RESTAURANTS: Rice Cafe

The quality of a restaurant's rice can say much about its attitude toward the food it serves. In the case of Rice Cafe, a new establishment that opened last week specializing in Japanese "rice bowl" or donburi dishes (日式蓋飯), rice is given a high priority, and contributes as much to the enjoyment of the meal as the meat and vegetables that it accompanies.

Donburi are an option on virtually every Japanese restaurant menu. Made up of rice with a topping of fish, meat and vegetables, they are simple and filling. Rice Cafe has made a specialty of these dishes, and while it includes all the most common, such as oyakodon (egg, chicken and onion stew over rice, NT$130), katsudon (a pork cutlet and sauce on rice, NT$180), and tendon (tempura shrimp and vegetables on rice, NT$180), it also has many that are not so readily available.

Whether common or unusual, all the donburi are served over high quality koshihikari rice (越光米), which has an excellent texture; even when eaten plain it has a sweet flavor and is fragrant. This rice, which originates from Niigata, Japan, and which is now grown in Taiwan, has the same standing in Japanese cuisine as basmati rice has in Indian.

Apart from the rice, the second thing that distinguishes the donburi served at Rice Cafe is the care taken over the ingredients for the toppings. The restaurant has not shied away from placing its price point slightly above that of donburi in many Japanese chain restaurants, but you certainly get your money's worth. A case in point is the steak donburi, which, priced at NT$350, includes a nice piece of Australian prime fillet, grilled and sliced, which is served with a sauce of minced onion cooked in pan juices. The dish reflects a sophisticated appreciation of the ingredients used. Even the baby corn and mushrooms served as a garnish are cooked with a slight taste of the grill, but still very crisp and full of freshness. It is highly recommended as a light meal and more than a match for Taipei's traditional steakhouses.

The steak donburi, and a number of other higher-priced items such as the marinated raw tuna donburi (NT$280) and the salmon and roe donburi (NT$300) are only available in limited quantities and can quickly sell-out.

According to Brooke Tseng (曾子倫), who oversees operations at Rice Cafe, one of the most popular dishes is the deep-fried seafood donburi (NT$180), which is widely available in Japan but rarely seen in Taiwan.

The company behind Rice Cafe also operates the Rakumenya (樂麵屋) ramen restaurant next door, which has already proved successful by offering authentic Japanese flavors, distinct from Taiwanese-style Japanese food.

Each donburi comes with a bowl of miso soup and some pickled vegetables. A small array of beverages is on offer, but the soup, made from Japanese white miso, is sufficiently tasty and refreshing to wash down the meal.