TAIPEI: Favorite Restaurant in Taiwan..

I think I found a gem. Thanks to one of my buddies in Taiwan for bringing me last time I was there, I've been craving it and am I ever glad that I got to pay this small cozy restaurant another visit.
This restaurant is located on a street known as the "food street" in central Taipei. This is the street where the infamous "Ding Tai Feng" resides... but no, my favorite restaurant is not the fancy Ding Tai Feng, rather, this one here is a low-key, down-to-earth, Taiwanese cuisine.

They serve traditional yet tasty dishes, such as pan-fried Pork liver(!!!), pork oil on rice(yes does not sound healthy), bitter melon with salty egg yolk, etc.

The pan-fried pork liver looks like foie gras.. but it's alot chewier and I think it's pan-fried with soya sauce, intensive flavours and the texture is very different, it's more powdery and doesn't melt in your mouth but doesn't feel as greasy and I like how it's chewy.

The rice.. pork oil(lard) on rice. haha.. man.. that does NOT sound good at all... but the aroma came all the way from the kitchen, it smelled so good. Not the healthiest option, the flavors just made working out for 2 hours all worth it.

Let me share a little story of my experience with bitter melons. First time I tried it was in Okinawa, Japan. Bitter Melons was one of their specialty. It was good, bitter but I could take it. I went back to Osaka, tried it there and practically ran to the washroom throwing up. Went to Hong Kong, my aunt told me bitter melon juice is good for skin, thus thinking I could just shoot it like a shot of tequila or something, committed to it. I think I spat it all over my clothes (and the person next to me). Swore to never have it again. So I lied and tried it in Taiwan last year and was impressed, comparable to Okinawa! As simple as that, I ordered it again on my own will at this restaurant, Bitter melon with salty egg yolk. The bitter melon was really juicy, really fresh and not bitter at all, in fact.. even a little sweet!

We ordered chicken drumstick, this probably disappointed us the most. It was just chicken. It was good, don't get me wrong.. but it was JUST chicken.

We didn't plan on ordering soup but the server recommended it and we were glad we did, how much we would be missing out if we neglected it. It was clams and asparagus. It came in a clear broth, I was personally expecting it to be not too tasty but I was surprised by the freshness of the clams. The broth was sooo sweet. SOOOO sweet, it was surprising to come from a soup that clear.

Very decent prices, for all that, it came to less than $20USD for TWO! If you're in the area, don't forget to try Ice Monster, it's right around the corner. It's a fresh fruit shaved ice restaurant. Dessert that compliments the meal very well!

(Had this last time.. omg. so good)

VANCOUVER: Kintaro

Should be the most popular Ramen restaurant in the Lower Mainland. Whether it's in the cold miserable winter or sunny Vancouver, the restaurant always seems to be able to gather a little crowd outside their doors on Denman. Their hot steamy bowls of ramen on a cold winter day is always welcoming, their cold ramen on a sunny Vancouver afternoon will never be rejected.

The freshly made ramen comes with a rich vegetable and pork broth. You can have your choice of lean or fatty pork. The flavours vary between the traditional Miso, Shoyu, Curry or even CHEESE! Yes, CHEESE.. I love it! I must say, it will not disappoint cheese lovers. As the menu says "The ladies loooo-ve it!" Boy, do they ever know what ladies LOVE! Heavenly!!

The noodles here are nice and springy, but not overly chewy nor soggy. The soup is to die for, though you really can't have it more than once a month or you'd really probably die of cholesterol. The portions are big enough for a grown man, too much for a lady, especially the cheese ramen, really fills you up.

VANCOUVER: Cannery

Mmmm.. how I love the aroma of the Lobster Oil at the Cannery.
The drive into the restaurant builds up anticipation as you drive through the cargoes, you feel like you are in the middle of an action film, you have to pass on a secret code to an intercom at the entrance, driving through hundreds, if not thousands of cargoes.

As you arrive at the restaurant, you find yourself in what appears to be the inside of a fishing boat, with nets and anchors at the entrance. You have a gorgeous view of the water and a relaxing atmosphere that makes it very comforting while you dine.

As you are seated, a basket of bread is placed in front of you, the server comes along and pours out a orange oil, take a deep breath, is that lobster? Yes. Their renowned lobster oil. I cannot get enough of it. I usually stuff myself up before my appetizer comes.

We went for the Dine-Out Vancouver promotion a few years ago. Good timing for me to introduce them now as they are now taking reservations for Dine-Out this year. (I know, I am missing out!)

We started with the Roasted Parsnip and Fennel Soup with smoked Queen Charlotte sable fish. The soup was creamy, a little on the rich side, surprisingly the cream soup didn't overpower the fresh flavors from the sable fish.

The other entree we ordered was the Ahi-Tuna Carpaccio seasoned with wild paprika, lemon gelee, chili oil and avocado salad. Very fresh and the tuna was grilled ever-so-lightly, keeping the juices and freshness. Mmm.. sooo good.. The chili oil was an excellent choice.

The main courses just stole the show.

1.) Grilled Swordfish Filet brushed with arugula and almond pesto, chipotle pepper sauce.
- Meaty texture accented well with the sauce, I love how the flavours aren't too strong, hey, it's healthy too!

2.) Slow-cooked Pork Shank glazed with tandoori demi, served with tiger prawns, sesame seeds and cilantro.
- Sooooo tender and the tandoori sauce was such an excellent choice instead of the usual boring sauces.

3.) Grilled BC Salmon over oyster mushrooms and baby shrimp in a scallion basil cream sauce.
- The salmon steak was a medium rare. Didn't ask for my preference but that is what I always prefer. I loved it. The sauce wasn't that good to be honest, I didn't think the cream sauce was that special, something you could get anywhere, however, I did love the mushrooms.

Desserts...

Orange Cheesecake over coffee crust, semi-sweet chocolate sauce. The cheesecake was far too heavy, and not very orangey. I prefer my crust crispy, unfortunately theirs was not.

Velvet Chocolate Tower filled with brandied cherries and raspberry coulis. The name and description left me with high expectations of an actual "tower", turns out to be a regular-sized dessert. Chocolate mousse on the outside, was not exactly "filled with brandied cherries", but chocolate was rich. Can't go wrong with chocolate.

Their prices are reasonable relative to other restaurants in the same category. Overall, the Cannery is one of the best in Vancouver in terms of everything... it is unfortunate that this place is relocating in 2010, I've got to return before then.

TAIPEI: Pepper Buns 胡椒餅 @ Shi Lin Market

Pepper buns are a Chinese traditional snack from Fuzhou, then imported to Taiwan due to the popularity. This Chinese snack became a traditional snack in Taiwan. The strong flavour of black pepper is from the pork filling, being marinated with black pepper for hours, thus "Pepper Buns". Jia Xiang is one of the most renowned vender's in Taichung, winning the award “The best vender’s store in Taichung” in 1996. The pepper buns there are highly popular and have expanded to outside of Taichung to all over Taiwan.

Every bun is hand-made and then put into a special stove. After that, they will use their unique marinating methods to marinade the pork with dried chopped green onions. Sesame is placed on the top of the bun and charbroiled for 15 minutes.

The time and temperature in stove have to be precisely 280°, the oil of the pork will be absorbed by the skin due to the high temperatures. The skin would also become golden and crispy. Charbroiling the buns will make the buns less oily and more crispy.

Although the store I tried wasn't Jia Xiang, this was the next best thing. First time having it in Taiwan, regret not having the opportunity to try it in the past. If it wasn't for my friend that lives in Taiwan, touring me around the night markets, I would've never had found this delicacy.

HONG KONG: Dumpling Yuan 餃子園 : Traditional Pekingnese Restaurant

You'd be quite surprised to be able to find such a restaurant in the middle of Central; where all men wear Prada shoes, all women are carrying Hermes Bags. It's a small dinky restaurant, dimly lit, not the cleanest place, a large table in the middle of the restaurant where you have to share with 8 other strangers.

Small but nonetheless busy always. THey serve very traditional Pekingnese dishes, nothing like the renowned Peking duck, more like simple vegetarian noodles, marinated cucumbers and simple food you would actually find in an average Beijing home. The portions are small but the prices relate to the portions as it IS located in the ultra-expensive Central district in Hong Kong with one of the highest rentals in the world!

As the name of the restaurant suggests, their specialty are their dumplings. They have a whole page on their menu dedicated to the different dumplings, veggie, pork and veggie, lamb, beef. If you're not kissing anyone that evening, I'd suggest the chives and pork dumpling. Always fresh, and always flavourful. The dough on the dumplings are not too pasty like most places, it doesn't fall apart when bitten into. The lamb dumplings are also worth a try.

Another dish that you'd wan to avoid kissing afterwards is their Pork with Garlic. It's delicious. Chilled pork with a dark sauce and lots of garlic on top. My only comment is that it would taste better if they chopped the garlic up a little more so there aren't chunks of garlic.

Zhen Jiang Ribs were extremely flavorful, must say, the presentation of this dish was not really appetizing but very flavourful. The ribs however were not tender enough. Good enough for a couple bucks.

HONG KONG: Thai Simple Kitchen

Christmas and New Years have come and gone, time to get back on track and target better restaurants this year!

It's hard to decide which restaurant to start writing about first as all I've been doing this winter vacation have been eating non-stop.

Let's start with Thai food. Random enough? So we tried a restaurant called Thai Simple Kitchen in the hustling and bustling Causeway Bay in Hong Kong. The entrance is a small little corridor outside of a theater that brings you to an elevator and when you reach that level, you'd be quite surprised to find at least 15 people in the waiting area. It's quite a big restaurant with a large patio decorated with small Christmas lights. The menu is diverse with a separate vegetarian section, and alot of the dishes are rather creative. We ordered the typical traditional Thai food, just so we could give their quality a try. A Pad Thai, BBQ Pork's Neck and the most untraditional one, we ordered a Tom Yum Gong Steamed egg. Most dishes are in a sizable portion and are great for sharing.

The BBQ Pork's neck was delicious, very crispy on the outside and the sauce it came with was superb, not too spicy yet tangy.


The Pad Thai was decent. It didn't surprise us at all, had the typical texture to the noodles and flavour was good, not too exciting. This Pad Thai however came with large shrimp. Not being a huge fan of large shrimps, i wasn't too impressed, it did add to the presentation though. Very nice presentation in fact.

The Tom Yum Gong Steamed egg was very creative. Kept the juices from the soup, and had more texture than the original soup. It's great for sharing and for trying something new. The flavours were nearly as good as what the traditional Tom Yum Gong soup would be like but I do admire the chef's sense of creativity. Sure adds a variation to the already-much-explosive-flavoured-soup.

HONG KONG: Malaymama

Malaymama, a tiny takeout/fast food restaurant in Sheung Wan. There are actually 3 restaurants on the same street that serve similar dishes, I like this one. I used to live close by at one point and when I wasn't meeting anyone for dinner, 2 out of 5 times, I would pay them a visit. THeir specialty is Laksa and their octopus spinach.

Their Laksa is not as spicy as the traditional Laksa, better suited for the locals tastebuds. Spices are available upon request. You can tell by the colour of the soup that the chef took a long time boiling all the flavours. It's not very thick but the coconut milk was delicious. The shop owner claimed that the soup was made of over 20 catties of shrimps. No wonder there's a strong flavour of prawn in the soup. The texture of the noodle was good that it retained its resilience of flour. The big shrimps were all fresh. If you have a big appetite, this would be excellent as the portions are huge, lots of prawns, veggies and meat.

What I really like is their Octopus Spinach Salad, served cold. Upon any order, you can add this veggie dish for $15HKD. I'm not sure if this is a traditional Malaysian dish but I enjoyed it. It is made with spinach and octopus(as the name defines), there's a special red sauce on top, spicy, tangy and a little peanutty, topped with crushed peanuts. The octopus is very fresh. The texture was crunchy, almost as if it was raw. Went great with the spinach as the spinach was cooked and thus the combination was perfect. The sauce went well with it, hinting Malaysian flavours with it's spices.