Travel log Taipei: Disappointing lunch at Du Xiao Yue

My husband commented I looked positively happy in Taipei, all smiles and happily chatting with anyone from cab driver to people I buy food from. It was only natural I told him, since I get to stuff myself silly with my fav food and best of all, no language barrier. Not to mention the lack of loud mainlanders that will bound to ruin my day....

Even when we were at the Taipei 101 food court, I ended up being "translator" for this Dannish couple who had wanted to buy the "Buddha hand" fruit from the fruit store guy. I couldnt bear the 2 parties trying desperately to communicate to each other plus it didnt cost me anything to help. Well, at the end, I was even more surprised when the fruit stall guy kept thanking me and even gave me 10% discount for my drinks. Didnt see that coming but it was a nice gesture on his part.



Anycase, back to my travel log. On our last afternoon in Taipei, our hotel recommended this "popular" place 度小月。I should know better than to trust recommendations of a top end hotel that housed caucasians tourists...they wont recommend local delights but a more upmarket place that is more "comfortable" for their guests. I suppose overly local place may shock some of their cultured and refined guests.

Initially, I had wanted to also try the pork ribs place anna had suggested but it was kinda far so we had to abort plan since my partner didnt want to travel.

I had wanted to eat 鲁肉饭 while my husband prefered something soupy which was why we ended up in the recommended place since the hotel assured they had both. When we arrive at 度小月, there was a long Q outside. Damn. An alarm should have gone off when I saw the string of foreigners in line for their table. Oh well, too late to change plans.

We waited for about 15mins, before this male staff gruffly yelled for our number and showed us in. he wasnt rude but he sure wasnt exactly pleasant either. If there was anything called hospitality award , this dude sure wont be a winning recipient of it.

The list was simple and easy. I went for my rice while my husband went for 担仔面（danzaimian）. We also ordered the fried prawn rolls and another steam prawn patty. While the fried roll came and was yummy but oily.

The steamed meat patty was another matter all together. Firstly, it wasn event a patty as I had imagined. It was just like a huge lump of meat wrapped in a thick dumpling flour dough. In fact, the more accurate hokkien description would be “水kueh”. Frankly I thought the dish was rather plain, unappetising and bordering awlful. The 鲁肉饭 was also raher bland and bordering on too much salt without any sweetness. Apparently, the one I had in the night market with my mum back in April was SOOOOooooo much better. Who said all 鲁肉饭 are the same? Rubbish. This one had all the fatty bits in it that made it rather gross. My husband's soup noodle fared better but to me frankly, this place isnt worth the time, effort nor recommendation. What made it worse was that I had to wait for 30mins for my 2nd serving of prawn fritters, despite 3 reminders and lessening of guests. What the hell?!
I shall be frank. This place reeeks as a tourist establishment aimed to "con" tourists who doesnt know better as to where to go and find food, or lack of better ideas. I cannot believed I got suckered into this place by my hotel even after telling them I prefer local favourites and hangout. This is obviously NOT a place to go to if you want really authentic good cheap local food. What an utter disappointment.

Taipei Travel Log: Dawan - 大腕燒肉專門店

Back to completing my Taipei Travel log...

After a long day at Danshui, we returned to venture to this meat place which I had reserved dinner based on a blog entry I had read prior my trip. the place is called 大腕燒肉專門店 (Da wan barbecue meat specialty place). the place is located at Dunhua nan lu, amongst many little trendy stores popular with the younger crowd.
I have absolutely no idea how to get there by train even though there is a metro stop nearby. Seeing that we are running late, I opted for a cab, not before asking the hotel to call the place that we will be 10mins late. In hindsight, that was a super wise decision because the place was nestled in an inner street, and it was really FULL. I assume my seats would have been given up if no called to say we will be late since I didnt have a local number for the store to call and confirm my attendance.

The floor area isnt very large. The central area in a u-shaped is taken up by the staff cooking and preparing the food order, while the patrons will sit on the counter area. There is one table tucked away in a corner reserved for larger crowds. The place is packed with locals, not tourists, and brightly lit, well designed, well ventilated and filled with the very friendly and polite serving staff. The place even comes with discretely concealed drawers with a keylock that allows you to place your bags/ coats etc. Talk about thoughful.

We were shown to our seat promptly and since all the menu was in Mandarin (what's new), I honestly didnt know where to start explaining the long list to my husband. The place is kinda dedicated in serviing beef. of course there are seafood, and other food but I would say this is a beef lover place.

While I was busy staring and wondering what to get, the young guy asked what we would like to drink. I told him honestly I had no idea and am kinda lost and some help to start with would be fantastic. Knowing we are from out of town, he very swiftly recommended some of the store's specialities and this beef platter of wagyu beef of 3 different cut. Then he recommended this cocktail which he assured was asbolutely divine and I wont be able to discern the alcohol within. he looked sincere and earnest enough that I trusted him with the plan. I was not disappointed.
Dinner at Dawan proved to be my best meal in Taipei for the trip. Apart from the excellent service we had, the ingredients were undoubtingly fresh and reasonably priced. I would never ever pay so little for such high quality waygu beef cut. the meat was fresh and succulent and the staff timed the cooking over the charcoal flame so perfectly that every piece was cook to perfection (pink), where the juice will oozed inside your mouth as you take each bite. There was no additional sauces needed for dip. The meat is soooo good and naturally sweet that you will want to savour the full flavour on its own. Any additional condiments or sauces are excessive or rather unnecessary at this place.

We started off with this salad with small cubes of tofu. Each mouth was crunchy and delightful. The tofu was fried to prefection where the skin is lightly crisp without being oily, and the inside really soft and warm. The sald mix was light and non greasy either. (the girl was making our salad in the pix) What followed next was the grilled beef tongue with chopped scallions.




While we were eating, I started chattin with the girl who was "assisting" us in cooking our meat. She is very very sweet and funny. I told her she looked like the taiwanese actress/ singer Yang Chen Ling and she laughed. I prob made her day. We chit chat so much and laughed so much that she joked that Kirby her colleague must have overdosed my drink with too much alcohol... her other colleagues joined in the conversations and they started to guess my origins.


Too bad, no one guessed correctly where I was from with some thinking I was taiwanese. haaaa. As any typical reaction after the answer was revealed, she asked me what happened to the "funny singapore" accent. It's kinda hard to explain nor overturn this "deeply etched" WORLDWIDE perception that ALL SINGAPOREAN speaks BADLY in both English and Mandarin, so i didnt bother to elaborate. Its kinda sad if you really think about it.... Anycase, before I knew it, they had somehow coined 爱笑小姐 as my nickname for the night.

One of the best dish was 牛小排，甜美，又嫩又多汁，真没话说。After cooking to perfection, the meat will be taken away to be slice to small pieces and adorned wih a drop of wasabi that perfectly enhanced the flavour. The wasabi isnt the usual nasty choking usual but rather it has a very light flavour closer to english mustard but mixed with a tinge of something else. Combined with the sweet meat, it was divine combination.

The seafood was also fresh, unadulterated goodness as well.
Our neighbors had some rice ball that has salmon stuffing which didnt really appeal to us that much. I had another of the cocktail but of pomelo concoction this time as recommended by the girl to be her fav. I was sold and she was right.

Both my husband and I had a great time there, in terms of food and ambience and everything. To us, everything was perfect. If u can speak Mandarin, that is definitely a place to go. The place was constantly filled with customers and not a single empty seat in sight from 7.30pm to 9.30pm while we were there. As we were leaving, the place was still going strong with people waiting outside, and hence reservations is a good idea for this place. Would I come back again? Definitely. For the same meal, it would prob cost us an arm AND a leg if it was consumed in Hk or Singapore but not here in taipei. At the end, apart from the good food, I think the humourous friendly staff set the place apart. Creating a setting like you are dining at a friend's place where you can unwind, chill out or banter with the staff is a perfect environment to leave a memorable time for any guests, and most certainly have them come back again. Before I left, the girl and I said our goodbyes, and that I will definitely be back again the next time I am in taipei. It's a promise :)

As I left the store and was asking one of the serving staff (taking his smoking break) where to take a cab, he told me to head to the main street, not before cracking another joke to take my pick on any of the "cattle herd" parked by the side... That night, I went back with a big smile and a full belly.

Address: 台北市敦化南路一段177巷22號1樓０２－２７１１０１７９

operating hours: PM18:00～AM02:00

Taipei Travel Log: Dinner at spicy Hotpot (满堂红麻辣锅)

I have finally settled down a little to blog about my Taipei trip. After all the grieve from Dell, I deserve a little pockets of happy moment to get thru this brand new week.

I didnt take much sightseeing pictures in Taipei, since frankly....hmmm... there is really nothing to see within the city area itself. As my husband so aptly put it, it's really all about food for me this trip.

The first food review shall be 满堂红麻辣锅 [man tang hong ma la guo]

This is a specialty store devoted to selling nothing but hotpot soup with your choice of own raw ingredients. While hotpot stores are aplenty in Taipei and prob in Asia, this store is especially known for their spicy chili broth. The broth is supposedly cooked for over 8hrs to get the really fiery spicy flavor into the soup.

I went to the branch at ai ren street and not the flagship store because its much nearer to Far Eastern Shangri La my hotel. As I have blogged somewhere earlier, its a good thing I book a week in advance to secure a table for the 5.30-7.30pm seating.

Arriving and locating the restaurant is a breeze though one should walk to the side street for the main entrance, instead of looking for the entry along the main road where their logo sign is being displayed. Walk up to 2nd level, you are greeted by the bustling busy but polite young waiters. We were seated promptly at this huge table and immediately I was askd if I wanted the 鸳鸯锅 (yuanyang guo) [definition: half portions of normal broth and spicy mala]

As I had done my Internet research prior the trip and knowing the potent power of the dried chili broth, I had specifically asked for the mildest version. The waiter acknowledged and immediately my pot of soup was served.

I was given this checklist of items to order or rather select. The price of the meal is fixed at about 450NT per adult for dinner time, so we can select whatever we want and the waiter will serve the various selections to the table.. The only thing u need to get yourself are the free flow of soft drink coke bottles, as well as different type of sauces from a range of BBQ sauce, vinegar, Japanese sour sauce, sesame seed oil, peanut power etc etc...there must be over 10 types of assortment there.

I checked the most of the list of beef options minus the bacon (about 3 different cuts) , clams, prawns, veges, chicken, assortments of mushrooms. The meat came in thinly sliced ham format. For the beef, there were the signature version, near the belly and one shoulder beef area. However, my fav dish was actually the minced prawn in the bamboo tube. That is the BEST dish for me.



Ok for starters, even their mild version of the chilli broth nearly killed me. It was really really really spicy. I didnt choke on it but you can feel the warm fuzzy feeling in your tummy even if all I did was to cook my meat in the broth and didnt drink the soup, which prob would have been suicidal. I rem another blogger had mentioned how he was stuck in the toilet the whole of next day after his meal from over consumption of the chilli broth and he wasnt used to the spice, so I was determined not to make the same mistake and ruined my hols. Hence I threw all my veges into the normal broth.

I was really lucky to get a really attentive and friendly male waiter. He noticed I didnt touch the chilli broth and asked if it was still too hot for me. I confessed it was really too spicy for me and I wasnt used to it. He grinned and added more of the normal broth into the chilli broth to dilute the spiciness. Initially he had mistaken I had returned back to Taiwan from overseas and he joked that my tummy had forgotten its "spicy roots". After he realised I wasnt Taiwanese, he actually stuck around to cook my meat for me. I look around and didnt see any of the other waiter cooking the meals for the rest of the patrons. Ok, I confessed, I like the special treatment. I didnt have to lift a finger, all I did was to eat whatever the waiter dished onto my plate. haaa

Of course, special treatment couldnt last the whole nite since the place was really jam packed with customers :) I had a jug of the 乌梅汁 which basically is some black plum juice. It was alittle different from what I had in mind and it was alittle too thick before the ice melted. Plus it had kinda a strong herbal taste too. However, it certainly clam the "fire" within the tummy after the intake of the chilli broth. Unfortunately, my husband has no interest in such "chinese" beverage taking preference with his coke and I couldnt finish my plum juice of coz.

All in all a good meal for the first dinner of the trip, not to mention dirt cheap. 2 hours is just the right duration for the meal. We decided to free up our table for the next guests and had our icecream in a cone as takeway instead.

The only thing that had my husband stumped a little was the male washroom. He was kinda taken back that there was little privacy. The washroom toilet door was kinda tinted in red but it was seriously not hard to see the "men in action" doing their little business as the urinal was place by the side of the door. I was so amused I started laughing. I was telling my husband that no one would really be interested to "look in" and stare at them peeing but he wasnt all that convinced...


滿堂紅頂極麻辣鴛鴦火鍋．

ADDRESS: 仁愛旗艦店台北市仁愛路四段228號之4０２-２７０１６６６９

OPERATING HRS: 營業時間上午十一點半至三點．下午五點至凌晨一點
(11am -3pm lunch/ 5pm -am dinner))

COST: 每人午間399元 (noon)，夜間假日450元(night)，單點另計，加一成服務費用，

TIME LIMIT :限時兩個小時．

仁愛本店：台北市仁愛路四段454號．０２-２７２９６４４３．晚上只營業至十一點鐘

Fantastic dinner at C restaurant (Vancouver)

This is still day 2 of our trip and dinner was amazing once again with its fresh seafood produce. I could die from protein overdose seriously.

We tried this restaurant known as "The C restaurant" by the waters and it was absolutely divine! Service was impecable! I had booked via the opentable website and indicated for a quiet corner. When I arrived, I was led to a quiet upper level table overlooking at the patrons seated below. What made my request an excellent decision was that while we may not see the water view from up here, yet we are delightfully SPARED from the setting sun and glare into your eyes. You can imagine how uncomfortable it will be considering the sunrays isnt cool either. Its still alittle hard to accustom to the idea of dinner at 8pm, yet the sun is still shining at you!

The menu is divided into 2 main sections of entrees and mains. Within each section, the food is divided into vertical categories such as "Duck, Pork, Scallop, Lobster and Fish". It was so easy to choose from this matrix and of course I was going for the Jumbo scallops with premium pork belly and foie gras while my husband went for the full lobster with scallops! Finishing it off with the divine choc cake!

Dinner at Cin Cin (Vancouver)

First night in Vancouver and we decided to head to this highly rated Italian restaurant "Cin Cin" down in Robson street. It does not disappoint. Truth be told, I was having jetlag and wasnt expecting any meal to entice me.Looked like hell, felt like sh*t but turned out dinner location was a good choice to up the bets.

I think the greatest surprise was the size of huge scallops served here. Of course it isnt cheap but what the hell, I'm having hols and every bite of the sweet meat is worth its penny! And the lobster linguini...oh sweet lobster.. absolute freshness. It wasnt miserable few pieces one usually gotten use to (in asia especially), they served you proper portion here as one rightfully expect. It was a sign of good meals to come in vancouver....

The rum and raisin icecream also caught me offguard since it normally is not my usual "cup of tea". Its plesantly great here. No words to describe further, one just have to taste it.

Day 2 Budapest: Strolling around "Pest"

Strolled into the Post Office Museum located at the start of Andrassy Ut. It was like a building like a house, similar to how the rich people use to live it. Its a rectangle building with a courtyard right in the middle size of a basketball court where everyunit on each level can look down from their door. Each stairway has painted ceiling and this one has a pretty nice stainglass at the end.

As the random walk continues, I chanced upon this whole street related to Opera (its a side road off andrassy that leads to the formal Opera House) . I couldnt resist doing a little happy skip infront of the Moulin rouge (a dance house).

This picture below doesnt do the building justice but it has the best beautiful exterior facade. The design was intricate and amazingly elegant. U should see it yourself.

I decide to venture off to one of the local markets where the locals do their daily grocery shopping.

Parliment house up close

Anna Cafe is just a few steps away from the last station of the yellow metro. Took a rest here because it has so many varieties of cakes and desserts and shakes. I couldnt resist and so I plonk my butt down the seats and people watch. Only thing that bug me was the consistent cig smoke from all the people ard me.

Still, the choc shake was fabulous and so was the hazelnut slice!
My very nice and friendly Hungarian waiter at "Anna Cafe"

My shanghai Biz Trip

My vendor brought me to this restaurant @xin tian di interior all decorated by the Liu Li gong Fang glass ware etc (same boss). They even have fusion perfomance which was pretty cool.

After dinner, they brought me to Bund 3 where there are many great restaurants and i had the "seriously serious cake" super goregously good! I was pretty impressed! And the place had a fabulously elevated view of the bund across the street.