February 11, 2007
Jack's Topia 創意廚房
Noticed that it's been months since we've gone to a memorable restaurant. Now that it's my birthday and Valentine's Day and our imminent engagement it seemed liked an appropriate time to splurge a bit. I had ran into this restaurant before and was intrigued but saw the price tag and balked at the time but bookmarked the page for reference which came in handy now. The room was only half full, surprisingly empty considering it was the last weekend before Valentines, but this type of establishment isn't the type for packed tables and multiple turns anyway, and a quiet room was certainly fine by us.
Only imported bottled water here. As long as we're paying for the fancy H2O we might as well get the CO2, too. A slice of lemon brightened up the Pellegrino even more and the waitress was prompt to fill the glasses.
Asked for the winelist and recognized quite a few names from uncle's fancy wine collection. However I wasn't about to pay the 2-3x markups on those already high-priced vintages, and we can't possibly finish a bottle by ourselves anyway. So a glass of the house red (an Australian McWilliams Cabernet Sauvignon) will do. GF had a sip of the house Pinot Grigio and passed. Sticking to the fancy water may have been the right idea in any case as we weren't terribly impressed with the particular single-glass selection.
A couple of thin and crispy poppy-seed cookies came in a glass standing up embedded within a layer of sesame seeds. Nice presentation to demonstrate off-the-bat that it's not just a wannabe Western restaurant.
The triple-play amuse bouche was another pleasant surprise. The Hokkaido scallop had the sweet fresh seafood flavor and the wasabi mayonnaise added color and kick. The morsel of smoked salmon sitting on a rosette of a corn crisp (taste reminded me of a gourmet Frito) was a bit of salt and smoke to perk the appetite. The chunk of potato on a spoon... tasted like potato. They can't all be winners.
Can't help choosing the fois gras appetizer when I saw the choice. There were perhaps more creative choices available. But the fatty richness of the seared duck liver is still seductive, and I could soak up the excess duck fat with the good dinner rolls. The tomato confit was an interesting touch. It was a bit sweet for my tastes although I understand that's the way to go with fois gras.
I had the lotus-root salad while the GF had the cream-of-mushroom cappuccino soup. The salad consisted of the thinnest possible slices of lotus root forming an attractive base layer, with finely chopped frisee and endive sprinkled on top for color, all dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. It's not bad, but I could just imagine mom freaking out if she saw how much we were spending for such a trivial amount of food, even if the materials are imported and organic and all that. The cappuccino soup is also a fun presentation, served in a coffee cup with a thick layer of milk foam on top. GF though the soup was a bit too milky but I thought it was just fine if you didn't suck in all the foam. The foam also helped to keep the soup warm. But the foam and the small cup also meant that there wasn't much more than a few sips of (very tasty) soup.
Had to wait quite a while for our mains as the kitchen was busy handling the table of eight sitting downstairs. From their boisterous conversation GF noted that they were doctors with their wives, the traditional bedrock of Taiwan's upper-middle class. I was fine with the delay since we were moving at a European pace anyway and they've been good at pacing the different courses between my full prix fixe meal and GF's fewer a la carte selections. GF's fish course was two thin filets of white fish pan-seared for crispy skin and moist meat. The fish sat on a mound of shredded cabbage sauteed just enough to bring out the natural sweetness while maintaining the crunch. The plate was attractively dressed with light green olive oil and chunks of red tomato. I was looking forward to a hearty and savory wine-braised beef cheeks, but it was more lukewarm which was a minus. The chunks of meat were spot-on in flavor and tenderness, though. The mashed potato was very good too, although I shuddered to think how much butter was added to make it so rich and smooth.
It's officially a fancy meal when you get both petit fours and dessert. The former consisted of a green-tea mini-biscotti, an almond praline, and a truffled white chocolate. I think we both liked the classic praline best. The biscotti was hard (duh) and although the green tea color was nice it didn't bring much macha flavor. We've never tasted the supposedly wondrous fungus that is the truffle, so the earthy, slightly fungal flavor mixed with the white chocolate was distinctive and challenging but not necessarily pleasant. Although it wasn't nominally included with her a-la-carte meal, they comped the GF the tea and candy so she wouldn't have to sit and watch me drink my tea as we shared the dessert. Basic but highly-appreciated bit of service considering it's only some hot water and a few pieces of candy.
The dessert was perfectly made for sharing as we delicately split the four tasty morsels. There were mango and chocolate mousses, a gelatin topped with a blackberry confit, and a bite-sized cream puff stuffed with more chocolate mousse which I got to pop into my mouth as the GF was done. They steamed the milk when I asked for milk to go with tea, which was a nice touch but I burned my mouth when I didn't get the usual cool-down effect from the milk, which just goes to prove I'm an idiot.
All-in-all not cheap, certainly not if you care about quantity at all, but not that expensive either, if one considers a restaurant to be in the service industry instead of a simple feeding station. Too bad we finished our meal late, though, because we could've gone 'cross the street to get a Beijing-style beef da-bing to help fill the GF up.
Jack's Topia Gourmet Restaurant
創意廚房
台北市東豐街38號1樓
02-2325-6561