WE INTERRUPT NORMAL POSTING FOR AN INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT BULLETIN THAT HAS RENDERED MY LEFT PINKIE INCAPABLE OF RELEASING THE SHIFT BUTTON!!!! I AM GOING TO THE FRENCH LAUNDRY IN MAY!!!! IM GOING TO THE FRENCH LAUNDRY!!! I GOT MY RESERVATION!!!!!!!! IM GOING TO THE FRENCH LAUNDRY!!!!!!!!!!
There are no words to describe this pie. You need to make it, you need to eat it. There’s no two ways about it, so get to it already. The first crunch of your serving spoon breaking through the puff pastry top, releasing the steam and aroma into your dining room will be more than worth the effort. And then you’ll get to the pie. Oh god, I think I might pass out from happiness, just thinking about it again.
I’m considering this pie for one of those last-meal-ever stock answers. It’s that good. Keep reading →
Okay, bad rhyme. But I can’t help it – cheesecakes just get me into a certain sort of silly mood. As with most desserts, I’m generally not too hot on funny mutated variations, and I keep my tweaking to the minimum flavour-wise. Cheesecake doesn’t get any special treatment from me in this respect – I love it plain, rich, heavy, and with a buttery biscuit crust. No Oreos, no chocolate, no marbling, no fruits. Well, maybe I could do with a little compote or coulis on the side, but it should never be baked INTO the cake. I’m also not too fond of the Japanese souffle-style light cheesecakes. I want a cheesecake that’s so rich I can barely eat more than a sliver at a time – I just keep going back to the fridge for multiple slivers :) Keep reading →
With something like 15 flights per day from Hong Kong, Taipei is really the perfect place to travel to for a quick weekend getaway. Add to that the number of friends who rave about Taiwanese food (though, admittedly, not so much the sights), and I think it becomes pretty obvious why I was itching so badly to see and taste the city’s offerings for myself.
For my first foray into this gastronomic wonderland, it was only appropriate that I begged J – a close friend who has lived in Taipei – to come with me. Only, it really didn’t take a lot of begging, since if anyone knows what delicious treats Taipei has in store for its hungry visitors, it’s J. She very kindly compiled a list addresses and contact details for the places we visited, which I’ve posted below.
Apart from the street food which I’ve photographed and posted here, the other two places of note which we ate at were the New York Bagel Cafe – we both bought a few unsliced, untoasted bagels on the last night to bring back with us to Hong Kong, as well as Man Tang Hong. I don’t normally expect a huge return when I spend the equivalent of 550 TWD (a little over 15 USD) for a hot pot buffet, but this place boasts a delicious selection of meats, dumplings and vegetables sliced and plated to order, as well as free flow of bottled soft drinks. (To get fruit juice, you just have to top up an additional 100 TWD per 1L carton of juice.) If you still need more convincing, an all-you-can-eat ice cream buffet is also included in the price, and it’s not just any cheapo no-frills supermarket type ice cream – there were 8 flavours each of Haagen Dazs and Meiji ice cream (two of my favourite commercial brands)! Just be sure to book, as it’s always packed, and for good reason.
Anyway, considering this was my first visit to Taipei, I’m not professing to be an expert on the food there, but here are some pictures of what we ate. Almost all of it was pretty darn awesome, and it was – as you can imagine – a fantastically delightful weekend, which I hope to repeat again soon! Keep reading →
The picture is really a Jedi mind-trick to distract you from the gross lack of content here. Anyhoo, I’m heading to Taipei this Friday for a weekend jaunt with J, and I’m pretty excited about it ‘cos I’ve never been there before! And there’s going to be so much food! I foresee 48 hours of eating ahead so perhaps this spell of tonsillitis I’m down with now was just a preemptive strike against the face-stuffing that’s to come. Either way, I will do my best to take pretty photos of all the delicious things we eat so look out for those hopefully sometime next week.
