wednesday cafe.

a summer lunch @ wednesday cafe.

my type of hot weather food.  a caesar salad + a raspberry smoothie.

the icy smoothie is tart and refreshing, and the caesar, is perfect for a light lunch.

xx

No. 123, Section 1, Dà’ān Rd, Daan District, Taipei

vapiano.

vapiano @ ATT for fun.

i dont know why i haven’t posted this yet.. but this has been my favorite lunch/dinner for the last few months.

when i crave salad, i get vapiano’s rocket salad.

arugula, cherry tomatoes, and freshly shaved parmesan cheese, make up the salad; which i ask to be lightly dressed with pesto cream.

i also like to add medium rare grilled steak, to make the salad into a meal.

a lemon pellegrino or a iced latte on the side.

perfection.

xx

ATT for Fun: 10F-2, No.12, Song Shou Road, Xin Yi District, Taipei

Tartine Bakery

lunch at Tartine Bakery.

cute interiors. a small space with 4 tall tables, and window counter seating.

some goodies that i have yet to try.

today i had the chicken avocado wrap. a little heavy on the mayo, but good.

beef “chili.” it had the consistency of a minestrone, and was lighter in flavor than a chili.. not what i was expecting.

banana cream tart. the cream was light and fluffy, with caramelized bananas and chocolate at the bottom of the tart.

a nice spin on a classic. miniaturized, and quite tasty.

i have to say that i don’t think i had a good gauge on the bakery today, since i had mostly food.. which is obvy not their specialty. their pastry display looked promising, so i’ll be back for afternoon tea, to try to the strawberry millefeuille, brownie, and the valrhona chocolate + salted caramel eclairs.

until next time..

xx

http://www.tartinebakery.com.tw

woolloomooloo

lunch @ woolloomooloo.

wood furnishings, open kitchen and beer/wine display.

salad nicoise. when its hot out, all i want to eat are salads, and drink smoothies..

salami pizza. thin crispy crust- my favorite. i enjoyed the pizza, it had a good balance of cheese, tomato sauce and salami. the best pizzas, in my opinion are the simple ones.

banana cream pie. sOo good.

there’s a small selection of pastries and desserts at woolloomooloo, i’ve tried the lemon cream berry tart and the banana cream pie so far.. both delicious. the chocolate cake and homemade brownies are next on my list!

xx

Gordon Biersch

lunch @ gordon biersch. dunhua location.

we decided on 2 starters and a salad to share.  heres the fried artichoke hearts with a lemony aioli dipping sauce. it was pretty good, lightly breaded + fried.

glazed chicken wings. i really like the chicken wings at GB. its slightly “asian” in taste, but nonetheless has great flavoring + is always juicy. (and not spicy. a plus for me.)

my usual order of cobb salad with olive oil vinaigrette. the pic is actually  of 1/2 an order.. we asked them split it into 2 plates for us because its huGe! as you can see, theres still tons of avocado, chicken and blue cheese in a half order. yum.

*i decided nO carrot cake for me today.. but normally order it at gB because theirs is pretty authentic.

xx

102 Dunhua N Rd, Taipei City. (02) 2713-5288

Butter Cafe and Creperie.

butter.

cute menu.

i came for the crepes, but found that the extensive menu had many french inspired options as well.. but for another time.

savories. there weren’t too many options to choose from- maybe 5? this one was the sausage + mushroom, with a sunny side up egg atop.

below is “la complete.” ham cheese, tomato, mushrooms + egg. the savory crepes are quite filling. i only finished 3/4.. or maybe that was because there was too much of it? the lettuce comes with a sweet yogurt dressing. note: both savory crepes ordered tasted almost the same. there was no variance in sauce/flavors.. only toppings (which were 80% the same) it would be nice if they mixed it up and tried pesto, red sauce, white sauces.. etc.

the sweet crepe was prepared with nutella inside, and then toppings were assembled like a pizza.. next time i’d ask for no powdered sugar. the chocolate ice cream was icy, not creamy- we barely touched it. it was good, but not impressive.

will return to give their cafe menu a try.

 

 

 

addy: 2F, 122-1, sec.4, zhongxiao e. rd

 

angelini osteria.

lunch @ angelini osteria in la.

back to our favorite italian restaurant for some good food.

started us with a bread basket- their crisps with evoo is really good.. and the amuse bouche pasta salad below, on the house.

i enjoyed a beet salad with arugula and burrata.

b’s blood sausage atop mashed potatoes. there was a delicious gravy, not pictured. this was delicous. i had blood sausage in germany that was too heavy in flavor, and some versions that was too soft in texture.. but angelini’s is just right- a bite of the sausage with a bit of creamy mash and gravy- perfect balance of flavors. not too salty, and the blood flavor was not overpowering.

my favorite pasta. not on the menu anymore, but the chef was still able to make it upon my request.. it’s the “bombolotti all’ amatriciana.” always topped with freshly shaved parmesano at the table.

b’s organic half chicken, with roasted potatoes and veggies. he cleaned the plate.

great food and fast service, without fail.

xx

goose.

goose meat! in tianmu eating local taiwanese cuisine for lunch.

yep its one of those places. local and good.

raw bitter melon… with thousand island dressing. LOL. the raw bitter melon was good- crunchy and fresh! ( didnt use the thousand island after the first piece.. ><)

pork with ginger.

“oily” tofu. a dish of marinated bamboo shoots behind..

pork blood rice soup. sounds gross translated into english, but its pretty good.

stewed pork over rice! my favorite. really faTTy pork, cooked in its juices for a long time.. oily, flavorful, deLishhh.

the goose meat. we got the “back half” of the goose.. darker meat. juicy and fatty, full of flavor. really good with fresh ginger.

“dong fen” vermicelli noodles with sauce and some veggies.. simple and filling. i only ate half because i ate most of the pork oil rice.

i snuck a picture of the oily stewed pork on my way out.. see all the fat? the yummiest things are the worst for you… O_o

xx

zum schwarzen stern. frankfurt.

lunch at zum schwarzen stern, frankfurt, germany.

seasonal dish of smoked salmon and potato cakes. served with salad and dill.

veal meatballs with rice and steamed veggies.

meat plate entree with chicken, pork knuckle and sausages.

on this trip i tried each areas traditional dessert. this was the first apple streusel i had in germany.

it had a super thin pastry, and was a little heavy on the sauce.

many more to come!

 

mariage freres salon de the, paris

museum visit + lunch.  Mariage Freres tea house @ the Lourve, Paris.

mariage freres, maison de the, is one of my favorite tea companies. i love their blends.. not to mention their beautiful packaging.

i had their marco polo tea. we drink this at home regularly.  my other favorite blends from MF:  Earl grey french blue, and Golden monkey king. the Opium Hill Oolong and Tie Kuan Ying are considerably good.. though I usually prefer to buy asian teas from asian tea makers..

tomato gazpacho with smoked tuna. theres a toast under the tuna, sitting in the soup.

“um.. omg” was our reaction when this smoked salmon sandwich was brought to our table. made with green tea bread and a window of fresh Ikura (salmon roe) on top.. it was sO delicious and well presented. this sandwich far exceeded any expectations.

this was b’s pick from the dessert counter.  kind of a creme brulee with fresh strawberries tart. it was, “wow.”

there’s a few mariage freres tea salon locations, i picked the one at the lourve because it was convenient to our schedule. if you’re in paris, its def worth a visit for lunch or afternoon tea!

xx