Restaurant of the week: Spicy ... of Life 異國風情

You are wandering about Hsimenting, singing at Cashbox, catching a movie, or just plain shopping, and you get hungry. You want a change of taste from the omnipresent food stands and pubs, and you are looking to relax.

Spicy ? of Life right across from the Matsu Temple on Chengtu Road is a great option. A three-story high spaghetti restaurant outshines the buildings on either side with silvered-framed windows.

Spicy ...of Life opened in October of last year, and is quickly becoming more popular and well known, especially among entertainers. Japanese star Takeda Shinji (武田真治) and Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan (關錦鵬), are just some of the people you might bump into there.

"Unlike ordinary spaghetti restaurants, our specialty lies in our secret home-made sauce," said Erick Lin (林瀚峰), its owner. Most of the dishes have a rendevous with the special sauce, a flavorful blend that takes over three hours to prepare.

Milan hock of beef with spaghetti is one of the fortes of Spicy ... of Life. The fresh meat is first fried until golden brown on the outside. Then the semi-raw beef is set to stew in the chef's sauce until the taste and flavor seeps into the meat. The result is a savory and tender beef on top of mouth-watering angel hair.

A South African customer who had spaghetti with bacon and sausage commented that "it was really great." The main attraction of this dish was the fried bacon wrapped around sausages. The noodles tasted of olives, basil, oregano and tomato base, another blend that Spicy ? of Life handles really well.

Its other ingenious dishes include ink spaghetti with crab meat, black pepper Philly meatball spaghetti, and the celebrated spicy beef spaghetti.

Inexpensive but appetizing, a full meal costs around NT$300, including soup and salad.

Spicy ... of Life is also distinguishable by its modern interior design, that sets up a contrast with the temple that it overlooks. The general impression is that it is part loft and part lounge. Most of its customers are young working people. It is not exactly the candle-light dinner one might be looking for on Valentines Day, but there is a definite character and energy. A smart move is to use it as a pre-party venue before moving out into Taipei's nightlife.

The service is efficient without being intrusive, the waiters and waitresses aren't bad looking either!

Spicy ... of Life is located at 46 Chengtu Road in Taipei (台北市成都路46號). An English menu is available but does not include all of its best dishes.