Taipei City - 哇優 - WAYO

Value for money: 7/10

Cleanliness: 9/10

Service: 9/10

Quality of food: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

Fairly new onto the scene in Eastern area, the Korean restaurant WAYO seems to be doing really well.

 We had to book in advance (maybe 5 days) over the phone, as if you turn up at the door (anytime between 5:30-7) you are told it may be around 1hr wait until a table becomes free, perhaps longer.

The small kitchen is on the 1st floor of the restaurant, with less than 10 tables, with the main seating area on B1 where there are more tables available.

Here are the pages we ordered from:

What we ordered: 

1. Spicy stir fried rice cake with cheese $230

2. Seafood pancake $250

3. WAYO fried chicken $230




1. Spicy stir fried rice cake with cheese $230

If you haven't had rice cake (or topoki, as it is more commonly known), then I encourage you to look for it on a menu in a decent Korean restaurant - look for 年糕 and also find the spicy version 辣.

Served on top of a mini flame, it's kept bubbling away and continues to further fry the topoki and make it a little crispy.

So much cheeeeeeeese

This was a solid effort and definitely worth ordering. It was a tomato based sauce but didn't taste too sweet. There was lots of cheese and the topoki was nice, too. 

2. Seafood pancake $250

Seafood pancakes are usually a staple when going into a Korean restaurant, for my liking. But, I don't know whether I would be ordering this one again - it is a little too greasy.

There is plenty of octopus, squid and shrimp inside and the pancake is quite thin. However, it is just too greasy.




3. WAYO fried chicken $230

The side dishes can be refilled at any time, so just ask. From left to right we have: potato 馬鈴薯, kimchi 泡菜, mushrooms 香菇, spicy beansprouts 豆芽, broccoli 青花菜 and chewy fishcake 甜不辣.

This is an absolute MUST order at WAYO. They were awesome! The chicken is deliciously tender and juicy, the outside is crispy and it feels like they used oats in the batter it is so crunchy. The flavour (although it looks greasy, but isn't) is like a lemon honey flavour and it is sprinkled with some seaweed powder. Get it, definitely. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the inside, but there was no stopping from the first bite to the last...


Overall, WAYO is certainly worth a trip. However, make sure to book in advance. You can either go in and book a couple of days in advance, or you can call them and do it that way.

Best dish: 3. WAYO fried chicken - You'll thank me, I am 100% confident

Dish I wouldn't order again: 2. Seafood pancake - Too greasy for my liking.

Eating in Taipei

 WAYO on Facebook

Tuesday - Friday: 17:00-21:30

Saturday and Sunday: 12:00-15:00 + 17:00-21:30

Monday: Day off 休工

Phone: 02 2775 2872

台北市大安區復興南路1段107巷45號
No.45, lane 107, Fuxing South Road, Section 1, DaAn District, Taipei City

Happy Eating!

Taipei City - Mik 2

*Invited*

Value for money: 5/10

Cleanliness: 8/10

Service: 5/10

Quality of food: 8/10

Overall: 6/10

As previously said, I was set to cover all 4 restaurants in the MIK chain of Indian restaurants. This is Mik 2, on MinSheng East Road 民生東路. 

The restauraunt set-up is a lot like the Mik 4 on TongHua Street. 

I apologize in advance for picture quality, however, we were seated at one of the more dimly lit areas of the restaurant.

When we arrived, the staff were bemused as they had not received our reservation, we spoke in both English and Chinese - they were still confused. We were (eventually) seated at the back of the restaurant on a long table which was dimly lit - not ideal for taking photos.

The menu was a little similar to Mik 2 but they did have a section which was Taiwanese Indian inspired. We ordered our main dish from there, this time.

What we ordered:

1. Mixed Vegetable pakora $190

2. Chilli chicken $325

3. Nan bread $70

We were presented with a similar version of the appetizer provided at Mik 4, however, this one has a different dipping sauce - this one being a chutney and the previous one being a yogurt dip.

1. Mixed Vegetable pakora $190

Here is the vegetable pakora. It is a healthy portion of deep fried tempura vegetables of which there are potatoes and cauliflower. Maybe it is a personal preference, but I prefer my vegetables to have a little bit of a crunch (potatoes maybe not so much so). However, these vegetables seem to have been cooked a lot before frying, rendering them fairly tasteless and soft (almost soggy).

2. Chilli chicken $325

This dish claimed to be an Indo-Chinese hybrid, and I could certainly taste that in the sauce. The sauce almost resembled a dark black bean sauce with a slight tangy aspect I would expect from sweet and sour in the UK. There was also a mild Indian spice kick, too.

It did what it said it does: mixes Indian with Chinese. It didn't wow me, but it was worth trying to see if I could detect the different aspects they seemed to be aiming for, however, it is not worth the $325 price tag.

3. Nan bread $70

The nan bread is probably the best thing here: it is thin, but not crispy, it isn't doughy or stodgy in any way. It also is not greasy. It's everything I look for in a nan, so I would be happy to order more. However, what does it say if this is the best thing I ate?

As you can see, we didn't order much. The incompetence of the staff, the confusion surrounding the reservation (even after continually confirming for 2 weeks in advance) and the fact that we got placed in a dimly lit area and couldn't move because the rest of the seats were 'booked' made me lose my appetite. 

From what I tasted, the chefs are clearly good and they know what they are doing. They seem to work very professionally and what appeared to be the 'head chef' was clearly telling the serving staff which table and the dish as they were at the pass to take it out. My problem here is the serving staff. The serving staff also had to confirm numerous times with the kitchen staff as to 1 - what the dish was and 2 - which table the dish had to go to. This isn't what you want from your serving staff.

Therefore, I will not be returning to Mik 3 or Mik 1, which is a shame. I feel like the restaurant has good food and the ingredients are well prepared and dishes well executed. However, the running of the restaurants and the serving staff are not up to scratch.

I Love Mik website

Eating in Taipei

台北市松山區民生東路3段103號

No.103 MinSheng East Road, Section 3, SongShan District, Taipei City.

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Taipei City - 巴和奈野 Illy Cafe

Value for money: 7/10

Cleanliness: 8/10

Service: 9/10

Quality of food: 6/10

Overall: 7/10

In a quiet alley off Roosevelt Road, you can find this place. We came here for breakfast, but you can quite easily come here for brunch/lunch, too.

It was the week before Christmas, and all through the house...

There were lots of flags, fortunately not a mouse.

Free WiFi is something that can be a blessing, and a curse. You're eating, so is there really a need to continue playing the Ninja fighting game you've been struggling on for the last 5 hours? You still really want to watch your favourite TV show whilst eating? Do it at home. This is a cafe/restaurant. For me, it should be about taking in the atmosphere and enjoying a nice meal.

But thanks for the free WiFi - I could check out the directions before we went to 陽明山 to eat the 烤地瓜. 

The menu has a variety of sandwiches and some breakfasts, too.

What we ordered:

1. 美式組合 mei3shi4zu3he2 American style breakfast
w/ Hot coffee 熱美式咖啡 rè měi shì kā fēi $195

2. 燻鮭魚乳酪 xūn guī yú rǔ lào Smoked salmon with cream cheese $150

1. 美式組合 mei3shi4zu3he2 American style breakfast
w/ Hot coffee 熱美式咖啡 rè měi shì kā fēi

Buttered toast, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns and salad. 

A little squiggle of mustard and ketchup on the side, too.

Everything was actually pretty decent. Even the scrambled eggs get my stamp of approval! The juice was a little sour and fairly non-descript, but the rest of the aspects were fine.

The Americano was decent, too. 

2. 燻鮭魚乳酪 xūn guī yú rǔ lào Smoked salmon with cream cheese

Smoked salmon and cream cheese is by far my favourite bagel choice, so I am no stranger to the combination. Here, it's on a sandwich with some tomato, cucumber and salmon. There is a small spread of a mustard mayonnaise, too.

The bread was just OK, it didn't taste very fresh but it did the job that bread does. The smoked salmon was nice (but I find it hard to imagine that Illy would have actually smoked it themselves).


Overall, both breakfasts were fairly standard of many breakfast cafe's. I wouldn't race to go back but similarly I also wouldn't say no to going back, either.


Best dish: 1. 美式組合 mei3shi4zu3he2 American style breakfast
w/ Hot coffee 熱美式咖啡 rè měi shì kā fēi - This dish was the better of the two, with nice scrambled eggs and also a nice sausage.

Dish I wouldn't order again: 2. 燻鮭魚乳酪 xūn guī yú rǔ lào Smoked salmon with cream cheese - I want my bread to be a little better quality and I want a thicker spread than what was provided, really. 


Opening times:
Monday - Sunday 08:00 - 17:00

Illy on Facebook

Eating in Taipei

台北市大安區羅斯福路二段81巷16 弄5號

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HsinChu *Special*

HsinChu has the nickname of 'the windy city', but for me, HsinChu is a city less aimed at tourists than that of Taipei City. Therefore, I feel it is easier to walk into a more traditional Taiwanese eatery in HsinChu, than if you stroll around the center of Taipei. 

We specifically aimed for the area around 城隍廟 chéng huáng miào.

The temple is actually inside here!

A lot like the Temple at 士林夜市 ShiLin Nightmarket, the temple here features at the market. Just inside the main entrance to the market, on the left side. It's quite special, and the aroma of the incense sticks fill the entire market.


Here's what we ate:

1. 肉圓 ròu yuán Deep fried meat pocket $40

2. 蚵仔煎 é zǐ jiān Oyster omelet $60

3. 乾麵線 gān miàn xiàn Dry rice noodles $60

4. 咖啡仙草茶 kā fēi xiān cǎo chá Coffee and grass jelly tea $50

5. 仙草茶 xiān cǎo chá Grass jelly tea $45

6. 潤餅 rùn bǐng Vegetable and meat wrap $35

1. 肉圓 ròu yuán Deep fried meat pocket $40

This is often referred to as Ba-Wan.

Each Ba-Wan is filled with a meat and bamboo mixture. Often they are filled with a special type of 叉燒肉 which is a sweet glazed pork. The dough mixture is moulded into a disk and then dropped into the oil to slowly cook.

Whilst it is dropped into oil, the oil isn't so hot as to deep-fry the disk, per se. Rather it is heated slowly where the dough itself remains elasticy and chewy. It is quite a unique texture, with a lot of 1st timers not particularly enjoying it.

The Ba-Wan is coated in a sweet sauce, each bowl containing two of the Ba-Wan's. This one is pretty good, with the filling tasting quite fresh. 

2. 蚵仔煎 é zǐ jiān Oyster omelet $60

3. 乾麵線 gān miàn xiàn Dry rice noodles $60

Oyster omelet is something I treasure, and so plentiful throughout the entire island! On this particular one, there is a lot of sauce, and really I think there is too much. In fact, give me half the sauce and I am still thinking it may be too much...

However, this is one of the best oyster omelets I have had, so far: It was really thick, the oysters were big and juicy, the vegetables were still crunchy and actually the omelet edges were also a little crunch - which I liked! 

From the same shop as the Oyster omelet, comes this bowl of dried rice noodles.

I would choose a bowl of the dried rice noodles over the wet noodles in soup every day. Personal preference, I guess. 

These rice noodles were cooked perfectly, the beansprouts and the green onion was crunchy and juicy, the meat pieces were plentiful and big and also the deep fried red onion and garlic sprinkle put on top makes the dish pop alive with character. A hit, definitely!




4. 咖啡仙草茶 kā fēi xiān cǎo chá Coffee and grass jelly tea $50

5. 仙草茶 xiān cǎo chá Grass jelly tea $45

There's a couple of these stalls in the market, we chose the one just outside the main entrance of the market. This place specialises in 仙草 xiān cǎo which is Grass Jelly.

They use a good quality milk to make the drink, but it isn't top quality, so don't get too excited.

The menu is quite big for a small 1 manned stand.

The grass jelly itself tastes good and isn't very chewy at all - a tick in the plus column, not the minus! 

The coffee one was good, with a latte flavour to it. However, it wasn't overly sweet.

The original flavour was also very good, with a somewhat neutral flavour throughout. Again, it wasn't sweet, which I am thankful for. Often a lot of drinks from these types of stalls can be too sweet.

6. 潤餅 rùn bǐng Vegetable and meat wrap $35

On the way out of the market, if you're still hungry, you could get one of these wraps.

Each costs just $35 and is packed with beansprouts, meat strips, cabbage, pork floss and sweet sauce. They're very filling, so share with a friend or take 1 down for your lunch.

All combined into one and wrapped inside a thin pancake/crepe, wonderfully simple but wonderfully tasty! 

新竹市北區中山路75號

No.75 ZhongShan Road, North District, HsinChu City.

Eating in Taipei

Happy Eating!