Tsai Yun Chian, meaning among brilliant clouds, got its name from a poem by Tang Dynasty poet Li Po, in which the phrase describes the pleasant weather and high altitude of southwestern China. In giving such a poetic name to the Yunnan restaurant, Mai Ming-huei (梅明慧) and Li Ching (李青), co-proprietresses of Tsai Yun Chian, wanted to "add a taste of culture to good food."
The image on its signboard and namecard -- a portrait of a minority Wa tribe woman by well-known Chinese graphic artist Chen Yung-le -- was also thoughtfully chosen.
"The Wa tribe is a passionate people famous for their hospitality and vivacity. It represents our restaurant's friendliness," Li said.
Opened for six months, Tsai Yun Chian's bustling business has prompted Li and Chen to set up a branch in Keelung in one month. While the original two-story restaurant on the Nanking East Road thoroughfare continues to provide group banquets, the Keelung branch will be a takeout counter.
Apart from a simple yet tasteful interior, Tsai Yun Chian provides a stylistic brand of Yunnan cuisine. Li, a Yunnan bride, had a disappointing time finding a really good Yunnan restaurant in Taipei to show her friends the cooking style of her hometown.
"Most restaurants offering Yunnan dishes are not really Yunnan restaurants but Thai-Burma-Yunnan-Vietnam mixture outfits, in which every dish tastes spicy-sour.
"They don't understand that Yunnan cuisine is actually very different from Southeast Asian cuisine. The produce and spices from the Yunnan plateau give its cuisine a distinguished characteristic," Li said.
To catch up with the latest dining trend in Yunnan, Li regularly goes there to update her culinary knowledge and to purchase some exclusively local ingredients. Healthy meals with the appropriate amount of vegetables, Li said, is the rule of the day in Yunnan. Tsai Yun Chian has managed to come up with a menu devoid of any artificial flavorings and excessive fat.
Rainbow shrimp stew (NT$220) comes with Yunnan rice noodles. The tomato mushroom sauce on them is probably the best part of the dish. It gives the noodles a taste just spicy enough to make them delightfully appetizing without numbing your palate. The shrimp are fresh and of high quality.
Stewed chicken with chestnuts (NT$250) also uses quality meat. The chewy cubes of wild chicken legs are stewed with mushrooms for several hours to let their flavors blend. The chestnuts, soaked in water before stewing, have acquired a piquant taste and a particular fragrance.
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