Cats are known to be finicky, so when I spotted one rubbing against the door of Joyce Cafe and purring to get in, I figured there must be something good inside.
Turns out the cat was a connoisseur. The water at Joyce's costs NT$30 and the fresh bread that's brought to your table will cost that much again. Add an extra 10 percent service charge and 5 percent VAT and you've spent nearly NT$70 without even ordering.
Happily, at Joyce Cafe the emphasis in fine dining is on the dining. The fine stuff is left in the background where it belongs. This is something many local restaurants serving Western cuisine don't seem to understand. A month ago, this column reviewed a fine dining establishment that also traded in motorcycles and lingerie. "We have LV upstairs," the owner told me by way of establishing his credentials. At Joyce, if you don't like the food, there's no browsing to do. Not to worry, you're sure to like the food.
The first of two set menus for this month (NT$1,380) offers sauteed fresh mushrooms and escargot in a puff pasty and seafood chowder to start, followed by either pan-fried fillet of catfish served with dill sauce, oven-roasted boneless chicken served with green pepper sauce, or braised veal knuckle with fresh rosemary and lemon grass in a white wine sauce. Dessert is an orange and strawberry flavored pancake and coffee or tea. The pricier set meal (NT$1,680) begins with a romaine salad topped with goose liver and giant scallops in black truffle sauce and a roasted leeks and crab meat veloute.
Diners are then confronted with difficult task of choosing between a pan-fried tiger king prawn wrapped in a fillet of sole and covered with lobster sauce, roasted herb-crust veal served with porcinni mushrooms or grilled lamb chops topped with bleu cheese in a red wine and shallot sauce. Hot chocolate cake a la mode and a cup of coffee or tea will send you waddling contentedly home.
Diners wanting a delicious and filling meal for less should try any of the pastas, priced around NT$380. Lunch diners should look at the salads, especially the chicken-breast Caesar, priced round NT$400. Be sure to save a piece of chicken for the cat huckstering everyone into the restaurant -- as he's worked hard for it.
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