Among the diversions of The Combat Zone, it might be easy to overlook the Imperial Hotel's Sonoma Grill, home to what some consider the best steak in town.
Daniel Lan (
PHOTO: ADAM ULFERS , TAIPEI TIMES
Currently victim to a Taiwan ban on US beef imports, Sonoma Grill has had to find a different distributor. Its substitute, akin to the acclaimed Kobe beef of Japan, is Australian Wagyu beef. Australian certified Wagyu beef herds are raised in clean air, on a formulated diet and are known for the pampering they receive -- as a prelude to the fine dining they will provide.
The elegant mahogany backdrop and comfortably dim lighting creates an ambiance that successfully creates an undeniable meat lovers' haven. Because you can expect to spend somewhere between NT$1,500 to NT$2,500 a person, the restaurant focuses on dinner from 5:30pm until 10pm, but is also open for lunch between 11:30am and 2:30pm.
The chef grills six different cuts of the featured Wagyu New York strip steak as well as Matsusaka steak, both delectable. You would, however, be doing yourself an injustice to visit and not order the Wagyu Gourmet Cut. Accompanied by a small starter, or not, it is best
complemented by a house red or white wine.
There are also set menu options, consisting of the Chef's Tasting Gourmet Specials and the Teppanyaki Specials. The Chef's specials include teppan-steamed live lobster and the Wagyu prime cut, while the teppanyaki specials highlight the teppan fried rice with vegetables and the Matsusaka Steak.
If you are a not a red meat person, the lobster, or an assortment of the smaller portions among the side orders such as king prawn Caesar salad, traditional French onion soup and sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms make tantalizing alternatives.
The accommodating and friendly staff will keep your glasses full and provide some of the best service to be found in Taipei. The restaurant was previously located in Tianmu, but has since been relocated to the Imperial Hotel on Linsen North Road.
"Business is quite good, better since the move and we frequently see celebrities eating in our restaurant," Lan said. So if you are looking for a delicious loin, or a chance to spot your favorite movie star you can't go wrong here.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,