Dian Shui Lou

點水樓(Dian Shui Lou)
Location:  Huáiníng Street, Zhongzheng District, Taipei
Date of Visit: 25th January 2013

>> Renowned for it's Shanghainese cuisine, this restaurant has been selected for the 4-Star honor in 2008 Taipei's Top Restaurants Evaluation and 5-Star honor in 2010 Northern Taiwan's Top Restaurants Evaluation.

Despite that there's so much street food that's available in Taipei, how on earth does this restaurant manage to win such prestigious awards? My recent visit to Taiwan takes me to this restaurant by our local tour guide as he told us how this place won prestigious awards and this is where you get a great meal. Besides, a change of flavors would do some good when you've been tasting so much of street food for the past few days.

Situated in the heart of Taipei, one would not want to miss such places when you visit Taiwan. With so much awards being won, this place is indeed the real deal as they take their food rather seriously. I certainly do have a higher expectation out of this place. As I stepped into this place, the ambiance and decorations takes you back to those old chinese restaurants feel. The outlook does not help to our hunger as the food came to our tables rather slow.

As our meals were pre-ordered by our fellow tour guide, all we did was to wait for what's being served to us. First up, we were served with a bowl of cold ramen noodles for starters. It doesn't really look that fantastic and taste wise, it's pretty average. Then comes the hot courses. The first basket of goodness consists of 菜肉蒸餃 Cornish Zhengjiao Dumplings.  How come there's 2 types of dumplings in this basket? I only found out that both types are eventually the same.

It's just being wrapped differently and add a little black beans on top. The 2nd baskets of goodness comes in 3 tiers. The top tier consists of only 4 of these super juicy 小籠包 Xiao Long Bao. The middle tier consists of 8 pieces and there's these green skinned ones. After tasting, those green skinned ones carries a heavy green tea taste. My family were not fond of such tastes in this green tea dumplings. They found it somewhat weird.

The lower tier carries 8 pieces of the usual dumplings. Dian Shui Lou prides itself on its crystal-thin dumpling skins and 19 chrysanthemum folds. I didn't even know anything about this until I did some research about this restaurant. If I knew, I would have counted it to see if it's boasting's were true! Then there's a serving of fried rice and fried vegetable. We were also served with a bowl of 酸辣湯 Hot and Sour Soup.

As for desserts, we were served with 赤豆鬆糕 Adzuki Bean Sponge Pancake. This dessert is considered as one of the former Taiwan's first lady, Mrs. Chiang favorites. It has multiple layers of flexible substances as it tastes a little sticky, dense and silky smooth once it melts in your mouth. What do you expect out of a white sponge cake? It's tasteless. To wrap it up, I began to understand why people say in order to really understand Shanghai food, you need to be a little more artistic.

Read More

Ben's

Ben's
Location: Paragon, Gurney Drive, Penang
Date of Visit: 28th January 2013

>> I remember there's this very nice restaurant that's situated in Suria KLCC when my little brother mentioned it to me. Located on the first floor, it has a bicycle placed in front of it's entrance with it's view facing the KLCC park.

That's when I know that this restaurant is finally here in Penang. It's located at Gurney Drive's latest dining spot, the Paragon and it's situated at ground floor,just opposite the Goku Raku Ramen shop. I used to tell myself that I wanted to try this place whenever I was in KLCC but in the end, it was just all talk. Well, it's here!!! But before I ramble upon the ambience and the food, picture wise it's not that absolutely great because majority was taken with my mobile phone. I forgot to bring my trusty camera with me on the day of my visit.

Stepping into the restaurant, we were greeted with friendly waiters, all waiting to serve. Menu were provided immediately and from the menu itself, the selection looks quite promising. After making the orders, it's time to take a stroll around the restaurant and have a look on the decorations around. The place were nicely done and decorated.The lighting were dimly lit and the jazz music was perfect making it a good place to be in the afternoon. I do not know how dinner time would be like.

I'm guessing with such ambience, it would be a perfect place for couples who looked for a nice candle lit meal. When I took a stroll to the front bar, inside the brightly lit fridge, lines of pastries and cakes attracts me to take a closer look what this place had to offer. Comparing the amount of cakes being offered, it rivals what's available in Delicious. I'm easily impressed especially when it comes down to pastries and cakes which is nicely decorated and inviting to try. I'm eventually salivating while I'm rewriting this.

Despite all the good review on how good the cakes looked, I didn't manage to have a slice of these cakes for lunch that day because the main meals itself would make you say enough for the day. As I returned to my seat, the drinks that I ordered arrived. I ordered the Watermelon and Lychee Smoothie while the rest ordered Carrot Juice and also Cappucino. The meal arrived soon after and just in time as tummies are beginning to rumble. Dad ordered Traditional Caesar Salad with an addition of Char-Grilled Chicken.

My little brother ordered Fisherman's Catch - breaded fish fillet, homemade bun, coleslaw, lemon-dil tartare sauce & french fries. To share between myself and my girlfriend, we ordered the Chunky Chicken Mushroom Pie - with button mushroom and wood ears in creamy sauce. We also ordered an additional nibbling side of Belgian Fries served with sauce andalouse. What's more to say when the food looked extremely good and promising. So we dived into the food and tastes it with full enthusiasm.

However, the silence were broken by my little brother as he commented that his fish burger wasn't up to expectation as it tastes strange. When I had a bite, the fish texture were tough, as if I'm biting into chicken meat. Fries were rather oily as I agree that my serving of Belgian Fries were overdone as well. The drinks were alright as no complaints coming from there. Other than that, food portion were generous and of course the price is always a bit on the high side for such meals. Second time? Probably only for the desserts.

Read More

Coffee Atelier's Café 55

Coffee Atelier's Café 55
Location: Stewart Lane, Georgetown, Penang
Date of Visit: 13th January 2013

>> When you wake up on a very late Sunday morning, you would ask yourself where to grab breakfast? The first thing that crosses ones mind would be the weekend crowd. It's rather a pain the arse by many locals.

Every kopitiams selling local delicacies will surely be packed full. Finding these 2 things would be difficult. One would be car park and Two would be a place to sit. I've previously experienced being squeezed on a table for 2 turned into a table for 9. The lady was kind enough to ask if she and her parents can sit at our table. I said yes but not knowing that the nightmare was only the beginning for simply being too kind.

Her husband, her 2 children and her brother came out of nowehere and they are now seated on my table. Ironically, her family was so huge, it felt that I am the one who barged in and seated at their table. To rub salt to open wounds, her brother eventually sneezed and also coughed without any sense of hygiene to the person seated next to him. I left the kopitiam fuming and vowed never to return to that place ever again. Lesson learned!

Never to squeeze into a kopitiam when its full. Never go to a kopitiam alone or in a pair because in the end, the family crowd will consume your table. That I can guarantee! Enough blasting the old memories, I have something to share with my fellow readers. Previously, this little coffee shop around the corner was owned by a famous coffee shop called China House. Since China House moved away to Beach Street, Coffee Atelier took over this spot.

Located behind Georgetown's famous 观音庙 Goddess of Mercy Temple, this quiet little cafe serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. This place, on my own personal opinion, is the best weekend crowd escape place that you can go to. She ordered the Scrambelled Eggs with Toast while I ordered the Bocadillo, Spanish bread served with fresh vegetables and smoked salmon. I found that her serving of Cappucino fared so much better to my carrot juice that morning.

I personally feel that the food served was on the average side, but my Bocadillo really hits me right on the spot. It may looked simple to prepare, but the ingredients that assembles this sandwich made it taste outstandingly good. The price for our breakfast was a bit expensive but having a quiet and relaxed breakfast would be worth it. The morning silence with a very thin crowd is what I wanted and this is one of few places in this town where you can earn such serenity over the weekends.

Read More