Located in the quiet, slow-living Minsheng Community (民生社區), near the tree-lined Fujin Street (富錦街), Monsieur L Restaurant has the look of a nice, quaint neighborhood eatery and the substance of a multicourse feast. Though the food on offer is hit-and-miss, the restaurant is a pleasant spot to take in the unhurried ambiance of the charming neighborhood, while enjoying an elaborate meal and professional service usually found at a much fancier establishment.
Painted terracotta red and furnished with a wooden front deck, the Monsieur L’s exteriors blends in nicely with the lush, shady sidewalk where it is located, giving off a hint of rustic charm. But once inside, diners will find a team of uniformed wait staff and a kitchen crew under the management of head chef Cage Ou (歐俊辰). According to the restaurant’s Web site, Ou spent time working at the Marco Polo Italian restaurant of Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei as well as other hotels, which probably explains the more formal vibe and cuisine.
My dining companion and I visited on a recent Sunday afternoon to try out its four-course lunch sets, available on weekends. Business was brisk as nearly every table was taken at the spacious restaurant. While busy, our waitress managed to remain efficient, come to fill up our water glasses frequently and ask how our food was in a manner that suggested she actually cared.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
We ordered two set meals priced NT$1,080 and NT$1,280. The basket of warm bread served with balsamic vinegar and fragrant olive oil is worth a special mention. Among the appetizers and soup that followed, the baby squid with salami and anchovy chick pea puree was a palate-titillating treat. Finely seared, the squid tentacles offered a subtle contrast to the tenderly cooked body, whose fresh, light taste struck a nice balance with the savory salami. Though it sounded interesting, the duck consomme with shiitake mushroom and fireweed, however, tasted rather bland.
I didn’t realize the true meaning of its epithet until the tomahawk pork chop with grilled French green beans with apple butter sauce arrived at our table. To my surprise, the gigantic portion of my main course was enough to feed a hungry hunter. After the initial shock, I quickly came to admire that, despite its massiveness, the meat was able to retain its tender texture from the first to last bite.
Setting his expectations high, my dining partner was sadly disappointed with the grilled US prime strip loin steak with fondant potato and Pommery mustard seed sauce. Cooked medium, the steak was more on the tough and chewy side than on the soft and melt-in-your-mouth end.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
Our disillusion over the steak was dispersed when the desserts were served. While the sweet course is often undistinguished in the city’s many similar establishments, Monsieur L takes its sweets seriously, preparing them in a separate kitchen manned by a pastry chef trained in New York City. The rum sabayon with peanut butter cookie and milk ice cream that my dining partner had was a finely crafted treat for adults, combining, as it did, the delicious scent of rum with the milky and peanut buttery flavors. I was equally impressed by my caramel apple tart with mille-feuille and calvados ice cream, highlighted by the aroma of apple brandy and cinnamon.
In addition to the reasonably priced set meals, Monsieur L offers an a la carte menu for lunch and dinner. The restaurant also changes its menu every two to three months to keep it fresh and attractive.
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
Photo: Ho Yi, Taipei Times
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
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 —
The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
Toward the outside edge of Taichung City, in Wufeng District (霧峰去), sits a sprawling collection of single-story buildings with tiled roofs belonging to the Wufeng Lin (霧峰林家) family, who rose to prominence through success in military, commercial, and artistic endeavors in the 19th century. Most of these buildings have brick walls and tiled roofs in the traditional reddish-brown color, but in the middle is one incongruous property with bright white walls and a black tiled roof: Yipu Garden (頤圃). Purists may scoff at the Japanese-style exterior and its radical departure from the Fujianese architectural style of the surrounding buildings. However, the property
RSS