Shabu Shabu @ Mihan 101, Taipei

This was my final night in Taipei and coincidentally Ian’s as well. We met up for dinner but Ian wanted to eat Japanese while I wanted to eat Hot Pot. Bickering over the issue for 30 minutes we finally settled on visiting Taipei 101 and go from there.

Choosing a restaurant at 101 wasn’t difficult as most of the restaurants were situated on the 4th floor. We struck a compromise when we saw Mihan 101 who was offering an “All-You-Can-Eat” Shabu-Shabu with an ala Carte menu serving a variety of Japanese dishes.




The “All-You-Can-Eat” Menu was very limited and only included Salad, Dried Fish Soup Base, Assorted Vegetables, Choice of Beef or Pork and a Tofu Dessert. I was upset about the lack of dumplings, fish balls, vegetables, tofu and all the extras that is usually offered in many similar buffets. To top it all off the only thing “All-You-Can-Eat” was the pork and beef. Salad, Vegetables and Dessert is only given once.







My mood was better when our Shabu-Shabu arrived and the waitress laid down the amazingly well marbled beef and pork. Sliced paper-thin the beef melts in your mouth and the pork had such a strong flavor. It was so good I doubt I would have ordered all the extras even if they offered it. Mihan so far serves the best meats for a Hot Pot buffet that I’ve had.






The ala-Carte offered the usual Japanese Fare and also included imported meats such as Matsuzaka Pork and Beef for Shabu-Shabu. We ordered assorted Sashimi and Hamachi Shioyaki. The sashimi was fresh but this was my first assorted Sashimi platter that did not include Salmon. Hamachi Shioyaki was grilled quite nice but I would have preferred the skin a little more charred to give it a crispier texture.




Overall I really enjoyed the Shabu-Shabu here. Service was good as our waitress kept asking us if we wanted to add more beef or pork. The ala Carte dishes were decent and a little pricey. Dinner for two was NT $3,000.

Food: 3.6/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Price: $$$$ (Under USD $50 per person)

Contact Information
4F, No. 45, Shihfu Road, Sinyi District, Taipei City 110, Taiwan
Tel: +886-8101-8166
Web: www.grandformosa.com.tw

Really Good Taiwanese Food @ Yong Kang Street, Taipei

After work I met up with my colleague Ian who took me to Yong Kang Street for dinner. Wanting to eat some Taiwanese Food we checked out quite a few restaurants until we stumbled upon this eatery that was tucked in a corner street. The restaurant was quite packed and had newspaper clippings of celebrities visiting the place. Curious we went in to check their menu.





Ordering wasn’t difficult. We asked our waitress to recommend us some of their specialties and she did so by pointing at the different food pictures at the kitchen counter.

Squid

Looking at the color I think our squid was lightly poached and then chilled in a water bath before serving. It was delicious as we dipped it in some wasabi and soy sauce to give it some saltiness and zing.

Poached Oysters in Garlic Sauce

This was my favorite! I don’t really know how to describe the flavor of this dish. All I could say is the oysters were really fresh and went well with the aromatic fried garlic sauce.

Poached River Fish

Another really good but simple dish, the fish had quite a bit of bones but I loved its flaky meat. The combination of light soy, ginger, scallions and brown beans that tasted like capers complemented the fish really well.

Pork Bone Soup

A simple soup that consisted of boiled pork ribs, wolfberries and a type of vegetable that I’m not sure of. The soup had a very light flavor with a hint of bitterness from the vegetable.

Pan-Fried Liver

I had this back in Malaysia at Zhe Shan Mei but this version was much better! The liver had a nice bouncy texture and was excellent with the sweet soy-based sauce.

Kai-Lan with Garlic

This isn’t really Taiwanese but we needed some greens to end our meal.

Despite ordering quite a number of dishes between the two of us we finished everything because the portions were small. The food here was simple and delicious. and cost us NT$1300. The name of the restaurant was in Chinese. I would really appreciate it if one of you could help translate it for me.


Food: 4.2/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Price: $$ (Under $25 USD per person)


Contact Information
Address: If you can read Chinese please visit their website below
Tel: +8862322-2632
Web: www.sit-fun.com.tw

Hot Potting in Jhongli

It was my final night in Taiwan and my plan of going to Taipei for some street food was abandoned due to the rain. Because of the crappy weather we decided to have some hot pot inside a shopping mall nearby my hotel. Once again there's no English so I have no idea what the restaurant is called.



We ordered a simple set meal for 2 which came with two heavily seasoned and flavorful broths. The original flavor was herbal based that tasted very similar to China's Little Sheep Hot Pot chain. The Szechuan Ma-La flavor was so spicy I didn't even bother cooking my food in it.



Our set included some seafood, an array of vegetables, noodles, lamb and stuffed balls. I particularly liked the balls that they served. They had a nice bouncy texture and had stuffings such as minced meat and cheese.







The lamb is little too lean for my liking. Boiling it a little too short and it's raw but a minute too long and it tends to be chewy.



Overall, the food wasn't great. I still think the best Hot Pot is in Canada since it's all-you-can-eat and the quality of the meats and seafood is equivalent to all the high-end hot pot restaurants in Asia where you would have to pay through your nose to get the same quality.

Contact Information:
Address: N/A
Tel: N/A
Website: N/A

Hakka Cuisine in Jhongli, Taiwan

It's not even half-way through June and I've flown from Toronto-KL-Ningbo-Bangkok-KL and now I'm in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Despite all the work and jet lag I get the opportunity to try some of the local food that my clients and suppliers take me too. The restaurants that we would never know if we came as a tourist: "Hidden Eats".



This trip in Taoyuan, my supplier took me to an authentic Hakka Restaurant somewhere up in the mountain in Jhongli City. The drive was long and we passed through quite a few small tea plantations before we reached our restaurant.



Upon arriving at the restaurant I was greeted with a sort of calm that is much needed after all the work and travel. The surrounding view was amazing and the interior reminded me of an old Chinese tea house.





Not being able to read Chinese my supplier ordered all the dishes while I went to grab the rice and tea.



The dishes all arrived at about the same time. I decided to try the simplest of them all, the Fried Omelet. It's so simple but yet delicious. The egg was lightly crisp on the outside and very fluffy.



Next I tried the Steamed Free-Range (Kampung) Chicken. The chicken is a little on the tough side and bland but dip it in their sauce and the flavor level goes up another notch.



The Deep-Fried Tofu is another favorite of mine. That dollop of preserved bean paste sauce gives the soft tofu a good balance of sweet and salty.



The Braised Local River Fish with Hong Xiu Sauce was also delicious. The fish was so soft that the meat was literally falling off the bones. The savory sauce had a hint of ginger which complemented the fish really well.



For vegetables we had two different local stir-fried greens which I don't know what they're called. Both were cooked with garlic. I particularly liked the one that looked a little like long pea shoots. It had a nice bite to it and tasted very earthy.





Last but definitely not least is a dish synonymous with Hakka Cuisine, Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables. The one served here is different from the others I had. It was very dry and looked like the preserved vegetables and pork belly were packed tightly in a bowl and steamed. The slices of pork belly is also very thin.



Overall, I really enjoyed the food served here. Everything was simple and very hearty reminding us how simple ingredients if cooked properly can satisfy the tummy and soul. As a Hakka it also reminded me of the food that I grew up with when I was a kid.

Contact Information:
Address: Somewhere up in a mountain in Jhongli
Website: N/A
Phone: N/A