 of Zhongxiaodunhua station 忠孝敦化站

Google Streetview doesn't go into all the little alleyways in Taipei so the next best alternative is this little map on their business card. The blue/green icon represents the Zhongxiaodunhua subway station Exit 4 and the red snail marks Solo Pasta's location.

Dear Old Guy:

Hey there. I see you standing over there, creepin. I'm like "Wow! Even old guys can like Jay Chou!" That's what you said at least. How you were his FAN. When you were talking and being oh so friendly. Then your weirdness escalated when you asked us to add you on facebook and how you invite us randomly to your work place. Oh yay! The concert is starting! Wait, why are you not moving? Why are you standing stock still? Oh, do you want to take pictures? Oh you can't. You don't have a camera. Why are your hands awkwardly always in your pockets?

Where did you go Creepy Man? Oh there you are, right behind me. I'm going to move away now. I feel you awkwardly pressing against my butt. Oh look, you migrated to my friend. You are pushing your front parts against HER butt. Oh wow, she's trying to move away, and you're like magnetized to her. Wow, like your legs are like right against her legs. OK. I'm gonna grab her now. Oh look, you look displeased. Then migrate away. Please stay from me, and next time don't be so obvious when you go to young people concerts. With your creepy talks and oldness. KTHXBI.

Sincerely,
JC


Dear Old Lady:

OH! Hey there! Sorry, I didn't see you as your are entirely clothed in khaki, including your hair, and somehow your skin. Oh, what was that? Oh you want me to put my hands down so you can see? Oh ok. Well despite the fact we're in the fourth row....and everyone else in the first three rows are putting their hands, signs, and blinkers up. Oh? What was that? Oh, I didn't hear what you said but you're already elbowing your way past us to the front. Oh ok, please stop by again!

Sincerely,
JC



OH WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA.

HEY THERE OLD GUY. OK. WHOA. YOU ARE GLOWING. NOT IN THE GOOD PREGNANT WAY, LIKE THE "I'M COVERED IN GREASE WAY." I like your silver tracksuit, oh are those your little girls? It's ok you're not so creepy after all. Eh? Why are they leaving? Oh so they weren't with you? You're just standing stock still, not moving, and not taking pictures? OK. Why are you wiping away your snot every three seconds? Your hand is also residing in your pocket. It's a cycle. Wipe, stick in pocket, sneeze, stick in pocket, wipe, stick in pocket...I want to tell you something. Your pocket. It is a cesspool of germs. What are you doing. What are you doing. Why is your proximity so much closer to me? WHY IS YOUR HAND BRUSHING AGAINST MY ARM. EWWW. Oh ok, well at least I can move away from you and closer to the stage. Oh you insist on staying in front of me? Ok. Well. WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING ME.

All in all, it was pretty fun. =)
+Love

KC. This, boys and girls, is one of my favourite Taiwanese street food. To me, it's more like a meal than street food because it's very filling. But what's best about it is that it satisfies both your craving for something sweet, for something salty or those odd times when you want something both sweet and salty. All-in-one!

Originating from Fuzhou, 割包 is a common street food in Taiwan. Though strictly speaking, 割 is pronounced as "ge" (first tone), here in Taiwan we all say gua bao. Picture a warm, soft, and fluffy steamed white bun cut in half. Then fill it up with delicious, mouth-watering tender pork and mix in some pickled vegetables too. And finally add some grounded peanut and sugar on top. Ohmygosh - SO GOOD.

Another awesome thing about it is that you can choose how fatty you want your pork.

You can choose to have it fat 肥肉, slightly more fatty than skinny 偏肥, half fatty half skinny 綜合, slightly more skinny than fatty 偏瘦, and skinny 瘦肉.

I love how the top coat of finely-grounded peanut and sugar balances the meatiness.

The default one comes with 香菜 (parsley/cilantro) but as an avid hater of parsley of any kind, I'll pass.

If I'm feeling indulging (e.g. after a test, I haven't ate all day, I am a pig), I'd choose half fat, half skinny. The feeling of the warm fatty pork meat melting in your mouth with each bite is MMM...


Definitely add this to your must-try list when you come to Taiwan.


LOCATION: a place with street food
PRICE: around $45 NT (~$1.50 CAD)

JC. KC is going to be so mad at me. Real post soon...I promise. However this news was too exciting not to share. 7-11 has an anime.

KC. I am a big Jay Chou fan. And I love desserts. Then it's not a surprise that one of the first dessert places I would try in Taipei would be Mr. Qute!

Located in the 東區 area (basically the expensive area of Taipei), Mr. Qute is located right next to Jay Chou's French-Italian restaurant, Mr. J.

A small place shop with 3-4 booths. And a transparent glass kitchen. And this interesting wall.

Mr. Qute and Mr. J also share the same menu. But JC and I were there that night for one thing only - dessert!

Unfortunately, we arrived rather late (10 ish?) so there were only a few fruit tarts left to choose from.

We decided to have a blueberry tart and a peach tart.

JC's blueberry tart - I love the chocolate syrup + liquid sugar design. So cute!

Beneath the outer layer of blueberries lies a mountain of custard on top of a crust that was a bit too hard.

I went with the sweet peach tart. The "stick" dipped in sugar is actually edible (we asked the waiter just to be sure) but it looked and tasted more like a twig with sugar.

Beside each fruit tart was a small pile of fruits - red and green grapes, strawberry, orange and grapefruit. Most of which these fruits are not in season, hence they were sour (especially the strawberry and grapefruit).

But the peach part itself was not bad. I liked the hazelnut mousse at the bottom.


It satisfied our sweet tooth craving, but it wasn't as good as it looked. The bottom crust was too hard and the fruits used weren't in season so they turned out to be sour. In the end, the tarts were OK, but not crave-worthy nor omg-wow-this-is-so-good-semi-colon-i-can't-stop-eating-it.

For more pictures, information on how to get there, and prices, check out their website below!


Mr. Qute, Patisserie Specialty Shop
LOCATION: No. 45, Ln. 308, Guangfu S. Rd., Da-an District, Taipei City
PHONE NUMBER: +886-2-27214769
WEBSITE: www.mr-qute.com
PRICE: ~$200 NT inc. tips/fruit tart (~$6.67 CAD)