Buffets of Taiwan

Happy New Year! Hope everyone is having a great start to 2011 so far. Do you have any food-related resolutions? I don’t usually believe in making resolutions, but if I had to state a couple I’ve been working on since the end of 2010, they are:

1. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
2. Become a part-time vegetarian. This is related to #1 for health reasons, and also for environmental reasons.
3. Learn to cook something new at least once a month.

So far, so good. I’ve been making some simple, yet delicious veggie dishes and sides. When I come across a winner, I’ll post the recipe here.

Back to the blog! I’m going to overindulge you with photos, just as I overindulged in Taipei. It was a real shame that I wasn’t more hungry when I visited the following buffets. I felt truly hungry maybe two times in the two weeks I was there, and a tinge of hunger less than 5 times. For reals. I still tried to adhere to my buffet rules, though I’m fairly certain I didn’t get my money’s worth. Sad face.

First up: a Japanese buffet. It doesn’t really matter about the name because it wasn’t that good. It gets good marks for pretty presentation, but the food was just so-so and the desserts were very disappointing. I had a nice time with my family though!

 

The sushi station (with guy giving me a funny look, to the left). Also, check out the ginormous carrots!

 

The dessert table looked appetizing but ended up being disappointing.

Again, a beautiful presentation of mussels that didn't deliver in taste.

 

"Look, Ma, no hands!"

They had made-to-order hand rolls. Not bad.

 

 

This poor shrimp was no match for my appetite.

Since the desserts sucked, I had star fruit and passion fruit instead.

 

Next: my family and I took a mini-vacation to Yilan, a city 1.5 hours southeast of Taipei by train. We stayed at the lovely Silks Place hotel, where we were given complimentary vouchers to the breakfast buffet. This breakfast smorgasboard was amazing, featuring a wide selection of Chinese, Japanese, and Western-style morning treats. My sisters and I especially loved the porridge bar, where every conceivable topping was available (it doesn’t take much to make us happy).

 

Freshly steamed buns (man tou)

My first round, clockwise from top left: fried egg with hot sauce, porridge with goodies, plate of bacon, croissant, and Japanese rice, and a cafe latte.

Fun with fruit!

Everyone was very happy with their food.

 

Finally, we went to the Japanese buffet at Wasabi, in the Taipei 101 mall. My mom had discount vouchers, reducing the price of lunch from $25 to a more affordable $17. I enjoyed my food; it was all very fresh and high quality, but we were annoyed that they charged my 4 year old nephew (who only ate rice and a few pieces of veggie tempura) $12. Lamesauce.

 

The view of Wasabi from the mall.

My first round at Wasabi: lots and lots of fish and other sea creatures.

My sister and dad, with a plate of fried food. Someone decided not to follow my buffet rules!

My mom and I ready to chow down!

A very minimalist dessert. I was stuffed! Upper left: fruit; lower right: various mochis.

The mochi was really good. Two thumbs up!

 

 

A Gastronomic Tour of Seattle, Part II

Sorry for the delay in posting. I’ve been very busy… but no excuses! Let’s get to it, shall we?

Saturday, 20 June
No food photos that day because I was: A) Preoccupied by the naked cyclists at the Fremont Summer Solstice Parade (Fig. 1); B) By the time we had lunch, I was starving and subsequently scarfed down the delicious food at J&B’s bbq/potluck party before I thought to take any pictures; C) The mid/late-afternoon bbq was the only proper meal I had, followed by a dirty martini at the Big Picture (movie theater + bar that was reminiscent of a much swankier version of The Parkway — RIP). Post-movie, we went for ice cream and french fries at Dick’s Drive In, a local favorite.

What? I was on vacation. You can’t expect me to eat 3 square meals (and take photos) when I’m chillaxing.

Figure 1. Naked people in Seattle

Sunday, 21 June

mmm... ramen!

We had lunch at Samurai Noodle in the International District. It was tiny place, with maybe 4 tables total, so we were very fortunate to snag one as another group finished their meal. They make their ramen to order, so you can customize your broth richness, noodle chewiness, and amount of meat. When the bowls arrived, I thought they were on the small side, but it ended up being perfectly proportioned to avoid food coma. We also had room for dessert, in the form of Chinese baked goods (not pictured).

My bowl of ramen. Delicious.

Between lunch and dinner, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and of Seattle’s amazing Happy Hour specials. We sat out on the deck of Eastlake Bar & Grill and enjoyed late afternoon drinks and sweet potato fries.

View from my chair at the Eastlake Bar and Grill. Lovely.

For dinner, we returned to the International District and hit up Tamarind Tree, a Vietnamese restaurant with an extensive menu and tasteful decor. To start, we had the spring rolls (or did we get the Tamarind Tree rolls?) and the cinnamon pork rice balls.

Spring rolls. Nice and fresh.

B shows us how it's done.

Cinnamon pork rice balls with fresh coconut. Interesting, but slightly disappointing.

For our main entrees, we ordered a seafood dish, a veggie claypot dish, and a beef dish… the names of which escape me, and I can’t find them on their online menu.  All three were good, though I think the veggie claypot was my favorite because the mushroom flavor was really rich.

Seafood sautee with pineapple and veggies.

Mushrooms (shitake, oyster, and black) and braised tofu over rice in a claypot.

Beef. It's what's for dinner.

Monday, 22 June
I had lunch with B close to UW campus at his favorite pho place, Pho Thy Thy (sorry no photos again). The pho was good and cheap, and every meal came with a cream puff. You gotta love that.

On our way to the airport, we stopped by the Essential Bakery. By this time, J & B had gotten me on a regular caffeine intake regimen, so I couldn’t say no to one more delicious Seattle espresso.

Foamy perfection.

A Gastronomic Tour of Seattle, part I

A beautiful view of Downtown Seattle from Kerry Park

A couple of weekends ago, I decided to get out of Berkeley for the weekend and visit friends J & B in Seattle. Having lived there for 3 years now, J & B were awesome tour guides, especially since they love to eat and drink (and be merry!) just as much as I do.  I have many photos, so I’ve divided them into two posts for easier consumption. Enjoy!

Friday, 19 June
I awoke (at the very late hour of 10:30am) to the delicious smell of sausage and eggs. J whipped up breakfast: a delightful scramble of eggs, sausage, avocado (yum!), tomato, and onion, served with ripe peaches and toast. The contrasting textures and flavors, especially the sausage and avocado, were so delicious — definitely one of the best scrambles I’ve ever had.

A great start to the day!

After breakfast, J took me downtown to do some sightseeing. First stop: Seattle’s famed Pike Place Market, home of fish-throwing fishmongers. We didn’t witness any fish throwing, but we did walk the seemingly endless rows of stalls selling fresh produce, fish, flowers, and other goodies. EF tipped me off to a tiny donut stand that makes miniature donuts, selling for $2.70 for half a dozen.  Despite the grunginess of the stand and of the dirty, apathetic punk rocker who worked there, we were delightfully surprised by how good the little fried treats were. Thanks for the tip, EF!

Not Krispy Kreme, but pretty good nonetheless!

"Fancy Jumbo Grilling Scampis," where Jumbo is an understatement.

A beautiful bouquet for the bargain price of $8. One thing I loved about the market was the abundance of affordable, beautiful flowers. If I lived close to this market, I'd definitely have to set aside a monthly flower allowance!

One of the top Seattle tourist stops: the very first Starbucks.

For lunch, we met up with B near his work for Mexican food at the Agua Verde Cafe (and Paddle Club!). Because we had been nonstop eating, J and I shared the Bacalao, fried cod in a coconut beer tempura with shredded cabbage and creamy avocado sauce. B also ordered fish tacos, but went with the Dorado, grilled mahi mahi. I have to say that, while both were good (especially the avocado sauce), the fried cod was definitely superior.

Fried cod with avocado sauce. Yum.

Grilled mahi mahi soft tacos.

Lunch must have triggered our appetites for more fish, because we headed to Kisaku for dinner, one of J & B’s favorite sushi restaurants. To start, we ordered sunomono, cucumber and seaweed salad, with octopus (my choice), and tofu dengaku, fried tofu with sweet miso sauce (J & B’s choice).  Usually, sunomono is a fresh mix of sweet and sour, but this particular salad was watery and lacked flavor.  However, the tofu was really good (as are most fried foods).

Disappointing sunomono. I really wanted to like it.

Fried tofu with delicious sauce.

For the main course, we went with a mix of nigiri, rolls, and fried shrimp heads! All of the fish was fresh and tasty, and the portions were generous. I really enjoyed Kisaku!

The rolls: the Wallingford roll (top left), Alaska roll? (bottom left), spicy tuna (middle), and Green Lake (right). The Green Lake was my favorite -- I loved the marinated seaweed on top.

Nigiri (from top to bottom): sweet shrimp, tuna, salmon, and scallop.

Eating fried shrimp heads: 3 portraits. Despite my expression, it was actually really delicious. Again, you can't go wrong with fried food!

My very gracious hosts and tour guides, B & J.