Kitchen Pucci (葡吉小廚) is a tapas bar with Shanghai-style food. The interior of the restaurant is clean and modern, with floor-to-ceiling windows in the back that show off a row of live bamboo against a red brick wall. The petite portions of Shanghai classics, including xiaolongbao, or soup dumplings, are adorable, as are the restaurant’s extremely reasonable prices and quick, friendly service.
There are two versions of xiaolongbao, one filled with fragrant broth and one without. The best version is, not surprisingly, the former, which are called steamed Shanghai juicy dumplings (上海小籠包, NT$180 for 12) on the menu. Rich, savory and indeed juicy, they are served on a bed of pine needles, which, without altering the flavor, prevent the thin wrapper from sticking to the bamboo steamer. The other steamed dumplings (小籠包, NT$50 for three or NT$100 for six) are acceptable but lack the oomph that the broth provides.
Other pleasing picks on Kitchen Pucci’s menu include its small serving of “Szechuan-style” steamed spareribs (川味粉蒸排骨, NT$80), which are covered in ground rice flavored with spices, lots of pepper and served on top of steamed yam chunks. The tender meat slipped off the bone upon contact with our chopsticks. My dining companions and I also enjoyed the fried scallion roll with beef (大餅捲牛肉, NT$110). The crispy exterior of the wrapping gave way to a chewy center and the scallions landed just the right amount of kick (though the roll could have done with a little
more beef).
Kitchen Pucci’s noodle dishes come with “thin noodles” or chunky knife-shaved noodles (刀削麵), which are sliced directly from the dough into thick strips before being boiled. The knife-shaved noodles have a satisfyingly al dente texture without any unpleasant graininess on the inside. We liked them best in the Shanghai-style scallion mixed noodles (上海蔥開乾拌麵, NT$80) because the scallions, cooked several different ways (the green leaves fried until crispy, the white stalks boiled until soft) offered an unexpected melange of textures. The mixed noodles with spicy sauce (辣醬乾拌麵, NT$80) were also good, though not as fiery as the chili pepper symbol next to the menu entry suggests. The stir-fried knife-shaved noodles with Judas’ ear fungus (木須炒麵, NT$120), however, were too greasy and bland.
For dessert, consider the steamed bean paste buns (豆沙小包, NT$60 for six) — very thin flour wrappers stuffed with sweet red bean paste. Simple, but a suitable complement to the stronger flavored main dishes.
Oct. 27 to Nov. 2 Over a breakfast of soymilk and fried dough costing less than NT$400, seven officials and engineers agreed on a NT$400 million plan — unaware that it would mark the beginning of Taiwan’s semiconductor empire. It was a cold February morning in 1974. Gathered at the unassuming shop were Economics minister Sun Yun-hsuan (孫運璿), director-general of Transportation and Communications Kao Yu-shu (高玉樹), Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) president Wang Chao-chen (王兆振), Telecommunications Laboratories director Kang Pao-huang (康寶煌), Executive Yuan secretary-general Fei Hua (費驊), director-general of Telecommunications Fang Hsien-chi (方賢齊) and Radio Corporation of America (RCA) Laboratories director Pan
The classic warmth of a good old-fashioned izakaya beckons you in, all cozy nooks and dark wood finishes, as tables order a third round and waiters sling tapas-sized bites and assorted — sometimes unidentifiable — skewered meats. But there’s a romantic hush about this Ximending (西門町) hotspot, with cocktails savored, plating elegant and never rushed and daters and diners lit by candlelight and chandelier. Each chair is mismatched and the assorted tables appear to be the fanciest picks from a nearby flea market. A naked sewing mannequin stands in a dimly lit corner, adorned with antique mirrors and draped foliage
The consensus on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair race is that Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) ran a populist, ideological back-to-basics campaign and soundly defeated former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), the candidate backed by the big institutional players. Cheng tapped into a wave of popular enthusiasm within the KMT, while the institutional players’ get-out-the-vote abilities fell flat, suggesting their power has weakened significantly. Yet, a closer look at the race paints a more complicated picture, raising questions about some analysts’ conclusions, including my own. TURNOUT Here is a surprising statistic: Turnout was 130,678, or 39.46 percent of the 331,145 eligible party
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