Ephernité

I just stumbled across Chef Vanessa Huang and her restaurant Ephernite on social media a few months ago, but that alone has convinced me to pay the restaurant a visit when we made a quick return to Taipei in late July, our second time this year. Given the restaurant only opens during dinner service, we went on the first night we arrived in town after settling down quickly at our hotel just a few hours before. 

Speakeasy in the Alley

"Do you serve any food?" It's probably a bit rude to walk in to the bar and immediately ask for food, but then we were desperately hungry (and thirsty too, but in this order) after the concert late evening so we got to have our priority straightened out first. 

the mind blowing logy

Our short trip to Taiwan was about eating and drinking as much as about concert-going - well, almost. But with us focusing on Taipei alone we got time to visit a few of the best restaurants in town, places that I have always wanted to try.  

Silks House Taipei

We made a quick hop downstairs for dinner at Silks House on our first day in Taipei. I ate at all other dining outlets during my previous visit last year except this one so felt like I finally completed the full circle. 

Regent Taipei Encore

“I felt I am right at home…,” this may be a little bit of overstatement as we were checking in to Regent Taipei at their top floor Tai Pan Lounge, but I did feel totally at ease to stay in the familiar ground when we spent a few days in Taipei in early April. I was there for a quick stay back in October during our whirlwind tour of Taiwan, but this time, two of us got to spend more time with this legendary hotel right in the busiest district in Taipei. 

One Full Circle

We went one full circle and back to Regent Taipei on our last day of the Taiwan trip before we headed home. And part of our last day itinerary is to take care of one of the unfinished business - to try the award-winning Beef Noodles at Regent Taipei.

Museum and Museum-Inspired Dinner

I managed to check out a famous tourist attraction for the first time during my short stay in Taipei. The National Palace Museum is known for its extensive collection of artifacts from Beijing's Forbidden City from the Imperial era. This time, not only I got a chance to explore the museum with a guided tour, we got to try the special menu inspired by the museum collection afterwards. 

How The Journey Began...

"We travel, in essence, to become young fools again — to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more". Somehow, spending a week in Taiwan gave me new perspective of this beautiful island close to home, and in the process, found the joy in travelling once again in the post-COVID era. 

Breakfast Upper West Side Style

"What? You lived in New York City for a year and never heard of Sarabeth’s?"

When we got up too late for the traditional Taiwanese breakfast of youtiao, jianbing and soy milk on our last day in Taipei, I ditched our original plan and suggested to check out the Taipei branch of this rather famous New York institution known for its pastries and breakfast dishes. That’s when I realized CYY - an one-time New York resident - has never heard of the restaurant, let alone stepping foot into one (how could that even possible is beyond me - but then she lived in Queen's so that's perhaps why). Guess that’s the extra reason to go check it out just before we were to catch the ride to the airport for our afternoon flight home.

Nostalgic Taiwanese Lunch

We didn’t make specific plan for our first lunch in Taipei, but decided just to try a luck to get a table at a place recommended by one of our friends. From outside, Mao Yuan looks just like any other casual, old-school Chinese restaurant with simple (dated) décor and well-lit interior, but we were told the place serves some of the best Taiwanese family-style cuisine in town.

Late Night Fine Dining

Eager to explore more of the rising Taipei restaurant scene, we made a reservation to eat at Longtail, helmed by the young Chef Kin Lam. We have long heard good things about the restaurant and the chef and we regrettably missed out last year when he returned to his hometown Hong Kong for a brief pop-up to much acclaim, so this is how we made amend to that.

Spicy Hotpot

While I thought it’s strange to spend time at a hot spring resort in the middle of summer, I have no problem eating at a hotpot restaurant in August – yes, talk about double standard. And this time in Taipei, we decided to visit one of the more popular hotpot restaurant chains for dinner.

New sushi place in Taipei

We managed to make a booking at Chef Yonglong Yang’s Sushi Ryu (鮨隆) restaurant in Taipei this time. The restaurant was just over one-year-old but already got quite a reputation, including the first Michelin star within 6 months of its opening – that was part of the reason why I was curious to give it a try.

Hot spring getaway in the summer

Seems like it’s a silly idea to go on a hot spring holiday in the middle of summer when it’s 30-degree plus out there in Taiwan, but it is what it is - let's just say it's not exactly my idea. The hot spring resort town of Beitou turned out to be much closer to the city than I thought – in fact technically it’s still within Taipei city limit and is easily reachable by MRT, their metro train system. While many opted for a day trip to Beitou from Taipei, we decided to stay there on our first night of our vacation at one of the newer resort hotels built in the mountains, with a car arranged as we landed in late morning which took us into Beitou right on time for check-in at the resort.

Très Bon Tairroir

With a few other Hong Kong friends happened to be in Taipei for the weekend, we met up for lunch at Tairroir on Sunday. I felt like we have booked out the whole place when the eight of us took up the two big tables in the cozy dining room of the restaurant.

Gen Creative

We followed our friend and fellow Instagrammer deeseebeaucoup's IG post and booked for dinner at this casual Taiwanese restaurant called Gen Creative. This 2-year-old restaurant was often mentioned as one of those new establishments following the latest trend of combining western cuisine with local ingredients.

Then and Now

We usually came to Taipei with no specific itinerary, and just eating and drinking and shopping our way through at our familiar spots. But this time we managed to follow a similar routine but with a few new shops just for a change to try out something different.

Sasa Sushi Lunch

I happened to walk by Sasa Sushi in Taipei on Friday afternoon so I went inside to make a booking for lunch the next day. A bit random I know, but we are always eager to check out sushi restaurants while we were in town, as they were often of great quality and reasonably priced.

Xiaoqi in Taipei

I tried to load all my shopping needs in Taipei in one single afternoon on my first day before CYY arrived later at night. I called that my "Golden 6 hours" that I could be on my own and get everything I want without someone nagging over my shoulder. So I dropped by bag at the hotel, briefly said hi to my friend S who works in the hotel over a cup of tea at the lounge, and went straight to Chifeng Street a few bus stations away to a series of shops owned by the "Xiaoqi" (小器) team.

Already a Fan - Two Nights at MO Taipei

Speaking of lounge and luxury travel... this time in Taipei we spent both nights at the Mandarin Oriental, courtesy of the hotel's PR team. And I must say our experience was perfect from the moment we arrived at the door to the time we (reluctantly) bid farewell.