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Food Adventures in Taiwan: Chapter 11

Dinner @ some "Japanese" restaurant nestled in a back alley

I left half of the business cards I picked up back in Taipei, sorry dudes.  But Anyway, this restaurant is pretty fancy pants -- known to be a hot spot for celebrities and politicians alike (In fact, when we were there, my mom pointed out a Taiwanese politician that is supposedly always on TV).  It's supposed to be an authentic Japanese spot where the specialty is its Omakase, so of course I was amped to go.  But, compared to Matsuhisa, which is my personal benchmark for all Omakases, I guess this restaurant fell short for me.  The dishes were all pretty good, but more than often the colors and flavors were a little too rich and deep (more eastern Chinese/French fusion style cooking) for me.

 

Black Cod with Miso -- Staple main course, but it wasn't the best I've ever had...I suppose my opinion's negatively biased in this regard though, because I don't like black cod to begin with -- it's too buttery for me.  Also, this was the second course served, which I found completely odd.  (The first course, not pictured, was DELICIOUS though.  A trio of appetizers, one of which was eel liver!  I love ankimo, so the eel liver was completely new to me and it blew me away).

Baked lobster.  Obviously delicious because you KNOW there was some Japanese mayo on that baby.  But again, nothing I would specifically go back for.  (Also, please note the kimchi in the background.  They brought that out after the cod, and I was pretty confused.  The manager said it was basically something to munch on on the side, but the garlic and chilli would have overpowered any of the other dishes, so I only had a few bites -- and yeah, it was okay I guess...although, it would have been better served at a Korean restaurant, haha)

Don't even remember what this was, which means it probably wasn't awesome.  Scallop over some kind of white fish?  The fish chip was good though -- anyone that can make a tasty chip out of mini baby white fish gets a plus two points in my book!

Seared foie gras over taiwanese brioche, and by taiwanese brioche, I mean taiwanese toast (which yes, is a good thing).  Definitely not the most creative way to serve foie gras, and completely thematically misaligned with the rest of the meal, but it was tasty and did not make me want to vomit upon presentation (will post about that particularly terrifying instance from Paris in due time).

Delicious Japanese Kobe not too marbled and grilled perfectly, served with a side of homemade seasoning dip which I still cannot figure the components of -- I could only taste/feel finely shaved rock salt, but I'm still not sure what the red or earl-grey looking leaves are.  My mom was stumped too.  Definitely wish I could have brought a sack of this seasoning home, because it's the bomb-diggity.  Overall, the best dish in the entire meal.

Last course of the set.  Unagi-don paired with miso soup.  On any normal occasion, I would have found this to be the tastiest eel over rice I'd had in my entire life, but by this point in the meal I think I was just overwhelemed by the amount of hot dishes served.  This would be the perfect lunch set, though, and is probably the only other dish (next to the Kobe) I would go back for if I decided to hit this restaurant again in the future.

Dessert was a single juicy spear of chilled Papaya.  To me, the perfect closer to such a rich meal.

Overall, the meal had a few star dishes, but the Omakase as a whole wasn't spectacular.  Most of all though, I think I was just disappointed that there wasn't a single raw/cold dish.  If you can get your Kobe Beef, Cod, Scallops, and Eel imported from Japan, why not try to get some other fish for sashimi, too?  I probably just went in with my expectations too high; perhaps if I had been prepared to eat a showcase of "Japanese" hot dishes, I would have been more pleased.

Food Adventures in Taiwan: Chapter 10

Have officially lost count of days: Lunch: 牛肉麵 at "one of the best" places on Yong Kang Jie -- I put that in quotes because the Taiwan tourism board's newest marketing campaign highlights Taiwan as being the best, "number one", or "most famous" at everything -- i.e. the one Nougat Museum in Taiwan is the "Most Famous Nougat Museum in Taiwan"

Chilled (and barely pickled) cucumbers with garlic, red chillis, and vinegar -- staple side dish that I've never gotten sick of

Steamed-to-order intenstine (we also got the pork version but the steam from the dish fogged up my lens haha) and soft sticky rice served on top of a bed of yellow sweet potatoes.  This stuff is the truth, and I could probably eat five orders of it.  You can get it at some places back home, specifically A&J and some other small ma-pa noodle shops, but the ones I've ordered back home lack the aroma and taste as the ones served in Taiwan (probably a difference in spices used and quality of sweet potatoe).

Of course, beef (and tendon) noodle soup, which I piled on with sour cabbage.

Cost: Maybe $25 for the entire meal, which also included some other dishes not pictured.  Could have been cheaper somewhere else, but this restaurant is clean, the servers are friendly and fast, and the place has won the "best" noodle shop award for numerous years -- duh.

Food Adventures in Taiwan: Chapter 9

Day 7 (?): Breakfast: Taiwanese Breakfast at the Yong He Do Jiang behind our apartment

I love breakfast.  I love traditional English breakfast, continental breakfast, McDonald's breakfast, Japanese breakfEast, and I definitely love my Taiwanese breakfast.  You really can't go wrong with any of this stuff.  Something has to taste damn good if it looks like curdled milk, and people will STILL get it.  I basically grew up eating this stuff, and always looked forward to those Sundays where I would go with my  parents to the Yong He in Monterey Park, or, when I got older (and lazier), heard the sound of my dad's car pulling into the driveway with a take-out box.  Like making the trek over to danshui for the squid, waking up early and walking with my mom to get taiwanese breakfast is something I always have to do when I'm in Taiwan.

Salty/savory do jiang with a fan twan on the side

Scallion pancake with egg

Picking up where I left off! Food Adventures in Taiwan: Chapter 8

Day 4 (?): Breakfast/Snack: Some hole in the wall at some fisherman's town on the way to Hualien

Basically a great little place serving up only a handful of things on the menu, most of which, take advantage of the seafood that comes in daily

On the left, we have radish and pork ribs in clear broth, but I had the bowl on the right -- homemade fish ball soup in a simple broth (sprinkled with white pepper, obviously)

I only know how to say this in Chinese, but I guess what US Border Patrol would call this is "Fish Floss".  To those who can read chinese, it's homemade 鱼松/yu song over sticky rice.  And yes, of course it was good. 

Cost: I don't remember anymore, but probably not more than five US dollars for all of that

Introducing Hayley (& Hayley's Eyelashes)

I'm super late in posting this, but it is with my greatest pleasure, that I introduce you to the newest addition to the family, Hayley -- Sophia and Hunter's puppy.

Please take special note of her amazing eyelashes.

And yes, she even looks good in an Elizabethan collar with cream cheese stuck on her beard.
 

Watch out, Paul Blart: Mall Cop

because Ronnie Barnhardt's coming to town!

I FLIPPING DID IT.

After countless years of losing to Wario--erm, Hunter, I FINALLY beat him in Mario Party.

It was a sad sad day for Wario, when Yoshi and Mario collectively took the top and runner up spots in an epic battle of mini-games, hotel purchasing, scheming, and slowgo-dicing.

And I don't mean to brag, but I went from fourth place to first, in the last five turns.  Comeback and WIN of the century.

Good job, Yoshi.  I knew you had it in you. 

Now, walk it out (in your orange boots).