21/6/10 - Day 1 of Taipei trip

Jetstar flight at 13.50pm from SIN

I was super duper excited as the day that I’ve been waiting for was finally here!! I CANNOT WAIT TO REACH TAIWAN. Boarded the Kuo Kuang bus from Tao Yuan Airport to TP Main Station; the fare was rather cheap at NT120 (or less). Reached TP Main Station at 19.40pm. Journey time: Approx. 50mins. It was very windy!

Took train to Ximen station. The Taiwanese queue orderly to get into the trains= Certified. There are designated lanes for queuing. Singapore should seriously implement these, it disgusts me to see people fighting each other to get into the train FIRST.

Reached XiMenDing in no time. First impression: WOW. It is super happening, with all the brightly-lit streets and shops and music blasting from those shops. There are people everywhere! I like it very much, it’s just like Mongkok in HK.

The place is rather big, with lanes branching out everywhere; we had a hard time locating our hotel (Rainbow Hotel), but yeah we did manage to locate it after all. Put down our stuff and set off for Shi Da Night Market straight away!

Took train to TP Power Building, asked for directions and tadaaa. We’ve arrived at around 20.45. It was extremely crowded but nobody seems to mind. This could be due to the cooling weather in TP unlike the hot and stuffy atmosphere we get in our very own Bugis Street.

First street food in Taipei: Ham and corn pancake

It’s called 车轮饼 in Taipei, which means Cartwheel Biscuit. There were many flavours available and I chose something special which has a creamy filling of corn, ham, and onions. The pancake was crispy and the fillings were rather nice. It wasn’t too mushy and I could distinctively taste each ingredient.

Next we tried the 生煎包 (NT7) from 许记, which literally tastes like pan-fried Xiao Long Baos to me, and I meant that in a good way.

The exterior was dotted with fragrant sesame seeds. The whole batch was pan-fried on a large stove and the aroma was so tantalizing! The skin of the bun was thin and the base was crispy. What surprised me was the juice that burst in my mouth when I bit into the skin. No porky smell, just rich and savoury juices! The piping hot bun was really delicious and it was easy to down at least 3 at a go as it was really tiny (approx 2.5 inches) and cheap!

We also tried the 筒仔米糕 (NT35), which is like our local Lor Mai Gai/Fan Choy, only more delicious!

I was rather apprehensive when it first arrived on our table, as I didn’t know what to expect. It was drizzled in two different kinds of sauces; one was sweet sauce and the other I couldn’t identify. The sweet and savoury combination really went well together.

The pork on top was firm, yet not tough. The plump rice grains were neither too sticky nor dry, it was 粒粒分明, just the way I like it. We didn’t finish it in the end, not because it wasn’t nice, but because we wanted to save stomach space for other food.

Saw this really cute stall called 3-inch mini burgers that sells mini burgers and decided to try one. We had the Thai Lemongrass flavored mini burger (NT19) and it definitely exceeded our expectations for it.

The chicken was succulent and nicely seasoned with lemongrass (duh) and other spices that gave it a slight tangy and sweet taste. The bun was really soft and had a little sweetness to it. Overall, it turned out quite pleasant and I won’t mind trying out the other flavours!

We felt kinda thirsty so we decided to get a drink at one of the many Bubble Tea stalls, this one was called 会上瘾 Fascinating. I had the Iced Ai Yu with Lemon Tea while Cai had some Yakult drink which I forgot. Mine wasn’t very expensive, I think it was around NT20-30. It’s definitely very value-for-money as it came in a big cup! And indeed, drinking this will make you会.上.瘾. You have been warned.

The refreshing beverage was pleasantly sour and wasn’t too sweet. I particularly loved the Ai Yu Jelly, it definitely tops the one that I had in KOI (Singapore). It was soft but still retained its bite. I’m proud to say that I finished the drink in no time!

Cai wanted to try some grilled skewers which I wasn’t too keen at first but did not mind trying. We waited at least 15 minutes for it but it was well worth the waiting.

We chose the Pork with golden mushrooms and the Bacon with spring onions (or was it the other way round?), and damn, it was so good! It was well marinated and topped with sesame seeds. I had expected it to be slightly tough but NO! it was really succulent, chewy, juicy, sweet, savoury… In short, it was totally yummy.

Next, we decided to stop by a stall called 阿发 as Cai wanted to have Oyster Omelette, which is known as 蚵仔煎 (NT60) in Taipei. The auntie also strongly recommended us to try their Hua Zhi Ji (NT50) which she said was super popular and that we wouldn’t regret it.

As. If. Firstly, the Hua zhi ji was basically like a sotong dumpling which tastes rather like a fishy, less starchy and chewier version of mee hoon kway. It came in a thick starchy soup which came with other ingredients such as egg white and sea weed. It tasted really boring to us though.

I’d tried Oyster omelette in Singapore before and the only thing I like was the crispy edges of the egg. I remember being warned about the Taiwanese version of this being different and ‘not nice’ so I didn’t expect much from this dish. And indeed it was disappointing.

It was doused in a sweet sauce did not complement the omelette and it seemed rather awkward there. The omelette had a ratio of 80% cornstarch and 20% egg. I didn’t eat the oysters as I generally don’t like those. Dislike the gooey portions which seemed to be everywhere. I found this dish to be unpalatable and I couldn’t stomach more than 2 bites of it.

Lastly, we went to shop around and went to Welcome (Ding hao) supermarket on the way back to the train station. Bought Apple milk for next morning’s breakfast beverage! It was yummy, tasted of Fuji apple and wasn’t too sweet.

Back to the hotel, after a nice bath, we laid down on the bed and watched the many TW variety shows until 2+ before turning in, and that was end of Day 1.

Din Tai Fung - Cherie's Bday Celebration

A simple bday lunch for Cherie at Din Tai Fung (313 Somerset) with Amanda, Cherie, and Jessie!
As usual, it was filled fun and laughter with the girls, not forgetting the gossip! Haha.
Moving on to the food..

Fried Pork Cutlet

I've tried this dish the other time I came with my family, and it was still as how I'd remembered it to be. The well-seasoned cutlet was succulent and every bite was bursting with juices. It was rather oily though.

Original Xiao Long Baos

This is a perennial favourite of countless people, not only us Singaporeans. The girls were raving about this even before we reached the restaurant. I've had it before and it was all right for me. The 18-folds thing didn't really make a difference for me, but the skin was suitably thin and the stock was fragrant. I still prefer CJ La Mian XLB's rendition over this. Idk why, it just tastes better. Its probably the stock, i guess.

Egg Fried Rice

Fat, luscious pearl grain rice were used, and were stir-fried with eggs and spring onions to produce this simple yet pleasing dish. The first few bites were really good, but after that it started to get a little boring. Even after adding soy sauce and pepper to it, it still tasted pretty bland. Reason: Lack of wok hei. I almost had difficulties finishing it. Probably won't order it again.

Steamed Chilli Crab with Pork Bun

I recommended this dish to the girls because I'd tried the limited edition Chilli Crab XLBs (below) last year which was mighty awesome! However, this was disappointing. The bun didn't go well with the filling (it's like 2 separate entities altogether). The filling itself was acceptable, the chilli crab meat wasn't as spicy as I would like it to be, but it was bursting with pork juices which were kind of fragrant and rich-tasting.

And because we spent more than $80 in a single receipt, we were entitled to the Complimentary Taiwan Red Bean Rice Dumpling when we paid using any DBS/POSB Debit/Credit Card.

The girls were really shocked when the rice dumpling arrived on our table as it was much smaller than we'd expected it to be. But taste-wise, it was good. The sticky glutinuous rice had absorbed the fragrance of the lotus leaves used to wrap it, and the red-bean filling wasn't too sweet nor dry.

Verdict: Nothing particularly impressive this time, but it was the company that matters =D I would probably return to Din Tai Fung to try that appetizer 'Vegetarian Delight in Vinegar dressing' or if there are new dishes on their menu that entices me to try!

Credit: I didn't take pictures for this meal, so all the pictures were found from Google. Credits to foodpoi.com and keropok.com for the pictures.

Akashi Jap restaurant @ Paragon

26th February 2010

Okay, this was a 'date' that I was so not looking forward to. Well, I'd seen it as entertaining the Old Cow, and told Wifey that it'll be the first and LAST date with him. Eew.

He's not that bad actually, in fact he was quite a gentleman to come pick me up after my work. But his philandering ways fill me with disgust. Esp the way he preys on single and young girls at the C Show. What's it with old men and young girls anyway? Is it an attempt to make themselves feel younger?

K. Enough of the complaining. We had dinner at Akashi (Paragon). I'd seen good reviews about it and went in with great expectations. It wasn't that bad, it just didn't live up to my expectations.

Pidan Tofu

I relished Tetsu's rendition of this, and it excited me when I saw this on the menu. I just had to have it.

It was a disappoint, totally far from what I had at Tetsu. The century egg sauce drizzled over the tofu was not as fragrant as I would have liked it to be. And I guess the absence of ebiko made a huge difference, there wasn't any saltiness to balance it off. This made me miss Tetsu even more. I can't wait to go back there!

Sake Sashimi

This was rather pricey, at $16 for 5 thick slices. Old Cow said that at this price, it had better be good. Hmm. It didn't taste particularly fresh, just a normal-tasting salmon.I felt that it was something that I could get from any regular Jap restaurant. The good was that it was sliced thickly, skin intact (i lurrrve fish skin), and at least it didn't taste sinewy.

Soft Shelled Crab

Normally, I wouldn't have ordered this ubiquitous Jap dish. But since Old Cow suggested it, I was agreeable as well. Well, it was light and crunchy, however it was oily and a tad too salty.

Cha soba set with Tempura

This was just passable. The cha soba was nicely chilled and did not have the bitter green tea taste (unlike the one at Hokkaido Jap Rest at Turf City), but I seriously did not know what the raw quail egg was for. It didn’t make that much of a difference when dipped into, so I just left it as it was after one dip.

Tempura came in the form of eggplant, pumpkin, green pepper, and yam. The eggplant, yam, and pumpkin were not mushy and had a pleasant crunch to it, but the pumpkin was sliced too thinly. Not enough to satisfy my love for the lovely veg! The prawn was crunchy too. I didn’t touch the green pepper one; I don’t like the taste of it. Overall, they were quite pleasant, although a little oily.

Pork/beef Yakiniku Set

He had the set with stir-fried pork/beef (forgot) with onions set. He let me have some of the meat; it was nicely fried, not too tough.

Verdict: I won't be back for more, unless there aren't decent Jap choices when I'm in Paragon, which is impossible. Shimbashi Sobi (which I very much want to try!) and Sushi Tei are in the vicinity.