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Restaurant of the week: Lonely Sage 寂寞聖賢

By Gavin Phipps
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Nov 02, 2001, Page 10

Lonely Sage offers an extensive menu of Western cuisine. PHOTO: GAVIN PHIPPS, TAIPEI TIMES

When C.S. Chang (張景森) opened his Lonely Sage restaurant five and a half years ago he had no idea that it would prove so popular. When he first leased the small innocuous property near Yitung Street (伊通街) from a friend, who had decided to quit the catering trade, Chang initially figured he'd open a bar where he could get together with his friends.

It was only after a long chat with a chef that Chang decided to open a restaurant. "He was quite a well-known chef and put forward a few ideas. Knowing nothing about the catering business, I figured I should simply listen to him," recalls Chang. And now he's very glad he did as, while Taipei is not lacking in faux-western eateries, very few manage to maintain an extensive menu and prove consistently enjoyable places to dine.

What Chang's handwritten menu lacks in color it more than makes up for in content. Packed with a feast of western-style dishes that are all available individually or as set lunches/dinners, Lonely Sage offers diners a huge choice of food.

For lunchtime diners, Chang ensures that there are up to nine set meals available to feed the famished office staff who choose to dine at the Sage. Priced between NT$180 to NT$750 and giving diners the choice of salad, desert, coffee or tea, the set lunches include pan-fried spare ribs, duck breast, roast half rack of lamb, roast sea bream, salmon roll with shrimp mousse and the very popular steamed ice fish.

For pasta lovers, the menu also includes several choices of linguini. Available as meals with soup, salad and desert or a la carte, the list includes seafood, clam, salmon and bacon linguini priced from NT$180 to NT$420.

Diners who opt to enjoy an evening meal at the Sage can choose from a fine selection of western-style foods. A couple of the eatery's more popular dinner dishes include German pork knuckle (NT$500), roast rack of lamb (NT$600) and fillet of beef with goose liver (NT$700).

The restaurant also offers diners several house specials. Slightly more expensive than regular dishes, these include a Thai-style crayfish salad with rice noodles (NT$500) and baked crayfish with cheese (NT$650).

Although Chang has ensured the menu has seen regular overhauls over the years, the restaurants' interior hasn't seen a makeover for at least five years. While appearing odd, this gives the Sage a rustic appeal rarely found in restaurants in modern Taipei.

With shelves crammed with everything from books to empty spirit bottles, slightly yellowing walls and a regular posse of Chang's mates sitting around chatting, the restaurant makes for a homely and sociable atmosphere in which to enjoy a meal. Which, when compared to the often irritating and sterile environments found in many of the city's faux-western joints, makes for a very pleasant change.
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