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Shoun Ryugin 祥雲龍吟
Add: 5F, No.301, Le Qun 3rd Road, Taipei
Tel: (02) 8501 5808
Hours: [Tue-Sun] 6-9:30pm (last order), closed on Mon
Website: www.nihonryori-ryugin.com.tw
Price: 6500 TWD + 10%
Visited on: Jun 2016
Please note that this was an invited tasting.
One of the meals I most looked forward to on this trip to Taipei was dinner at Shoun Ryugin, the sister restaurant of three Michelin star Ryugin in Tokyo. I visited Ryugin five years ago and was quite blown away by Chef Seiji Yamamoto’s impeccable cuisine, so naturally I was excited to try his Taipei establishment, which features the richness of Taiwan’s local ingredients while striving for the same memorable dining experience.
請注意這是餐廳安排試吃。
五年前慕名去了東京米其林三星的龍吟，當時就對山本征治主廚的極致料理相當佩服。後來聽說他在台北開了家姐妹店，而最近才知道這家分店和RAW（以及很多台北其他的餐廳）都是HASMORE赫士盟餐飲集團經營的。這次多虧了他們的邀請，讓我嚐到了這兩家餐廳。
Upon entering, I was first served a cup of cold brew tea at the reception area (godsend on this hot hot summer day in Taipei), and once our entire dinner party has arrived, we were led into the elegant dining room via a stone path.
抵達後，服務人員讓我在休息區稍坐，幷送上一杯冰涼的冷泡茶（台北夏天，太需要了）。店內沈穩優雅的風格，和東京本店有些相似。
Shoun Ryugin offers a no-choice seasonal menu (12 courses, 6500 TWD+10%) that highlights local Taiwanese produce in combination with ingredients flown daily from Japan. The creations are overseen by chef Yamamoto and prepared under the supervision of chef de cuisine Ryohei Hieda, who has worked with chef Yamamoto for many years in Japan.
龍吟的季節套餐總共12道料理，由山本征治親自指導設計，再由和他共事多年的料理長稗田良平帶領廚房團隊制作。食材上除了有每日自日本空運來的食材，也大量的使用在地的新鮮物産，讓我很驚喜的發現平時在台灣菜裏常見的地瓜葉、海瓜子等都能變化出新的創意。
The cuisine can be paired with tea (+1600 TWD), wine, sake, or wine + sake (+2600 TWD). I went with the wine+sake option, and one of the more memorable bottles was Champagne Val’Frison “Chut Libre”, a natural champagne produced by between Valérie Frison (Champagne Val Frison) and Dominique Derain (Burgundy) in collaboration. Very fresh and lively, an unusual champagne with character.
在龍吟用餐，可以選擇搭配茶、清酒、葡萄酒、或著清酒／葡萄酒組合（<-我選的當然是這個）。其中一款令人印象深刻的是由兩個酒莊合作推出的香槟 Champagne Val’Frison “Chut Libre”。這是款在種植和制作過程中完全沒有人工添加物的自然酒，葡萄用了 pinot noir 和 chardonnay 兩個品種，喝起來有點像蘋果汁般新鮮。
For sake drinkers.
清酒的話，可以選擇自己喜歡的杯子。
1st course: flower crab from Northern Taiwan, spring onion, Japanese tofu skin (bean curd). A light and soothing start to slowly wake up the palate.
第一道：這看似茶碗蒸的料理用了台灣北海岸的花蟹和三星蔥來搭配日本湯葉（腐皮），純粹的味道非常柔和清爽。
2nd course: eel skin senbei, fried eel, and eel sauce. In this dish, the chef worked magic on all parts of the eel – the skin is made into a crispy senbei, the bones cooked into a broth and became a dipping sauce with the addition of soy sauce and apple vinegar, while the meat was breaded and fried in the tonkatsu method, one topped with shiso and plum sauce, the other with sansho leaves and wasabi from Ali Mountain.
第二道：夏天是鳗魚的季節，稗田先生也在台灣鳗魚上大下功夫。首先用鳗魚骨熬煮成高湯，加入醬油和蘋果醋制作成沾醬。魚皮做成像鮮貝般酥脆的餅幹，魚肉則用類似日式炸豬排的方式做成酥炸料理，一塊搭配了山椒葉和阿裏山的山葵，另一塊則搭配了紫蘇和濟州梅子醬。
3rd course: higoromo shrimp, abalone, cucumber slices, shiso flowers. The higomoro shrimp is from Gueishan Island in Nothern Taiwan, its naturally sweet flavor and crunchy texture was amazing in combination with the cucumber and shiso flower.
第三道：這款非常漂亮的料理是北台灣龜山島的葡萄蝦和鮑魚，上面點綴著大黃瓜切片和紫蘇花（顔色好美啊）。葡萄蝦的風味清甜，肉質Q彈，搭配黃瓜也紫蘇葉一起品嚐，太美妙了。
4th Course: soft shell turtle, sesame tofu, spring onions and soft shell turtle soup.
第四道：這款湯品的湯頭用甲魚加上生薑和干貝熬煮而成，底層是手工的胡麻豆腐，裙邊甲魚肉，搭配細蔥。蓋子還沒打開的模樣，上面一滴滴的水珠據說是日本高級料理的傳統做法，讓貴客知道這碗湯還未有別人碰過的意思。
Another memorable bottle from the evening was a daiginjo sake made especially for Ryugin by Kokuryu, a famed sake brewery in Fukui, Japan. 60% of the outer rice layer has been polished away to make this daiginjo, resulting in an ultra smooth and elegant sake, with refreshing notes of apple and pear, perfect with the sashimi plate that’s about to arrive at the table.
當晚也有幸嚐到了日本黑龍酒造特別幫龍吟制造的大吟釀等級招牌清酒，精米度僅有40％，味道沈穩優雅，香氣上帶有蘋果和水梨的風味，搭配一起上桌的生魚片拼盤再合適不過了（此時此刻好想再來一杯）。
5th course: sashimi plate of Taiwanese lobster, slightly smoked scallops from Hokkaido, chutoro (tuna belly), golden eye snapper, adorned with sliced radish, green radish, sea grapes, and seaweed.
第五道：生魚片拼盤 － 台灣龍蝦、煙薰北海道扇貝、鮪魚中腹、金目鯛。
6th course: sea bream, Hokkaido uni (sea urchin), kombu (marinated in vinegar and sliced paper thin), sea bream broth.
第六道：鯛魚、北海道海膽、醋漬過的昆布、鯛魚高湯。
7th course: sweet potato leaves, clams, clam broth. Everything in this dish is 100% Taiwanese, but cooked in such different methods that inspired us to view the ingredients in a new way.
第七道：地瓜葉、海瓜子、清湯。雖然是100％台灣在地食材，不過主廚使用了不同於台灣料理的手法來處理，很有趣。
Another impressive bottle we tasted that evening was “Taka” from Nagayama Honke, a well-known sake brewry in Yamaguchi. Due to the elaborate brewing process, the particular junmai daiginjo we had has an extremely low production of 840 bottles per year…so we really savored every last drop.
當晚另一瓶非常厲害的清酒，來自著名清酒釀造廠 Nagayama Honke 的 “貴”。這款純米大吟釀的釀造過程非常繁複，每年僅有840瓶的產量，我們每一口都喝的非常用心…
8th course: Taiwanese yellow beef with mustard sauce, raw egg yolk, mizuna, and beef consommé. Taiwanese yellow beef is much leaner than American and Australian beef, but somehow the chef was able to work magic and make it extremely tender. The consommé was also delicious, and the trick is apparently to add sugarcane to the broth – a tip that the chef learned from locals when he was look for ingredients in Tainan.
肉料理的部份，料理長選擇了和美國以及澳洲和牛比起來較瘦的台灣黃牛肉，搭配特制的芥末醬汁，生蛋黃，微苦的水菜，以及最後淋上的牛骨高湯。高湯在熬煮時除了有用牛骨和牛筋之外，還放了甘蔗 － 據說這是料理長在台南挑選食材，和當地人聊天時學到的做法。
9th course: steamed rice with fried horsehead tilefish. After the previous eight dishes I was pretty sure I couldn’t take anymore, but when this rice – steamed with Taiwanese pickled cabbage and yuzu skin – was brought to the table, the aroma was so enticing that before I knew it, I downed yet another bowl of it.
剛才吃完八道菜後覺得自己完全飽了，沒想到下一道酥炸白甘鲷（馬頭魚）炊飯又讓我胃口大開。飯在蒸煮時放了台灣雪菜和黃柚子皮，真的是香氣撲鼻…一不注意又是一碗飯下肚了。
10th course: passion fruit. So this may look like a fresh passionfruit, but in fact is a passion fruit-flavored pudding, topped with “seeds” made from tapioca, to be eaten in a mouthful along with caramel at the bottom – whimsical and delicious. Thankfully there’s always room for dessert.
第十道：還好甜點是另一個胃。這看起來是顆新鮮百香果，其實上是百香果風味的布丁，搭配珍珠做成的百香果籽，以及底部微苦的焦糖。完美。
11th course: milk ice-cream with the powder of sunflower, accompanied by roasted mashed pumpkin wrapping sesame filling. This one was less of a hit with me, as I personally would’ve preferred a bit for variety in texture.
第十一道：接下來的另一道甜點也頗有意思，牛奶冰淇淋上撒了向日葵花粉，搭配包裹著芝麻內餡的烤南瓜泥，不過如果在口感上能有更多變化可能會更出色。
12th course: ginger, mango, lemon sorbet.
第十二道：生薑、芒果、檸檬冰霜。
Finished with a bowl of matcha. Perfect ending.
以一小碗抹茶做結尾。
A meal at Ryugin does not come cheap – with a menu priced at 6,500 TWD plus tea pairing (1,600 TWD) or wine/sake pairing (2,600 TWD) and service charge, the meal can easily reach 10,000 TWD per person. But it was such an elegant experience, and each meticulously crafted dish sparkled a little wow in me that at the end of the meal, I was in a little bit of a dream-like state (ok, the wine and sake might have helped), and really, all I wanted was to have it start all over again.
回到台北的第一餐就如此精彩，再加上一杯杯的清酒和葡萄酒下肚，讓人不禁有點飄飄然。不過說到重點，龍吟的套餐價格6500台幣＋10％，如果選擇搭配茶（1600台幣）或著酒（2600台幣）的話一餐吃下來差不多要一萬台幣，對台北的物價來說是挺高的。究竟願不願意花這個錢來吃一頓飯，就看個人了。寫著寫著，好希望能夠從頭到尾再吃一次…
祥雲龍吟
地址：台北市樂群三路301號5樓
電話：（02）8501 5808
營業時間：6-9:30pm (最後點單)，週一休
網站：www.nihonryori-ryugin.com.tw
人均：6500台幣＋10％（不含酒水）
造訪：2016年6月
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