Restaurants of the week

Pasta West East (紅廚)

7, Sec.1, Anho Rd., Taipei(台北市安和路一段7號); tel:2721-0029. Average meal: NT$500(lunch); NT$900 (dinner). Noon to 2pm; 6pm-9pm. English menu. Credit cards accepted.

This small, elegant restaurant with 47 covers is at the center of Taipei's eastern shopping district, opposite the Tunhwa S. Rd. branch of Eslite Bookstore. It's the sort of place where reservations are essential if you want to be sure of getting a table.

The food is served from an open kitchen run by Mao Kun-da (毛坤達) and his assistant James Hsu (徐建中) and the homey and cheerful atmosphere is given real substance in the generous helpings.

The chef recommends osso buco, a braised knuckle of veal served on a bed of noodles. The luscious flavor is created by marinating the meat in red wine through the night, after which it is fried, and tomato paste, vegetables and of course more red wine are added. It is then cooked in a casserole for three hours. This elaborate dish is very popular with restaurant regulars.

Also recommended is the chicken breast stuffed with spinach and cheese (菠菜起司雞捲). The rich creamy filling with the tasty meat makes for a hearty, delicious meal.

Carrara Italian Restaurant Le Petite Sherwood

Basement, 370, Tunhwa S. Rd., Sec.1, Taipei(台北市敦化南路一段370號地下室); tel:2754-1166. Average meal: NT$750(lunch); NT$900(dinner). 11:30am - 2:30pm; 6pm-10pm. English menu. Credit cards accepted.

A white marble stairway leads you down to Carrara, a reclusive, romantic restaurant presided over by chef Gianluca Diaggi, who hails from Milan. Diaggi worked in hotels in Turkey, Thailand and Eastern Europe, before arriving in Taipei two years ago. Since establishing Carrara, his patrons have included business celebrities such as Morris Chang (張忠謀) of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and business tycoon Ku Chong-lian (辜仲諒).

For Diaggi, the first principle of fine dining is freshness. The food tends to be salty, which makes it more appealing to Taiwanese patrons. Carrara's seafood dishes are particularly recommended. The fresh seafood soup of the day is selected from the pick of the market and often features snapper, sea bass, crab, or clams and scallops mixed with white wine and vegetables.

For the main course, try grilled salmon with braised leeks and lentils timbal (炭烤鮭魚襯蒜苗附燴扁豆). The salmon fillet is a handsome 180g portion grilled in a large cylinder-shaped oven in the restaurant's open kitchen. Cushioned with bricks and fired with unprocessed dark wood, the fish is enhanced by a hint of wood smoke and the fragrance of the forest.

The restaurant's pizzas are baked in a traditional pizza oven to achieve an authentic thin-crust crispness. The restaurant has a small salad bar and buffet with appetizers. A la carte is also available, as well as the weekly set menu. Another option is to create your own pasta dish.

L'Amico Ristorante Italiano (意樂義大利餐廳)

10, Lane 55, Sec.4, Minsheng E. Rd., Taipei(北市民生東路四段55巷10號); tel:2719-3688. Average meal: NT$400(lunch); NT$1,000(dinner). 11:30am-2pm; 6pm-10:30pm. English and Italian menus. Credit cards accepted.

A restaurant furnished in the classical tradition of fine dining, L'Amico sports elongated modernist chairs and a display wine cellar. Chef Joe Chan (陳偉忠), originally from Hong Kong, worked with the Grand Hyatt Hotel chain before settling down to run his own restaurant.