吃飯了嗎？

雅朵碟子義大利廚房 - Piattini e Vini

Formerly the Osteria Rialto, reoriented from formal Venetian cuisine towards more small-plate, casual style more suited to the Taiwan audience. They did a good job in bringing a bit of authentic Italian flair to the restaurant. More importantly, an authentic brick oven in the kitchen to do the pizza crusts right, as shown best in the simple Pizza Margherita. Ponied up for the deluxe version with the Mozzarella di Bufala and organic tomatoes and felt like we got our money's worth.

I ordered the ricotta gnocchi. The potato dumplings were hand-made and fluffy, but the ricotta cream sauce was a bit one-note and congealed once it cooled off. A stronger cheese like gorgonzola would've made a more interesting dressing but I can see how the stinky cheese might be off-putting to the Asian palate of the typical clientele.

They were tearing up the streets and sidewalks right outside the restaurant at the time which must've murdered their business as we were the only ones there on a Sunday evening. However, now that the street's been repaved business seemed improved when we walked by again. Hopefully they'll stay around (unlike their late sister-restaurant in the Neo19 complex), since a good neighborhood Italian restaurant is certainly not to be taken for granted in Taiwan.

雅朵碟子義大利廚房
Piattini e Vini
台北市松山區光復南路260巷5號
02-27781536

土三寒六讚岐烏龍麵

The wife loves udon noodles, so it's a bit surprising that we never tried this dedicated udon shop until now. Her cousin suggested it as a good dinner spot after a hard afternoon's full-contact shopping at Sogo and I met them there coming from home.

The place is built like an authentic Japanese noodle bar. The open kitchen bustles with cooks juggling boiling noodles and steamy broths. There are seats at the bar for a quick meal or tables for sit-down dining. The walls are decorated with posters of Kagawa Prefecture, the historical home of the udon.

I ordered the unfamiliar Tanuki Udon because in CHANGE, 木村拓哉's character got stumped by the kids he was teaching on why the noodles with fried bits on top was named for racoons. His explanation was unconvincing, but the noodles were very good. I think I would've preferred a more substantial option for my noodle-topping, though. Also got a side order of takoyaki for everyone to share as an appetizer. One taste and you can tell that it's not their strong suit, but I'll give them a pass for it so long as they do their main thing well, which they do.

土三寒六讚岐烏龍麵
台北市大安區復興南路1段126巷6號1樓
02-27754611

提拉米蘇蛋糕

We had just finished lunch and were wandering down Fuxing Ave. near DaAn MRT station when we noticed the unassuming cake shop and did a double-take. Tiramisu Cakes built a solid local reputation in Hualien before becoming a popular mail-order outlet, now finally opened up shop in Taipei. We'd had their cakes before on our trip to Hualien and they were very good. We weren't even particularly hungry but there's definitely always room for dessert. The shop sells slices of their signature tiramisu along with other cakes for 35NTD a slice, which was entirely too reasonable. Comparable in price to the 85C Coffee's cakes but the quality blows it away. They also offer coffee drinks and some space to eat in, but most people just drove by and hopped out of their cars to grab whole cakes to go. Too bad the location is a little out of the usual way for us otherwise we'd be here quite a lot.

提拉米蘇精緻蛋糕
台北市復興南路二段162號
02-23256578

吉奈屋咖喱烏龍麵

The wife loves udon noodles, so I've been eying the new Taiwan outpost of the Japanese chain ever since it opened on Guangfu Rd. On the other hand, we're used to the traditional soup stock or stir-fried udons. The thought of the sweet and goopy Japanese-style curry on noodles didn't seem particularly appetizing.

However, we didn't go out searching for food until late one night. Other nearby restaurants were starting to close and the SO blanched at the thought of McDonalds. So it seemed as good a time as any to give Konaya a try.

We came in right near closing time so they'd already shut down the fryer, so no katsu or tempura for us. But the duck-breast over their signature curry udon wasn't bad at all. The soup stock had a strong Japanese curry flavor without being thick and goopy like the curry sauce on rice. The soft-boiled egg could go right into the noodles to add even more richness, while the other side dishes with the green salad and brown rice are safe and healthy. Excess curry soup goes well over the brown rice, too. The udon noodles themselves were thick and springy as they should be, perfect to wick up the flavorful soup in one long, noisy slurp, Japanese-style.

巢鴨古奈屋
臺北市光復南路306號
(國父紀念館旁)
02-2751-3568