S.T.A.Y. - Simple Table Alleno Yannick

Visit: Jan. 26, 2012
Address: 台北市信義路5段7號4樓(台 北101大樓)
Number: (02) 8101-8177

So after waiting for about… 3 months.. or at least for however long I’ve heard about STAY, I finally got the chance to go try out their lunch today. I would definitely love to try their dinner as well, but my parents aren’t as much of a food fanatic as I am. Lunch will do :)
I was able to get some pictures of my $1900 NT set as well as some of the dishes from my mom’s $1480 NT set.

Lunch Menu

Lunch Menu

A La Carte Menu

A La Carte Menu

First Course: Selection of Canape ($1480 & $1900 sets)

Selection of Canape ($1480 & $1900 sets)

 When the canape’s were first served, we were told to taste these from right to left. Each of these were all very tasty. The salmon mousse (?) on the left was rich in flavor with a very creamy texture. The quail egg in the middle provided a refreshing contrast even with the egg salad on the top of the quail egg. The egg salad although was creamy, gave the impression of being very light. I know it sounds contradictory, but it worked. I don’t remember much of the dish on the right. Overall the canape’s were a pleasant surprise. It might seem like a disgustingly rich dish at first glance, but it really isn’t.

The bread basket consisted of three kinds of breads: olive pita, a hard round roll, and a baguette. The olive pita had a faint hint of olive and was a little dry. I would’ve liked the olive to have a more prominent presence. The hard round roll didn’t taste like anything in particular. The crust was hard and the insides were a little dry as well. The baguette was pretty interesting since it had crispy sharp ends sticking out from the sides. Again the outsides were hard and the insides were a little too dry. I had this after my canape, so maybe it was better warm? (assuming that they served it warm). I blame this all on the parents since they wouldn’t start eating sooner, and I was just trying to be the polite child :D

Second Course: Buffalo Buratta- Rocket, Pesto and Confit Tomato ($1480 set)

Buffalo Buratta- Rocket, Pesto and Confit Tomato ($1480 set)

The pointy thing would be some of the baguette I was talking about. The buffalo buratta was amazing with the creamy texture along with a light flavor of cheese. (I like lighter flavors) The pesto on top of the rocket was also a right balance of flavor without the watery texture you often get in Taiwan.

Second Course: Eggs “Cocotte” -Seasonal mushrooms and garlic bread ($1900 set)

Eggs “Cocotte” -Seasonal mushrooms and garlic bread ($1900 set)

This was actually prettier, but I dissected it since I thought the inside would be much more interesting. When I dug in, I was greeted by the egg yolk that sat perfectly in the middle of the egg white. The egg yolk was half cooked so that it still retained a little bit of the juiciness. However, I thought that it would’ve been better if it was still more undercooked so that the texture would be even creamier. The foam on the top tasted like nothing…so that was uninteresting. The egg white was seasoned nicely with enough flavor and a hint of mushrooms. The mushrooms really made the dish a lot more flavorful. Props to the mushrooms.

The garlic bread was just the baguette from the bread basket with maybe the top quarter cut off and drowned in garlic butter. The bread was neither warm nor good. There was way too much garlic butter and it gave me the impression that the baguette was the one they had accidentally burnt when they were toasting it for the bread basket, which is why they had to shave the top part off. Is that too harsh?

Third Course: Pumpkin “veloute”-Roasted hazelnuts, whipped Dijon mustard cream ($1480 set)

They first served everything but the pumpkin veloute, then they poured it into the plate. The pumpkin veloute tasted just like a richer version of normal pumpkin soup and was creamy without the nice scent of pumpkin. The hazelnuts within the soup lacked its taste as well. The whipped Dijon mustard just tasted like cream and made the dish even heavier than it already is. This was definitely not a very well thought-out dish.

Third Course: Chestnuts Cream -Foie gras, raw and cooked chestnuts ($1900 set)

Chestnuts Cream -Foie gras, raw and cooked chestnuts ($1900 set)

They first serve the warm plate with everything other than the chestnut cream, then they pour the cream from a small pitcher right in front of you.

Chestnuts Cream -Foie gras, raw and cooked chestnuts ($1900 set)

 I have got to say, the cream was as fancy as the procedure the waiters undertook. The raw and cooked chestnuts added a crunchy contrast to the rich chestnut cream, although I felt like the cooked chestnut tasted a lot better in terms of the flavor. Hunting for the pieces of foie gras was like discovering christmas presents under the tree on christmas day. The foie gras turned the cream from a dish that could make you easily disgusted to a dish that you could never have enough of.

Fourth Course: Grilled Salmon-Baby leek and bell pepper virgin sauce ($1480 set)

When I get grilled salmon, I’m usually greeted with a fillet swimming in oil, but this time, the salmon was simply too dry. The salmon lacked flavor and the leek was not used to its potential. This was not a very memorable dish at all.

Fourth Course: Pan-fried veal tenderloin-Creamy long macaroni, parmesan flakes and veal juice ($1900 set)

Pan-fried veal tenderloin-Creamy long macaroni, parmesan flakes and veal juice ($1900 set)

After such a successful start, the $1900 main course was just a disappointment. The veal tenderloin was overcooked, too dry, and lacked flavor. Now that I think of it, I’m surprised the waiter didn’t ask how well we wanted it done. I thought that maybe veal juice under the veal would add to the flavor… but it didn’t. The long macaroni was a teeny bit undercooked, and the cream sauce just wasn’t rich enough to compensate for the bland tasting veal. The only thing I liked about the dish were the parmesan flakes. I don’t know if it’s because the parmesan was good in quality, or because shaving the cheese into flakes just makes everything better…all I know is that they were awesome.

Fifth Course: Mignardise ($1480 and $1900 sets)

Mignardise ($1480 and $1900 sets)

The mignardise featured strawberry puffs and chocolate. The strawberry puff skins felt stale and the strawberry filling just tasted like cream and sugar. They failed to bring out the flavor of the strawberry. The chocolate outer shell on the other hand, was crispy and tasted like chocolate cookie. The filling though, was just creamy and lacked cocoa flavor as well. It was awkward - creamy with a sweetness of dark chocolate, but lacking in the taste of chocolate.

Sixth Course (Dessert): Crunchy almond tuile-Lychee sorbet, jasmine tea and caramelized pear ($1480 set)

Crunchy almond tuile-Lychee sorbet, jasmine tea and caramelized pear ($1480 set)

This is something you should definitely get for a Taiwanese mom. The lychee sorbet was refreshing and not too sweet. I don’t remember tasting the pear or the jasmine tea, but the almond tuile was crunchy and yummy.

Sixth Course (Dessert): Classic cheesecake-strawberries ($1900 set)

Classic cheesecake-strawberries ($1900 set)

Once again, I cut the white chocolate coated spherical cheesecake open to show you the strawberry filling. The filling itself wasn’t too sweet and a light strawberry flavor was brought out. However, the cheesecake on the outside just tasted like light cream cheese + sugar with the texture of rich cream. I could barely taste the cheese and I felt like I was just eating cream since the strawberry filling was light in flavor as well. Although the shell of the cheesecake was super sweet white chocolate, it added only sugar to the overall taste without much chocolate.

The garnish were two types of strawberries, biscuit, and sugar-coated pomelo strips. The first type of strawberry was just normal raw strawberry. The second type however tasted a little funny by itself but relatively okay with the sugary biscuit. The strawberries were simmered probably in really light sugar water so it basically lost all the sweetness and flavor. The sugar-coated pomelo strips just tasted like how it sounds.

Seventh Course: Tea/Coffee Treats-cookies ($1480 and $1900 sets)

Tea/Coffee Treats-cookies ($1480 and $1900 sets)

There were two kinds of cookies: chocolate nut cookie and sugar cookies. The chocolate nut cookies although had chocolate chips inside, did not taste chocolatey at all. If I hadn’t seen the chocolate chip, I guess it would’ve passed as good nut cookies. The sugar cookies were…not so great. There really was no flavor other than sugar and oil (not even the flavor of butter).

Overall though, I was pretty satisfied with the turnout of my set. After tasting my mom’s $1480 set, I appreciated my $1900 set much much more. But then again, it’s more expensive for a reason. I’m borderline on whether or not the lunch was worth paying so much for because although I was satisfied, the fact remains that the main course (the most important course!!) was not so great.