August 21, 2010
逸鮮棧 - Sushi & Fruit
The underutilized space in the alley behind our building finally saw signs of refurbishing earlier this year and this restaurant was the result, the core crew coming from the famous [Shintori] Japanese restaurant. The alley was soon packed with Benz and other fancy cars of the visiting diners. We were just looking for a convenient lunch, after finally putting the kid down for a nap. So we were rather under-dressed, walking into the fancy restaurant for a late lunch in our home casual clothes. The center of the restaurant is dominated by the three-sided sushi bar, with a few tables off to the side and a private room or two for large groups. Decorated in the modern-Nippon style with gray stone, white Corian, and stainless steel.
Wife didn't want a cold sushi meal, so we sat at a table instead of along the bar and ordered off the full menu. The menu featured different meats in combination with fruit, as befitting the name of the restaurant, while the sushi set meals offered chef's selections at various price levels. Perhaps I've been spoiled by being treated to more expensive Japanese restaurants, but I found the sushi platter to be just good, not great. But maybe that's on me for ordering the cheapest NT600 combo, when a typical sushi omisake course runs well over NT1000. It wasn't as if they were skimping on the materials, such as the anago eel instead of unagi was worth bonus points. And the pineapple roll was kinda cute, befitting the theme of the restaurant. Wife's entree featured a piece grilled free-range chicken thigh, decorated with peach slices and scallions. Very simple but nicely done, light and tasty. But the portion size was awfully small, even given the less extravagant pricing. And she doesn't like scallions. The accompanying bowl of fried rice, with its hint of curry flavoring, was not exactly to her liking either.
The sushi meal only included a few pieces of fresh fruit afterwards. But the chicken meal included a more extravagant dessert. In a clear glass was carefully layered with milk pudding on the bottom, a layer of clear gelatin and fruit medley, then a layer of fresh mangoes, and finally a scoop of mango ice cream on top, with passion-fruit sauce. Now that's something worth the price of admission, with the ingredients, textures, and construction all coming together, with enough size for the two of us to share.
It's not as if we left hungry, but perhaps given the high-end atmosphere we were expecting more out of an NT1000 lunch. On the other hand, that's not much money for a high-end Japanese meal, either. So perhaps what we need to do is to return to splurge for the higher tiers, preferably with a generous, well-off, relative in tow. After all, all those Mercedes-driving patrons can't be wrong?
逸鮮棧
台北市信義區忠孝東路4段500號之5
02-2725-3555