Yi Yuan Peking Cuisine [頤園北京料理]

Visit: July 24, 2012
Address: 台北市中山區南京東路三段133號 B2 (Westin Hotel)
Number: (02) 8770 - 6565
Website: http://www.westin.com.tw/01_text.asp?sn=52

I went to Yi Yuan under the impression that we'd be ordering the duck... but nope, never happened.

Menu 

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Combination of Two Appetizers: Shredded Chinese Cabbage & Marinated Chilled Salty Chicken (雙拼拼盤: 鄉野素還真 & 鹽焗雞隻白玉腿) $620 NT

Combination of Two Appetizers: Shredded Chinese Cabbage & Marinated Chilled Salty Chicken

The shredded Chinese Cabbage wasn't all that great but the chicken was pretty good.

Deep-Fried Pork Chop with Salt and Pepper (椒鹽排骨) $520 NT

Deep-Fried Pork Chop with Salt and Pepper

I was actually quite disappointed with the dish. I felt like the pork chop was a little soggy, and the meat was too tough.

Stir Fried Cabbage and Pork with Spicy Seafood Sauce (京式變臉) $400 NT

Stir Fried Cabbage and Pork with Spicy Seafood Sauce 

I very much enjoyed the stir fried cabbage. I loved the spiciness of the dish and how the bacon adds that extra flavor to the cabbage.

Pan-Fried Scallion Pancake (香煎蔥油餅) $320 NT

Pan-Fried Scallion Pancake 

The scallion pancake wasn't the best I've had, but it was still pretty yummy. The pancake wasn't too dry the way other places usually mess it up.

Deep-Fried Sweet Potato with Cane Sugar (地瓜拔絲) $320 NT

Deep-Fried Sweet Potato with Cane Sugar in the making

The sweet potato is first caramelized....

Deep-Fried Sweet Potato with Cane Sugar in the making

Then the waitress uses the remaining melted sugar to make the stringy sugar by pulling the melted sugar back and forth.

Deep-Fried Sweet Potato with Cane Sugar

The result was quite impressive. Although the taste was there, I felt like the sweet potato should have been caramelized more since some pieces were crispy, while some were just soggy. The sweet potatoes were also a little too dry in the middle.

Yi Yuan isn't the first restaurant I would go to if I had the choice. I've had their duck a while ago, and I remember that it was cooked pretty nicely. However, this time without the duck, the selection of food just seemed so limited. The dishes we ordered today were literally the only ones that sounded decent, the rest... mehh.