Taipei Rec's Requested

[citywayne]

In Taipei area again. I have been hitting the night markets (usual suspects, Shilin, ShiDa, Taipei Bridge, ...etc.), so don't need those touted.

I have found that things open and close real fast here (and in China). So I would like a current list, since I have checked recent postings and don't see any for Taipei.

Thanks in advance.

[Lau]

here's some places on my blog from my december taipei trip, i highly recommend trying the taiwanese breakfast place (by far the best taiwanese breakfast place i've ever been to)

http://www.lauhound.com/category/taipei/

[buttertart]

We were last there in 2007 and really enjoyed two restaurants we had patronized a lot when we lived there...in the early '80's! The Celestial (Tian Chu, northern-style, great northern dian xin) and Peng's Garden (Peng Yuan). There was also a wonderful Hangzhou-style place in a hotel called the Fragrant Garden (Xiang Yuan). Jealous jealous, I don't think there's another city I've been to I'd rather eat in than Taipei.

[citywayne]

Thanks for the recs. I could not find any reference to Xiang Yuan hotel in Taipei, could you give me an address or some landmarks to find it. Thanks.

[buttertart]

More fool I, wrong name for the restaurant! The Xiang part, yes.

Tien Hsiang Lo (天香樓), B1, 41 Minquan East Rd, Sec. 2. (The Landis Taipei Hotel). Tel:[phone], www.landistpe.com.tw. Authentic Hangzhou cuisine. Reservations are recommended.

We had lunch there and just walked in.

[Lau]

well you're not really wrong about the xiang, the pinyin for those characters would be tian xian lou

[buttertart]

Actually I had conflated the name with that of a wonderful Shanghainese place we went to as often as we could in the early '80s (in the Ding Hao district, when it was first being developed), the Sui Yuan (Elegant Building). Long gone I think.
Tian Xiang Lou. I meant that I wasn't wrong about the xiang. Heavenly fragrance building, in direct translation.
They had a chicken song dish (the one with minced chicken and pine nuts that you eat in lettuce cups) that was in a very light, clear wine sauce and included tiny pieces of excellent strawberries - this was in late April 2007. Gorgeous.

[Lau]

interesting dish, strawberries, don't see that too often

[buttertart]

Not in savory food, that's why it was so wonderful and surprising. Just a few teeny pieces (like 1/8 inch cubes).

[K K]

My last visit was a year ago, and the best two meals in Taipei then were at an Okinawan izakaya and 72 beef noodles. More info here

http://beefnoguy.blogspot.com/2010/01/japanese-izakaya-in-taipei.html

http://beefnoguy.blogspot.com/2010/02...

[citywayne]

thanks KK... seems I can always count on you. ... also great links

[buttertart]

Wasn't it you, KK, who linked a website with highly-recommended places in Taipei a bit ago? One was the Xiang Yuan and one was one we have to get to next time, a Suzhou-style place, as I recall. PS your blog made me seriously homesick for our time in Taipei, when we lived in walking distance of Shihlin night market.

[K K]

Yes and no....I don't recall XY and the Suzhou restaurant for some reason.

Citywayne (and others), you may want to check out Bellavita

http://www.bellavita.com.tw/

Almost a year old, and it looks like some fancy Euro/Milan style upscale shopping outlet and with some top end restaurants. Most are on the pricey side but there may be something interesting. L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon is there too.

One interesting place there is a xiao long bao shop run by a woman from China (married to a Taiwanese husband) called 三源小籠包. Do a google blogsearch and you will find some interesting reviews/pics. Check out the US$20+ high end version that contains scallops, or the strange sweet version that has chocolate inside. That is assuming you're sick of Din Tai Fung already :-)