Song Chu [宋廚菜館]

Visit: May 21, 2012
Address: 台北市信義區忠孝東路五段15巷14號
Number: (02) 2764-4788

I know that I always say that "I've been wanting to try this restaurant for a long time" and I mean, it's true every single time I say that, but man, in Song Chu's case, when I say this, I'm definitely not kidding. It was probably November 2011 that I've talked about Song Chu consistently with my friends. First we made plans for Thanksgiving break, then Winter break. Spring break seemed very likely... but none of those plans ever happened because of our schedules, but mostly due to Song Chu notorious reputation for the impossible reservations.

As you read this post, you might realize that the English names of the dishes might not accurately reflect the dishes, but I'm trying my best to translate it from Mandarin. If you have any suggestions, do tell me! I'm not going to be offended, and I'm feeling a bit lonely talking to myself on here all the time anyways.

Menu


I only have like 2 pages of the menu.

Mixed Cabbage, Peanuts and Bean Curd - Complimentary (松柏長青 -  招待)

Mixed Cabbage, Peanuts and Bean Curd

I think I've mentioned before that I'm really into sweet and sour Chinese appetizers, so the yum mixed cabbage really suited me.
Green Bean Starch Sheet Mixed with Cucumbers, Mushrooms, Ham and Egg in Sesame and Wasabi Sauce (兩張皮 - 小) 196 NT

Green Bean Starch Sheet Mixed with Cucumbers, Mushrooms, Ham and Egg in Sesame and Wasabi Sauce

Green Bean Starch Sheet Mixed with Cucumbers, Mushrooms, Ham and Egg in Sesame and Wasabi Sauce

Have you ever had the Chinese
cold noodles flavored with some sesame sauce? This is exactly the same thing except with a little twist. Instead of the usual noodles, they served it with the vermicelli sheets made from green beans which added to its texture. The dish also had a bit of the wasabi enough to make you want more, but not enough to be spicy.

Stir-fried Pig Intestine in Brown Sauce (九轉肥腸 - 小) 285 NT

Stir-fried Pig Intestine in Brown Sauce

The pig intestine was sweet and salty due to the brown sauce. I like the pig intestines, but because of its sweet and bold flavor as well as its oiliness, it's easy to get sick of it.

Steamed Beef Brisket (清蒸牛腩 - 中) 350 NT

Steamed Beef Brisket

Out of all the dishes, this was my least favorite not because it was bad, but because I thought it wasn't very special. My sister really liked it though.

Steamed Fried Tofu (鍋塌豆腐 - 小) 160 NT

Steamed Fried Tofu

I didn't quite fancy the dish that much, but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. I thought that this was a very standard dish.

Roasted Duck (烤鴨) 900 NT

Roasted Duck with Flour Skin

Roasted Duck

The star of the day! I really liked how there wasn't a disgusting huge layer of fat on the duck's skin. The meat was also tender and not too dry, plus the brown sauce was really yummy. We ordered more spring onions and brown sauce, and I have a feeling that we had to pay for those extra servings -.- I wasn't the one who sorted out the bill though, so I'm not completely sure.


Stir fried Duck in Brown Sauce (醬爆鴨) + 100 NT

Stir fried Duck in Brown Sauce

I think that this might be my favorite dish of the day. The stir fried duck was part of the duck we preordered. I'm really into the brown sauce, so the fact that the yummy duck is stir fried in my favorite brown sauce... there was definitely a party in my mouth~
Chinese Green Onion Pancake (蔥油餅) 40 NT

Chinese Green Onion Pancake

I read a lot of blogs, and the consensus was that the Chinese green onion pancake was really good. However, after tasting it, I wasn't impressed at all. There are many street vendors onthe alleys of Taipei that surpassed this.

Stir-fried Cabbage - Small (炒高麗菜 - 小) 190 NT

Stir-fried Cabbage

This is your everyday stir fried cabbage.
Bean Paste Pancake (豆沙鍋餅) 200 NT

Bean Paste Pancake

The bean paste pancake was really really good. The one flaw that bad bean paste pancakes have in common is that the bean paste is too sweet. The pancake here had a really fresh tasting and not too sweet paste, and the pancake skin wasn't soggy like many of the others I've tried. Make sure to eat this when it's sizzling hot :)

Song Chu is undoubtedly very good. Out of all the duck I've had, Song Chu and Dragon Restaurant are probably two of my favorites. I didn't think that the service was too great since the lady seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed or something The prices though were more than reasonable and I was surprised at how cheap everything was despite its demand The rest of the dishes at Song Chu are all delicious, so I'd definitely recommend this. Even though Song Chu did not disappoint, I'm still not sure if the restaurant was worth reserving one month in prior for...and I still only got weekday lunch reservations.

Shanghai Shanghai Restaurant [紅豆食府]

Visit: May 20, 2012
Address: 台北市士林區中山北路六段77號 8F (Sogo)
Number: (02) 2833-2208
Website: www.shanghaishanghai.com.tw/

As a little celebration since my cousin just came back from college in the States, we decided that it was only appropriate to dine at a Chinese restaurant. Since my grandma for some reason wanted to stay in Tien Mu, we ended up at Shanghai Shanghai - a good but not amazing, Chinese restaurant.

Menu

Deep-fried Diced Chicken with Dried Hot Pepper (香辣子雞) 360 NT

Deep-fried Diced Chicken with Dried Hot Pepper

This reminded me so much of the Kung-Pao style chicken.

Stinky Tofu Kung-Pao Style (宮保臭豆腐) 250 NT

Stinky Tofu Kung-Pao Style

I think I would've much liked the tofu to be crispier, but the stinky tofu kung-pao style is still a pretty solid dish. However, if you're really into kung-pao tofu, The Peak still has the best in my opinion.

Dry-fried Szechuan-style String Beans with Minced Pork (乾扁四季豆) 280 NT

Dry-fried Szechuan-style String Beans with Minced Pork

For some odd reason, a lot of people avoid the minced pork when they're eating this dish... but isn't the minced pork what makes this dish sing? Shanghai Shanghai does a pretty good job with the dish.

Eel Stir-fried with Leek Sprouts (韭黃鱔魚) 360 NT

Eel Stir-fried with Leek Sprouts

I didn't really have much of this because for some reason, my mom hates it when I have eel, but mostly because they mixed the corriander into the dish... disgusting. The eel was decent, but I think I've had better.

Stinky Tofu Braised in Clay Pot (砂鍋臭豆腐) 250 NT

Stinky Tofu Braised in Clay Pot

I guess you're thinking that I have a crazy family, so much stinky tofu in one day. The stinky tofu in the braised clay pot wasn't as great as I would've liked it to be.

 Braised Pork Belly in Brown Sauce - 3 Pieces (東坡肉 - 3塊) 435 NT

Braised Pork Belly in Brown Sauce

Even though I've lived in Taiwan all my life, I think the number of times I've had Dong Puo Pork Belly (Braised pork belly in brown sauce) is actually limited. So when they served this dish, I found it to be a little too sweet for my liking even though the meat itself was amazing. But don't count on me about the flavoring, I'm no expert when it comes to this dish.


Sea Cucumber Braised with Scallions (蔥燒烏蔘 - 半條) 490 NT

Sea Cucumber Braised with Scallions

The scallions are currently hidden, but man I loved the scallions in the sauce. My mom always says I'm weird for loving scallions so much, but hey, they're just amazing. I didn't fancy the sea cucumber much though. The quality didn't taste that great, and instead of a soft texture., the sea cucumber was really rubbery and felt uncooked.

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings (花素蒸餃) 180 NT

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings

I don't think that there was anything special about the vegetable dumplings.
Chilled Vegetable Fern Salad (涼拌過貓) 200 NT

Chilled Vegetable Fern Salad

Tree fern has a very interesting texture that I like. The dish at Shanghai Shanghai was serves chilled and in my opinion, was just okay.
Cured Jelly Pork (冰宮肴肉) 280 NT

Cured Jelly Pork

I live pork jelly :) This is personal bias, but I wish that there was more jelly instead of the pork strips.
Sauteed Tofu Sheets with Preserved Mustard Greens (雪菜百頁) 240 NT

Sauteed Tofu Sheets with Preserved Mustard Greens

I wasn't a huge fan of this even though my mom seems to love it. If I remeber correctly, Fung's makes this better.

Shanghai Shanghai was exactly as I expected. I would recommend this as just a good Chinese restaurant, but don't expect to be wow-ed. Now that I think about it, it's a pretty reliable chain with clean restaurants to take any friends visiting Taiwan.

Diamond Tony's Panorama [隨意鳥地方 高空觀景餐廳]

Visit: May 18, 2012
Address: 台北市信義區信義路五段7號85樓 (Inside Taipei 101)
Number: (02) 8101-0016
Website: http://www.diamond-tony.com.tw/

Menu

Diamond Tony's Panorama Dinner Menu

Freshly Baked Garlic Bread and Fresh Crab Meat in Cream Sauce - Set (奶油蟹肉特製沾醬、現烤香料手工麵包 - 套餐) 

Baked Garlic Bread in Crab Meat Cream Sauce

 Props to both the bread and the sauce (: The bread was nicely warm and toasted with garlic spread inside the bread... it just gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. The crab meat sauce was so addictive. It's not really anything fancy, but honestly cream sauce dip... who can resist?

Soup: Minestrone Vegetable Soup with Beef - Set (羅馬蔬菜牛肉燉湯 - 套餐) 

Minestrone Vegetable Soup with Beef

 The soup was pretty standard and the beef wasn't too bad either.

Soup: Wild Mushroom Cream Soup - Set (法式蘑菇野菌濃湯) 

Wild Mushroom Cream Soup

 I was really disappointed with the soup. The flavoring wasn't that great and it was also much too watery to be called a cream soup. I really would've liked to be able to taste the mushroom instead of just finding bits of it floating around in my soup.  


Cold Appetizer: “Carpaccio of Veal Tenderloin” - Set (醋醃生小牛肉片附帕梅森乾酪及續隨子 - 套餐)

“Carpaccio of Veal Tenderloin”

Cold Appetizer: Caesar Salad, Diamond Tony’s Style - Set (巴諾羅馬脆培根凱撒沙拉、蕃茄與水牛輕乳酪 - 套餐)

Caesar Salad, Diamond Tony's Style

Cold Appetizer: Norwegian Smoked Salmon - Set (冷燻鮭魚柳佐第戎芥末籽醬襯鮭魚子及酪梨 - 套餐)

Norwegian Smoked Salmon

Cold Appetizer: Sliced Pork Spine Salad with Tomato Salsa - Set (席恩那豬頸肉薄片沙拉、番茄辣味沙沙 - 套餐)

Sliced Pork Spine Salad with Tomato Salsa

Hot Appetizer/Entree: Caprese Linguine with Tomato, Basil, Bu alo Mozzarella - Set (輕乳酪與蕃茄塔香細扁麵、地中海的美味 - 套餐) 

Caprese Linguine with Tomato, Basil, Bualo Mozzarella

I remember this as just a very standard basil linguine. At least the linguine wasn't overcooked.

Hot Appetizer/Entree: Homemade Ravioli with Tiger Prawn - Set(香煎琥珀蝦及手工義式麵餃、佐綠胡椒龍蝦汁 - 套餐) 

Homemade Ravioli with Tiger Prawn

Homemade Ravioli with Tiger Prawn

It's such an excitement to cut open a ravioli, you never know what lays in there :) The tiger prawn inside was fresh and maybe a little overlooked, but the dish wasn't bad at all.
Hot Appetizer/Entree: Sliced Seasonal Fish - Set (微煎時令深海魚、橄欖油白酒提味 - 套餐) 

Sliced Seasonal Fish

Hot Appetizer/Entree: Roasted Sea Scallop and Tiger Prawn with sautéed Sauerkraut - Set (輕燒深海扇貝與海虎蝦佐奶油酸菜 - 套餐) 

Roasted Sea Scallop and Tiger Prawn with Sauteed Sauerkraut

Hot Appetizer/Entree: Warm Salad of Crispy Duck Breast with chopped Wild Berry - Set (脆皮鴨胸溫熱沙拉、綴以野莓果丁 - 套餐)

Warm Salad of Crispy Duck Breast with Chopped Wild Berry

Main Course: Roast Pork Prosciatto Mozzarella Cheese - Set (焗培根豬肉卷鑲火腿芝司 - 套餐) $1680 NT 

Roast Pork Prosciatto Mozzarella Cheese

 
The pork was a little too dry for me even with the fatty bacon strip wrapped around. Instead of enhancing the taste of the pork, the bacon was just annoying to eat since it just seemed to get in the way.

Main Course: Seared Beef Fillet - Set (迷迭香烙烤菲力牛排、牛肝菌半釉汁 - 套餐) 1680 NT

Seared Beef Fillet

My friend ordered the seared beef fillet medium rare, but the meat was definitely overcooked. Although the meat was still eatable, I just felt like at the price we were paying it at, the steak would be classified as bad.

Main Course: Pan-roasted Duck Leg Con fit - Set(法式油封功夫鴨腿佐香橙風味醬 - 套餐) 1680 NT 

Pan-roasted Duck Leg Confit

I did my research before I decided to come to Diamond Tony's and I was just so excited about the duck leg. The presentation of the duck was nice, but the food certainly did not live up to my expectations. The duck leg was too dry and the sauce tasted like it was only there to make the plating nice.

Main Course: Spice crusted New Zealand Lamb Rack - Set (爐烤紐西蘭小羔羊肋脊、酥皮裹香草 - 套餐) 1980 NT  

Spice Crusted New Zealand Lamb Rack

Main Course: Char-grilled U.S.D.A Prime Fillet Steak of Beef - Set(羅西尼菲力牛排佐填鴨肝及白松露奶醬 - 套餐) 2280 NTChar-grilled U.S.D.A Prime Fillet Steak of Beef  

Char-grilled U.S.D.A. Prime Fillet Steak of Beef

The beef was once again too overcooked, though it wasn't as bad as the pan-seared beef. The foie gras was pretty average and it was a little gross that I could actually feel the fatty chunks in my mouth. The seasoning for both were not impressive at all.

There was supposed to be dessert afterwards, but we were simply running late and had to take it to go... which turned out to be a horrible decision. It took the waiters probably 15 minutes just to give us the tiramisu which I did not understand at all. They simply had to take it out of the fridge and place it in a box... without even plating it, how hard could that be? When I finally got around to eating it though, the tiramisu was more mousse-like than cake-like. Now that I think back, I'm not actually sure if that even was tiramisu. The dessert was not bad though :)

I would not recommend Diamond Tony's Panorama. I've seen the menu for both Panorama and the RenAi branch. The menus were completely identical... except for the huge price increase at Panorama. I'm not going to lie, the view at Panorama was really nice, but the food, service and interior designs were not. The waiters took forever to figure out the bill, and no one ever seemed to know what was going on. The layout of the restaurant was also really weird, plus the interior actually felt like a pretty ghetto high-end restaurant imitation. To me, the only reason you'd go to Diamond Tony's Panorama is because you desperately want a Western meal on top of Taipei 101.

Haagen-Dazs - Crunchy Romance

Visit: May 13, 2012
Address: 台北市忠誠路二段55號 B1
Number: (02) 8866-3093
Website: http://www.haagen-dazs.com.tw/

I'm pretty sure that I've been fantasizing about this cake for a few months now. I laugh at the memories of me trying to convince my mom to get Crunchy Romance at any possible occasion. I finally succeeded after such a long wait when mother's day rolled around.

Crunchy Romance (香脆濃情) 1800 NT

Crunchy Romance

So this is how Crunchy Romance works: 1 part coffee ice cream, 1 part Belgian chocolate ice cream, 1/2 part crunchy crust and perhaps 1/8 part of chocolate outer shell + whipped cream. Gah, the formula to ahhmazing. I'm usually not a big fan of ice cream cakes but Crunchy Romance is a huge exception. I just love how the coffee ice cream puts a twist on the sweetness of the cake and most importantly, it's not just chocolate ice cream but Belgian chocolate. Plus, with my love for chocolate and crust, I'm not sure how I can say no to the crunchy chocolate cookie crust that the layers of ice cream were served on.

Crunchy Romance Cross Section

 Okay, the picture of the messy cake doesn't look all that appetizing, but I promise it will be a wonderful gustatory experience. 

The post isn't all that unbiased so it's probably obvious that I would definitely definitely recommend the cake. Haagen-Dazs may often be overpriced, but I think good food is always worth it. I leave you with my final words of wisdom: go get Crunchy Romance now.

Homemade - Tapioca Custard

Date: May 12, 2012

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Small Pearl Tapioca (do not use instant tapioca)
1 1/2 cups Whole Milk
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
1/8 cup Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Some mint leaves

To create this wonderful dessert...

1. Heat tapioca, milk, and salt in a pan
2. Stir until boiling and simmer 5 minutes at the lowest possible heat and add sugar
3. Separate the egg yolk from the egg white and mix the tapioca very slowly into the egg yolk
4. Beat the egg whites until it peaks and fold in the egg whites into the tapioca mixture
5. Allow mixture to simmer while stirring constantly until the mixture becomes thick and pudding-like
6. Cool fir 15 minutes and then add the vanilla extract
7. Decorate with mint leaves (or however you want)

I served mine cold :) 

Tapioca Custard

Taipoca Custard

The final product was quite satisfactorily creamy without being too unhealthy. For those of you who like the richness of dairy or the pudding/custardy texture, this is an extremely easy but yummy dessert to make.

Recipe adapted from
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tapioca_pudding/

Milo Milo [迷路.麋鹿]

Visit: May 10, 2012
Address: 台北市光復南路308巷42號
Number: (02)2740-3066
Website: http://www.milomilo.com.tw/

Ever since I've tried Flavors, I've been on the lookout for Swedish restaurants. When I looked online, Milo Milo seemed to get pretty decent reviews, so I decided to give it a try.

Menu 


Corn Soup + Bread - Set (玉米濃湯 + 麵包 - 套餐)

Corn Soup and Bread

Neither of these stood out at all. Both were standard although the corn soup was a little too watery for me.

Salad - Set (沙拉 - 套餐) 

Salad

 Once again, the tiny salad was just a standard fresh salad with the Japanese sesame dressing... I wasn't completely sure how that was Swedish.

Pork Knuckle with Sauerkraut (香烤豬腳) 420 NT

Pork Knuckle with Sauerkraut

I was a little surprised with how hard and uncrispy the skin of the pig knuckle was. The deep fried pork knuckle seemed to have been in the pan for too long or something. However, the meat wasn't all that bad as I expected it to me, it was actually quite moist. The mustard on the side and the sauerkraut tasted really weird though.

Rib Eye - Set (肋眼牛排 - 套餐) 480 NT + 150 NT

Rib Eye

My dad ordered the rib eye medium rare, but when it came, it was cooked medium. The rib eye wasn't that great, but the fries were really crispy and yummy. The sauces that supposedly go with the rib eye felt a little bit like concentrated canned soup.

Blueberry Custard  + Coffee - Set (藍莓奶酪 + 咖啡 - 套餐)

Blueberry Custard and Coffee

Honestly, I thought that I would hate the blueberry custard, but it was pretty good. The blueberry sauce on the top wasn't overly sweet and the custard on the bottom was a little bit frozen so it retained the slushy sort of texture. The entire cup was a really refreshing dessert.

Brownie with Ice Cream (巧克力布朗尼) 130 NT 

Brownie with Ice Cream

 I don't think that this should be called brownie... it's more like a cake. The cake was a little dry and I just wished that they served more of the fudge to add to the chocolatey of the cake.

When we entered the restaurant during lunch that day, the restaurant was completely empty. For half the meal, my dad and I were the only customers in the restaurant with one waiter. Despite the fact that the restaurant was so empty, the waiter seemed to be spacing out and I had to constantly walk to the bar he was standing at to get his attention. Overall, I would not recommend Milo Milo as the restaurant is unauthentic without even being good. Flavors is a much better restaurant to consider.