An easy walk, even in the rain, from Taipei’s one Long John Silver’s is Dunkin’ Donuts.

What could be better than finishing off a nice fish meal with a tasty chocolate-frosted doughnut?

On my last visit, Mr. Donut had recently opened in Taipei, and the lines were horrific. Nonetheless, we had to try them and we were very disappointed. Perhaps that is the way they like ‘em in Japan (and/or by extension, Taiwan), but doughnuts devoid of most sugar aren’t really doughnuts. That’s why I was looking forward to the introduction of a good, sweet American doughnut to the Taiwan market.

Dunkin’ Donuts prohibits photography in their establishment, but this being Taiwan, I decided to ignore that prohibition. It’s a flippin’ doughnut for cryin’ out loud! Why can we not take pictures?

OK, to the doughnuts. First, disclaimer. There are (or were) three major doughnut chains in my part of the US. Dunkin’ Donuts, Winchell’s and Krispy Kreme. To me, Winchell’s was the bast because it was the least sweet of the three. (But still far sweeter than Mr. Donut.) Krispy Kreme being at the ultra-sweet end of the spectrum.

I went with two basic types, chocolate frosted (which would be called Chocolate Raised back home, to differentiate from cake doughnuts) and Glazed (Glazed Raised back home.) Both were pretty close to the “originals” with a couple exceptions. Both were drier, which could possibly be a slight change in formula or they were a bit old. Second, the chocolate was distinctly less sweet, more of a bitter-sweet chocolate, but still good.

Maybe Krispy Kreme will move in and, adjusting the sweetness down to local taste, might be the best of all.

If I get the change, I might stop by for more Dunkin’ Donuts, but I won’t be high-tailing it out to Mr. Donut anytime soon, despite the fact that they’ve cropped up like cold sores all over Taipei.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Food, Restaurant, Review, Taiwan, Travel

I can remember when there were only a few MOS Burgers in Taipei and now they’re almost ubiquitous. They’ve even begun to muscle out McDonald’s and there’s nothing bad to be said about that.

We stopped at the MOS in the basement of the new Zhongxiao Fuxing Sogo department store and, rather than have my standby MOS Cheese Hamburger, I decided to try their new specialty sandwich, a southern Asian chicken sandwich. The sandwich was a boneless fried chicken thigh served with two kinds of sauce and shredded lettuce. The first sauce was something like a cross between teriyaki and orange chicken sauces and the second was akin to a bland tartar sauce (it may have just been mayonnaise and pickle relish.)

It was fresh and pretty good, although I wouldn’t choose it over a MOS burger in the future. It was certainly unique.

I made a combo out of mine and had a drink and (instead of fries) a piece of fried chicken. The fried chicken is, I think, a leg, that the bone has been cut off above the ankle, and the upper leg portion, now boneless, is pounded into a patty before being battered and fried.

I skipped the fries because, despite the fact that MOS always cooks their fries fresh when you order them, they also never salt them. Since they don’t offer salt as a condiment, you really have to like your fried potatoes completely unadulterated.

They do offer “black pepper” as a condiment and when Irene looked at the ingredients, it became clear it wasn’t black pepper. It was a blend of black pepper, salt and MSG. That sounded like a winner to me, so I ordered fries after the meal just to try their “black pepper” on them. It wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, but the MSG did give them a uniquely Asian flavor.

Part of the reason MOS is doing so well in Taiwan is their rice burgers, which Irene had.

I know local taste prevails but I just can’t understand the popularity of these so-called burgers. They have to go to great lengths to compress the rice and wrap it in a special way just so you can hold it and “pretend” it’s just as convenient as bread to carry around. They might as well try to sandwich meat between two layers of thick soup.

Combine that with the fact that (and my western bias is really showing here) well, while rice has been historically part of the asian diet, it’s only that way because it’s a great filler. It hasn’t got a lot of flavor on its own. At least good bread can taste good by itself.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Food, Restaurant, Review, Taiwan, Travel

Last trip I discovered a curry shop that was supposedly famous for being the best curry in Japan and it was, indeed, excellent. The name, in English is Rose Garden Restaurant.

We stopped in during last night’s torrential rains and had dinner.

I had the Katsu Curry, which is a breaded, boneless pork chop with rice, covered in curry. The meal also includes a miso soup and a red bean soup dessert. Once again, the curry sauce was excellent, although this time I had it “medium hot” instead of extra hot. Last time I had the extra hot and it was almost too much for me. (And I have a fondness for very hot food.) The miso soup was “just miso soup” and, well, I don’t like sweatened red beans, so I passed my dessert to my father-in-law.

Irene had the combo meal, which came with a mini-ramen soup, some vegetables, a katsu and a strawberry ice dessert. She rated it “good”, but without a curry sauce, the katsu was a little light on the flavor. (The Japanese called that “subtle” flavoring.)

I’d highly recommend this restaurant, specifically for their (apparently) award-winning Japanese curry. I couldn’t track down any information on them on the web and the website listed on their menu doesn’t appear to be correct.

I don’t have an exact address, but it’s located on Yongkang St, Alley 10, just west of a small park, surrounded by other restaurants.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Food, Restaurant, Review, Taiwan, Travel

I’ve been eating at this place for years and, as far as I know, it hasn’t got a name.

It’s quite literally a 6′ X 6′ corner store, with just about enough room for the 3 workers to stand and cook. The door is held together with cardboard and it looks as ramshackle as it sounds. Nonetheless, the old guy that runs this place and his wife never fail to pack in a crowd every day, rain or shine. The store was recently featured in the news and business seems even busier than usual.

He’s located just west of Xinsheng Rd on Heping Rd. on the south side of the road, next to a 7-11 (which is convenient for me because I can get a Coke or some tea to go with my cong you bing. Cong you bing is roughly translated into “green onion pancake” and, while pancake conjures up images of maple syrup, this is not a sweat concoction, more of a fried bread. This store’s cong you bing is somewhat unconventional as most vendors griddle fry them, while these are deep fried.

Maybe it’s my personal taster, but his cong you bing are the best.

His menu is only 3 or 4 items, but his most popular item is the lou bo si bing (蘿蔔絲餅), or “shredded daikon cake”. He also serves cong you bing with an egg fried on top.

Pictured here, clockwise around the ring, cong you bing, cong you bing w/egg, lou bo si bing.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Food, Restaurant, Review, Taiwan, Travel