Macaroni and cheese jazzed up with truffle, funnel cakes composed of layers of peanut butter, bananas, bacon and whipped cream — the food served at Pig & Pepper sounds like a fancier version of the familiar American fare, or what has come to be known as new American cuisine, a fusion encompassing culinary traditions from different cultures within the US.
While new American cuisine is highly dynamic, the restaurant, opened by two sisters who moved back from Los Angeles to Taipei, focuses its attention on offering a contemporary take on American comfort foods to local palates.
One example is the New York spiced chicken rice (NT$390) with yogurt dressing and harissa hot sauce. Originating from New York’s halal street carts, it is a popular late night snack among club hoppers and taxi drivers. The street food with Middle Eastern influences is composed of spice-infused long grain rice, chopped marinated chicken and sliced iceberg lettuce. The rice is enlivened by the mix of fresh yogurt and chili pepper paste.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
A hint of Mexican flavors can be detected in the fried cauliflower (NT$180) with chipotle aioli, one of the restaurant’s popular side dishes that is spiced up with creamy dip made from smoke-dried jalapeno. First grilled then quickly fried, the cauliflowers are cooked properly crisp, neither too hard nor too soggy.
My dining partner and I also enjoyed the crispy crab cakes (NT$320) with corn salsa, aioli and mango coulis — although it is hard for anyone to not take a liking to deep-fried goodies bathed in soul-soothing and creamy mayonnaise-like dressing.
The grilled Hokkaido scallops with cheese ravioli which came with truffle cream sauce (NT$680) however, didn’t impress. The seared, succulent scallops were good, but the combination of cream sauce and cheese-filled ravioli got a bit too cloying after several bites. This dish is better shared.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
Other notable comfort foods included truffle Parmesan tots (NT$180), mac ‘n’ cheese with truffle (NT$200) and the open faced burger with Danish toast, cheddar cheese sauce and an egg, sunny side-up (NT$390) .
Also not to be missed is the Zeppoli (NT$280), a warm dessert consisting of balls of fried dough with chocolate sauce, sea salt caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream. Pig & Pepper boasts a solid selection of sparkling, red and white wines priced from NT$950 to NT$1,850 per bottle.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to try the restaurant’s signature funnel cakes, which are only available from 11am to 3pm. A popular snack at fairs and carnivals in the US, the cake comes in four varieties, of which the caramel apple (NT$220) consists of apples roasted with vanilla bean, salted caramel sauce, almond crumble vanilla, bean custard and ice cream, and the mixed berry (NT$230) is a fruity, heavenly mixture of homemade berry jam and seasonal fruits with vanilla bean custard and whipped cream.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
After our enjoyable dinner, I look forward to coming back to Pig & Pepper to try its brunch menu, available from 11am to 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays. It features dishes such as braised beef hash (NT$360), shredded duck confit sandwich (NT$360) and crab cake benedict (NT$420).
Whether it is a relaxing dinner or a Sunday brunch with friends, Pig & Pepper is an inviting spot to enjoy a good meal. Decked out with a wooden patio, the space exudes a charming air of quiet warmth with its interior pallet of peacock blue, light yellow and wooden brown.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
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