Visited GF's grandfather at NTU Hospital after his angioplasty. The basement of the hospital was recently redecorated to have a nice food court and shopping area in the basement with an Eslite Bookstore among others. Apparently the family's been getting douhua at this shop almost every day. We headed down to the basement for more soy goodness after putting grandpa to bed. I'm a purist, a bowl of warm 豆花 with only ginger syrup for me. GF and others got the combo-bowl with extras like tapioca, red bean, and grass jelly on top. That's a bit too many different squishy textures for me.
The douhua itself was quite good. Scooped into thin sheets thick enough to keep it from falling apart but thin enough so that each spoonful is buffered by plenty of syrup. Even though it was getting late, the douhua still had the right silken texture, without getting tough and overcooked (i.e. turn into tofu). Had a clean soy flavor which was not overwhelmed by the brown-sugar syrup. Would've liked a bit more zing from the ginger, but the flavor was definitely present.
Turns out that they have a bunch of locations in the food courts of the big department stores along with the original store, such as Breeze Center, Eslite XinYi, Living Mall, etc. Next time we eat at the mall I'll be sure to leave some room for dessert.
小南門傳統豆花
Multiple Locations
Was in the 公館 area near NTU, near the GF's old house before they moved to Xindian. The old place was still there, but the shops and restaurants have undergone plenty of turnover. Funny how it's the undistinguished, even dingy, little food stalls and sundry shops that have stood the test of time.
The Gasthaus is definitely one from the new school. Located within an interior alley and next to a small park, it manages a bit of tranquility in a bustling area. The furnishings were simple and spare without appearing cheap, although it probably is. The front of the room featured their baked goods like multi-grain dark breads and rolls and a freezer case of their home-made ice cream. A bar for the espresso machine and plenty of different glasses for the various German brews. And Taiwan beer, of course. I wonder what glass they use for that?
The menu is sort of nouveau-Deutsch when compared to other Taipei German restaurants, with other European influences like various pastas and a gyro-sausage. They were pushing the full multi-course meals, but it seemed way too much food even by my American sensibilities. So we went with the smaller set-meals, which still featured bread, salad, and dessert along with a smaller main. The bread was the afore-mentioned multi-grain rolls, which were surprisingly good, just about as good as the breads I actually had in Germany, with just a touch less gluten in comparison. Too bad they sandwiched the rolls with generic garlic-bread spread. A bit of salted plain butter would've been better. The salad base was the blah iceberg salad, but they did dress it up with some red cabbage and carrot shred for color, and a real balsamic vinaigrette dressing for flavor. Good way to do more with less.
I had the dual-sausage plate with a bratwurst and weisswurst, with a side of hand-made spaetzle dressed like a light pasta dish in herbs, olive oil, and multi-colored bell peppers. And a big scoop of sauerkraut, complete with caraway seeds, to give it that authentic touch, even if I couldn't eat all of it. I would guess most of their customers won't like it that much either. The sausages were juicy and flavorful with spices. A bit of ketchup and mustard on the side provided a change of pace. The thick, short spaetzle noodles were perfectly al dente, although the light olive-oil sauce kinda gets overwhelmed by the strong sausage flavors. Still, a really good side dish, and I wouldn't mind having the noodles by itself sometime. Washed it all down with a tall glass of Erdinger Unfiltered witbier. Can't go wrong with beer and sausages.
GF had the Chicken Cordon Bleu. Didn't have the heart to tell her it's not really German, although the preparation was a bit different than what I'm used to. Rather than breaded and fried, the chicken thigh, cheese, and ham was wrapped in pastry and baked. The pastry wrap kept the meat perfectly tender. A bit too salty for our tastes, but not out-of-line.
Had a scoop of palate-cleansing lemon sherbet for dessert, simple and good, although I would've liked a bit more acidity. Talked the GF into getting a slice of the apfelkuchen (i.e. German apple cake). The pie-like filling had big chunks of crunchy apple, but the crust was a thick, dense layer, almost like the crust of a Chinese pineapple snack-cake (鳳梨酥). It seemed a bit dry and come out of the cold case didn't help it, although whip cream can almost redeem any dessert. There's plenty of other cakes, pies, and ice cream flavors to try, though. There's plenty of food that'll be worth trying, too.
Goethe Gourmet Gasthaus
哥德德式創意美食
No. 11, Lane 283, Roosevelt Road, Section 3
台北市大安區羅斯福路3段283巷11號
02-23620060
The spring rain season has started and it was pouring outside. Thankfully uncled offered us a ride home from work plus a nice meal out. Turned out to be a guys' night with cousin and I plus uncle and his friend. The restaurant is located near the Far Eastern and you can tell that the place caters to the business crowd from the nearby office towers. The teppan table is perfect for an office get-together, whether out in the main dining area or in individual rooms. The food goes well with the usual Asian-biz binge-drinking, and there are flowery couches to lounge for an after-meal drink&smoke.
We shall be Manly Men tonight, eschewing wimpy set meals and going with the all-beef plan, accompanied by a couple bottles of fine Bordeaux reds. Arf-arf-arf. There was a cup of carrot cucumber, and celery sticks plus a squishy multi-grain roll for starters, but it's hardly worthwhile to say anything more about that.
Our chef showed soon after the wine was poured and he began to warm up the teppan for the preliminaries. First he sauteed a big pile of sliced garlic until golden brown. Even with the massive fume hood, the smell of the frying garlic soon permeated the room and perked up the appetite. He distributed the cooked garlic to our plates, then ground fresh pepper on the plate for meat-dipping. Plus we each had a dish of diced onion in soy-sesame dressing. The chef simply salted the beef, cook it quickly on the hot teppan (medium rare, please), cut it into bite-size pieces, and put it on our plate. We could then choose to accompany the meat with garlic, onions, pepper, or any combination of the above. Offers a variety of tasty, clean flavors without overwhelming the meat, unlike the typical goopy smothering sauces served by the cheap-o Taiwan steakhouses.
The meat itself was unlike the typical protein matter found in the cheap-o steakhouses, too. Both the thinly sliced ribeye and the thick filets were richly marbled and barely took any time to cook to perfect doneness. Not as much fun to have the meat cut into bite-sized pieces by the chef, as opposed to hacking through a big piece of steak yourself, but it does make for a smooth and pleasant dining experience. Wasn't cheap, but it was certainly the most carnivorously satisfying meal I've had in Taiwan.
圓桌鐵板燒
台北市大安區敦化南路2段128號B1樓
02-27008699
Didn't really have time during the trip to go out to eat, so we stuck to the hotel restaurant during our time there. Dark wood paneling and cozy booths made the restaurant a relaxed and quiet place for dinner. I usually make the effort to stay away from veal on general principle, but being my first time in Germany, I couldn't resist the wienerschnitzel with roasted potatoes. The perfectly breaded pieces of pan-fried veal cutlets were meant to be paired with beer. Went with the local brew, of course, a tall glass of dark, malty Diebels Alt Bier. Each cutlet was topped with a slice of lemon and a piece of anchovy, which was a surprise to me but I was told that it's a normal garnish. The meat and potatoes were generously seasoned as it were, and the salty fish almost pushed the saltiness past the scale. Hey, that's why we have beer. Good sign that our German guys ordered it the next night, too, although they got fries instead of roasted potatoes. Would've loved to have some pomme frites done right.
The hotel also offered a free breakfast. The buffet featured an impressive array of breaks, coldcuts, and cheeses. Along with fruit, yogurt, and different sorts of cereal/mueslix. Eggs cooked-to-order, too. Solid way to start the day.
Parkhotel Niederrhein
Neuendickstr. 96
47475 Kamp-Lintfort
+49 2842/21040
Needed a place for a late dinner with the GF, since neither of us were that hungry 'til then. GF did some research on the Net and Dozo got some good reviews as a night-spot and as an izakaya. Plus it's close by. Good thing we were calling relatively late, since the only way we were getting a table was by slipping in after the dinner crowd and before the nightlife crowd. High ceiling, mirrored walls, spot lighting, and plush chairs indicated that this isn't your typical after-work drinking-spot type of izakaya. There was the Japanese guy and his Taiwanese companion chattering away in Japanese next to us. One more seat over was a couple of OLs well on their way to finishing off the five-liter tower-of-beer. Hey, a fancy izakaya is still an izakaya, and that means beer and lots of it. I had my usual, the fresh-lemon shoju sowa. They give a bottle of marble soda instead of the usual unflavored soda water, so it's quite a bit sweeter, which I'm not sure I like. GF got the green-tea latte, which was basically concentrated green tea mixed with foamed milk. Tasty but not really special or complex in any particular way.
There was a loft with taiko drums and a Japanese dulcimer for some added entertainment. Taiko wouldn't be my first choice for chamber music, although they did give it a shot by playing a 梁靜如 ballad to start. Delicate ballads don't usually come with a big drum section, so the taiko guy was reduced to an occasional bang behind the dulcimer. Thankfully the other numbers had the big drums hammering away. Even more thankfully the show was over soon enough to we can get back to dinner.
The sesame-miso salad dressing came in a shot-glass which was a clever touch, a light and flavorful way to add flavor to the mixed veggies. The teppan kimchee pork had plenty of hot kimchee. Really could've used some white rice to go with it. Instead we got the Dozo special grilled rice-triangle. The big hunk of rice was grilled to give it a nice golden color on the outside, and stuffed with dried fish-roe (or something like that) for flavor. The stuffing did make it a bit too salty as an accompaniment to other dishes, and the grilling seemed to do more to dry out the rice rather than imparting that grill-char flavor. Should've gone with the sushi-maki instead.
The meat skewer is the signature dish of an izakaya. The skewer combo plate featured various mysterious but tasty fatty/crunchy/gelatinous pig/chicken bits and innards, along with a straightforward chicken teriyaki kebab, a piece of unagi, and a beef-roll skewer. The beef was the star of the show, thin slices of tender, barely-cooked beef wrapped around scallions and daikon. Unfortunately the GF was a bit squeamish of the fatty bits and not a big fan of under-cooked beef.
Dozo makes for a great night-spot for those wanting to see and be seen (it's next to the CTS TV studios), but for izakaya food I liked the more casual Watami (和民) better. Surprisingly the cost-per-person ended up being very similar (i.e. not cheap), even though Watami appears to be more casual and less up-scale at first sight. Must be the fancy east-Taipei rents.
Dozo
台北市信義區光復南路102號
02-27781135
I really should find some good places to eat near CKS Memorial Hall. Was getting late after hanging out at the National Library with the GF doing some thesis research. Decided to pass by the Lantern Festival at the CKS because of the wind and rain. Walked around, in the said wind and rain, looking for a place to eat. The smaller places didn't appeal, so it was down to one chain or another: Yoshinoya or MOS Burger. Had the feeling that Yoshinoya would be tastier, but I've had my share of Beef Bowls and I've never tried MOS Burger. GF did not have an opinion in the matter (it's two fast food chains who the fuck cares).
I got an Italian Burger and Onion Rings with a large Coke. The "large" drink was actually worthy of the name, even by American standards (although it'd be more of a big-medium in the US), which surprised me since I was used to the sorry excuse for "large" lattes in Taiwan coffee shops. The burger as a whole was big and thick, almost as good as the pictures, except that the patty itself was pathetically thin with lots of fillers. The remaining volume was taken up by a large mound of fresh-shredded lettusce and a thick slice of red tomato with a creamy dressing on top. The veggies were surprisingly fresh and crisp, totally unlike the yellow and wilted vegetable matter at MickeyD. It was more like eating a salad sandwich bit of meat for accompaniment, which was actually pretty good in its own way, but it's no double-double, that's for sure. The onion ring portion was a bit small, but crunchy and tasty. Always good to have a convenient option for onion rings for when the urge strikes.
MOS Burger
Many locations in Taipei
