One would have thought that the last thing Taipei needs is yet another fusion Japanese-Western restaurant, but Mazemaze is a worthy new addition to the city's dining scene.
Mazemaze is an Osaka-based restaurant that serves Japanese set meals, noodles, and hot pots, as well as salads, sandwiches and pasta. In Japanese fashion, the restaurant emphasizes sleek decor, immaculate sanitation and almost oppressively doting service. The restaurant's owner Tseng Chih-ho (
Let's start with the desserts, because in these dog days of summer Mazemaze's crepes with ice cream are hands down the most enticing dishes. Try the chestnut crepe with ice cream. Topped with a chestnut, butter and whipped cream all on an egg crepe which is wrapped around scoops of vanilla ice cream, this dish should revive anyone about to faint in the city's heat. For something different, try the green tea crepe or the orange crepe.
PHOTO: CHANG JU-PING, TAIPEI TIMES
A classic Japanese option is the fried pork, which you cook at your table. Add some sesame and dip it in the provided sweet and sour sauce to bring out its full flavor. A lighter option, though only slightly, is the baked chicken leg set meal.
A healthier choice is the Japanese rolls. The restaurant offers a do-it-yourself roll set which comes with all the necessary ingredients: dried laver pieces, seafood and vegetables. There is also hot pot with a base of wine, soy sauce and sugar and different kinds of seafood. The heartiest offering is the paper pot -- a type of hot pot lined with paper -- which comes with seafood and a plate of either grilled beef or pork, all for NT$580. Italian dishes include baked macaroni with seafood, mushrooms and chicken and a creamy spaghetti carbonara. Mazemaze's afternoon tea is especially popular. For NT$120 you get coffee or tea and a cake -- Boston, black forest or cheese.
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