You wouldn’t expect to see a bubbling hot pot, a sashimi platter and a bowl of noodles on the same dining table, but Yuankuo pulls it off well.
The restaurant, which draws a mixed but predominately young crowd of patrons who chill out with friends over drinks and good food in an amicable setting, creates a relaxing, lounge-bar vibe using dimmed light and a charming palette of black, red and brown.
Celebrity sightings are reportedly common as the hospitable proprietor is the father of actor Tony Yang (楊祐寧), who often dines there with his showbiz buddies.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
Seated next to a veiled room where model-turned-actress Bianca Bai (白歆惠) and other beautiful people quietly dined on a recent Monday, our group of eight decided to sample as many dishes as possible from the diverse menu. The hot pot section (NT$280 to NT$780) offers standard choices including beef, pork, lamb and seafood. Unfortunately, the beef (NT$280) and seafood (NT$420) pots we ordered were small, and the food was as generic as that served at any neighborhood hot pot joint.
The Taiwanese-style dishes were better. The fried red fermented pork (古早味紅糟肉, NT$180 or NT$280) comprises pork cutlets marinated in red yeast rice. The cutlets are deep-fried to a crisp brown on the outside, and the fat and lean meat were evenly layered on the inside. The savory braised combo (滷味拼盤, NT$250) is made up of a few luwei (滷味, snack foods marinated in soy sauce) staples, including intestine, tofu and beef slices.
On to the rechao (熱炒, literally “hot-fry”) selection: The chef’s innovative use of ingredients is well illustrated by the fried squid with salted egg (金沙花枝, NT$380). The egg’s sharp taste nicely complements the squid without overwhelming its flavors.
Another house specialty is the dry noodle bowl (乾麵, NT$60). The al dente noodles were topped with soy sauce, black rice vinegar, pork lard sauce and chopped scallions and though simple, the dish was one of our favorites.
As the evening wore on, beer bottles and wine glasses replaced plates and bowls on the table. The restaurant carries a handsome selection of beer ranging from Taiwan Beer (NT$100) and Yebisu (NT$150) to Hoegaarden (NT$130) and Boddingtons (NT$140). Several choices of whisky (NT$1,600 to NT$3,500), wine (NT$900 to NT$1,500) and sake (NT$130 to NT$1,800) are also available.
Proprietor Yang Chin-yuan (楊進元), known as “Dada” to regulars, likes to make friends with patrons and drink with them. We were treated to four large bottles of Taiwan Beer before he let us leave.
Yuankuo is located across the street from the Xinyi Public Assembly Hall (信義公民會館), a former military dependents’ village that has been renovated and is now a hot spot for young designers and artists.
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