On Zhongxiao (忠孝) East Road in downtown Taipei, a narrow, gray-walled hall in a restaurant leads to a private room, mimicking the discreet alleys found around small, centuries-old kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto, Japan. Inside is a small kitchen where Lin Hui-yang (林暉洋) is slicing raw baby conger eel with a long, razor-sharp knife on a wooden chopping board. Seating is cozy and minimal and diners huddle around the chef’s table. There’s also a main dining area with floor-to-ceiling windows, though not as intimate as one of these private rooms.
It’s a different experience each time I dine at Japanese fine dining restaurant Fresh Station (逸鮮棧) as dishes are made from ingredients available that day. The eel, and another seasonal specialty, the raw firefly squid, are brought in from Japan’s Toyama Bay four times a week, and are only served in the restaurant this month and next. The firefly squid derives its name from its ability to glow in the dark, and the chef shows me pictures of the translucent-blue creature on his phone. I always go for the omakase set (NT$2,000 and up) which consists of several courses Lin recommends.
Lin tells me that oysters had arrived from Hiroshima that morning, so he recommends an oyster tempura. Not everything is sourced from Japan — most of the sashimi, including tuna and sea urchins, come from Keelung — though the chef insists on having at least a few ingredients from Japan to recreate the flavors he enjoyed during his multiple trips to kaiseki restaurants in Japan.
Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
As soon as he’s done slicing the raw eel, the chef lays the thin and immaculate slabs slowly on my plate. If it weren’t for their beady black eyes, I wouldn’t have been able to see the eel as they are that transparent. They slither on my chopsticks as I try to pick them up. Normally, I would have been repulsed by this point, but their translucence intrigues me and I’m curious to see how this coveted delicacy tastes. The texture is slimy, as expected, but also ticklish and light, while the taste is much more understated than I had expected.
I am similarly surprised by the raw firefly squid, which is served with spiced radish, green onion and ginger flower — the last two garnishings are from Japan. All of this is soaked in the chef’s homemade vinegar sauce. Like the eel, the squid has a pleasantly chewy texture but is also very firm. It’s best to mix the squid with the garnishing which adds a savory, crunchy dimension.
While sashimi seems blase compared with the previous dishes, it’s a standard at any Japanese kaiseki restaurant and indicates the chef’s true ability. Lin does a superb job. My favorites are the barracuda, which he sears to achieve a slightly charred quality, and the skipjack tuna, which has a grainy texture. I can almost taste the ocean in the bloody clam, which is salty and crunchy and provides a nice complement to the naturally sweet sea urchin.
Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
Next up: oyster and prawn tempura. Normally, I wouldn’t think of having a raw dish encased in a crispy, deep-fried coating. I usually prefer to eat oysters raw from the shell and with as little garnishing as possible. But the oyster tempura is unexpectedly flavorful and the contrast between deep-fried and raw keeps my taste buds entertained.
Dessert is an opportunity for the chef to take some liberties and stray from doing traditional Japanese dishes. He makes me a strawberry sundae drizzled with hot chocolate sauce. It’s a sinful concoction with strawberries — including one that is sugar-coated — vanilla ice cream, a chocolate wafer, banana chocolate sticky rice and chocolate pudding. This is served with fresh fruit. While I normally dislike overtly sweet desserts, the flavors of the sundae are so intricate and multilayered that I barely notice the sweetness.
Fresh Station threads the tightrope of being innovative yet consistent, bold yet subtle. It’s this surprising mix that keeps me going back and I look forward to trying whatever weird and fascinating sea creature the restaurant manages to get a hold of next time.
Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
Photos: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
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