[Taipei] DN innovación

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[Taipei] DN innovación

DN innovación 鼎恩創意料理

Add: 93 Songren Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei / 台北市信義區110松仁路93號
Tel: (02) 8780 1155
Hours: 12:00pm~2:30pm, 6:00pm~10:30pm
Website: www.dn-asia.com
Price: [lunch] 550~980 NTD/set [dinner] 1,380~3,288 + 10% NTD/set
Vist Date: Jan 2012

My first visit to DN innovación, a Spanish restaurant specializing in creative molecular cuisine.

Crispy breadsticks accompanied by three varieties of Spanish olive oil – Picual, Hojiblanca, and Arbequina.

A basket of warm house made bread with truffle butter, cumin butter, and spiced olive oil.

 Also served with extra virgin olive oil and Modena vinegar.

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[Taipei] James Kitchen 大隱酒食

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[Taipei] James Kitchen 大隱酒食

James Kitchen 大隱酒食

Address: 65 Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei / 台北市大安區永康街65號
Tel: (02) 2343 2275
Hours: 11:00am~2:00pm, 5:30pm~12:00am
Price: 300~400 NTD/person
Visited on:  Jan 2012

In times like these, nothing feels quite so comforting as a little piece of the past. That’s the charm of restaurants like James Kitchen 大隱酒食 (Da Yin Jiu Shi). Despite the fact that it opened only 4 years ago, the restaurant looks as if it’s been there forever. The refurbished interior and down-to-earth service foster this illusion, as does the familiar, unthreatening menu with its nostalgic lineup of 扁魚白菜滷 braised cabbage with flat fish, 菜脯蛋 fried eggs with dried turnips, 炸蚵酥 fried oysters, and 蔥香豬油飯 scallion lard rice.

大隱酒食 James Kitchen

Storefront

Sign

The restaurant is small, so book ahead. They do have a second location on the same street in case the space fills up. Scroll to the bottom of this post for the address and phone number.

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[Taipei] Cafe Flat White

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[Taipei] Cafe Flat White

Cafe Flat White

Add: 12, Alley 41, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei / 台北市大安區永康街41巷12號
Tel: (02) 3393 8872
Hours 12:00pm~10:00pm
Price: [drinks] 90~220 NTD, [food] 160~200 NTD
Visited on: Jan 2012

Update: cafe now rebranded as KIOSK. 

The small alleys of Yongkang Street hide a good number of stylish cafes, Cafe Flat White being one of them. If you are lucky enough to find yourself a seat here (they don’t take reservations), it’s a perfectly comfortable spot to spend the afternoon.

Cafe Flat White

Cafe Flat White

Front yard

Signage

Plenty of heart has been poured into the making of Cafe Flat White, and it shows.

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[Taipei] Diary

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[Taipei] Diary

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Diary

Address: 53 Dong Feng Street, Taipei / 台北市東豐街53號
Tel: (02) 2706 3553
Hours: 3:30pm~1:00am
Price: 600~1,000 NTD/person
Visited on: 2012-01-28

There is no signage outside of Diary, but the warm glow that exudes from its floor-to-ceiling glass storefront easily attract passerby. Walk in, and the buzz instantly envelopes you. It’s a stylish place filled with good-looking people having a very good time. They are sipping beautiful cocktails and nibbling off a menu that offers a snapshot of what young people in Taipei crave right now. The decor is industrial chic, with exposed concrete walls and roof beams, softened by the warmths of antique wooden tables and subdued lighting. Open kitchen, but of course.

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[Taipei] Joël Robuchon Macarons & Canelés

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[Taipei] Joël Robuchon Macarons & Canelés

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SALON DE THE de Joël Robuchon

Address: 3/F, Bellavita, No. 28 Song Ren Road, Taipei / 台北市信義區松仁路28號 BELLAVITA 3樓
Tel: (02) 8729 2626
Hours: 10:00am~10:00pm
Website: www.joel-robuchon.net
Price: [macarons] 80 NTD, [afternoon tea set] 1,040~1,200 NTD
Visited on: 2012-01-27

A little angel showered me with some macarons and canelés from SALON DE THE de Joël Robuchon. Thank you! These cuties made my day :)

The packaging was simple and considerate. There was an ice pack attached to the plastic box to keep the macarons cool, and inside the plastic box there was a pack of desiccants to keep the macarons dry. Each macaron rests snuggly within its own square, and none were bruised (before they met my teeth).

The traffic light trio: lemon, rose, and pistachio.

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[Taipei] L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

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[Taipei] L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

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L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

Address: 5/F Bella Vita, 28 Song Ren Rd, Hsin Yi District, Taipei / 台北市信義區松仁路28號Bella Vita 5樓
Tel: (02) 8729 2628
Hours: 11:30am~2:30pm, 6:00pm~10:00pm
Website: www.joel-robuchon.net
Price: [lunch] 1,280~2,880 NTD/set, [dinner] 3,000~6,000 NTD/person
Visited on: 2012-01-26

The dramatic black and red decor, with a sleek dining bar surrounding a central open kitchen. Yes, you are at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Like the rest of the workshops around the world, L’Atelier in Taipei fosters an interactive atmosphere between diners and the kitchen, separated merely by a counter. A vibrant and convivial vibe permeates the air as chefs experiment and create while diners witness the preparation of dishes right before them. Everyone is part of the action.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon 

Bar seats

Open kitchen 

Table setting

If you have groups of 3 or more you can also choose regular tables for easier conversations, but that’s not nearly as fun as sitting at the bar.

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[Taipei] Shin Yeh 欣葉台菜

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[Taipei] Shin Yeh 欣葉台菜

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Shin Yeh 欣葉台菜

Address: 34-1 Shuangcheng Street, Zhongshan District, Taipei / 台北市中山區雙城街34-1號
Tel: (02) 2596 3255
Hours: 11:00am~midnight
Website: www.shinyeh.com.tw
Price: 300~500 NTD/person
Visited on: 2012-01-24

Popular among locals and tourists alike, Shin Yeh is a safe bet when it comes to quality Taiwanese food. If you are a real foodie, make the trip to Shin Yeh’s original location on Shuang Cheng Street for the best of the best.

Shin Yeh, the original store

For a simple meal, go for the simple dishes. We started with 滷味肥腸 Braised Pork Intestine with Preserved Vegetables (260 NTD) – chewy texture, slightly spicy, addictingly good.

滷味肥腸 Braised Pork Intestine with Preserved Vegetables, 260 NTD (S) / 450 NTD (L)

滷味肥腸 Braised Pork Intestine with Preserved Vegetables

正宗菜脯蛋 Fried Eggs with Dried Turnips (185 NTD), fluffy fried eggs and crunchy dried turnips, perfect with a bowl of porridge.

正宗菜脯蛋 Fried Eggs with Dried Turnips, 185 NTD

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[Taipei] Kaohsiung Oden King 高雄黑輪大王

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[Taipei] Kaohsiung Oden King 高雄黑輪大王

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Kaohsiung Oden King 高雄黑輪大王

Address: 523 Bei An Road, Taipei / 台北市北安路523號
Tel: (02) 2533 6304
Hours: 10:00am~12:00am
Price: 15~35 NTD/oden
Visited on: 2012-01-25

On a cold winter day like this, there’s not much better than a bowl of oden and hot soup as a late night snack. But what is oden, you ask? This winter dish, basically put, consists of skewered items like fish cakes, meat balls, turnips, deep-fried tofu, tofu skin, pig blood cakes, mushrooms…all cooked and bathed in a savory vegetable broth. There are countless street stalls in Taipei selling odens, but if you are not sure where to go, try Kaohsiung Oden King near Exit 2 of MRT Da Zhi Station (捷運大直站) – this is definitely a local favorite.

Kaohsiung Oden King

There’s always a crowd at Kaohsiung Oden King. Most people get the oden to go, but there are a few tables available for “dine in” as well.

The stall

Let the guy with the ladle know which items you want. Point, but don’t touch. All the prices are written up on the headboard, but you really don’t have to care about how much each oden cost – we just ordered whatever we fancied, and the total came up to be only 180 NTD for two people. What a steal!

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[Taipei] Just In Bistro

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[Taipei] Just In Bistro

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Just In Bistro

Address: 1/F Neo 19, 30 Songshou Road, Hsinyi District, Taipei / 台北市信義區松壽路30號Neo 19 1F
Tel: (02) 8786 2000
Hours: 11:00am~midnight
Website: www.justinquek.com
Price: [lunch] 580~780 NTD, [dinner] 1,000~2,000 NTD/person
Visited on: 2012-01-25

Nothing feels quite so comforting as a piece of warm apple tart, fresh out of the oven. Served as it is here at Just In Bistro, in a red hot metal pan with sauce caramel, it is irresistible.

Just In Bistro

JQ’s signatures baked fine apple tart with sauce caramel, 400 NTD

JQ’s signatures baked fine apple tart with sauce caramel (400 NTD) has got all the right elements. A delicate tart base made up of 8 phyllo pastry layers, a spread of tangy green apple slices, a glaze of bitter sweet caramel sauce, and a sprinkle of crunchy toasted almond slices.

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[Taipei] Dazzling Cafe

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[Taipei] Dazzling Cafe

Dazzling Cafe 蜜糖土司專賣店

Add: No 11 Alley 7 Lane 205 Section 4 Zhong Xiao Dun Hua Rd, Taipei 台北市忠孝東路四段205巷7弄11號1樓
Tel: (02) 8773 9238
Hours: [Sun-Thu] 12-11pm [Fri-Sat] 12pm-12am
Website: cafe.dazzlingdazzling.com
Price: 200~380 NTD/honey toast, 140~160 NTD/drink
Visited: Oct 2011

Dazzling Cafe, a honey toast specialty cafe/restaurant in Taipei, has been wildly popular since its opening in March 2010. Let me just define the phrase “wildly popular” for the purpose of this post – during Dazzling’s prime time, it’s literally impossible to get a reservation because the phone line is always occupied by obsessed callers, and if you try your luck as a walk-in guest – well, be prepared for a 3-hour wait before you get seated. I wouldn’t ever go through with the hassle of getting a seat here, and was lucky (or not?) that a friend got a table through connections. Let’s see what the fuss is about.

We ordered two honey toasts to share: Chocolate Fondue Honey Toast (380 NTD) and Strawberry Lover Honey Toast (250 NTD). These were such disappointments compared to the amazing honey toast I’ve had at Organ, which was nothing short of a fluffy loaf of heaven on the plate. The versions at Dazzling Cafe were dry, bland, and sad.

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