Showing posts with label area- MRT songjiang/nanjing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label area- MRT songjiang/nanjing. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

pizza/fusion: i recommend MILANO PIZZERIA


MILANO PIZZERIA
No. 55 SiPing St, 2F
四平街55號2樓

MRT: Songjiang/Nanjing (2 minute walk) 


hours: 11:30-2:30PM; 5:30PM- 10PM. Closed Tuesdays

$$$ (about NT$700/person+)

kid friendliness: hawaiian and cheese pizzas available, and lots of dessert pizzas. 2nd floor restaurant.

visit reviewed: 4/24/2017

must orders: burrata pizza, fig pizza


FOR MONTHS, my friend and her husband had been telling me about this hidden pizza place they've been wanting me to try. "It's never crowded and I want you to post about it because I don't want it to go out of business," he said. "E loves it so much, he once ate there for five days in a row," she said. And today was the day, I finally got my mouth on this fig and mascarpone cheese pizza I had seen on her instagram weeks earlier. 

First thing you should know is that this is the entrance, next to a noodle shop in a lane that sits in front of the SiPing traditional market. No hipster neon lettering signage declaring "Keep Calm and Eat Pizza" in bright pink, no giant pizza logo. I had to double check the address on google maps twice before remembering that it was on the second floor. Walking a little closer, I spotted a red sign above the doorway.



Once upstairs, opening the door reveals a open kitchen decked with a wooden long bar, bookended by two pizza ovens. There's lots of window light, but muddled by sheer curtains and drapes, while the tables are decked with white tablecloths and emerald green runners. 





The menu was a bit overwhelming as a first timer, with over 18 pages to flip through. The beginning of menu were suggested set menus, then side orders, salads, appetizers, then meat pizzas, seafood pizza, calzones, vegetarian pizzas, meat dishes, and finally dessert pizzas. Even their salad options came with all sorts of topping choices- Europe Fresh Salad (NT$380) or with options blue cheese, duck confit, anchovies, italian cold cuts, smoked salmon or parma ham and fig. I couldn't even distract myself with their main dishes, I was here for pizza.

There are almost 50 pizzas to choose from, in 6 inch or 10 inch sizes. I knew I wanted the fig pizza for dessert, but there were SO many choices for the regular pizza. Duck breast and foie gras? Pig Knuckle? Crab and ikura? Scallop? Zucchini?  I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into.









Milano Pizzeria's dessert pizzas alone on the menu has over a dozen options, including mango, strawberry, mulberry, fig, dried lychee, peach, tiramisu, adzuki bean with matcha and nuts with raspberry jam.


I wanted to see what my friends' favorites were so I just ordered the caesar salad to start. (NT$380) It was lightly dressed, and came with a generous dusting of cheese over mixed greens, as well as some oven roasted tomatoes and olives. It was big enough to share between 2-3 people.


When my friends finally arrived, I let her do the ordering. She said she usually ordered the margherita with burrata (NT$740) and her hubby's favorite pizza was the fish and ikura- listed on the menu as flatfish pizza (NT$500). And we had to get the fig pizza (NT$480). Since there were only three of us, we got 6 inch pizzas instead of 10 inch, to share.


As soon as the first pizza arrived to the table with huge chunks of burrata cheese atop each slice, I knew this would make me happy.  I mean, who doesn't love burrata, the extra creamy cousin to buffalo mozzarella? The crust was pliable and not too thin and one person could probably finish a six inch by themselves. I LOVE BURRATAAAAA! 


The flatfish pizza was dotted with a few small orange pearls of ikura (fish roe) hidden under the cheese, and olives. I'm not a huge fan of engawa (the fatty part of the flatfish near the fin) even as sushi, since it's a bit too oily for me and has a specific chewy texture, though I have a lot of friends who love it. I tried one slice and didn't want another. (Sorry E!)

I could see the appeal of the pizza though-- I mean there's smoked salmon or clams on pizza, why not other types of seafood that work when baked or charred? Or have I lived in Taiwan too long that this type of menu no longer shocks me? There's also squid, cuttlefish, crab and roe or shrimp pizzas available here, for the more adventurous eaters. 


Last but not least, was the fig pizza. With a thick smear of sweetened mascarpone cheese, almost like a frosting, big slices of fresh figs and berries atop made this almost like a tart. But it was still a pizza, as there was mozzarella cheese atop the crust, though this pizza was served room temperature to cool, which made the crust not as tasty. But as I wondered aloud about where they got their figs, my friend said that Milano Pizzeria imported most of their ingredients, and that's why their prices were higher.  If the prices were a little lower, I would strongly recommend this place, but for now, it's a solid recommend. 



A thing of beauty.



Milano Pizzeria has been open for four years, but there was only another table or two eating while we were there during prime lunch time. Was its signless location near the SiPing traditional market too hidden, or was their menu too creative and pricey for most people? The average prices of the pizzas in the NT$400-800 range for 6 inches was definitely on the high side, but I could definitely see myself coming back for burrata and parma ham and the fig pizza when the craving hit. Would hard core pizza traditionalists say that these kinds of toppings aren't "real" pizzas? In the age of rainbow grilled cheese sandwiches and mac and cheese pizzas, I think it's hard to make that argument. 


WHAT's nearby Milano Pizzeria that I also recommend: Kura Sushi, Baba Kevin's Barbecue, My Zhao, Regent Taipei, Fika Fika Cafe, Joseph's Bistro (a little reminder to myself of places to blog!) 

Monday, November 03, 2014

chinese/vegetarian: I recommend YANG SHIN VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT



YANG SHIN VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT 養心茶樓
No. 128 Songjiang Road, 2F
松江路128號, 2F
(02) 2542-8828

MRT: SongJiang/Nanjing Station

website: http://www.ysvege.com/" target="blank"> ysvege.com

hours: Mon-Sun 11:30AM - 2:30PM, 5:30PM -9:30PM

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available, some room for strollers, kid friendly dishes

Visit reviewed: 2/23/2014 & 6/15/2014


My mom is a vegetarian, so I'm always on the look out for good places to take her. So when a friend suggested Yang Shin for their vegetarian dim sum, it was a great find. The entrance is slightly hidden, even though the sign is quite prominent. You enter through Nozomi bakery and then make your way to the second floor through the hallway and into the large dining hall. 

Even at an early 5:30PM dinner shift, the restaurant is completely booked and we are warned that we must finish dinner by 6:45PM for seating their next 7PM dinner reservation. So since they have to turn the tables over, food and service is fairly brisk. So be sure to make reservations early- they had no tables available for walk in customers. 


Can you imagine- this whole banquet full of families excited to be grubbing on vegetarian food?! Haha.

While we were most excited about the vegetarian dim sum, there is a huge menu of Cantonese appetizers, dishes and Chef specials to try out. So the more people you have, the more things you can try. If you love mushrooms, tofu or greens, this is the place for you.




Almost 30 dim sum dishes (NT$68-128) to choose from, while most other dishes are in the NT$300-500 range.


Some of my favorites that I recommend ordering and have ordered on repeat visits were the Cantonese barbecued vegetarian ham pastry (NT$108)- with endless flaky puff pastry layers that meld into the sweet, red sauce and "cha siu" inside.


I liked the baked cheese cabbage (NT$128), which is covered with a blanket of hot cheese hiding creamy chinese cabbage underneath, cooked until it's fork tender.


I usually order xian shui jiao whenever I spot it on a dim sum menu, so I had to try its vegetarian cousin here. The egg shaped deep fried stuffed mushroom dumpling (NT$98) tastes almost like deep fried mochi with a crispy shell and is soft and chewy in the inside, stuffed with bits of mushroom.


Fried pumpkin vegetable hand roll (NT$80 each) with crispy ribbons of crunchy fried pumpkin and julienned cucumber gives a nice crunch. They also have avocado and asparagus hand rolls.



Family favorite of Cantonese chow mein (NT$240) with lots of bok choy, bamboo, baby corn, and wood ear mushrooms. I always like to get a mix of the crispy noodles and some of the soggier parts drenched in sauce.


Deep fried spring rolls (NT$98 for 3)


Deep Fried Pastry with Shredded Turnip (NT$108 x2)


Fried sesame balls


Not the healthiest meal since we ended up ordering a lot of fried foods and dim sum, but Yang Shin's dim sum versions were close enough that you didn't miss the real thing.

I wouldn't order these next dishes again, they were a bit too out there for me-- 

Pinenut and vegetable cheese roll (NT$180 for 4) - the waitress encouraged us to order this, but I did not like it.




I can't remember if I liked the stir fried rice cake- I think there was something about the flavor that I didn't love.


The almond tofu was surprisingly too sweet- the milk it came in was almost syrupy sweet and the almond tofu itself was sweet as well, and I would have preferred to have the traditional peaches and pears in it rather than watermelon and kiwi.


Vegetarian food doesn't have to mean just salads and pasta/pizza/risotto adorned with mushrooms, which is what my mom usually ends up eating when she eats out with us. So we've happily been back to Yang Shin a few times, usually getting a huge table in the back of the restaurant.

Now those of you with gluten free restaurant questions? That's a tougher problem to solve in Taipei.

Friday, July 22, 2011

japanese: i strongly recommend WANG WEI RAMEN



WANG WEI RAMEN
No. 40 Chang An E. Rd, Sec. 2
(02) 2571-1678

MRT: Song Jiang/ Nan Jing

website: Facebook page

hours: 11 AM - 10 PM

$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted

Visit reviewed: 4/1/2011 &


Most of us probably have memories of buying cheap packs of instant ramen or Cup O Noodle and eating them at home, or in college or at work because all you needed was water to make a quick meal. Maybe we even fancied it up with a soft boiled egg, some veggies or meat to make it more appetizing. And there's a ton of forgettable ramen shops out in LA and even Taipei where I've paid US$7 and thought I could have totally made a better bowl at home myself.

All the ramen I've had before pales in comparison to the ramen I had at Wang Wei Ramen, which should satisfy those who haven't yet found a real bowl of ramen in Taipei.


The busy ramen shop probably seats about 40 or so, and fills up quickly during the lunch hour. With an open kitchen, the seats in the back have a good view of the chefs.


The Chinese/Japanese only menu is a bit confusing to the uninitiated- I'm still a little confused by it now even after having eaten there twice. Available from left to right are styles from three regions- Shinshu (shown with the red square) which is more thick, Kyushu (the orange square) is more sweet, and Hokkaido (the right page with the brown square) which is more intense. Then within each column there are different bowls to choose from, with bowls ranging from NT$220-290.


My first visit I chose a spicy miso ramen (to the far right of the menu) and on my second visit I got a bowl of Kyushu ramen with three pieces of cha siu. Surprisingly, I couldn't finish three slices and the bowls are huge enough to share, if you wanted to.



The broth is thick, but not too oily and thick with miso flavor, some might say umami, and the wavy ramen has the perfect QQ bite. The cha siu pork slices are the biggest I've ever had. I loved the the pork slices from the first bite- the huge pieces of cha siu are thick, juicy and hot and not too fatty. (Unlike some ramen places in Taipei where I've experienced that put in cool or cold pieces of meat into a hot broth which makes for a lukewarm cha siu and terrible experience). In addition to adding extra slices of pork to your bowl for NT$30, you can also add corn, butter, egg or vegetables.

You can get more broth to dilute your broth if you think it's too thick/salty/heavy. On my second visit, I did feel like it was too salty and you can request for it to be diluted before it comes to you the first time.

The garlic/onion ramen variation that my friend ordered is seasonal, only available from November to May. The Kyushu ramens also come with a slice of sweet potato and are made from wheat flour.



The soft boiled egg over rice with meat sauce (NT$100) is supposed to be mixed together before eating, and is a good bowl for someone who's not feeling like ramen. You can also get just cha siu over rice.


The Japanese style fried chicken (NT$180) is perfectly crispy and tasty.


Ramen aficiandos, tell me- what is the difference between the various regions of ramen and does Wang Wei Ramen get it right?

:)