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Turkey time

By David Chen
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Nov 22, 2008, Page 16

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Too busy to prepare this year’s Thanksgiving dinner? Someone else can cook it for you — at a price, of course. Taipei’s hotels and Western restaurants offer a fair amount of choices across the price range for both dining in and takeout this Thursday. For all of these places, it’s best to call ahead as early as possible to place an order or make reservations. When ordering whole turkey sets for takeout, for example, restaurants typically need three days advance notice. All sit-in dinners listed below are a la carte unless noted.

DINING IN (UNDER NT$600 PER PERSON)



Carnegie’s will be serving Thanksgiving meals all day on Thursday, at NT$490 per person for lunch and NT$630 for dinner with no service charge. Along with the requisite roast turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce, the set includes mashed potatoes, vegetable casserole, stuffing, butter rolls and cranberry and spinach salad with citrus dressing. For dessert, it’s pumpkin cheesecake and coffee or tea.

100, Anhe Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市安和路二段100號)

Tel: (02) 2325-4433



For something slightly different, Citizen Cain offers a dinner set of deep-fried turkey, a southern US cooking style, with mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, seasonal vegetable and homemade pie at NT$490 per person. Stay late for another Thanksgiving tradition — watching an NFL football game live on TV.

67 Dongfeng St, Taipei City (台北市東豐街67號)

Tel: (02) 2708-4557



If you don’t get your fill on Thursday, The Tavern is serving roast turkey with gravy on Friday from 7pm to 10pm. The dinner set costs NT$550 per person for adults and NT$300 for children, not including 10-percent service charge, and along with the standard side dishes, includes pumpkin soup, seasonal vegetables, crackers and cheese, salad buffet and a glass of either white or red Californian wine. New Orleans funk band the Kenyatta Trio will keep your spirits up starting at 9pm.

415 Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市信義路四段415號)

Tel: (02) 8789-0892



DINING IN (MORE THAN NT$600 PER PERSON)



The Cosmopolitan Grill serves its turkey and trimmings after 6pm from Thursday to Sunday. Dinner includes roast turkey with mashed potatoes, brown gravy and cranberry sauce, Waldorf salad, pumpkin soup and homemade pumpkin pie at NT$790 per person, not including 10-percent service charge.

1F, 218 Changchun Rd, Taipei City (台北市長春路218號1樓)

Tel: (02) 2508-0304



Dan Ryan’s Thanksgiving dinner comes with walnut green beans and candied yams in addition to roast turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and homemade gravy, available as a set for NT$750. The Chicago-themed restaurant’s special also includes salad with creamy Italian dressing, pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie, for NT$950. The children’s dinner special is NT$500, but doesn’t include dessert. All dinner sets are available for takeout, and whole 4.5kg to 5.5kg turkeys with stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce are available for NT$3,500. Whole turkeys must be ordered three days in advance.

8 Dunhua N Rd, Taipei City (台北市敦化北路8號)

Tel: (02) 2778-8800



Grandma Nitti’s celebrates with a dinner set of roast turkey with pumpkin soup, Japanese-style shrimp salad, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy, cranberry sauce, a choice of pumpkin pie or brownie, tea or coffee, and a glass of wine for NT$800, not including 10-percent service charge. Takeout dinner sets with turkeys ranging from 4.5kg to 4.5kg will be available and include mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and an 8-inch (20cm) pumpkin pie. Prices are NT$250 per pound of turkey. Whole turkeys should be ordered four days in advance.

8, Ln 93, Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路93巷8號)

Tel: (02) 2369-9751



La Brasserie, a French restaurant at The Landis Taipei (亞都麗緻大飯店), will be serving Thanksgiving meals on Thursday with the help of the hotel’s deli, Liz Gastro’s Gourmet Corner. The turkeys are coated in bacon and slow-roasted and the cranberry sauce is freshly stewed. The dinner set is NT$580, not including 10-percent service charge. Liz Gastro’s also offers a Thanksgiving hamper for takeout, which includes a 5.5kg turkey with rice and cranberry sauce for NT$2,980. Orders must be placed 3 days in advance.

41, Minquan E Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市民權東路二段41號)

Tel: (02) 2597-1234



Two restaurants at the Grand Hyatt Taipei offer special meals for Thanksgiving. The Cafe’s has a buffet spread for NT$880, not including 10-percent service charge. In addition to the standard Thanksgiving fare, diners can also choose roast beef, maple syrup-glazed sweet potatoes, vegetable gratin and pumpkin chips, and creamy corn and sauteed beans with double-smoked bacon. Desserts include traditional apple pie with cranberries and walnuts, pumpkin pie and cherry cobbler.



The Bel Air offers less choice but more refinement with a NT$2,200 set menu (not including a 10-percent service charge). Notable items include cranberry spinach salad with blue cheese dressing and roasted pecans, buttermilk and pineapple sherbet, roasted turkey with bread and sage stuffing, and pumpkin pie with Southern Comfort ice cream.

2F, 2 Songshou Rd, Taipei City (台北市松壽路2號2樓)

Tel: (02) 2720-1200



TAKEOUT THANKSGIVING MEALS



Mixed mushrooms, fresh glazed vegetables and mashed potatoes are among the side fixings in the Grand Formosa Regent’s Thanksgiving basket, which includes a 6kg roasted hen turkey. The cost is NT$3,000 and orders must be placed at least three days in advance. Six-inch (15cm) pumpkin pies by the hotel’s French chef are also available for NT$500.

41, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市中山北路2段41號B3)

Tel: (02) 2523-8000 X3157



The Deli at the Sheraton Hotel offers a “California-style” 3.5kg roasted tom turkey with a full set of trimmings for NT$3,500. The sides include bourbon sweet potato with buttered almond, turkey giblet sauce, cranberry-kumquat sauce, roasted vegetables, sausage and corn bread stuffing, sweet potato bread and pumpkin pie. Configurations with fewer side dishes are also available. Orders must be placed at least 3 days in advance.

12, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市忠孝東路1段12號)

Tel: (02) 2321-5858



The Westin Taipei’s Thanksgiving set (NT$3,300) includes a 5kg turkey, roasted potato, Brussels sprouts, buttered cauliflower, chestnut stuffing, cranberry sauce and red wine sauce. Orders must be placed 3 days in advance.

2F, 133 Nanjing E Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (南京東路三段133號2樓)

Tel: (02) 8770-6565



Wendel’s German Bakery and Bistro offers a Thanksgiving hamper that feeds six to eight people for NT$4,500. The set includes a 6kg roast turkey, sherry gravy, Brussels sprouts, mashed sweet potatoes, a house specialty cake, baguette and a bottle of Rivaner or Dornfelder Rose wine.

5, Dexing W Rd, Taipei City (台北市德行西路5號)

Tel: (02) 2831-4592



If you’d rather do everything yourself short of catching the bird, Costco stores across Taiwan sell uncooked turkeys ranging between 4.5kg to 5.5kg for NT$1,999 each.

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