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Restaurants of the week

Rolled trout fillets in lentil stew is a popular fish dish at Rainbow's buffet. PHOTO: CHANG JU-PING, TAIPEI TIMES

Mr Paco Mediterranean Cuisine(地中海廚房)

Address: 23, Alley 4, Lane 345, Jenai Rd., Sec. 4, Taipei (台北市仁愛路四段345巷4弄23號) Telephone: (02) 8771-3102
Open: 11am-10pm Mondays through Thursdays; 11am-11pm Fridays through Sundays.
Average meal: NT$600 a person.
Details: English menu. credit card accepted.

While Taipei can boast scores of eateries serving up European food of one type or another, very few of these restaurants give diners the choice to indulge in culinary delights from more than one European nation at a time.

If you go Italian you get Italian and if you go French, you get French. Mr Paco Mediterranean Cuisine, however, offers diners a wide variety of fare from four European countries.

Diners are offered a choice of entrees, main courses and desserts from Greece, France, Italy and Spain. The menu is broken up into separate sections listing dishes from the respective nations.

The Greek section offers such classics as chicken kebabs served with rice, salad and French fries (NT$460), humus dip (NT$180) and Greek salad (NT$330). French fare offered includes mussels cooked in various ways -- spicy, pesto and bacon -- served with French fries (NT$390) and Caesar salad (NT$290).

Italian food such as this antipasto account for a large slice of Mr Paco's menu. PHOTO: GAVIN PHIPPS, TAIPIE TIMES

For diners looking for an Iberian feel to their meal, the Spanish section should not be missed. Along with spinach salad (NT$280), the chefs at Mr Paco's Mediterranean Cuisine have come up with a recipe for paella which, while slightly localized in flavor and a far cry from the dish served up in Madrid, is still pretty good. If you are planning a dinner with a group of friends, then the paella is probably a good choice, as the dish can be prepared for two, four or six people. The dish costs NT$590, NT$1,100 and NT$1,600 respectively.

By far the largest selection in the restaurant is Italian. There is an antipasto platter which includes cold cuts, bread, olives and feta cheese (NT$320), Mr Paco pizza (360), various styles of linguini (NT$310) and ravioli (NT$340).

The menu might not be as complete as it could be and there are quite a few dishes that possibly should be included if the joint is to become a haven for homesick Europeans. At present, however, the choice of European food prepared at the restaurant is enough to provide a hearty meal for anyone hungering for European-style food.

Rainbow Terrace (福華飯店彩虹聽)

Address: Howard Plaza Hotel, 160, Jenai Road, Sec. 3, Taipei (台北市仁愛路三段160號) Telephone: (02) 2326-7429
Open: 6:30am-9pm.
Average meal: NT$500 (lunch), NT$800 (dinner) a person.
Details: English menu. credit card accepted.

This atrium dining room is a perennial favorite for the bright, high-ceilinged space that makes diners feel like they are sitting outdoors, although they are able to enjoy the convenience of the hotel lobby.

Apart from atmosphere, the Rainbow Terrace is famous for its afternoon tea and a selection of sweets. Then, there its the lunch buffet and the weekend dinner buffet, which provide a choice of over 50 counter dishes to choose from.

Some of the most popular dishes include steamed whole red snapper with oyster sauce and breaded baby crab with tonkatsu sauce.

Starting this week until June 24, the restaurant is featuring Austrian cuisine, prepared by chef Adolf Meindl, a visiting chef from Salzburg with 20 years experience at Hotel Golderner Hirsch. He will be presenting familiar ingredients in new ways in such dishes as Viennese boiled beef, Viennese breaded veal with dumplings and braised strip loin marinated in wine. The boiled beef, flavored with a sauce made from fried potato, apple and Austrian-style sauerkraut, is a typical Austrian lunch dish.

Fish is another ingredient that the chef widely employs in his menu. Sea bass fillet on creamed pistachio stew with dark beer sauce is a fine choice for beer lovers.

During the promotion of Austrian food, Meindl will be maintaining the buffet basics, with a well-stocked carvery featuring a variety of baked meats and 12 kinds of salads. Meindl has also introduced a range of new wines to the restaurants wine list such as the Radetzky Redwinedry and Gruner Veltliner Dry.

The restaurant is also known for its live performances of light, easy listening music. Generally, diners are entertained by a piano trio at tea time and in the evenings, Mystique Ballader and his wife Li Hui-ling (李蕙玲), from the Philippines, perform a selection of songs to entertain diners.

For the Austrian cuisine promotion, which lasts until June 24, classical music will be played, featuring Lyudmil Petkov and Mario Hossen, a violin and piano duo .

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