Haagen-Dazs - Chocolate Fondant

Haagen Dazs - Chocolate Fondant

When I want ice cream. I want it.

On Tap - Restaurant & Bar

Visit: Jan. 15, 2012
Address: 台北市大安區忠孝東路四段216巷11弄21號
Number: (02) 2741-5365
Website: http://www.ontaptaipei.com

One morning in the midst of boring biology class, my friend strongly recommended on tap, an American restaurant and bar. Since then, it has climbed higher up my food list as I heard more an more good things. I’m not sure if it was because of my reunion with old friends that day, because I was pretty buzzed, or because it really was good food. All I know is that I had an awesome time.

The same friend who recommended on tap also loved their gravy cheese fries, but I ended up getting the chili cheese fried instead. What was awesome about the fries was that unlike usual Taiwanese cheese fries servings, most of the fries were able to get at least an edge of cheese if not covered yummily in them. The fries themselves were mediocre though because I would’ve liked them crispier. The same mediocrity applied to the chili, but then again, I’ve never been a fan of oily chunks of minced beef wallowing on top of my crispy fries.

My friend also got calamari salad which was a simple salad with fried calamari rings. I felt like the calamari could have been much crispier, but other than that, this was your typical salad.

From the left: Gin+Diet Coke, White Russian, Vodka+Sprite

 At on tap, I was also fortunate enough to visit during their happy hour. Out of all my $90 NT drinks: gin+diet coke, whiskey+diet coke, rum+diet coke, i definitely liked gin+diet coke the most. I also tried a bit of my friend’s white Russian which featured a sweet creamy white chocolate drink. I would definitely recommend it to all the sweet tooths out there. I also tried some of the margarita, except it wasn't frozen...so that felt a little gross. From all the diet cokes, I guess it’s quite obvious that I made a failed attempt at cutting calories because the gravy fries were obviously not enough, I finally caved in to tasty vodka red bull and brownie~~~

Brownie & Ice Cream

 My perspective might have been a little skewed from the alcohol, but I’m pretty sure my taste buds were telling me that the brownies were somewhat fudgy and yummy. These aren’t the super soft and moist ones, but were mildly chewy without being overly dry. With vanilla ice cream drizzling its essence onto the warm brownie propped nicely on the warm plate, this was the grand finale to the awesome experience.

I would definitely go to On Tap again for a relaxing drink or just food with friends. As of now, I would go back to On Tap rather than to Chilis or Outback simply because the fries were good and the atmosphere amazing at a reasonable price, but I have yet to try On Tap’s burgers which might just tip the scale to its disfavor. After this experience, I guess the only thing I really want to say is that mixing so many different kinds of alcohol is a bad bad idea.

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.

Yong Kang Beef Noodle

Visit: Dec. 21, 2011
Address: 台北市大安區金山南路二段31巷17號
Number: (02) 2351-1051

After a few months of anticipation, I finally went to go try the yong kang beef noodle soup. I have to say, it was quite a disappointment.
I ordered the 紅燒牛筋麵, 粉蒸排骨, 豬耳朵 and finally 烤麩. The dishes all arrived at the table promptly after ordering. The restaurant was a little bit cramped and filled with foreigners for some reason.

紅燒牛筋麵: The beef tendons I have to say was good. It was extremely tender and juicy. The noodles however, had no texture to it. They weren’t exactly hard or soft, they were just…there. When I ordered the noodles, the woman warned me that the noodles would be a little spicy…but I was greatly let down by the the lack of chili :( I guess I should’ve told her I wanted mine spicy. but I had to share this with a friend, so I didn’t want to be rude. The soup was okay, but I felt that it lacked a bit of dimension in there. Overall, this was an extremely mediocre dish.

粉蒸排骨: Once again, this was not stunning in any way or form. I regret to inform that my grandma’s 粉蒸排骨tastes better than the one I had today. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good. The meat lacked the texture, but the taste and the seasoning was all there. The yam on the bottom could have been steamed for just a bit longer because when I had it, the middle was still a little bit hard.

豬耳朵: This was good, not great. The portions for the side dishes were surprisingly large though. I’m a huge fan on 豬耳朵 in general and I loved the amount of garlic and chili that was in this dish. I would have liked a little bit more spiciness to it, but that’s just me. As much as I liked the dish, I would definitely not recommend anyone eat this before an important meeting or interview.

烤麩: This was a little too oily for me to handle. When I bit into it, i felt my mouth fill up with oil and honestly, it was a little nasty despite the nice seasoning. However, I felt that the wood ear and bamboo also in the dish was not as thoroughly marinated as I would’ve liked it to be.
Overall, this was just a very mediocre beef noodle store. I feel like I’ve heard about this place a lot, but when I asked my friend, he didn’t even know that this was famous. So hum… don’t really know what’s going on.