Taipei City - 吐司工寓 Toast Apartment OPPA

Value for money: 9/10

Cleanliness: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Quality of food: 9/10

Overall: 8/10

Some quite interesting drinks in the strawberry latte, chestnut latte, banana latte and banana mocha. We just went for the plain tea, though. 

Here's what we ordered:

1. 雞腿排BEST芝士蛋吐司

W/ 工寓紅茶 and 沙拉

jī tuǐ pǎi BEST zhī shì dàn tǔ sī 

W/ gōng yù hóng chá  and shā lā 

Chicken leg steak and egg sandwich

W/ red tea and salad

$150

2. 豬排MVP芝士蛋吐司

W/ 工寓紅茶 and 脆薯

zhū pǎi MVP zhī shì dàn tǔ sī 

W/ gōng yù hóng chá  and cuì shǔ 

Pork steak and egg sandwich

W/ black tea and fries

$140

They use what essentially look like crepe hot plates to first heat the bread through and give it a slightly crunchier feel. But, it isn't quite turned into toast, more it has been toasted really lightly.

We didn't eat in, as we would have had to wait longer. So, we took out and ate just round the corner at the SongShan Creative Park near the lake. It is a 5 min walk with a nice quiet seat near the lake. On a sunny morning, what could be better?

1. 雞腿排BEST芝士蛋吐司

W/ 工寓紅茶 and 沙拉

jī tuǐ pǎi BEST zhī shì dàn tǔ sī 

W/ gōng yù hóng chá  and shā lā 

Chicken leg steak and egg sandwich

W/ red tea and salad

$150

The better of the two sandwiches. The chicken leg was so juicy and tender, packed full of flavour with the skin still left on. I don't care if the skin is the unhealthy part, it is damn good!

Inside we have egg, chicken and shredded cabbage.

2. 豬排MVP芝士蛋吐司

W/ 工寓紅茶 and 脆薯

zhū pǎi MVP zhī shì dàn tǔ sī 

W/ gōng yù hóng chá  and cuì shǔ 

Pork steak and egg sandwich

W/ black tea and fries

$140

This is still a solid sandwich, though, so don't write it off! The pork is cooked really nicely with shredded cabbage put on top and egg in there, too. But here, what works so well, are the thin slices of pickled Daikon radish! A great addition to a sandwich if there ever was one. Mimicking the humble pickle found in many of the great western sandwiches. But, the Daikon pickle tastes fresher and cuts through any of the grease of the fried pork.

Fries and salad were both just OK. But, quite clearly, the stars of the show were always going to be the sandwiches. I am definitely going back, soon!

Opening Times:
Monday - Saturday
07:00 - 15:00
Sunday - Off

Tel:
0227640990

Toast Apartment on Facebook

Eating in Taipei

臺北市信義區忠孝東路4段559巷16弄

Alley 16, Lane 559, Section 4, ZhongXiao East Road, XinYi District, Taipei City

（This place is so new, that it isn't on Google Maps, yet. But, it is here, trust me!)

Happy Eating!

Taipei City - 牛易館太極牛肉麵

Value for money: 9/10

Cleanliness: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Quality of food: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

*invited*

The restaurant itself, looks ok from the outside. It's just a shame that so many restaurants like this are housed underneath apartments with things that begin to detract from the restaurant itself.

Check out what you want before you go in.

Alternatively, for a better look at how the dish will be presented, there are pictures inside.

We arrived at 12:00 and there were a few people inside. However, from around 12:30 onwards there was a steady stream. This was a Sunday, maybe a Saturday is busier, maybe not. 

The 老闆 owner pointed out that these 3 were the top 3 dishes, here, obviously not discounting the others. But, each restaurant has to have its specialities, right?

Unfortunately, a lot of the side dishes were a little greasy and (even though it may not look it with all of the greens, reds and purples, they were looking rather tired, too).

Help yourself to a cup of the 青梅汁 Plum juice or the 冬瓜茶 winter melon tea. I think the plum juice is a good pairing with the beef noodles as it offers a sourness that cuts through the dish.

It's always nice to see the cooking process. 

We went with (from left to right) pickled cabbage, curry sauce, spicy sauce. All were good, but I do like a good bit of spice, so the spicy one was my favourite. Don't add these sauces to your beef noodle, but rather dip in some of the meat or dip in some of the noodles. It's sure to give your mouth a good surprise!

Here's what we ordered:

1. 番茄牛肉麵 fān qié niú ròu miàn Tomato beef noodle soup $140

2. 筋包牛肉麵 jīn bāo niú ròu miàn Tendon beef noodle soup $200

3. 太極牛肉麵 tài jí niú ròu miàn TaiChi Style beef noodle soup $250




1. 番茄牛肉麵 fān qié niú ròu miàn 
Tomato beef noodle soup $140

I am a big fan of the tomato beef noodle soup. This is my usual order at any beef noodle restaurant. Tomatoes tend to impart a greater depth of flavour and sweetness that I like in beef noodle soup.

There's plenty of beef in the soup, definitely no complaints there! However, the broth is a little on the salty side.

A lovely cut of Australian beef, here. The beef was fantastic, really, I have no complaints at all! The beef is only cooked for around 8-10 minutes, but the broth is cooked for around 4-5 hours - impressive!





2. 筋包牛肉麵 jīn bāo niú ròu miàn 
Tendon beef noodle soup $200

Quite clearly the lighter of the two broths in colour, but also it was a lot lighter in flavour. However, it was still too salty...

Again, plenty of beef!

 A different cut of beef, here, and a more fatty beef but still quite clearly delicious.



3. 太極牛肉麵 tài jí niú ròu miàn 
TaiChi Style beef noodle soup $250

As we spoke to the owner, he is quite clearly a man with a huge love not just for beef noodle soup, but for everything to do with the dining experience and the experience of eating beef noodle soup.

Separated into two broths, this broth is the clear broth as in the 2nd bowl of the beef noodles above. However, some of the cuts of beef are a little different. The beef belly is really quite great, and the other two cuts of beef are great, too!

This side of the broth is the 紅燒 version, with more depth of flavour than the clear soup (still a bit salty, though).

This was the star of the show - fatty meat! It is no secret that I love a good fatty piece of meat, whether it be in a beef noodle soup or the other great Taiwanese lunch of 焢肉 (fatty pork). 

The owner showed us this article from the Discover Taipei magazine, so 牛易館 is certainly doing very well throughout Taipei. Also, the owner told us that he has been over to China a couple of times to teach how to make beef noodles - awesome!

The Taipei City Mayor has even been here to eat. Anyone else thinks he looks a little like a cartoon character?

Tel: 
02-87872677

Opening Times:
Every day 11:00 - 21:00
Chinese New Year off

牛易館 Facebook Page

臺北市中山區四平街30號

No. 30, SiPing Street, ZhongShan District, Taipei City

Eating in Taipei

Happy Eating! 

Taipei City - Uncles

Value for money: 3/10

Cleanliness: 3/10

Service: 3/10

Quality of food: 3/10

Overall: 3/10

Unfortunately, the experience was about as bad as it gets at UNCLES. I feel that a 3 is almost too nice, for the meal that we had. 

Instagram and Facebook have been blowing up recently about UNCLES and people have been raving about it, so maybe we hit it on a bad day, but it certainly didn't come across that way.

When you have decided what you want to order, you can press the button on the batton and the staff will come to get you. A good idea, for big restaurants. But, UNCLES isn't really that big and the light flashes all of 5 seconds before somebody is there, so I feel like it's just a waste.

Total price:

$850

:-(

This is the only rice option on the menu. Beneath the strips of crispy seaweed is the rice. The staff will mould the rice with the seaweed into little balls for you.

The rice was way too over cooked and mushy. Not enjoyable.

This was what we were most excited about, the giant squid!

It looks awesome. Deep fried squid tentacles and deep fried squid are served on top of a mildly spicy toppoki with egg, tofu skin and lots of cheese. 

Cheeeeeese

As impressive as it looks, the quality of the cheese wasn't great, at all. 

The tofu skin was one of the best bits.

The toppoki (rice cake) was alright, too. 

Look appetising? Not in the least. This greasy plate of squid was not enjoyable, either. Too greasy and it didn't taste fresh.

In perspective: This is how much we left of the main dish.

I stripped the squid of its batter in an attempt to eat the squid - I didn't eat the squid, either.

I would say that if you are looking for a Korean experience, then WAYO is light-years ahead of UNCLES in quality, value for money and overall experience. Next, for me, on my Korean list is Pocha.

UNCLES on Facebook

臺北市大安區光復南路260巷31號

No. 31, Lane 260, GuangFu South Road, DaAn District, Taipei City

(Un) Happy Eating!