Taipei City - 石二鍋 12 Hotpot (XinYi Branch)

Value for money: 9/10

Cleanliness: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Quality of food: 8/10

Accessibility: 9/10

Overall: 8/10

It's not looking like the nicest chain, only because construction is going on at the plot next door, though.

We got here at around 3pm, after having a lazy breakfast. If you arrive around 11 (opening time) then you may only line up for 5-10 minutes, but you have to decide whether hot pot is really something you want to be eating for early lunch/brunch. We waited around 20 minutes, which isn't too bad, really.  

Here is how you 'check in' when you get to the store. It's pretty easy, actually: tap the button that says 請點我 (translating to please press me), then it will bring up a screen asking how many are in your party. You can choose from 1人, 2人, 3人 or 4人 (人 being person/people). It will then bring up whether you want a table or if you want to sit on a row (which will become more clear if you look at the pictures below) where you can just click the picture. Finally, hit the button at the bottom of the screen when you have plugged in these 2 commands, and you will get a receipt. At the top of the above picture, you can see 1016, 2050, 9007. The 1016 is the numbers for 1人, the 2050 is for 2, 3 or 4 人 sitting on the long rows and the 9007 is for 2, 3, 4人 looking to sit on the square tables. When they call out your number, they will bring out a menu. 

Here is the Chinese menu, however, they do also have an English menu which they will give you (if you ask or if you look confused).

The best thing about this chain store? Everything included is just $218, what a steal!

On the menu there are steps:

1. 選湯鍋 xuǎn tāng guō  This is where you choose the type of broth you'd like. You have 4 choices:

石頭鍋 shí tóu guō Stone pot (fried first)

涮涮鍋 shuàn shuàn guō Original style (not fried first)

辛香辣魅鍋 xīn xiāng là mèi guō Spicy devil broth (sounds hot!)

番茄豚骨鍋 fān qié tún gǔ guō Tomato and pork bone broth

2. 先選套餐, 再選主餐 xiān xuǎn tào cān , zài xuǎn zhǔ cān First choose whether you want more vegetables or more meat, and then choose your selection from the appropriate column. 

3. 選副食 xuǎn fù shí Order your rice or noodles

4. 選飲品 xuǎn yǐn pǐn Order your drink 

Here's what we ordered:

1. 石頭鍋 and 番茄豚骨鍋

This is the 石頭鍋, here the waitress is adding more soup broth. The broth is fairly neutral with a slight taste of pork. 

This was by far and a way the better of the two, this was the 番茄豚骨鍋. The tomato flavour came through in abundance and it was wonderfully rich. I would encourage you to take a few small bowls of the broth before you add any vegetables or meat inside, to really savor the flavour of this lovely soup. 

2. Both with more vegetables, so we ordered from the left side of the menu - 櫻桃鴨腿 yīng táo yā tuǐ Cherry duck leg and 豬雞雙拼 zhū jī shuāng pīn Pork and Chicken mix

Wanting to fill your quota of veggies? You have come to the right spot! Especially being as vegetables have seen a sharp up rise in cost due to the fluctuating weather of recent months. Cabbage, taro, carrot, corn, cucumber, tempura, tofu, pumpkin. You name it, this has it! 

Toward the back of the picture you can see the streaky pork, which pretty much looks like bacon. Toward the front you can see the shavings of chicken. Both of the meats were ok, but didn't really pack a punch of flavour. Combining them with the tomato broth, however, certainly brought out a better flavour in them. 

The duck, however, was a much better choice than the chicken and pork. I don't often eat duck, especially like this, so I really enjoyed it. When you put the duck into the broth it kind of creates a little cup as the heat forces the meat to pull in on itself. Again, with the tomato broth, a triumph. 

3. 兩碗白飯 liǎng wǎn bái fàn Two bowls of white rice

Yep, it's rice.

4. 兩杯無糖涼麥茶 liǎng bēi wú táng liáng mài chá Two cups of barley tea (without sugar)

We just had a picture of rice, do we need a picture of tea, too? Not really...

Overall, this is my 3rd trip to this chain restaurant. I think this is hard to beat for the quality of the ingredients they use and the price you pay. Definitely get the tomato broth (it is seasonal, too, so you need to check it out soon) and also get the duck!

Best dish: The duck was the best meat and the tomato was the best broth, and I will always recommend getting more vegetables than more meat.

Dish I wouldn't order again: The 石頭鍋 simply because the tomato broth had bundles more flavour. 

石二鍋 Website

A selection of just 3 of the many branches:

台北市大安區信義路2段72號

No. 72, XinYi Road, Section 2, DaAn District, Taipei City

台北市大安區安居街50號

No.50, AnJu Street, DaAn District, Taipei City

台北市文山區羅斯福路6段192號

No. 192, Roosevelt Road, Section 6, WenShan District, Taipei City

Eating in Taipei

Happy Eating!

Taipei City - Tsubaki

The area around 永康街 YongKang street is a very popular place to get good food around the DongMen area of Taipei. Tsubaki is slightly closer to 師大 ShiDa University, but within walking distance from DongMen MRT and also Taipower MRT. If you haven't walked around this area before, I'd highly recommend it. 

It's not a huge restaurant, but I much prefer it for that fact. The table you can see to the left of the door is actually a fire pit. However, that wasn't on when we were there.

In the background, the building you can see is 師大, you really are that close. However, this place doesn't really attract a huge amount of students as it isn't the most inexpensive of places.

The menu on the door allows you to get a sneak preview of what the dishes look like. So even if you can't read the Chinese, it's still easy to decide what you want.

Inside, there are plenty of tables: enough to seat 20-22 people at any given time. 

There is a big chalk menu on the wall, however, there are also regular menus with the pictures, too. 

What we ordered:

1. 燻鴨起司洋蔥沙拉 xun1ya1qi3si1yan2cong1sha1la1 Roasted duck, cheese and onion salad

2. 紫蘇海膽飯糰 zi3su1hai3dan3fan4tuan2 Perilla leaf and uni rice roll

3. 和風蛋捲 he2feng1dan4juan3 Egg roll

4. 烤奶油干貝 kao3nai3you2gan1bei4 Roasted butter scallop

5. 帶骨香腸 dai4gu3xiang1chang2 Sausage

6. 炸三角軟骨 zha4san1jiao3ruan3gu3 Deep fried chicken cartilage

7. 蒜味薯條 suan4wei4shu3tiao2 Garlic fries

8. 山豬肉 shan1zhu1rou4 Mountain pork

 9. 柚子酒 you4zijiu3 Pomelo drink

1. 燻鴨起司洋蔥沙拉 xun1ya1qi3si1yan2cong1sha1la1 Roasted duck, cheese and onion salad

5 thick cuts of smokey duck breast, resting on top of a tomato and mixed lettuce leaf salad - what is not to love? The meat was cooked to perfection, it really was. It was succulent, it was smokey (but not overpowering), the fat melted away and it was just moreish. The mixed lettuce leaf salad was also quite good, compared to a lot of the iceberg lettuce that we are all so accustomed to. The addition of the cheese was good, however, the cheese was a soft processed cheese likened to Dairylea triangles in England. It did just give the salad a bit of tang and give it a different dimension. 

2. 紫蘇海膽飯糰 zi3su1hai3dan3fan4tuan2 Perilla leaf and uni rice roll

Perilla leaf? Yeh, I had to do some research to ascertain exactly what that was. Apparently, it is part of the mint family (which would explain the shape and texture of the leaf). It doesn't taste of mint, however, I would say more like nettle. It has a slight taste of iron, deep green but crisp freshness. It helps to compliment the buttery texture of the uni and also the salted nori and rice. 

3. 和風蛋捲 he2feng1dan4juan3 Egg roll

As you may know: egg roll is a staple for any Japanese eating when I am concerned. We watched the chef cook the egg roll in front of us, and the precision and delicateness of the rather young scooter boy-looking chef was quite something. It arrived on the table - still warm! This hasn't happened an awful lot, so it was nice. It was very good: soft but with a thick texture, sweet but not too sweet, creamy, well seasoned.

4. 烤奶油干貝 kao3nai3you2gan1bei4 Roasted butter scallop

It looks lonely, I know. Just one scallop sat in its own bowl of buttery juices. The scallop itself wasn't massive, but the coral (scallop roe) was at least twice the size of said scallop! I prefer the scallop itself, purely from a texture standpoint. But, it's hard to argue with the richer tasting coral. The sauce is quite rich, but if you shake the scallop of a little, the remaining residue clinging to the scallop as you put it in your mouth is just enough to compliment the meat without masking the flavour.

5. 帶骨香腸 dai4gu3xiang1chang2 Sausage

The sausage was dry, it didn't taste of a lot and it was a complete waste of an order.

7. 蒜味薯條 suan4wei4shu3tiao2 Garlic fries

Something as simple as crushing some garlic, frying it shortly and then smothering it over some fries seems too simple. It is, but it's also very tasty. It's not Earth shatteringly new or amazingly innovative, but it's delicious.

8. 山豬肉 shan1zhu1rou4 Mountain pork

Presented on what looks like a kidney dish, is a plate of belly pork, it's from wild/mountain roaming pigs. It has a stronger flavour to that of normal pork, with a fairly similar fat content. This one was cooked in a dry rub which was delicious, topped with scallions and a huge amount of finely sliced (for the most part) garlic. I've still not grown accustom to the taste of raw garlic on this level, however, paired with the rich and salty pork it goes together remarkably well. 

9. 柚子酒 you4zijiu3 Pomelo drink

The word 酒jiu3 in Chinese means 'alcohol', and quite clearly the pomelo juice has been created in a liqour, then served over ice with a mint leaf and lemon wedge. The Pomelo is a citrus fruit native to the southern parts of Asia and East Asia. The texture and the taste of pomelo are both similar to that of grapefruit. The drink is more bitter and sour than it is sweet and it has a flowery after taste. It's perfectly enjoyable, albeit with a fairly strong taste of alcohol. 

Overall, I was pretty impressed by Tsubaki. From the outside it looked great, the inside was really nice, the food was great and the staff were really friendly. One of the staff members tries to speak English (albeit it not the best, but makes a little bit of sense) and the food in the menu is well photographed, making it a lot easier to pick the dish. 

Best dish: 8. 山豬肉 shan1zhu1rou4 Mountain pork - moreish, plentiful, delicious, salty, barbecued = what's not to like?

Dish I won't order again: 5. 帶骨香腸 dai4gu3xiang1chang2 Sausage. I think the reason that it dried out was that it must have been cooked with the bone already haven been taken out - so the gap in the centre of the sausage meant that during the cooking process it has just dried out. Not a fan. 

臺北市大安區永康街46號

No. 46, YongKang Street, DaAn District, Taipei City.

Happy Eating!