Showing posts with label steak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steak. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

#exploretaipei/food court: i strongly recommend MAJI MAJI



MAJI MAJI 集食行樂
No. 1, Yumen St. 
玉門街1號
(02)2597-7112

MRT: Yuanshan 圓山

Hours: Mon~Fri 11:00~21:00, Sat/Sun 11:00~22:00

website: MAJI MAJI FB page 

visit reviewed: 5/15/2016 & 2/2015



IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO SPEND THE AFTERNOON IN TAIPEI, look no further than Maji Square. Located near the Yuanshan  (圓山) MRT and Taipei Flower Expo Park, Maji Square is a hidden away open food court, marketplace, restaurant square, courtyard of shops, performance space and expo space that constantly has rotating events. Opened in 2013, it's made  I think one of the first time I went to Maji Maji was for the Lantern Festival, with towering constructed lanterns to pose with and admire. The most recent time was a Food expo which we browsed before walking into the main food court area.


When you first walk in, you'll see Good Cho bagels and soft serve, Maji Food and Deli which is a gourmet market with artisanal local and imported products, frozen goods and deli section. Then there is a long row of food court seating and shops on the left hand side, with a surprisingly array of choices under NT$200- from Taiwanese soy tofu, beef noodle, to fish and chips, burgers, Indian food, Korean food, Thai food, pasta and even French crepes, which seemed like the newest shop that I hadn't seen before.  Tucked in the back is a handful of sit down restaurants for those craving steak or fish and chips, as well as kid friendly space Brickworks (part Lego store, part cafe) and a Merry Go Round.


(1) MAJI FOOD AND DELI MARKET








(2) MAJI MAJI's OUTDOOR FOOD COURT 




















Need any "imformation?"



(3) CUTE HOUSEWARES AND LOCALLY DESIGNED GOODS



love these. might have to go back and pick some up.



(4) RESTAURANT SQUARE includes The Three Lions Inn (三隻獅子英國餐廳), Gaucho Grill, Butcher's Kitchen (肉舖廚房), Popeye's, with some outdoor seating, a small stage, a garden and a Merry Go Round. I've tried all of them through the years and if you're craving meat, try Gaucho Grill or Butcher's Kitchen, if you're craving fish and chips or salad, go to Three Lions. Will have to post more detailed posts of each soon. 


Just a peek at the photos from my last visit, as there's so much to explore and see and share. Who's been to Maji Square? Which food court shop is your favorite? Any tips to share?

Monday, April 18, 2016

western/steak: i recommend LE BLANC




LE BLANC
No. 183 DaAn Road, Sec. 1
台北市大安區大安路一段183號
(02) 2700-7770

MRT: DaAn


Hours: 11:30AM- 2:30PM; 6PM - 9PM

kid friendliness: short menu, so mac and cheese and fries for broccoli for kids unless they like steak and lobster

Visits reviewed: 12/29/2015 & 3/16/2016


Le Blanc is a new steak and lobster joint in town, just opened a few months ago in December 2015. The restaurant for the gleaming white Swiio Hotel next door, Le Blanc functions as a breakfast for hotel guests, but for lunch and dinner, they have the same menu- steak frites or lobster or both. Chef Long Xiong is from Boston/NY and wanted to bring some east coast flavor to Taipei, moonlighting from his other restaurant a few blocks away, Mume

The menu is short and sweet- Boston lobster (NT$1400) or steak frites (NT$1000 for 10 oz) and optional classic sides and desserts like truffled mac and cheese, mushrooms, creamed spinach or broccoli. There is no shortage of steak places in town, as a ton of new ones have opened in the past year (TK Steak and Seafood, Mortons, Top Cap), but I can't think of (m)any steak frites places in Taipei. 







Each meal includes romaine salad and warm popovers, and lobster can be chosen to be grilled or steamed. I like their popovers- they aren't as dry as the Yorkshire pudding from Lawry's and they even give you a pat of good butter if you need, though the popovers are seasoned already.

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The caesar salad included is a full portion that would cost you a couple hundred NT a la carte elsewhere, with flakes of parmesan cheese, hardboiled egg and candied walnuts. It was a nice touch that they grill the romaine for the winter season. Or you can opt for a bowl of the daily soup.



The whole Boston lobster (NT$1400) comes along with a lobster bib, scissors and skinny forks to scoop out the meat. If you don't want to get your hands dirty, then opt for the grilled lobster which is already cut in half. But I quite like the taste of sweet steamed lobster dipped in butter. You have to use a little elbow grease for unlocking the whole steamed lobster (and use the bib cuz it gets messy, with lobster brains squirting around), but the scissors cut through the shell easily, even for newbies like us who needed a little bit of direction from the server (pull off the head and cut down the center back). But I did get some lobster juice on my shirt because I didn't wear the bib! And the lobster brains- I forgot to take a photo of it because it got stolen away from me at the table, it's so good! 



Whole Boston lobster, split in half and grilled, with steamed corn, French fries and drawn butter.  The lobster from my first visit was on the smaller side, as the waitress asked me if I still wanted lobster when we ordered. Since I was sharing half with my date and eating some of his steak, I didn't get my fill. But during my second visit, I thought the steamed lobster was great size and very satisfying... maybe partially because one of the girls didn't eat any lobster so I had extra. Hah!

On my second visit, Chef Long stated that they will no longer accept lobsters less than 1 1/4 pounds from their vendor, so hopefully the issue no longer exists.


For my second visit to Le Blanc, we reserved two lobsters and ordered one steak frites, which was enough to share with three other lighter eaters. Of course if you are with a bunch of dudes, which I was on my first dinner there, then everyone will appreciate that they get to have 10 oz to themselves. I'll have to be honest- my first visit to Le Blanc, just a few weeks old at the time I was a little bit worried for them. The sides were terribly salty, the steak was a bit tough and the lobster was on the small side, but the restaurant seems to have worked through its growing pains and everything was on point for my second visit. 

Steak frites (NT$1000) you get to choose one choice of sauce from classic béarnaise, spicy horseradish or green peppercorn. The servers recommended the béarnaise to us. The fries can also be refilled upon request. I wonder if the roasted garlic can be too? haha. Love roasted garlic- it brings out the sweetness. The server recommended that we get the steak at medium rare (level 3 doneness) and it was perfectly done on my second visit. 



Truffled mac and cheese (NT$180)-- my girl friends said that they usually don't like mac and cheese but they liked this.. With a bit of bread crumb crust, the truffle flavor is not strong, but the gemelli pasta is bathed in hot, cheese sauce. I also like the roasted mixed mushrooms (NT$180). It's great to have steak frites in Taipei when you don't want to pay an arm and a leg for full set at a steakhouse. 


Creamed Spinach (NT$180) 


Le Blanc's placemat/menus from my first visit



The chocolate mousse (NT$180) was surprisingly good. I usually don't like mousse, but this was more fudgey and thick. Would totally order this again with chocolate lovers.



Almond clafoutis (NT$180)  I don't think this on the menu anymore since now they are serving freshly baked cookies, but this was tasty as well.



All in all, I think Le Blanc can find a place in Taipei's busy dining scene if they can serve consistently good food with good service. Down the line, it would be great to see an option for steak salad or lobster salad in the NT$600-700 range? The space is quite large and suitable for big groups, although it's quite odd you have to go to the hotel side and down the elevator or stairs to go to the restroom. I will be back to try the freshly baked cookies as well as get my lobster and steak fix. 

:)