New Taipei City, YongHe - Red Bull Steak 紅牛原味炭烤牛排

Unfortunately, I am not awarding this restaurant a rating at all.

That picture is enough to get you excited, right?

Wrong.

YongHe is literally brimming with people, and they love lining up for this steak. In a 5.7km squared district, there is a 244,000+ population - just give that a while to sink in.

These are the specialties - Chuck steaks of varying sizes.

They also have plenty more on their menu, though.

With each steak you get a soup and a cola, if you order bigger steaks then you are permitted 2 of each of the above, too.

21oz (595g) 炭火肩胛牛排
tàn huǒ jiān jiǎ niú pái
Chuck shoulder steak
$350

I asked for mine medium rare. It arrived with plenty of garlic slices, 2 cucumber slices and 2 mini carrots. However, that is all you get. Those fries you spy? You pay extra for them.

It was just about medium rare, but more on the rare side. It was crazy chewy and took me all my time to cut (with a steak knife, may I add).

However, my biggest issue with this restaurant was that the morning after eating here, I was seriously ill. I have re-traced what I ate and drank that day and nothing was out of the ordinary, except for this steak. I was diagnosed with the stomach flu, which the Dr assured me wasn't from food, but I am still unconvinced. Stomach Flu and food poisoning are so similar in their symptoms. 

All I know, is that I spent 2 hours in A&E on a Saturday night with a drip in my arm - not the best way to spend your Saturday night, ey?

I wouldn't recommend this place at all. My stomach turns each time I walk past it, now.

新北市永和區安樂路168號

No. 168, AnLe Road, YongHe District, New Taipei City

Happy (or not, dependent on if you end up in hospital) Eating!

Taipei City - Gēn Creative

Value for money: 10/10

Cleanliness: 10/10

Service: 10/10

Quality of food: 10/10

Overall: 10/10

This will be only my 3rd 10/10 review out of 115 posts.

Located just off DunHua South Road on the same road as Purebread Bakery is where the wonderful Roots Creative is located.

Inside there is a great atmosphere, with plenty of tables, mirrors and light but also darkness to make it feel secluded and comfortable.

The kitchen is alive with activity. However, even though it is a modest size, it is kept spotlessly clean and is ran very well by the head chef - Eric Liu.

The attention to plating detail is something to behold at any level of this standard. I love watching the intricate nature of everything going on.

The pâtissière was working hard to prepare and create deliciously wonderful desserts all night long.

^Here she was making our souffle

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The menu

The menu has been separated into 3 different main sections: Earth, Ocean and Land.

The Earth section looks to tackle the vegetarian option head on. Whilst a lot of places stick the occasional vegetarian dish on to appease those non meat eaters out there, Roots Creative don't even see it as a vegetarian option and just go for it, dedicated 1/3 of their menu to it. It all sounds lovely, using fresh and seasonal ingredients all sourced locally.

The Ocean section is something that excited me, especially that Shrimp Toast!

Finally we have the Land section, with a lovely selection of beef, pork and chicken done in a variety of ways.

I hope you saw that snack dish at the top of the menu. You saw correctly - fried soup! 

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What we ordered:

前菜

Amuse bouche 

Delicate chunks of tuna done with chilli, cilantro and daikon radish, topped with a crunchy breadcrumb. It did exactly what the amuse bouche is made to do: get you ready for more delicious food! 

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牛筋脆片

Puffed beef tenderloin

$240

Let me tell you: This tendon is braised for 8 hrs, compressed using weights on top, frozen, cut thinly and then fried in canola oil. Total processing time: 1.5 days. Damn.

It was fun to eat, not greasy at all and had lots of beef flavour. In fact, it tasted like it had been cooked in beef dripping. The dip is cilantro and lime crema which punched with flavour and the lime helped to cut through greasiness which accompanies anything that has been deep fried.

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炸湯

Fried Soup

$280

As pretty as this looks, do not try to look inside the soup balls without being ridiculously careful. It took me a long time to delicately prise one open, failing once and getting garlic soup on my trousers...

The soup inside was deliciously creamy and full of garlic flavour. The champagne vinegar added the sourness needed and lifted the dish. Delicious.

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陽明山無花果

YangMing Mountain figs with burrata

$380

I adore fresh figs and could eat them every day. These were deliciously fresh and obviously bursting with that sweet and honey-like flavour that only figs have.

The burrata is the cheese in the middle there that looks like mozzarella. In fact, burrata is made with mozzarella and cream. The skin on the outside has that thickness that mozzarella skin has, but the inside is creamier and resembles more of a cottage cheese, of sorts. It was creamy, delicate and moreish.

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深海大蝦

Shrimp Toast

$800

Marvel at the beauty in this plate. Can you see the brioche toast lurking at the bottom?

After the lobster bisque is poured over the top, the whole dish just comes to life with aroma. You feel like you're at the ocean and it's just wonderful.

The lobster bisque is fantastic, give me a bowl of that alone and I am 1 happy man. The different colours of tomato add more colour to this orange and green and red and purple plate. The shrimp are roasted to perfection and the whole dish works together in perfect harmony. No complaints. At all.

It may seem steep at $800 but I feel like it may be the best $800 I have spent on one dish.

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軟殼蟹
Soft shell crab
$680

I am not much a fan of soft shell crab, but we went for it anyway - and I am so glad that we did. It was delicious. I find soft shell crab a little disconcerting as it is just a crab that has malted and been taken before its outer shell has been allowed to harden.

The flavour was mild and delicate. However, when eaten with the red curry noodles, the flavour of the crab was a little lost. The star fruit added a nice element to cut through the curried noodles which were pretty spicy. The flavours were (again) fresh and clean. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the shrimp toast above. 

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屏東豬五花
Korean style pork
$640

Yes.

Eat your greens.

Look at that beautiful plate of pork, yum yum yum!

Take a salad leaf, put some of the daikon radish strips and the carrot on top, then top it with a piece of pork - sorted!

As for the pork - I expected it to be chewy BBQ style pork. But, it most certainly isn't. It's a slow cooked belly pork where the fat just melts away and the pork breaks apart effortlessly as you eat it. 

The sauce is a chilli sauce, which isn't too spicy but is quite salty. I liked it a lot.

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愛爾蘭咖啡
Vanilla souffle with coffee ice cream and coffee cream
$450

Check out that riiiiiiiiise.

...and again, just because.

We were recommended by the pâtissière to make a well in the center of the (incredibly velvety soft and delicious) souffle and pour the coffee cream inside. As we did so, the souffle enter oozed out and the most wonderful vanilla aroma came with it.

Adding the coffee cream just combined two wonderful flavours together and the results were mouth watering.

The coffee ice cream was flavourful and creamy, a perfect accompaniment to the dish.

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Refreshing ice cream

It was OK as a palate cleanser, but I don't think we really needed the tapioca balls. 

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Fortune cookie

The cookie was really quite nice, I always fine fortune cookies fun.

Nice to know ;-)

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Roots Creative FB

Roots Creative Website

Opening Times:

Monday - Saturday

17:30 - 22:00

Sunday

Closed

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台北市大安區敦化南路二段63巷24號

No. 24, DunHua South Road, Lane 63, Section 2, DaAn District, Taipei City

Happy Eating!

Taipei City - Where can you get Western food in Taipei?

My site isn't necessarily built up for discovering Western food in Taipei, but obviously I still go to a lot of westernized restaurants, as Taipei is a capital city and has a diverse array of Western food. 

These are only a pick of a few Western restaurants dotted around the city. Click on the links in the name for a more extensive review.

(N.B. I will only be posting 7/10 and above restaurants)

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Whalen's 味鄰

Whalen's FB

What to expect: 
'Comfort food' is the order of the day here. Expect generous portions, with all the trimmings.

What not to expect: 
Fine dining. That's not to say the dining experience isn't good, but I mean that you don't have to think twice about which type of cutlery to use with which dish or which sauce to drizzle delicately over which deviled oyster.

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Paul

What to expect:

Paul is a chain restaurant/bakery with many international branches. Expect French styled food which is consistently good each time you go.

What not to expect:

Snails or frogs legs.

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RAW

What to expect:

Interesting and thought provoking dishes with excellent precision in execution.

What not to expect:

An inexpensive meal. Expect to pay anything between $3,000 - $7,000TWD for a 2 person meal.

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BING

What to expect:

Excellent burgers and excellent side dishes.

What not to expect:

Fast food at fast food prices. Expect time and care taken in creating your dish, and a solid price tag to boot.

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Pond Burger

What to expect:

A slightly Taiwanese take on western food. Good salad and a solid burger.

What not to expect:

Generous portions of fish in your salad.

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Take Five

What to expect:

Delicious deli food such as quiches, sandwiches, ratatouille etc.

What not to expect:

Burger and fries.

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Bencotto

What to expect:

A beautiful date place set in The Mandarin Oriental Hotel with delicious Italian food at great prices.

What not to expect:

Unlike many 'Italian' places in Taipei, this place genuinely feels like it is REALLY 'Italian'.

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Dazzle

What to expect:

Humbling Indian food with plenty of flavour and a good level of spice.

What not to expect:

Refined plating skills. 

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April Trip Breakfast

What to expect:
Bowls of cereal and solid breakfast burgers/sandwiches.

What not to expect:
A long lie in, this place is in DanShui/Tamsui

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Purebread Bakery

What to expect:
Delicious croissants likened to the ones sold in France, and bread enough to rival any other bakery in the city.

What not to expect:
Habitually sweet bread like most places in Taipei. 

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Garret

What to expect:
A lot of variations on flavour.


What not to expect:
Butterkist

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Illy Cafe

What to expect:
A decent enough attempt at a western breakfast.

What not to expect:
Sweet sausage.

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September Cafe

What to expect:
Delicious french toast. With plenty of light inside.

What not to expect:
Small tables, they're all huge!

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Caliburger

What to expect:
Great fries and deliciously simple burgers with great pickles.

What not to expect:
In-N-Out burger

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Mia Cucina

What to expect:
Hearty salads and delicious toasted sandwiches.

What not to expect:

Meat. This place is vegetarian.

Happy Eating!