Fri, Dec 28, 2001 page10

• Restaurants at Top 10

  • STAFF REPORTERS
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Mama Ho's Shanghainese Restaurant 侯媽媽美食之家

  Address: 155 Chinshan S. Rd., Sec. 1, Taipei (北市金山南路一段155號).

  Telephone: (02) 2392-2123, or 2392-1797.

  Open: 11:30am - 2pm; 5pm - 9pm.

  Average meal: NT$300.

  Details: Credit cards accepted. No English menu.

  Mama Ho's Shanghainese Restaurant's homely atmosphere and simple decor distinguish it from fancy banquet-style-restaurants. This is in keeping with the food served here, which owner Jessie Lee (李嘉茜) describes as Shanghainese home-style cooking. Mama Ho's is regarded by some as a bastion of this style of cuisine, where good ingredients, attention to detail and the absence of gimmicks make this a great choice for family meals and dinner parties.

  Yuyang Hsiao Ji 魚羊小集

  Address: 41 Hsinchung St., Taipei (北市新中街41號).

  Telephone: (02) 2747-1655.

  Open: 11:30am to 2pm; 5:30pm to 9pm.

  Average meal: NT$400 and up.

  Details: No English menu but the owner speaks English. Credit cards not accepted.

  If you enjoy well prepared meat, it really doesn't get any better than Yuyang Hsiao Ji, a little establishment off Mingsheng East Road, Sec. 5 that specializes in fish and lamb dishes. The most audacious move of owner Wang Kuang-huai (王光淮) is combining the two in many of his dishes. The restaurant is associated with one of the largest sheep farms in Taiwan (with operations in Australia), which allows Wang to ensure that he gets the very best meat for his kitchen. Innovative dishes prepared with quality ingredients in a informal environment.

  Kunming 昆明園

  Address: 26, Ln., 81 Fuhsing N. Rd., Taipei (北市復興北路81巷26號).

  Telephone: 02) 2751-6776.

  Open: 11:30am to 2pm, 5:30pm to 9:30pm on weekdays; 5:30pm to 9:30pm on Saturdays, Sunday and public holidays.

  Average meal: NT$150 (business lunch), NT$300 to NT$350 (dinner).

  Details: Menu in English, Chinese and Arabic. Reservations accepted. Credit cards not accepted. No alcohol served, though patrons are permitted to bring their own.

  For a delicious, moderately-priced Indian restaurant where you can fill the table with a bumper crop of masalas, chick peas, curries and nan, Kunming is one of the best in Taipei. The restaurant is run by the genial Yacoob Mah (馬雲昌), a Chinese Muslim from a family that's run restaurants from Burma to Yunnan. The restaurant's menu combines dishes from India, the Middle East and parts of Southeast Asia, and more than matches Taipei's other Indian restaurants in flavor while also beating them in price. A must-try dish is the musakka, a Turkish recipe consisting of finely-ground beef that is seasoned and cooked with eggplant. The platter is then topped with green peppers, tomatoes and a trace of yogurt sauce. The only thing lacking at Kunming is the decor, but none of the restaurant's many regulars seem to mind.

  O Rou Hsiung 鵝肉熊

  Address: 423 Kuangfu S. Rd. (北市光復南路423號).

  Telephone: (02) 2722-6722.

  Open: 11am to 2pm and 5pm to 1am.

  Average meal: NT$150 (business lunch), NT$300 to NT$350 (dinner).

  Details: NT$150 to NT$200. No English menu.

  Ask anyone in south Taipei where to go for smoked goose, they'll probably point you to O Rou Hsiung, a down-home Taiwanese restaurant with round tables, fake wooden floors and a refrigerator full of big brown bottles of Taiwan beer. The menu is built around goose, which almost everyone orders, and filled out with an extensive selection of noodles, vegetables, tofu dishes and various delectable hsiao chih (小吃), or small dishes. Prices are as reasonable as the food is good, with the average meal costing only around NT$200.

  Ticino 瑞花

  Address: 2, Ln. 82, Tienmou E. Rd., Taipei (北市天母東路82巷2號).

  Telephone: (02) 2876-1101.

  Open: 11am to 2pm, 5pm to 9:30pm.

  Average meal: NT$600.

  Details: English menu. Credit cards accepted.

  Ticino has adhered steadfastly to its motto of providing genuine Swiss cuisine, unaltered for the sake of local taste buds, which often find cheese overpowering. The restaurant excels in the quintessentially Swiss dish of fondue, offering cheese, Bourguignonne and chocolate. Authenticity is a big part of Ticino's menu, with the selection from French, German and Italian regions of Switzerland, and ranging from the simple raclette to roast beef filet with Bearnaise sauce. Experienced service and simple yet elegant presentation enhance the dining experience at Ticino, as does the wine list, which offers rarely seen Swiss wines, as well as a selection from most wine-producing countries.

  Chao Chow Restaurant, Asia-Pacific Hotel 亞太飯店潮州廳

  Address: 172 Chunghsiao E. Rd, Sec. 4, Taipei

  (北市忠孝東路四段172號).

  Telephone: (02) 2521-6727.

  Open: 11am to 3pm, 5pm to 9:30pm.

  Average meal: NT$600.

  Details: Credit cards accepted. English menu.

  It was chosen by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for his daughter's engagement banquet in June. Other than that, quality food at reasonable prices is a more practical reason to choose this restaurant, which specializes in Cantonese dim-sums and the lighter, fresher dishes particular to the Chao-chow (潮州) region of coastal Guangdong. Frequent Hong Kong visitors are also an indication of the authenticity of the food.

  Yun-sung 雲松小館

  Address: 11, Ln. 6, Chienkuo N. Rd., Sec 2 (北市建國北路二段6巷11號).

  Telephone: (02) 2506-2812.

  Open: 12 noon to 2pm; 6pm to 9pm.

  Average meal: NT$250.

  Details: No English menu. Credit cards accepted.

  Yunnan Province (雲南) in China is famous for its spicy cuisine, which is influenced by the food of Myanmar and Thailand. Many restaurants in Taipei serve a mixture of Yunnan, Thai and Myanmar food, but Yun-sung concentrates only on Yunnan cuisine. According to owner Tony Yang (楊達榮), Yunnan cuisine is enough in itself so there is no need for the inclusion of food from other regions. Reading the menu might take a few minutes. This isn't because of any difficult Chinese names, but because the picture menu offers too many tasty options, making it difficult to decide. The menu is categorized by the different regions of Yunnan. Customers are recommended to consider these regional features when ordering.

  La Marquise a 5 heures

  Address: 11, Alley 2, Ln. 345, Renai Rd., Sect. 4, Taipei (北市仁愛路4段345巷2弄11號).

  Telephone: (02) 2773-8529.

  Open: 11:30am to 2pm, 5:30pm to 10pm.

  Average meal: NT$500.

  Details: English menu. Credit cards accepted.

  Opened six years ago by French national Alain Leroux and his wife Claire, La Marquise a 5 heures has built up a strong following among both local and expat diners in the Taipei area. Leroux's restaurant adds some interesting twists to the cuisine of his European homeland. The most prominent of these changes is the lack of fish or meat. Not that meat lovers need be put off, as the fare cooked up is a far cry from the bland vegetarian cuisine found elsewhere in the city. The menu is packed with an array of mouth-watering and extremely healthy dishes. It's not just the food that makes La Marquise an enjoyable place to dine, the restaurant's interior design is elegant and unpretentious. Diners should be aware, however, that La Marquise doesn't serve alcoholic beverages.

  Ta Hsiang Yuan Chuan Tsai Kuan 大湘園川菜館

  Address: 21 Yunho St., Taipei (北市雲和街).

  Telephone: (02) 2362-9333 or 2362-2077.

  Open: 11am to 2pm; 5pm to 9pm.

  Average meal: NT$250.

  Details: English menu. Major credit cards accepted.

  For the past 20 years Chang Fu-song (張褔松) has been titillating the taste buds of the masses with his Sichuan cuisine. Chang opened Ta Hsiang Yuan Chuan Tsai Kuan in 1979, shortly after finishing his military service and has been a proud card-carrying member of the Taiwan Restaurant Workers Union ever since. His restaurant may not be much to look at from the outside, but the gastronomical delights that Chang creates in his kitchen are not to be missed. With a 14-page menu that includes just about every conceivable form of edible object from tofu to lamb intestines, there is something for everyone at Chang's joint. And all of it is very reasonably priced. While two or three people can enjoy a great meal at Chang's restaurant, if you really want to experience a dining sensation, it's advisable to take a larger group to sample as much on the menu as possible.

  Shao Shao Ke 勺勺客

  Address: 15, Lane 41, Jenai Rd., Sec. 2(北市仁愛路二段41巷15號).

  Telephone: (02) 2351-7148.

  Open: 11:30am to 2:30pm, 5:30pm to 10:30pm (closed Mondays).

  Average meal: NT$500.

  Details: No English menu. Credit cards accepted.

  A Taiwanese girl visits China to study Chinese medicine and comes back a chef. This is the story behind one of Taipei's best-known Sha'anxi restaurants. Carly Lee (李櫻瑛) now offers the great tastes and the decor she experienced in China's remote northwest. Shao Shao Ke serves dishes from the arid region where unleavened bread, lamb and fragrant spices make up the cuisine of the area's predominantly Muslim population. But Shao Shao Ke offers more than up-market versions of peasant food. In line with a trend to promote dishes from China's past, the restaurant has worked up a number of "historical" dishes which are no longer found in regular Chinese cuisine.

  More information about these restaurants can be found on Taipei Times' Web site at http://www.taipeitimes.com
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Chinese ships expelled from near Pratas Island

  • 2

    Taiwan to lose 6.67m workers in two retirement waves

  • 3

    Two tropical depressions form, one typhoon forecast

  • 4

    Taiwan’s looming labor disaster

  • 5

    AIT comments on Taiwan accurate: State Department