Singapore & Taiwan Trip (Day 11)

January 12, 2016January 12, 2016Leave a comment

On our fourth day in Taipei, we took the MRT to Beitou station. It took around 30-40 minutes from Ximen. Upon exiting, you will smell the sulphur from the hot springs. Beitou is famous for its hot springs and is also the most mountainous and highest of Taipei’s districts.

We had pre-booked a private hot spring in advance as they are reasonably priced compared to the ones in Canada. I did some searching and chose Grand View Resort in Beitou. The great thing is that they offer a shuttle bus from Beitou MRT station and drive you up the hills (which you otherwise would need to walk or cab).

The resort is gorgeous! I found service to be rather cold, but the people here can speak fluent English. The great thing is that you do not have to stay here to use the hot springs. You can just pay for a one-time use charged by time. They do however offer hotel rooms with hot springs within your room. That is so neat and I would love to try it sometime.

You can choose between public or private hot springs. We ended up choosing the private hot spring where you get an independent bath house with the hot bath outdoors.They have different rooms with designs that are a bit different. You can email the resort to ask for the pictures. We chose Ylang-Ylang. The room was spacious and had a couch, private shower, bathroom, closet, and sink.

For our room, the hot bath is outside. They have high brick walls so there is absolute privacy but you can still sort of hear the people next to you when you’re outside. The price is fixed at NT$2,300 for the room and allows two guests for 90 minutes. You can add NT$600 for each additional guest. The 90 minutes includes showering and getting dressed. They will call you 15 minutes before your time is up.

This was a super relaxing experience and we enjoyed that it was private. The other option for hot springs was to use the famous Millennium Hot Spring which costs a fraction of the price but is filled with people. We opted for this so we could really relax. Plus it was super clean.

They also provide you with all amenities you need, whether it be shampoo, bath wash, lotion, makeup swabs and even a brush. They also provided these cute little matcha panna cotta kind of desserts. It was refreshing to eat after being in the heat.

After the hot springs, we took the shuttle to take us back to Beitou station. They are only able to drop you off at the Beitou main station. Therefore, we had to walk back up the hills to go to sight see the area. Along the way, we found 山西刀削番茄牛肉麵, which features hand-cut noodles.

We got their famous hand cut noodles which were mixed with beef and vegetables. The plate was large and good value. We also got their fried rice which was pretty good. All their dishes had that wok flavour. The ambiance is rather shabby, but we found many locals coming here during lunch hours.

Of course, we had to get some beers as our drinks along the way… Fruit beers are the way to go!

After around a 15 min walk, we found Beitou Hot Spring Museum. The building was actually built as a public bath house under the Japanese rule and was once the largest bathhouse in east Asia.

Today, the bathhouse is a free museum where you can see the old bathhouse on the ground floor and other history of how hot springs became significant in the area. Only downside is that they have no air conditioning in here, so it’s super hot inside still!

Take another 5-10 minute walk, and you will find the Beitou Thermal Valley (地熱谷). It is also known as Hell Valley.

The Geothermal Valley is a volcanic crater filled with steaming natural sulfuric hot spring water and has a temperature between 80 to 100 degrees Celsius and therefore is fenced. Not the best place to linger around on a hot day, but it’s pretty neat!

The water from the Thermal Valley are the source of the hot spring bathing facilities in Beitou. The water contains radium, which is said to have beneficial health affects for fertility, long-term illnesses, rehabilitation, and skin beauty.

After exploring Beitou, we took the MRT to Dongmen Station to meet up with J who had took the train from his city to meet up with us. So nice to have a Taiwanese take you around! He took us to Smoothie House (思慕昔) for some desserts pre-dinner.

Smoothie House is now a chain dessert shop and they have so many flavours! The menu looks so appetizing already.

We got two shaved ices to share. Both were mango flavoured with tons of fresh mango. One had a pudding on top while the other had a scoop of mango ice cream. They were really good! The shaved ice is super thin just like the ones in Korea.

After shaved ice, we headed over to 8% Ice 冰淇淋專門店. I guess we were on a dessert hopping trip.

8% Ice is famous for their ice cream and is pretty hipster inside. Prices are not as cheap though, but the ice cream and popsicles looked delicious!

J had the Passionfruit while me and S shared the Sakura Plum. We found the passionfruit to be too sour and the Sakura Plum to have an odd flavour. Flavourwise, they were just okay. Pretty to look at though. J said that the gelato is much better.

We were going to meet our celebrity friend E for dinner that night, so we took a taxi to the restaurant. He had suggested to eat hot pot at 火鍋世家涮涮屋(台北延吉店).

You get individual hot pots here and you can order a la carte or combos. Sort of Gokudo in Richmond. We chose the combos so they came with a variety of vegetables, shrimp, and fish balls and that sort of stuff.

The combo also comes with your choice of noodles. I got the udon.

S and I both got a meat combo, so we ended up sharing our meat. We got the regular beef and it was very good already. Extremely tender with the right amount of fat.

We also got the pork bacon which was surprisingly quite good. The meat combos range from around NT$280 and can go up to NT$580 for premium cuts. The restaurant provides unlimited drinks, self-serve ice cream, and self-serve sauces. Quite a good value to get you full.

After dinner, we decided to go get drinks. We ended up taking a nice walk after a huge meal and headed into the Da’an district where E normally hangs around. He took us to this nice cozy bar called Tickle My Fantasy. It was very quiet when we got there as it was rather early, but it got very crowded at the end of the night.

E suggested we all get the famous Long Island. This is not your typical Long Island, but rather known to be potent. The ones we get in Vancouver usually have very little alcohol, but these were strong! We watched the bartender make our drinks and noticed it was mostly all alcohol. The drink is around NT$500 but a good deal because one drink will be enough. We all had a good night and it was great to see our friends again. As we stayed out past 12, the MRT had closed so we ended up taxing back to our hotel. A great night indeed.

Details:

Grand View Resort: No. 30, Youya Rd, Beitou District, Taipei City

山西刀削番茄牛肉麵: No. 142-1, Guangming Rd, Beitou District, Taipei City

Beitou Hot Spring Museum: No. 2, Zhongshan Rd, Beitou District, Taipei City

Beitou Thermal Valley: Zhongshan Rd. near Wenquan Rd, Beitou District, Taipei City

Smoothie House: No.15, Yongkang St., Da’an Dist., Taipei City

8%ice冰淇淋专门店: No. 6, Lane 13, Yongkang St, Da’an District, Taipei City

火鍋世家涮涮屋(台北延吉店) (Songshan district): 105, Taiwan, 台北市松山區, 台北市松山區延吉街30巷1號

Tickle My Fantasy: No. 8, Section 2, Anhe Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City

720 Sweets

November 6, 2015November 6, 2015Leave a comment

NOTE: All food and beverages were free, but all opinions are based on my own experience.

If you have Instagram, you’ve probably been seeing pictures of ice cream with smoke coming out. The ice cream is from the newly opened 720 Sweets on Broadway and Blenheim. I’ve been wanting to try this because of the pictures, and since the owners reached out to us to give it a try, we headed over after work. It’s quite hidden, but it appears that many people have found their way here.

The shop is very small, with tables along the two sides of the wall which fits probably 10 people. Simple, clean decor, but I especially like their little saying on the wall.

They currently offer 5 flavours, which are all priced at $5.95:

The Classic: crushed graham crackers, sweetened condensed milk, and freshly baked butter cookie
Honey720: rich honey drizzle and golden honeycomb
S’Mores Please: chocolate corn flakes, dark chocolate drizzle, crunchy almond stick, and toasted marshmallow
Milk’ee: crushed walnuts, light caramel drizzle, Espresso grass jelly, and crunchy almond cookie
Cloud Nine: crunchy almond stick, cotton candy popcorn, and dreamy n’ fluffy cotton candy

They also carry an assortment of marshmallows from the famous Archimallows. Great for gifts!

What’s different about 720 Sweets is that their ice cream is visually appealing and fun to look at. The ice cream sits on top of a separate cup which is filled with hot water and dry ice to give the liquid nitrogen smoking effect. It only lasts for around 2 minutes, but is quite fun to watch. Unfortunately, liquid nitrogen isn’t churned into the ice cream like they do in Korea and many other cities which that type of ice cream is the trend now. This makes it much quicker for them to get the ice cream to you. Marshmallows are also toasted on the spot.

S’Mores Please

S chose S’Mores Please, which is perfect for chocolate lovers. The ice cream is rich in chococlate flavour and extremely smooth. It came with a crunchy almond stick and on top, the toasted marshmallow, which was fun to eat.

Milk’ee

For myself, I chose the Milk’ee since it had everything I liked in it. The milk tea flavour was strong and delicious when paired with the grass jelly. I especially liked it since it wasn’t too sweet and the crushed walnuts gave it a good texture.

Overall, we were extremely pleased with 720 Sweets and am happy that there is a new spot for ice cream lovers. I found the pricing very fair as you got a good amount of ice cream and toppings. We were actually quite full after each having one. Service was also friendly and quick. Definitely will be returning to try out the other flavours, but for now, the Milk’ee is my favourite!

Nero Belgian Waffle Bar

September 9, 2015September 6, 2015Leave a comment

After dinner, we headed over to Nero Belgian Waffle Bar. It was the hype many years ago, but I have been a laggard in trying it out. We arrived at around 8pm and the place was half filled with steady traffic.

This is the place if you want to try Belgian waffles. They offer two types of waffles: brussels or liege. You can then choose their preset toppings.

They have a bit of seating outside as well as the inside. You first order, and they will assign you seating. It’s quite small, so we had to sit at the table with others.

Mocha on Brussels Waffle

We shared the Mocha on Brussels Waffle, which features vanilla ice cream, espresso infused whipped cream and dark Belgian chocolate sauce on top of a light and crispy waffle. I found the waffle to be rather sticky, but it was still quite delicious. Maybe a bit too much of that whipped cream, but it was light so not too heavy.

Overall, we were quite pleased with Nero Belgian Waffle Bar. By the time we left, there was a huge lineup forming, so be sure to go there early! I also liked how they were cool with us ordering one waffle between the three of us. Usually, many smaller shops force you to order a minimum order. Only downside is that the waffles are quite pricey though, with most of them being $8-9. Great to share with friends after dinner though!

Pros:
– Waffles are delicious and variety of toppings
– Friendly service

Cons:
– Quite pricey for waffles

Price Range: $10

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4 Service: 3.5 Ambiance: 2.5 Parking: 2.5 Overall: 3.5

Wildebeest

May 3, 2015May 11, 2015Leave a comment

This year, the firm’s end of busy season tax party was at Wildebeest and I was extremely excited since has been on the list of restaurants I wanted to visit. Located in Gastown, Wildebeest is known for their meat-centric dishes. Many of their dishes are served family style, and you’ll find some not-so-typical meat dishes here.

Our firm booked up the entire top floor, which featured wooden ambiance with long tables and wooden swivel chairs. They have a bar and an open kitchen so you can watch the chefs in action. Service started very slow in the beginning. We probably sat around for at least 30 minutes with no snacks or drinks being served. It might be because we arrived earlier than they had expected us, but we were all hungry for food. As the first dishes began to roll out though, things picked up and we got our food fairly quickly and there were no further complaints by the end of the night.

Freshly Shucked Oyster

We had a set menu ready for us with canapés to start. First came the Freshly Shucked Oyster, which was topped with a shallot mignonette and black pepper. This was delicious with the oyster being sweet and fresh. The second item was the Albacore Tuna Tataki, but this ran out by the time it got to our table. I was quite disappointed with this as I thought they would have enough to serve each person one. Some people at my table also didn’t get the oysters. You would think they had made enough for each guest to have at least one.

Angus Short Rib

The third item was the Angus Short Rib, which seemed to be the favourite item for most people. This had a brown butter jus and was topped with bonito flakes. The bonito flakes gave it a Japanese flare and the meat was cooked to a medium rare. Extremely tender and we all wanted seconds!

Bjorn Borg

Our cocktails finally came around and I started off with the Bjorn Borg, which is like a slurpee. The ingredients included earl grey, pear, honey, premium Vodka, lemon, and London dry gin. You got that hint of sweetness from the pear and I liked how it was in a slurpee type of form. It reminded me of a Bellini and was very refreshing.

Pork Rinds

Our set menu also included some snacks to share between around 4 guests. The first were the Pork Rinds. These were crispy and slightly seasoned. StevieD said that they were quite average and tasted like the ones you get off the shelf at the supermarket. Nothing too special. I also agreed and also disliked the fact that the rinds stuck to your teeth.

Pork Schnitzel

Next were the Pork Schnitzels, which were a favourite at my table. The pork were deep fried to golden brown and the batter was very crispy. It came with a caraway-spiced beer mustard.

Spiced Hazelnuts

The last snack was the Spiced Hazelnut. These were roasted and seasoned with spices. I didn’t find these too special. They were nice to snack on while waiting for our food, but they didn’t wow me.

Gaston Collins

Since we were still waiting for our food, we went for another cocktail. This time we chose the Gastown Collins, which has London Dry Gin, Amaro Montenegro, lemon, honey, and IPA. This was a very bitter drink mostly due to the Indian pale ale. None of us really enjoyed this drink.

Spring Beet Salad

Then our appetizers came. BG got the Spring Beet Salad, which he commented had endless beets. There were both red and yellow beets, along with shaved cucumber, compressed apple, a ricotta salata, miner’s lettuce and a beetroot sorbet.

Bison Carpaccio

Most guests at my table got the Bison Carpaccio, which featured kalamata olive and soy vinaigrette, pickled shimieji mushrooms, puffed wild rice, and micro arugula. I tasted this as well, and really enjoyed it! You can roll the ingredients with the thin layer of bison, which I thought was a great concept. The bison had a more gamey flavour than your typical beef carpaccio, but all the ingredients worked well together. StevieD commented that he didn’t really like the puffed wild rice as you got that unexpected crunch. S on the other hand like that pop of crunch.

Bone Marrow

For myself, I decided to try the Bone Marrow. It came with butter leeks and oyster mushrooms on top. It was topped with a crimini mushroom vinaigrette. Grilled country bread accompanied the dish and I was told to spread the bone marrow onto the bread. The bone marrow was very jelly and oily like. It’s definitely not a dish for everyone, but I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Pan-Seared Halibut

Onto the main course. S got the Pan-Seared Halibut, which came with butter braised potato in a wild mushroom broth. It also came with some Shanghai bok choy and grilled scallions. The halibut was moist and the broth was very flavourful. A dish with many Asian flavours.

Angus Striploin

For myself, I got the Angus Striploin, which came with roasted fingerling potatoes and cipollini onions, smoked salt, and hay jus. This was served medium rare and you could see it was cooked perfectly with the pink meat. I liked how it was served all cut up already, making it easy to eat. The meat was tender, although I got a piece with a huge piece of fat still stuck on. The potatoes were great and the sauce was addicting. Everyone cleaned up their dish!

Wildebeest Cheesecake

For dessert, StevieD didn’t want his dessert, so I ended up getting to try two! First was the Wildebeest Cheesecake, which came as sort of a deconstructed cheesecake. It was a whipped cheesecake, with strawberry sorbet and pastry crumble on top. As it was a whipped cheesecake, it was very mousse-like. Definitely not in a cake form. Many of my coworkers enjoyed this, but I could taste that hint of blue cheese in it, which I’m not a fan of.

Anjou Pear

The second dessert was the Anjou Pear, which I enjoyed much more. It had dark chocolate honeycomb and chocolate ice cream. I loved the honeycomb as it gave it a nice crunch. The pears were candied and I loved this texture.

Overall, Wildebeest was great and I would highly recommend it if you are adventurous and ready to try some exotic meats. Their regular menu even has horse tartare! Everyone agreed that the food tasted great. Service was a bit slow in the beginning, but it definitely picked up by the end of the night. Jason, who was our table’s server for most of the night was also very friendly and knew all his drinks and food very well. Perfect one to ask for suggestions. As food was comped by the firm, I cannot comment too much on the prices. I can say that you do get full from a three course meal, and the portions aren’t as small as you’d expect.

Pros:
– Lots of exotic meats
– All dishes were executed very well

Cons:
– Service was very slow in the beginning

Price Range: N/A (~$30+ per the regular menu)

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 4
Service: 2.5
Ambiance: 4
Parking: 3
Overall: 4

Chewy Junior

March 29, 2015March 29, 2015Leave a comment

Chewy Junior opened their first North American flagship store in Vancouver last year in Gastown. I’ve walked by it many times and it always smelled really good. It’s a Singaporean chain store with various locations in Asia. They offer a healthy version of cream puffs, since they are baked rather than fried.

They have around 10 flavours to choose from and are priced from around $3.50 to $4.00 depending on the flavour.

Chocolate Oreo Crunch

I decided to get one each for S and I. I chose the Chocolate Oreo Crunch for S, which didn’t look too appealing. It was topped with crushed Oreo cookies on the top and filled with chocolate cream. Slightly on the sweet side, but not bad.

Matcha Nippon

For myself, I got the Matcha Nippon, which featured a matcha glaze and was filled with matcha cream. The cream puffs themselves are on the chewy side, hence perhaps why they are named Chewy Junior. I actually quite liked this chewy texture, but I still prefer Beta 5’s cream puffs. I find that these are quite pricey for what they are. They are more unique than Beard Papa, but priced a lot higher. Beta 5 is priced slightly higher, but the flavours are very unique and of high quality. Would I come back? Probably not, but I’d say the cream puffs aren’t bad.

Pros:
– Cream puffs are average, but I enjoy the chewy texture
– Lots of cream filling

Cons:
– Slightly on the pricey side for the size
– Not a lot of flavours to choose from – they seem to sell out

Price Range: $3.50-4.00

1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent

Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Parking: 3
Overall: 3

Ganache Patisserie

November 29, 2014November 29, 2014Leave a comment

Cassis et Matcha – cassis mascarpone cream, cassis gelee, milk chocolate parfait, matcha biscuit charlotte, blackberries

I’ve always heard great things about Ganache Patisserie, and finally I got to try them. Both desserts were matcha base desserts. The first was the Cassis et Matcha. Cassis is sort of like blackcurrant, so there was a sweet and sour taste to it.

I love how the inside is all leveled with the layers. I really enjoyed the cassis flavoured mascarpone cheese. Very smooth. There wasn’t a lot of matcha flavour though.

Matcha-Exotique – green tea mousse, mango-passionfruit gelee, lychees, black sesame biscuit joconde

The second was the Matcha-Exotique, which is a green tea mousse.

In the middle, there is a mango-passionfruit gelee, which was my favourite part. The cake itself is a mix of black sesame biscuit cake and the green tea mousse. There are lots of textures going on, but it all works. I preferred this one over the first.

Overall, Ganache Patisserie makes quite unique cakes. Not your typical flavours and they definitely aren’t simple. Looking forward to trying their other cakes.

Crackle Crème

November 25, 2014November 24, 2014Leave a comment

Crackle Crème has been the talk of the town for quite some time now. To my knowledge, we don’t really have a shop that specializes only in crème brûlées. Well now we have it! It’s located in Chinatown, but on Union St., which seems to be a pretty nice area now. The shops around it were all very modern.

The shop is run by one man and offers what I would like to call hipster crème brûlée. It’s literally all those flavours that you find people talking about these days, especially with ice cream. From earl grey, salted caramel, to black sesame, the flavours are always changing!

Other than crème brûlées, they also offer liege waffles. The crème brûlées are pretty expensive, at $5 each. You can get the mini trio for $7.50, but you cannot select your flavours.

The crème brûlées are taken out of the fridge and the owner will torch the sugar in front of you. You can also take these to go, although they should be eaten within 4 hours.

We chose three flavours. They look pretty much the same from the top.

Honey Lavender, Earl Grey, Matcha

The crème brûlées were very smooth and creamy. I’m actually not a huge fan of crème brûlées, since the traditional ones are very eggy in flavour. However, these are completely different! Full of the flavour you choose, they are extremely delicious! The crystallized sugar is also torched perfectly, so it’s not burnt. I found the Matcha to be quite average. It’s good, but nothing too special. The Earl Grey was very strong in flavour. My favourite had to be the Honey Lavender. At first bite, you will think that it’s very “herby”, but soon after, the flavour sinks in, and it’s absolutely delicious! Perfect, if you like floral flavours.

Overall, we were extremely pleased with Cracke Crème. Quite pricey, so it’s something to splurge on, but I will definitely be revisiting to try the rest of the flavours!

Fable Kitchen

November 12, 20141 Comment

Canned Tuna “the best canned tuna”

Fable Kitchen is another one of those farm-to-table restaurants which offer fresh ingredients sourced locally. We started off their famous Canned Tuna, which is fresh albacore tuna cooked sous vide-style in a small jar with potatoes, grape tomato and olive oil. We were told to throw in the salt and mix and chop it up thoroughly. It came with enough bread to scoop the tuna on. The tuna was definitely creamy, but I wouldn’t personally consider it “the best canned tuna”.

After mixing it up, it looks like this. Doesn’t exactly look that appetizing. The mush are the potatoes.

Featured Grilled Pork Chop

M had the featured entree, which was Grilled Pork Chop. It definitely looked very pleasing, but the meat was average. I find that pork is usually overcooked or a bit too tough. The sides, however, were extremely delicious. The baked potatoes were addicting! The way that they were seasoned and the crispiness of the outer skin was spot on. It also came with carrot puree, some beets, and fried pork rind.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

As for myself, I had the Parmesan Crusted Chicken. I loved the chicken, as the top was super cheesy and crispy! The chicken was also cooked to moist. The zucchini noodles were also really interesting. A good change from your typical pasta noodles. However, I did find that the cashew tomato sauce was a little bit too sour for my liking. Lots of flavour though.

Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta

Lastly, we finished off with the Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta, which was just alright. It had cocoa crumbles on the top and raspberries on the top. I found it too rich after a full meal. Or I’ve just not been so into chocolate desserts lately…

Overall, I really appreciated Fable Kitchen’s farm-to-table concept, but I wouldn’t say the dishes I had were extremely memorable. They were good, but I also only found them average. Perhaps I will need to try some of their other dishes to make a call on how I like the restaurant. Very busy restaurant with great service though. I think I will be back to try some of the other items to see if they are better. I hear their brunch menu is really good!