Taipei City - 躼腳日本料理 LaoJiao Sushi Restaurant

Summer, for me, means fresh and light food. Sushi is certainly high up on that list. Therefore, this review is of the famous 躼腳日本料理 near SongShan Airport (松山機場). 

We went at lunch time, which is very popular with businessmen. For me, this is the ideal time to go as businessmen, typically, don't have the time to be taking a slow lunch. Therefore, seats become available faster. We did have to wait for a table, but it gave us plenty of time to read through and scan the menu. 

1. Sashimi bowl with sea urchin 海膽生魚片丼套餐 （hai3dan3sheng1yu2pian4dong4tao4can1)

2. Miso soup added as part of a set to the Sashimi Bowl 附（湯）fu4 (tang1)

3. Side dish added as part of a set to the Sashimi Bowl 附 （日式小菜)

4. Egg roll 蛋壽司 (dan4shou4si1)

5. Scorched scallop 干貝 (gan11bei4)

6. Tomato with a plum dressing 番茄梅子 （fan1qie2mei2zi）

7. Peppered squid 透抽 (tou4chou1)

1. Sashimi bowl 海膽生魚片丼套餐 （hai3dan3sheng1yu2pian4dong4tao4can1)

Salmon, Tuna, egg roll, rice, ginger, wasabi and sea urchin (海膽hai3dan3). You can note from all of the sashimi pieces that they are cut very thick, which makes the dish very filling, deceptively so. Whilst there may only be 4 pieces, it's more than adequate for a meal. The surprise addition to this dish is most definitely the sea urchin. Let's face it, it is not the most aesthetically pleasing thing in the world, but the taste is better than the looks. It's another 'trust me' moment... The sashimi is all very fresh and a smooth and delicate flavour. I don't particularly like wasabi with my sushi, as I feel it overpowers the flavour a little, so I am quite happy that the wasabi is just in a ball on the side. The egg roll is a little sweet, so I feel that the small amount of it within the bowl is enough for me. Texture wise: it is quite soft and smooth. Unlike the wasabi overpowering the dish, I feel like the fresh ginger lifts the dish. However, the key addition is most certainly the sea urchin. I am not a regular sea urchin consumer, but I think I may well be from now on. Its very soft, almost like a warm butter consistency. It has a mild taste of fish and the sea, a slight bitterness to counteract the mild sweetness but also it is wonderfully rich in flavour as well as consistency.

2. Miso soup added as part of a set to the Sashimi Bowl 附（湯）fu4 (tang1)

With ordering the sashimi bowl, you can make the dish into a set meal by adding a soup and a small plate, or a soup and a sushi hand roll. Miso is a popular ingredient in Taiwanese cooking, not only Japanese cooking. Often it can be used to flavour stir-fried vegetables or meats, or used to make a simple broth with which to flavour your noodles. It's an extremely versatile ingredient. This miso soup is a little different to that used by Taiwanese, as there are large chunks of fish inside. In each bowl you may receive around 3-4 pieces of white fish (often with bones in, so be careful). The flavour of the fish is imparted in the soup, and the broth itself is salty and light. It's certainly one of the better miso soups I have had, moreover, it's included in the set (which is only around $100NT extra), which is fantastic value for such a dish.

3. Side dish added as part of a set to the Sashimi Bowl 附 （日式小菜)

I am unsure about this dish. Even writing about it now, I am unsure how to properly describe it to you. At the bottom, there are finely sliced red onions, on top of which are tiny white shrimp with roe. The shrimp felt a little slimy in the mouth, but were complemented by the crunch of the raw onion and lifted by the slight saltiness of the roe. I wouldn't choose it, as a dish, but as I chose the small plate option, this was just the small plate of the day. 

 4. Egg roll 蛋壽司 (dan4shou4si1)

Usually when we go to a Japanese restaurant, this is a staple choice. Once again, it has impressed. The egg is cute quite thinly from what is clearly a bigger piece of egg roll. It is then sat on top of rice and wrapped together with some Nori. Accompanied by ginger, it goes down really well. The egg is slightly sweetened, but nicely moist. It manages to retain some nice egg flavour, but it isn't mind-blowingly good. 

5. Scorched scallop 干貝 (gan1bei4)

There is a specials board inside the restaurant, but it changes quite often, so I would recommend pointing or using the Chinese on here to match up some of the characters and having an educated guess. Scallops are most certainly well up there with my favourite things to eat, however, I haven't had them raw too many times before. These scallops have been scorched with a blow torch, however, the inside remains raw. Scallops have a silky smooth texture, with a light taste of the sea and also a hint of a milky taste. with a squeeze of lemon, and a salad of Daikon radish (蘿蔔). I wholeheartedly recommend scallops whenever you can eat them. Alternatively, they are remarkably easy to cook at home: dry the scallop, put them into a hot pan with a knob of butter, pan fry on each side for 1min30secs with some bacon lardons and serve with salad (this is my personal preference for cooking scallops and how I cook with them, please consult a cook book or look online before cooking your scallops in future). 

6. Tomato with a plum dressing 番茄梅子 （fan1qie2mei2zi）

It looks like sliced tomato, and it is. The only difference being that the tomatoes are sitting on top of a smokey plum sauce. The smokey plum sauce imparts a wonderfully sweet flavour and really brings the tomatoes up to the next level. Whilst Taiwan isn't world-renowned for it's tomato harvesting, these tomatoes had a great flavour and paired with the sauce, made for a refreshing salad.

7. Peppered squid 透抽 (tou4chou1)

This was another dish that was on the specials board, but well worth looking out for. The squid was lightly barbecued. The wing tips of the squid were crunchy, yet the remaining meat was cooked to perfection - slightly rubbery with a little crunch inside. The tentacles to the right of the plate were also crunchy and delicious. With a squeeze of lemon and a dip into the pepper, it is a great mouthful of food: extremely clean and delicate.

This is a restaurant I have been to a lot before, but the first time I've reviewed it. When someone asks me about sushi in Taipei, this is the first place I think about and the first place I would think about recommending for sushi in Taipei. The restaurant has a fun and busy atmosphere, the service is very good and the prices are also reasonable.

Best dish: 1. Sashimi bowl with sea urchin 海膽生魚片丼套餐 （hai3dan3sheng1yu2pian4dong4tao4can1): The sea urchin is a truly unique flavour, and certainly one I want again and again! 

Dish I won't order again: None. If I could choose not to have the shrimp and roe small plate, then I would do so. But you don't really get a choice with the fact that it is just the daily small plate. 

台北市民權東路三段107號

No. 107, Section 3, MinQuan East Road, SongShan District, Taipei City.

Happy Eating!