In search of something slightly exotic, Koledo, which bills itself as serving “innovative Okinawa cuisine,” sounded unusual, particularly its signature dish, a Japanese-style curry sporting Okinawa black sugar as a key ingredient. Okinawa “black sugar” has become popular in the last few years as a substitute for the more highly refined brown sugar because of its supposed health-giving properties. It is believed to decrease the levels of cholesterol in blood and increase resistance to stress. Be that as it may, it also has a rich flavor that can often give a new twist to all kinds of food. Its use in a version of Japanese curry called forth a spirit of adventure that overcame concerns over the rather too extensive menu and the high profile of “budget” lunch specials.
For a small place packed in among the popular eateries off Zhongxiao East Road Section 4 (忠孝東路四段), near the junction with Dunhua South Road Section 1 (敦化南路一段), Koledo emanated a pleasant ambiance with its dark wood interior, colorful cotton prints and various knickknacks arranged on shelves behind the cozy little booths that line a central aisle. With large tankards of Okinawa draft beer for NT$120, and a wide-ranging menu of snacks, from chilled tofu (NT$60) to marinated baby octopus (NT$90), it is not an unpleasant spot to drink and nibble, but if you are there for the food rather than atmosphere, Koledo is something of a disappointment.
The curry set menu (NT$160), which came highly recommended, managed to fail on all counts. It lacked substance, with some pitifully small pieces of meat floating about in the sauce; it lacked flavor, the black sugar failing to come out from under a smothering blanket of generic curry sauce; and it lacked identity, for its side of iceberg leaves and tofu mixed with a sweet vinaigrette and the roasted candied sweet potato totally failed to meld into a coherent whole.
A number of extras can be ordered to add variety to the menu: this is presented as an option, but for anyone with any kind of appetite, it is essential to make this lunch set a filling meal. These extras range from an egg yolk (生玉子, NT$10) to a vegetable patty (NT$75). The latter was insufficiently crisp, and by the time it was served was in severe danger of disintegrating in the curry sauce. It seemed to be made up primarily of potato, with no discernible taste other than that of frying oil.
Side dishes also failed to impress, either in size or quality. The marinated baby octopus comprised a few rather stunted tentacles in a weak, and rather too sweet dressing flavored with osmanthus flowers. The meat was slightly rubbery, and while far from inedible, it was presented in such a dainty portion that one expected a little more in the flavor department.
Cheap business lunch set menus are available for just NT$120, but these too are clearly focused on the bottom line rather than providing anything innovative or exciting for the diner. A marked tendency to drift into Taiwanese lunchbox-style preparation is particularly evident, further diminishing claims to be either specifically Okinawan or particularly innovative.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby