Taiwan Street Food

Roadside cooks are very popular in Taiwan and normally totally safe, I've only ever been sick once and that was when I eat Squid in Kenting. This little BBQ chef is located outside the Show Time Cinema near Zhongshan MRT. I also think this is one of the nicer cinemas in Taipei and is worth a visit as the are good restaurants to eat at and nice big park to walk around as well.






















Lovely selection of vegetables and various animal parts!






















For example take Chicken neck featured hear, yum.





















Great some smelly BBQ food for the cinema nearly ready to go.

Packaging Conspiracy

This packaging was explained to me, as one of the best food packaging ever design. The idea is that the seaweed is separated by a layer of plastic to protect it from getting damp by the rice, thus allowing you to mass produce rice snacks which are as fresh a possible when you by them.

Step 1 :)

When we were hiking in Yangmingshan and we stopped for a snack lunch, I just happened to open this up completely wrong and started munching away on the rice, thinking the seaweed was just decoration, to every one else amusement they couldn't understand how I had managed not to open it properly.

Step 2 :(

Will this is the result of the 6th one I have been unable to open normally... I even remove the Family Mart sticker on the back, but when ever I pull the two sides the sea weed does not seem to cover the rice and instead it just brakes in half.

Best Chocolate Shop in Taipei

Found a fantastic chocolate shop in Neihu today, my boss took me there after we finished browsing though the array of LCD products on display at the C3 shop.

The shop is called Yannick, it's not to expensive about 300NT for a box of 9 chocolates, all of there chocolates are hand made. It's very close to the Neihu Audi car showroom.

Expected to find a mini of 68% coco powder in the light chocolates they truly deliver on full tastes, they also have an interesting array of of flavors to choose from.

Laguna Beach

Laguna is a bit like Kensington on Sea, by that I mean it’s quite bling with lots of Mercs and BMW everywhere and 50 years olds having mid life crises in drop top sports cars!

View of Laguna beach, photo should in large if you click on it.

Other than that the beach is about a 25 minuet drive from where I'm staying, it’s quite family oriented so it’s not fall of American beach babes, but Laguna is one of the nicest beaches I have been too. The sand is very white and clean no cigarette ends or bits of rubbish unlike the Taiwanese beaches.

Blending in with the locals!

Other than that the beach is about a 25 minuet drive from where I'm staying, it’s quite family oriented so it’s not fall of American beach babes, but Laguna is one of the nicest beaches I have been too. The sand is very white and clean no cigarette ends or bits of rubbish unlike the Taiwanese beaches.

Near the top of Laguna Beach.

I suppose the first 500 yards of coast line is very crowed only because I don’t think Americans like to walk far, just a 5 minuet stroll down the beach and you will quite happily find and empty stretch.

Near the bottom of Laguna beach.

I got to admit I had a very relaxing time and finished off eating at a great restaurant called Opah where I had a fantastically good fresh Swords fish dinner.

On the rocks.

Ok, I Know, I am obviously starting to become Taiwanese by photographing the food! Ah but it was good.

Yummy!

Jonny is 三十

It was Jonny 30th birthday this weekend and his party bash was pretty good fun too. I got him an awesome book on architecture called Space Craft. I am sure he will enjoy reading it.

Photo to come!

Last evening the birthday crew had decided to meet for dinner on Sunday so we all went to a fantastic Indian restaurant called the Taj, it's definitely in the Top three of great india restaurants I have been too in Taipei so far, but it's not Southall I still think Out of India and Kunming are very good too. It was also nice to chat properly with J's co-workers who all seem like a nice bunch!

Mark's BBQ

Mark took the ID team all out for dinner tonight, what a great guy! We went to this BBQ restaurant I don't know the Chinese name, I think the English name was Love Eat? but it's near Jhingiheng this is the Chinese address 台北市中正區汀洲路三段269號 it was pretty good as BBQ restaurants go in Taiwan.

Mark and his love for Taiwan beer.

My co-workers tell me that BBQ restaurant are super popular in Taiwan and I think it's back to the love of food they have in there culture.

Avo, telling me all about BBQ restaurants!


Prawns ready to go!

Not quite Jamie Oliver.

Steven, before we left the office on our scooters.

Delightfully Tacky

One of my co-workers is getting married at the end of next month so my boss decided to take us all to Hooters. I’ve never been before and it's kind of a wired place to go and visit in Taipei. It really reminded me of the Go-Go bars in Bangkok.

From left to right: Me, Rita, Albert, Steven, Mark, Avo + girl friend.

As for the food, I think the are better western place you can eat at, but you don’t get hula-hoop girls!

Look at him go!

 

Albert.

Why go to Thailand?

Wine Connoisseur

This was a great way to end Friday evening, Georg has asked me along to a wine tasting session up near ShiPai MRT. 

I meet up with Jeroen at round 7ish and we headed there together, it was fantastic fun, all I did was eat loads of cheese which they had on the buffet and drunk probably more than I should off.

But you can never get good wines in Taipei unless you pay a premium for them so I though I would heavily exploited the situation.

It was will worth the 800 NT entrance fee and I was on my way home by 11 with sideways syndrome.

Designer Meet up Taipei 2009 at 勺勺客 陜西餐館

Wow this was so cool, I think it was the biggest designer meet up ever! Mind you I have only ever been too two. Even so it was really cool, everybody was practically there, and we pretty much occupied the whole of the lower restaurant.

We went to this restaurant called Shao Shao Ke Shaanxi Restaurant (勺勺客 陜西餐館) which was really had really good food and just next door to Taiwan Beer which is one of my favorite restaurants in Taipei. It was a fair price and we eat will and drunk a lot of Taiwan Beer.

Not actually taken by me, Taiwan Beer is the restaurant on the left with blue window frames!

Usually Suspects

Because I have had such a bad back recently I had to delay my birthday party with the chaps anyway this is the first time I've gone out in a whole month and it was good fun.

I booked a Table at Kiki and the usual lot pitched up which was great, we had fantastic food and then we headed to a new bar called Opus which I wouldn't recommend as it was just full of ABC kids interpreting Justin Timberlake.

Jonny and Georg also got me a very Taiwanese Design book, which I thought was pretty cool and a seriously awesome Bruce Lee card!

Birthday at Taiwan Beer

It's my birthday today and I think it's the first time I have ever felt so far away from home! And defiantly the first birthday aboard. It's been quite a year and I have defiantly struggled but I manage to pull myself thought in the end.

Birthday team.

I decided that I just wanted to be with the people who knew me best, so I went with Rita, Rocco and Rainy to Taiwan Beer! I love this restaurant and I think it's my favorite place in Taipei too visit.

Priceless smile.

Rita and Rainy also got me some totally awesome presents which I was really thrilled with and I was not quite expecting to get so many presents and the fact I loved them all really made the evening.

I think Taiwan Beer to me really sums up what Taiwan is about, great food, slightly dilapidated building with a 50's rustic retro interior.

1,2,3, make a wish and it was a serious yummy cake!

Coffee Time 故宮 Rewind

This is the new restaurant right next to the National Palace museum, it's no more expensive than  Starbucks and the coffee is good plus the interior is pretty cool inside.

Image should enlarge if you click on it.

Rita.

Inside, notice a marble ganst* tea table.

Two of a kind.

Super Fruit Bar

Don’t be put off my the dilapidated shop front, this fruit bar just around the corner from Process is great I am normally there once a day with Jeroen for a topping up of vitamins, normally I am ordering a Leo Ding Gi (Orange Drink) or Fong Li (Pine Apple).

It's is a little bit shabby but I haven’t gotten ill yet!

Dirty Tiger

Another classic restaurant near Process its Chinese name is Happy Tiger, but after all the cockroaches we've seen, we nick named it Dirty Tiger. 

Even so the fried rice here is really good and Jeroen well back me up on this.

 

If you can over come the sticky table tops and the chaotic kitchen, you will be fine!

Flavors Restaurant Taipei

On Friday night Rita took me to the Flavors restaurant which I went to for Anton’s birthday the food was very good again and a really nice way to end Friday evening. It was still difficult to find but worth driving up and down the alleys until we got there!

Rather uninteresting photo I know! But it's how the restaurant interior looks.

Thanks Avril

Avril is one of the designers at Process in Taipei who I have to say is very talented. She had just finished one of her long running projects.

So the team all headed out for dinner, we ended up going to China Pa which is a Chinese restaurant which has an awesome interior and great food too, defiantly worth a visit if you have got western guest staying with you.

Birthday Meat Balls

It was Anton birthday today he is a great guy from Sweden and is currently a design strategist at Pega. As it was his birthday he decided that he was in need of Swedish food, so he booked a table at Flavors which is a European / Swedish restaurant.

Anton been the traditionalist order meat balls, I went for mash potato and lamb, and I have to admit so far this resultant has delivered the best western food I’ve had since I’ve been in Taipei, partly because the chef is Swedish.

Flavors is defiantly worth a visit the only problem is that the map on their website is not very accurate so you’re better off using the written address to get there!

International Universal Design Expo 2008 Taipei

Yester day George had organised for the western design gang to meet up and go and have coffee at hi place neat the 101 tower with the intension to go and visit the International Universal Design Expo 2008 in Taipei.

I would have loved to of writen a little peace about the exhibition but of course been Taipei when we arriveed it wasn't on, the exhibition had been canceled which was really annoying and a bit of a waist of out time.

As we had are thinking caps in design mode we decided to roam around 101 looking at the array of various C products on display and discussing where we would put our thoughts next! Then we headed to the PS Tapas bar where we spent most of the evening.

PS Tapas is located near Dunhua it's quite nice to meet for evening drinks but forget food, when you order and your food arrive you always feel like there has been a shortage of what they wanted to serve you in the first place.

Good Bye Lance

I met up with Lance for the last time before he flys back to DC, we headed to KiKi restaurant with some old mates the food as always was super good and we ended on a great night.

Mate it’s been emotional!

Kunming Islamic Restaurant Taipei

I’ll quickly say the exam went quite well at MTC today, I'll probably find out my grade on Tuesday. I will have to add some photos of the exam room which had quite an intense atmosphere.

But the real highlight of this evening was meeting Lance who I haven’t seen in ages as I’ve been quite busy over the last few weeks. He had decided to go to this Islamic Restaurant located at No. 26 Lane 81 Fusing N Road, Taipei.

The food was really good in fact seriously good. Don’t be put off by the empty restaurant when you walk in there, this place delivers!