From its decor, Paolo's looks like a typical Western-style pub, but it serves Chinese cuisine, albeit with several Western-influenced twists. It is run and owned by Paul Hsu (許經方), the same owner of the well-known Italian restaurant L'amico (意樂義大利餐廳).
Having run L'amico for more than 20 years, Hsu said his customers sometimes need to change their tastes. With this in mind, he opened this restaurant with a similar-sounding name to his own.
PHOTO: YU SEN-LUN, TAIPEI TIMES
The house's decor tends heavily toward blue, with tables and chairs surrounded by the occasional tropical plant and there is a shiny bar that reminds diners that you can always have beer or wine to go with your Chinese cuisine.
The dishes are a fusion of two major Chinese cooking styles, Shanghai and Sichuan. Recommended dishes include the fresh chicken in shao-hsing wine (醉雞) and cold beef brisket with fresh leeks (蒜苗牛筋). The fresh chicken dish is a typical Shanghai specialty, but at Paolo's, it comes boneless to cater to foreigners' tastes. The meat is juicy and tender with a strong flavor of shao-hsing wine. The beef brisket is a cold, spicy dish with the crisp flavor of fresh leeks, lemon and orange.
"Sichuan dishes go very well with cold white wine," Hsu said. "After a bite of hot and spicy meat or vegetables, and then a sip of cold white wine, you'll feel very refreshed."
The best dishes to wash down with white wine are Sichuan-style deep fried chicken wings (宮保雞翅), stir-fried beef with marinated cabbage (甕香泡菜爆炒牛肉) and kung-pao processed eggs (宮保皮蛋).
Paolo's proves that a fusion of foods and styles does not have to come at the expense of the food's quality. Hsu is a self-described glutton and a lover of good wine and cigars, which the house also sells. Apart from Paolo's and L'amico, Hsu also owns the Italian cafe Davinci and an antique shop called Sui Shih Chien (水石間).
On the third floor of Paolo's is a VIP area with antique tables and chairs in a candle-lit setting and a lounge area suitable for a small-sized party of up to 10 people.
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