Irodori Sushi (鮨彩壽司) is located in Sogo’s Zhongxiao location, but its food is a refreshing departure from what is found in standard shopping centers. The menu takes a step away from the usual offerings of nigiri, hand rolls and sashimi platters (though there are plenty of those) with offerings like sushi sets that represent the five elements (五行壽司, NT$588), a set that allows you to sample tuna sashimi prepared three ways (鮪魚三 味, NT$380) and beef tartar (牛肉塔塔, NT$260).
The five elements sushi set is beautifully presented; in fact, it’s arguably more fun to look at than it is to eat. Water is represented by a slice of squid sashimi on top of a ball of rice rolled in granules of dried squid ink. The latter added a very light touch of brininess to the sweetness of the squid. Another standout was the gold sushi, which was a scoop of tuna tartar topped with minced green onion on a ball of rice. The entire thing was liberally sprinkled with flakes of edible gold, which added nothing to the flavor but nonetheless felt extremely decadent to eat. Earth was nigiri topped with a poached oyster, fire included a seared scallop and wood was represented by a giant prawn topped with salmon roe.
Our next dish, seared rare steak nigiri sushi (炙燒生牛肉, NT$120) was disappointing. The meat was tender, but oddly bland. In fact, even the bit of onion garnishing each piece was flavorless. We had better luck with our order of salmon roe on top of rice wrapped with salmon sashimi (鮭魚親子軍艦, NT$180). The salty, firm roe was a good contrast to the buttery, silky fish. On the downside, the sushi could have been better made. The two rolls were wrapped too loosely and came apart as we were picking them up with our chopsticks — ironic for a dish whose Chinese name translates as “salmon fish roe warship.” Instead of enjoying most of the roe on the sushi, we picked them off of our plate, where they had scattered. We rounded off our meal with the restaurant’s signature sashimi set (鮨風生魚片, NT$460), which included slices of yellowtail, salmon, mackerel, squid, as well as scallops and prawns. The tender sashimi was sliced well and presented elegantly, and the prawn, scallop and squid were also very good.
Irodori Sushi serves donburi bowls for diners with heartier appetites. On a separate visit, I ordered the salmon roe, scallop and sea urchin bowl (海膽干貝丼, NT$480), even though the wild mushroom and filet mignon bowl (野葷菲力牛肉丼, NT$420) also looked tempting. I was happy with my selection, however, because the scallops were very fat and sweet and the chef was not stingy with the sea urchin. Served with pickled vegetables, soup, salad and a steamed egg, the donburi bowls are the best value on Irodori’s menu. I also sampled two hand rolls. My favorite was the soft shell crab roll (軟殼蟹手卷, NT$100) because the fried crab was crisp and meaty, not limp or greasy. The tuna tartar and minced green onion roll (蔥花鮪魚手卷, NT$80) was also fine.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
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