With stores in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, Taiwanese company Galoop distinguishes itself by offering stylish wardrobe basics for men, women and children. The company has gradually begun to establish itself as a lifestyle brand in addition to a clothing label, with a small design museum in Kaohsiung and collaborations with restaurants like the first Taipei branch of Bite 2 Eat (薄多義), which opened near the Zhongshan MRT Station (中山捷運站) two months ago.
Bite 2 Eat is housed in an expansive, newly built wooden structure with large windows. Its interior decor includes a hand-painted mural of an idealized city street scene on one wall and various Galoop prints, chalkboard drawings and other tchotchkes scattered artfully on shelves. Picture windows look into the showroom of neighboring furniture store Ruskasa, which created Bite 2 Eat’s mid-century modern style wood furniture. Even tissues are carefully camouflaged in cardboard boxes decorated with motifs from the wall mural. On a recent visit, a commercial shoot was taking place, with the director instructing a male model on how to walk up the stairs that lead to Bite 2 Eat’s second-level dining area.
Unfortunately, it seems like the amount of care taken in crafting Bite 2 Eat’s soothing atmosphere did not extend to its menu planning.
Photo: Catherine Shu, Taipei Times
The restaurant serves up basic Italian-style cuisine and its core offerings include pizza, pasta and a few set meals featuring steak, fish or roasted chicken. On my first visit, I ordered mushroom risotto with seafood (NT$230) from Bite 2 Eat’s “limited edition” menu. The dish was plated beautifully, with shellfish arranged around a pile of the risotto and a single mussel set on top. The flavor fell short, however: The grains of rice were cooked al dente, but the dish itself was watery and the broth was bland, and the fresh seafood wasn’t enough to salvage it.
On a second visit, my companion and I arrived about half an hour before the kitchen closed. Though our waitress seemed eager to take our order and get our food to us as quickly as possible, we did not feel rushed or unwelcome. We selected linguine with bacon in mixed cheese and balsamic vinegar (NT$190) from the limited edition menu and an eight-inch pizza Margherita (NT$149). After the attractive risotto dish, the presentation of both entrees surprised me. The linguine was topped with heavy white-colored cheese sauce and a squirt of what appeared to be balsamic vinegar mixed in until it reached a gel-like brown consistency (and lost most of its tartness). The pizza Margherita’s tomato and basil were obscured in gooey, greasy mozzarella cheese nestled in a thick crust. Despite their less than stellar appearances, the entrees tasted okay, but were forgettable.
The saving grace of both my visits was the fruit-flavored sparkling waters (NT$45), which are made with seltzer water and syrup. The apple-flavored version came with tiny chunks of the fruit at the bottom. The grapefruit sparkling water was more ordinary, but still refreshing on a muggy evening. Bite 2 Eat’s drink menu includes cafe basics like milk teas, lemonade and coffee, as well as Heineken beer. If you don’t mind the restaurant’s 10 percent service charge and just want to soak up Bite 2 Eat’s atmosphere, drinks and some small treats like fried onion rings (NT$69) or tiramisu (NT$119) might be your best bet.
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