Restaurant: Miracle Cafe

One year in the kitchen of a Hsintien restaurant did for an ex-con what four years in prison couldn't.

Lin Rui-ta (林瑞達) left prison unreformed after serving time for assaulting his father. He had few prospects when the New Covenant Church found him and put him to work in Miracle Cafe, a Zhejiang-style restaurant on Chungcheng Road in Hsindian that gives ex-convicts jobs when they get out of prison and trains them for work in the service industry.

"I learned a lot working here," Lin said. "My personality and way of thinking have totally changed."

Miracle Cafe, which celebrated its first anniversary last week, is in the business of saving souls, not making money, and the customer benefits from this arrangement. Dishes were served promptly and professionally by waiters who were attentive but not pushy. The food was, on the whole, excellent for the price. A four-course dinner plus soup and tea cost NT$700 and was more than enough for two people.

We tried the scallops in XO sauce (NT$200), stir-fried beef and asparagus (NT$200), clams with bitter melon (NT$150) and an order of eight steamed beef dumplings (NT$120).

The scallops, which were fresh and melted in the mouth, were stir-fried with chopped onions, and red, yellow and green peppers, which were cooked just right and still slightly crispy. XO sauce gave the whole ensemble a mildly spicy kick.

The beef was cooked to perfection, its texture nicely offset by the asparagus, which was crisp and tender, and leeks. The clams, cooked in a soup with not-too bitter melon, were also excellent. Only the steamed dumplings disappointed, lacking somewhat in flavor.

Although Miracle Cafe lacks an English menu, the manager, He Cheng-chuan (何政詮), was able to offer explanations in English. "Every meal here is special," he said. He recommended customers try the soft shell crab and the restaurant's specialty, Tong-po steamed pork.

For those who are bothered by such things, there were no pictures of Jesus or other advertisements for evangelical Christianity, and the staff made no attempt to proselytize to us or any other customers.

Indeed, the only signs we saw that Miracle Cafe was more than just a restaurant were its name and the friendliness of the wait staff, all of whom seemed dedicated to making the most of this rare opportunity for a second chance.