Category: Region: Taiwan

Turning a traditional dessert into a pop icon: the original Ice Monster

Shaved ice desserts have been popular for decades in Taiwan. They are called bào bīng (剉冰) and helped scores of Taiwanese to survive the heat of the summer. It took a man to revolutionize this traditional industry with Ice Monster.

The first Ice Monster shop was set up in the popular Yongkang street in Taipei. It was 1997. At the beginning, as told by the founder in an interview, people could not care less about his new dessert, an ice shaved mango “avalanche” (mangoes are grown in Taiwan). They wanted the traditional flavors like red beans and brown sugar. Initially he had to give away the mango desserts for free. And then the lines started to form. Soon it became a sensation.

There was a hiccup in 2010 when the flagship store had to close during a divorce dispute, but in 2012 it reopened in a new part of town: this was the store that I visited in April 2019. (In Yongkang street at the number 15 now there is a Smoothie House that is not connected with Ice Monster, but selling similar desserts.) Since its re-birth, Ice Monster has expanded in the US, Japan, and mainland China. In 2013 it was featured by CNN as one of the world’s best desserts. Lines continue to form.

The visit

The store is now located on Zhongxiao East Road in a busy shopping and entertainment district (Zara and Uniqlo have stores a couple of blocks away).

I had to endure some queue, but it moved quickly.

The store is large, but not enormous. It was pretty packed on an early Saturday afternoon.

Behind the counter, staff is constantly busy in “shaving ice” using the machines that were perfected by the founder working with a Taiwanese supplier. It took 15 minutes before I got my order (that was prepaid and placed when I stepped in the store before going to a table).

Since it was strawberry season, I had their “Strawberry Sensation” that technically is not really shaved ice, but more similar to Taiwanese snow ice, that is a variation were the base, using condensed milk, is infused in the ice (xue hua bing 雪花冰) . For the classic shaved ice you have to check the “Avalanche” items.

It came with a ball of strawberry sorbet (also available individually), a generous amount of panna cotta, strawberry pudding (including an extra glass). It was an immensely rich dessert that could satisfy two people.

The ice is incredibly soft and fluffy, with a very nice texture. It was better than the bingsu I had in Seoul, but the two are not directly comparable.

The check

This huge dessert was 260 NTD (8.5 USD). Considering that you can easily share it, it is still a steal (the price had been going up constantly though). As a comparison, in the Hawaii stores, the same dessert costs 15 USD.

House rule: minimum 100 NTD charge per person and maximum 1 hour stay. This means that most desserts, which cost more than 200 NTD, can be shared between two people, but if you have a third person in the party, you will need to order something else. Fair and square.

Where in Taipei:
No.297, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd. Taipei, Taiwan
In Chinese: 台北市忠孝東路四段297號
Tip: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Exit 1.
UPDATE: this shop ended operations on September 15, 2019.
List of other stores in Taiwan, China, Japan, and Hawaii: https://www.ice-monster.com/store-

Creative luxury chocolate from Yu Chocolatier in Taipei

Yu Chocolatier is not another chain or random French brand mechanically replicated abroad. It is the result of the tenacity and passion of a Taiwanese young man, chef Yu, that embarked on a journey to become a chocolatier. For 18 months, he studied in France and then he went back to Taipei where in 2015 opened a shop. In my experience this kind of stories breed the best food experiences.

The visit

The shop is located on a quiet side street in Daan district in Taipei. It took me a while to find it as the store front disguises the little beautiful boutique inside.

The small counter displayed a bounty of different creations.

In my first visit, I sat down in one of the few tables available in the back of the store. They take reservations and I was lucky enough that a table was available for just the right time.

I had a hot chocolate (their original blend) that was excellent (I appreciated that it was not served deadly hot) and one of their best-sellers, a chocolate tart. I must confess that I did not like the tart so much because it was too sweet.

However I went back and I bought a few pastries to share with friends. The packaging was impressive, but the content even more.

I and my friends thoroughly enjoyed every single cake. The first one (top right) was a chocolate pastry with a mango slice. The flavors were perfectly fused together. The round pastry (top left) was a seasonal creation with orange and jasmine flavors. The two pastries pictured on the bottom were an exquisite Montblanc and a version of an Opera cake. All of them were extremely delicate and not too sweet like the tart I initially had.

I must say that this sample does not do complete justice to the variety and creativity of the pastries available that mix spirits, tropical fruits, and chocolate in very creative ways. Definitely a place to visit again and again.

The check

The tart and the hot chocolate cost me “only” 350 NTD (11.35 USD). If you consider that I could eat seated at a table and I even got free water, that’s really reasonable.

The four pastries I shared with friends cost me a total of 860 NTD (28 USD), or around 7 USD per pastry. Not cheap, but absolutely acceptable given the quality of the creations.

I am honestly in love with this chocolaterie and I will make it a mandatory stop in my next trips to Taipei.

Where in Taipei:
No. 10, Alley 3, Lane 112, Section 4, Renai Rd, Daan District, Taipei City
In Chinese: 大安區仁愛路4段112巷3弄10號 
Website: https://www.yuchocolatier.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/yuchocolatier

The biggest slices of sashimi I ever had in Kingyo Izakaya in Taipei

If you do not like raw fish, stop reading. On a trip in Taipei (April 2019) I came across a Japanese-style izakaya in a residential area. Izakayas are quite popular in Taipei and usually are open till late. Next to the izakaya, there is a high-end Japanese restaurant that I shall try one day.

The visit

I arrived very early on a Saturday evening (before 6pm) and the place was already bustling with diners. I was accommodate at the counter.

And I was offered a free appetizer. The menu was also available in English, which is nice because it is not so common in this kind of establishment.

My main order was a bowl of sashimi. I really could not expect to be served ginormous pieces of sashimi. There was salmon, swordfish (in rolls), a cube of tuna, and yellow tail.

The pieces of sashimi were almost one centimeter thick. In some restaurants, a single slice like this would make a full dish. It was epic.

I could have avoided to order anything else, but I also had a pairs of sushi: tuna and hamachi.

I also had some potatoes with mentaiko, but the dish was too big (I guess designed to be shared) and I did not like them so much.

Before leaving I was offered free dessert: some sweat soup and apple.

The check

After 10% service charge, the check came to 1230 NTD (or 40 USD).

The sashimi bowl was alone 550 NTD (18 USD). Two people could have easily been fed by what I ordered, so I would say that this izakaya is very good value for money, especially for the fresh sashimi.

Sometimes is nice to find a no-frill place like Kingyo Izakaya where the focus is just good food. I would certainly go back to have again that bowl of sashimi. They also have a number of set menus (advertised as kaiseki meals) and some reasonably priced lunch sets. Hotpot seemed to be another favorite of the diners that I saw during my visit.

Where in Taipei:
No.18, Lane 233, Yanji St, Da’an Dist, Taipei 106, Taiwan
In Chinese: 台北市大安區延吉街233巷18號
Check their menu from the website (their website is in Chinese, but the menu page is also translated): http://www.kingyotaipei.com/menu.htm

Elegant Taiwanese dinner in Tainan

In October 2018 I was invited to a dinner in a well-reputed Chinese restaurant in Tainan specializing in crab. The restaurant was located on the second floor of Tainan’s Dream Mall and was called Jin Xia (錦霞樓). According to my research, the restaurant was run by a local family then in its third generation.

The visit

Our group was assigned a large private room with a classic round table and a lazy Susan at the center.

It was a classic eight-course Chinese meal with some add-ons.

Tea, sparkling wine and Apple Sidra were available throughout the dinner. Appe Sidra is a Taiwanese fixture: launched in 1965, it is a kind of apple cider vinegar soda with a very crisp and sour flavor.

First an amuse bouche including a piece of shrimp and tofu.

A tofu and abalone appetizer.

Another nicely presented appetizer dish including some local specialties like sausages and mullet roe (in the paper wrapping). Well balance of flavors.

Then we had a delicious seafood soup with shrimps, white fish and crab.

Then time for a big ticket item: a crab with its roe on a base of rice.

Another soup with tripe.

Another fish dish with a rich sauce.

Fruit.

A final Chinese dessert with tofu, jellies and brown sugar.

The check

I cannot comment on the price point because I was invited by a friend. But I can imagine that it would be fine dining level.

I found it an incredible good meal, leveraging on local specialties and with a contemporary touch in the presentation of the dishes.

Where in Tainan:
2F, No.366, Section 1, Zhong-Hua East Road, East District, Tainan City, Taiwan (2F of T.S. Dream Mall).
Address in Chinese: 東區中華東路一段366號 · 台南市
Website: http://jinxia.ezsale.tw/JINXIA_en.asp.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ASHA.JINXIA.

The beauty of dining at Leputing in Taipei

It is rare that food, presentation, service and venue (not to mention the company) all line up to create the perfect dining experience. That’s what happened in this lunch at Leputing around Christmas 2018 that I had the joy to share with two friends (I was invited, I did not know about the restaurant).

The visit

The restaurant is located in a Japanese-style house that separates itself from the surroundings made of high-rise residential buildings.

This is not ordinary building. It is the result of a 18-month long restoration project to bring back to life an abandoned building from the colonial past (Japan ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945). This is what is explained on Leputing’s website:

Leputing used to be the Nishikicho [Japanese name of the area] Japanese-style dormitory used by officials of the Forestry Bureau, but it was later abandoned for a long time. Through collaboration with Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Lead Jade Life & Culture team was entrusted in 2013 to care for this old building of historical and cultural significance.

(Another source indicates that the building was actually a granary, maybe it was both a dormitory and a deposit.)

They did a spectacular job in restoring and preserving the building adding a zen and a rock garden. Various works of art also embellish the environment (see the picture on top of this page).

The food was not less appealing than the history of the venue. The first dish was a salad including shrimps, pickled radish, and cucumber. I was informed that all the ingredients were attentively sourced from Taiwan.

The second entree was tofu and a kind of smoked white fish. It is nice how they made the tofu and the fish look very similar… It was surmounted by soy bean crumbs and lily bulbs. The dish was nothing short of delicious and again the presentation was just beautiful.

Then we had a soup with mushrooms and foie gras. The soup was chicken stock and it was poured in the bowl at the table. Another delicious dish.

Then I can show you three mains as everyone in the party took a different one. The first was short ribs with hon-shimeji mushrooms (also known as the Japanese honey mushroom for it lobster-like taste) and sunchokes. As you can see, every component of every dish is carefully hand-picked.

The second main was a fish filet with seaweed butter sauce.

Finally, the third main was chicken roulade (“rolled”) with pea puree and mushrooms.

All the mains were phenomenal but the chicken was probably the winner. I learnt that it was free-range chicken from a farm close-by and the roulade components were perfectly amalgamated and did not distract from the chicken juicy flavor.

But we were not finished yet. We also had a rice dish (in kaiseki meals it is never missing and this set menu was reminescent of a kaiseki).

This was not just any rice. It was Chihshang rice from Chihshang Township in Taiwan. According to the distributor:

Back in the age of Japanese colonization, Chihshang rice was the tribute to offer to the Japanese Emperor, so it was called the “Tribute rice”. The world-famous “Chihshang meal box” exactly originated here. The ingredient which the meal box has advertised is exactly the Chihshang rice.

Chihshang Township is located in the purest and most natural area where rice is produced in the Hualien-Taitung Longitudinal Valley. It is also between the Central Range and Costal Range and on the valley plain of Hsinwulu River drainage basin with averagely the height of 300 meters above sea level. The soil in the paddy fields in Chihshang Township is rich with abundant organic minerals along with the rivers. There is even the only inland wetland in Taiwan, the Dapo Pool, to control the water level.

A very fitting dish for the venue. The rice was made more succulent by adding chicken fat.

The dessert had three components. First, a delicate brown sugar cookie with a scoop of apple and sea salt flavored ice cream (not the usual vanilla, thanks). Second, some Taiwanese black tea.

Third, some German fruit bread (stollen). Very fitting given the time of the year (almost Christmas day).

Overall this lunch was an impeccable dining experience, emphasizing local and Japanese ingredients for creative and unique dishes where all the components made a contribution to the final substance of the dish.

The check

I do not really have a check because I was treated to this lunch. However lunch sets range from 1.200 to 1.700 NTD (39 to 55 USD). Only set menus were available. Dinner set menus are more expensive, but mostly below the 100 USD mark. Considering the quality of the food and the overall experience, I would be happy to pay this kind of money for a similar lunch (or dinner).

Leputing is a great restaurant that I highly recommend and I will try to go back in 2019.

Where in Taipei:
No. 67, Section 2, Hangzhou South Road, Da’an District
Address in Chinese: 臺北市大安區杭州南路二段67號
Website: https://www.leputing.com.tw/content/zh/Index.aspx.

A restaurant where to try traditional Tainan food

Tainan is regarded as the culinary capital of Taiwan (or at least by its inhabitants as a friend of Taipei once remarked). I agree that food in Tainan is a big deal and they have a lot of local specialties that should not be missed. This restaurant does a good job in offering a selection of these specialties.

The visit

The restaurant in English is called Chikan Peddler’s Noodle and is located just next to a Tainan’s landmark, Chihkan Tower.

I initially went there for their Dan Zai noodles, but then I realized they had a set menu to sample some of the main local dishes and I went for it.

I was asked to sit on the upper floor. The building is an old traditional house and the stairs are quite steep…

The dining room upstairs was almost empty and I was quickly served.

The first dish was a bowl of their Dan Zai noodles, a type of noodle topped with minced pork ragu (and a shrimp). The pork meat goes through a long preparation process and the result is outstanding. The meat is full of herbal flavors and is extremely delicate. It is really a dish to try.

Then one by one I got the other dishes of this set menu. The second was boiled spearfish thick soup. Quite a good soup with some good pieces of white fish.

The oyster omelette was another typical dish included in the set.

I also had an opportunity to try the milk fish (boiled with a traditional bean paste).

Another dish was rice cake with deep-fried shrimp rolls.

Finally, I was served a kind of flan.

The check

Total was 420 NTD (13.65 USD), which included a large cup of iced tea (white gourd to be precise).

The restaurant clearly caters to tourist, but I think it did a decent job in presenting this selection of traditional dishes. My impression is that the noodle were really great, while the other dishes were quite bland. I do not have enough expertise to say if this was just the norm, or there was a difference between the quality of their noodles and the rest.

Where in Tainan:
No.118, Section 2 Minzu Road.
Address in Chinese: 老店  台南市中西區民族路二段 180 號
Website: https://www.chikan.com.tw

Tip: for the thick soup the Tainan’s King of Thick Soup has its store just across the street around the corner.

Brunch restaurants in Taiwan: a Tainan exemplar

Taiwan is mad for brunch restaurants. These small restaurants are halfway a cafe and a bistro. I see them as a natural evolution of Taiwanese breakfast restaurants, but serving foreign food, usually from 9 am to mid afternoon or early evening.

The visit

Just as an example, I will mention one from Tainan where I ate. In English is called character and it is housed in a small space in a back alley of Chenggong road. It could have been a garage.

Everything about it is cute…

Their specialty seems to be instagrammable latte, with cute cartoons drawn in the cream.

I went for a set luch that included an iced tea, a salad with soba and…

…and an excellent tuna cheese sandwich.

The place with its cuteness and affordable prices seemed to cater to young people.

The check

The set menu cost me only 150 NTD (4.87 USD), really a bargain for a nice lunch.

This kind of eateries, which are not really restaurants, but not a cafe as well (not really designed to hang out for a long time as in certain cafes), are now endemic in Taiwan; I noticed a lot of them especially in the South. They are really a great option for a non-Taiwanese breakfast or lunch.

Where in Tainan:
No. 4-5, Lane 68, Chenggong Road, North District

A gastro-stroll in Lihue Night Market in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Not the biggest or most interesting night market, still I will write this review because I have not reviewed any Taiwanese night market yet and Lihue in Kaohsiung is a pretty typical example. If you are not aware, night markets are all over Taiwan (every city has many, often running concurrently from evening to midnight or later) and they are all about food. It is some of the best street food you can find in Asia (if you compound price, cleanliness and taste in my opinion).

The visit

I was in Kaohsiung in late December 2018 and I decided to take a stroll in this market as it was very close to my hotel.

The market spread around 700 meters on Lihue street with probably close to 100 vendors. It was quite crowded, as night markets always are in Taiwan. Good thing, it is mostly food, but you can also find garments and souvenir vendors.

I started with one of the popular vendors: a stall preparing Taiwanese hot dogs. This is actually a sausage squeezed in a bun of sticky rice. Other condiments are added including ketchup and spring onion. Only 60 NTD for a small one (1.95 USD). I liked it and it was not too messy to eat. Thanks to the paper wrap it stayed into place.

Then, if you like a soft ball, the diced beef vendor is a sure shot. I have seen them in Taipei as well. The beef is cooked with a blowtorch. Not the highest quality, but it does the job. A small portion is 100 NTD (3.20 USD).

This vendor was quite interesting. She prepared some shrimp and egg balls, using quail eggs. Maybe too much pepper, but another easy dish. Just 60 NTD (1.95 USD).

I also had a piece of mullet roe, made warm and combined with a slice of apple to make it more palatable. Mullet roe is a specialty of the South of Taiwan. Just 50 NTD (1.60 USD). In the picture above, while they are warming my mullet roe, on the grill they are cooking fish gizzard.

Of course there is much more, including more expensive seafood as shown in the picture above. A few stalls have stools and a few tables in the middle of the road, otherwise it is food on the go.

The check

No checks provided, but the total experience was less than 10 USD and it was totally enjoyable. Night markets are a great food experience in Taiwan.

Where in Kaohsiung:
Liuhe 2nd Road, Xinxing District.
The night market is within walking distance from Formosa Boulevard Station of the Kaohsiung MRT.

A perfect filet in this American steakhouse in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

This was my Christmas 2018 lunch! I had found that in Taiwan there were some outposts of an upscale American steakhouse called Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse (the strange name came about because the new owner, Ruth, had to relocate the restaurant due to a fire but for some reason she could not use the old name in the new location, so she just added hers in front). This seemed like the right place where to satisfy my hunger for a steak in Kaohsiung,

The visit

I headed to the steakhouse directly from the high speed train station using the metro. It is very close to a metro exit (number 2, City Council Station), but it was not so easy to find because the restaurant was located on the 25th floor of a nondescript building; there were no signs clearly visible and at the time of my visit the ground floor was vacant, so it may be easy to miss. But eventually I made it.

The dining room was elegant, with both tables and booths. Not many people on Christmas Day.

A waitress took me to my assigned booth not without letting me know her name (a classic American touch). I was promptly served the bread, still warm, and the butter.

I started with pan-seared tuna (I would say tataki style). Quite good, but the sauce was probably too spicy.

The this monster came: a 310-gram corn-fed USDA prime filet beef. It was perfectly cooked medium rare. The steak was served sizzling on a plate 260 degree hot with a light layer of butter. When it arrived it was really sizzling and it helped keeping the steak warm.

I can only say that it was one of the best steaks had in my years in Asia. Probably the best. The filet was splendidly tender and the big chunk was perfectly cooked (it is not so easy to cook this cut of filet).

Also had mashed potatoes as a side, which I finished, even if it was a large portion.

The check

Total check was 2805 NTD (or 91 USD). The steak alone was 1947 NTD or 63 USD. As compared to Mainland China this was a bargain. And this was one of the priciest cuts in the menu. Taiwan really maintains reasonably priced restaurants.

A great meal, highly recommended. They are also in Taipei and Taichung, where I suspect you would find exactly the same service and menu.

Where in Kaohsiung:
No. 211, Zhongzheng 4th Rd, Qianjin District, 25th floor.
Could not find online booking options, but you can call: +886 7 241 8888.

Seafood adventure at Donggang Huaqiao Fish Market in Taiwan

Did you know that Taiwan is one of the major sources of tuna in Asia? And the epicenter of the tuna trade is Donggang, a township in the Southern part of Taiwan. As soon as I learnt it I knew I had to visit its fish market. In December 2018 I ventured for the first time in the
Huaqiao Fish Market that has a large retail area ready to welcome visitors hungry for sashimi.

The visit

I got to Donggang with a public bus from Kaohsiung stopping at Pingtung Bus Station then I walked one kilometer to the fish market located next to the ferry terminal. It is also possible to find a shuttle that will leave you at the ferry terminal next to the market (more about transportation at the end of the page). Also, no need to wake up early, as this retail market opens at 11am…

The market is quite large with both sellers of any type of seafood and kiosks catering to visitors selling fresh sashimi. Here and there you can find stools and counters where to seat.


My first stop was at stall 186 where I had a lovely sashimi set with tuna, salmon, yellow tail and another type of sashimi. All for 200 NTD (6.5 USD). The sashimi was cut fresh on the spot.


Second stop at stall 118 for another sashimi set with yellow tail, salmon and tuna. This time they handed me the box with the pre-cut pieces of sashimi. Still fresh though.

At stall 227, for 400 NTD (13 USD) I had four slices of the prized kama-toro: marbled tuna collar. This cut is very rare (it accounts for only 1% of the tuna mass) and it is regarded as a delicacy. It is marbled like o-toro, but more compact. They also threw three pieces of regular tuna included in the price.

Many stalls have a piece of kama-toro on display ready to be cut.

Also had a piece of the fish cake pictured above.

At one extremity of the market there is a small restaurant (menu only in Chinese). In this restaurant I tried one of the local specialties, the flying fish roe sausage. This is really just a sausage sprinkled with flying fish roe. I won’t need to eat another one.

Finally, all over the market there are stalls selling a kind of flavored jelly. They are available in many flavors and one strip costs only 10 NTD (0.32 USD). A good way to cap the meal!

The check

Prices are quite standardized. Sashimi sets cost from 100 to 200 NTD (3.2 to 6.5 USD). The most expensive cut is of course the marbled tuna collar that goes for 100 NTD for slice. By comparison, this is easily between 1 fourth to 1 eight of what you would spend for the same amount of sashimi in a Japanese restaurant in Japan or Mainland China. The feast cost me less than 1000 NTD (33 USD).

These are wholesome market prices! I have never eaten sashimi so fresh and cheap. Needless to say, I highly recommend the detour. I will be back.

Appendix: how to get there

From Kaohsiung you can get a shuttle to the ferry terminal next to the market for 150 NTD. Do not bother buying the return ticket as it is more practical to book another shuttle while in Donggang, there are many hovering in front of the ferry terminal and their normal fare to Kaohsiung is again 150 NTD.

In front of Kaohsiung main station (not the HSR station) there is a vendor of tickets for such a shuttle inside a bike shop at the South-East corner of Zhongnan and Jianguo roads. Here’s a ticket showing the shuttle times:

However, for some reason on the day of my trip the shuttle was not running… so I just moved twenty meters ahead to a bus station for a ticket on the regular 9127A bus. It was a very smooth 45 minute ride. My stop was the Pingtunt bus station in downtown Donggang. From there I walked to my destination.