RAW - Chef Andre Chiang's new restaurant

Address
No.301, Le Qun 3rd Road, Taipei City, Taiwan
Phone
+886-2-8501-5800
www.raw.com.tw

On Saturday, I was lucky to snag a reservation for Andre Chiang's new restaurant RAW in Taipei. In order to get a reservation, you need to reserve 2 weeks in advance online at www.raw.com.tw. Using some computer magic, I got a reservation for Saturday's.

Service and Ambiance: 8.0/10 - very good, but some things can be worked on

Going into the restaurant, I had very high expectations, and I was not disappointed. The restaurant had a nice atmosphere that felt homey and cozy. The wooden tables, open kitchen, and the lack of white linen and set tableware made the place a no fuss restaurant. In Taiwan, I really don't like the overly polite service and bowing, and RAW had none of that.

One of the greatest things about Chef Andre is he greets all the guests and personally explains some of the dishes. It's like having friends cook and serve food from their home.

The only thing I had problems with is the service is that the waiters and waitresses served food too fast. I would still be working on a dish, then another dish would appear in front of me. I felt a bit rushed in the beginning because dishes kept coming one after another without a gap in between.

Food: 8.2/10

 Menu:  1850 NT 

Bread. 9.0/10

Bread made from buckwheat - 150 NT

Buckwheat butter

When the waitress come by and explained the menu, she asked us if we wanted to add bread to our meal. I would definitely recommend getting the bread.

The bread has a nice crust, aroma, and soft fluffy interior, though I do prefer my bread to be higher hydration, but that's just my personal preference. The butter is whipped French butter with toasted buckwheat and cocoa on top. The nice crunch from the buckwheat definitely made the bread memorable.

Asparagus, Broccoli, and Burnt Miso - 9.0/10 Brings back childhood memories. Yum

This was a great way to start the meal. This was a cold dish that was served immediately just a few minutes after we sat down. The flavors were quite refreshing. It kind of tasted like broccoli casserole that I'd get at those holiday parties back in America, which brought back a few memories of going to so and so's xmas party, and there would always be a casserole dish with breadcrumbs.

The proportion of broccoli, asparagus, and miso was quite perfect as there was a perfect amount with each bite. The asparagus was perfectly cooked, fresh, and did not have that bad asparagus aftertaste that I would usually get from eating it. There are very few restaurants that I've been to in Taiwan that can make asparagus feel like it was alive.

Carbonated Grapes with Mint 8.0/10 Fizzy poppy goodness! Too much mint :(.

Chef Andre came around our table at this point and explained that the grapes were like the marble soda that you would get at the convenient stores or night market in Taiwan. It was quite delicious and refreshing, but I wish they had served us four grapes instead of three that way my girlfriend and I would both get two grapes. I did have a problem with there being too many springs of mint since I don't like excess garnish on the plate.

Cobia, Citrus, Daikon - 8.0/10 Pretty good and refreshing

Another refreshing dish to start the meal. This fish is definitely Taiwanese, as 80% of marine cages in the country are dedicated to raising Cobia. The citrus and individual fruit pulp blended nicely with the fish, though I thought there could be more citrus flavor. There was also a nice texture from the daikon and sago (西米露), which is mainly used for dessert in Taiwan. Using sago added another enjoyable and interesting dimension to this dish.

Ajo Blanco, Cauliflower, Squid - 6.5 Above average but a bit meh.

For this dish, it was a nice play on Ajo Blanco. They had liquid nitrogen milk and thinly sliced cauliflower with squid. There was also almond milk and coconut flakes. It was a nice hot and cold balance and acted as a transition point from the cold to the hot dishes. Even though the squid was perfectly cooked, it did not go well with the other components. I could either taste squid or almond, but never both together. The squid seemed to overpower the almond flavor and because the squid was hot and almond was cold, the squid would have a stronger flavor.

Paella, Prawns, Piquillos - 6.0 Almost average, some things did not belong

At first, this dish looks pretty with a nice contrast of colors, but the flavors were not there. I understand that the paella is from the crispy rice on the shrimp's head, and there's a light spice from the sauce underneath the shrimp, but the dish lacked balance and depth. The shrimp lacked sweetness and saffron sauce was overpowered by the spiciness from the sauce underneath the shrimp. There was also black olive powder, which did I could not taste and felt that it did not contribute to the dish. Also, some of the vegetable components were all over the place.

Mushroom, Mushroom, Mushroom 8.5/10 Noms, very mushroomy, full umami!

There are so many mushroom flavors in this dish. Along with the flavorful mushroom broth, there's a low temperature poached egg hidden underneath the watercress and mushrooms. It has been awhile since I have had good mushroom soup. There was a right amount of saltiness to bring out the earthiness of the mushrooms.  I just think the egg could be a little bit more runny. The texture of the egg yolk left a weird feeling on my mouth and teeth. Other than that, the dish was quite delicious.

Short Rib, XO, Baguette - 10/10 - Perfect (A rare rating I give out)

This is one of those dishes that is stuck in my memory. I rarely give 10/10 on reviews, and I can't find anything wrong with this dish. The beef was cooked perfectly (also my favorite cut of meat done sous vide). It had a nice crust from the sear. The sauce was unique and had a slight miso, umami component to it. There's also a parsley puree that played nicely with the baguette puree and was a nice play on garlic bread. The slight acidity from the pickled onion (or some vegetable from the allum family?). The proportion of beef to sauce to leek was perfect. I could finish everything without any excess puree, sauce, or side component left over. I could eat this over and over again without getting tired of it.

Chocolate, Mochi, Burnt Butter - 8.5/10  Like a Snicker's Bar!

This is definitely a deconstructed Snicker's bar. There was a nuttiness from the brown butter, some toffee component, nogurt that was imitated by the mochi, and chocolate. If there had bad been more chocolate, I would have picked up the bowl and drank it. The only thing that I wish was done better was the mochi. The texture was slightly odd and left a weird grittiness in my mouth.

Coffee - 10/10 Aeropress 220NT

The coffee was brewed to my liking, but I don't drink much coffee so I can't really judge good coffee aside from this tasted very good.

Gingerbeer, Mint, Cucumber - 8.0/10 Refreshing and cool 320 NT

This was quite refreshing after such a nice meal. I was quite disappointed that there wasn't ginger beer in this, which was stated on the menu. Instead, it was ginger ale, which is why I give this a 8.0 instead of a 10/10.

Overall, I will be back here in February and maybe the holiday menu, which is 5200 NT. This is perhaps my favorite restaurant in Taiwan, and the best meal that I've ever had in Taiwan. I'm glad Chef Andre has come to Taiwan and set such a high standard and benchmark for good food. I hope to see many restaurants follow RAW's example in the future. A restaurant does not need foie gras, truffles, caviar, etc. to make great food. You just need technique, good ingredients, and innovation to make great food.

Le Mout, Taichung, Taiwan No.24 2014 Asia's Best Restaurant Part 1

Seems like I haven't posted here in awhile because I have been busy cooking a professional kitchen now. I only post if I encounter something interesting. Today was that interesting encounter. I went to a restaurant that is featured on Asia's Best Restaurants (http://www.theworlds50best.com/asia/en/asias-50-best-restaurants/2130/le-mout-restaurant.html). From out of the thousands of restaurants (maybe millions), these are the top 50. I expect that No. 24 be top notch, no room for error, and the attention to detail flawless, but unfortunately Chef Chen hasn't reached that perfection.

I'll briefly talk about the service and environment because I mainly focus on the food. The service was just ok. Just ok ... the waiter staff that served us went on a 3 to 4 minute monologue about what is in each dish with some pauses and umms like he or she forgot what each dish had. In addition, everyone looked like zombies. There wasn't liveliness in their service.

As for the table setting, there was an expectation for flawless set linens, but there were a few wrinkles in our table. I found some calcium deposit on the wine glass, which means they didn't properly clean their wine glasses.

Service (5/10) Just average.

Now on to the food.
Rated 5.2/10 Just Average

There were two menus available during lunch. One was the Classic Menu (4500 NT), which consisted of French classical dishes (as so said by the waiter). The other is The Tasting of Le Mout (3500 NT), which uses local Taiwanese ingredients to define Le Mout's cuisine.

I'll start with the classic menu.

Both menus have this aperitif

The first is a mini pizza, which consists of a mini pita filled with some creamy cheese sauce. The other is a tomato water jelly sphere with overcooked crab meat. I quite enjoyed the mini pizza and would eat lots of those for a snack. 6/10 Slightly above average. Would be a 8/10 if the jelly sphere didn't have overcooked crab.

I found it weird that they served the bread while we were eating or amuse bouche. I usually have restaurants serve the bread after they collected the dishes for the amuse. Anyways, this was some pretty good sour dough bread and butter.  7/10 Above Average

This is the second amuse, which was an egg custard with marsala wine, dehydrated lemon and potato (they sandwiched two potatoes in between a lemon). The wine sauce was way too sweet for my taste, which overpowered the egg and dehydrated items.  3/10 Below Average

Oyster and Pearls. I can see that Chef Chen did parody to Thomas Keller's Oyster and Pearls. In Keller's version, he uses tapioca pearls and caviar with a buttery sabayon sauce. In Chen's version, she uses large boba tapioca pearls that's hidden beneath lemon butter sabayon. An interesting dish that was pretty well balanced and uses something Taiwanese (boba). 7/10 Pretty good. Side note ... there was a tiny drop of sauce on the side of the plate, someone hasn't been checking the plates for cleanliness before serving.

(sorry, I finished this dish without taking a picture of the consomme)

Slow Cooked Beef Tongue with corn consomme, almond tofu, and dehydrated beef tongue jerky.
I quite enjoyed this dish. It is perhaps the best thing at that I've eaten at this restaurant. The tongue was cooked sous vide for 12 hours, but I found the consomme to be lacking in depth. 8/10 Good.

Poularde Farcie with Black Truffle, Baby Cabbage "Au Vin Jaune".

Oh god, I don't know where to start on how many things are wrong with this dish. They basically messed up a sous vide chicken by rolling it into a roulade with both dark and white meat and then probably sous vide it for more than an hour and holding it at the pass. By sous viding different cuts of chicken at the same temperature for a long time will cause some of the white meat to turn mushy. Also just taking the chicken out of a sous vide bag and just serving it is not good because the chicken is cold once it gets served to the customer. The truffle sauce was way too overpowering that I could only eat one or two bites of the chicken before becoming tired of the dish. 3/10 Below Average.  

One cool thing is the waitress let us choose knives to use with our next dish.

Angus Cap with Crispy Brisket, Carmaelized Milk Skin, Scallion Cream, and Jus Tranche with a side of foie gras.

My friend got this dish and just thought it was ok and the scallion cream's consistency was too much.



I got Pigeon in Oreintal Fragrance, Black Truffle Ragout and Mustard Green. This dish could have been great, but it was way tooo salty. I couldn't taste anything but salt. Also the foie gras was just foie gras with nothing special. 2.5/10 Below Average to almost not edible.























Eclair de Bleu d'Auvergne, Sweet Bordelaise Sauce and Hazzlenut Butter (yes they misspelled Hazelnut on their menu). I like this dish, but it was a balance between sweet, sour and salty. A bit too salty for me though. 6/10 slightly above average.

Riz au Lait, Citrus Orange Blossom Milk Foam.
This chocolate orange dish looks pretty, but it did not deliver because there were too many components that didn't flow together. Also, they did a bad job making the chocolate spheres. When I tried to crack the top to reveal the orange sherbet inside (I think but there were some tiny ice crystals inside the mixture, which probably shouldn't belong there), the sphere just sheared perfectly in half as if they didn't connect the hemispheres nicely.  5/10 Average

More about the other menu in my next post.   

La Vecchia Cucina: A review

My food club ventured out to Santa Monica for DineLA for our weekly meeting on Fridays. It was decided by vote that we would go to La Vecchia Cucina. The menu looked great on the DineLA website! Seafood, lobster, filet mignon, and tiramisu ... what's not to like about this restaurant.

The restaurant contains an open kitchen, where you can see Chef Mollica working away at his dishes and managing his staff. With a dark lit environment, large bar space, and many tables, La Vecchia is a great place for a social gathering. Everyone in the restaurant was happily chatting loudly, sipping on wine and cocktails.

The wine list is quite extensive, ranging from California wines from Nappa Valley to Italy. Because most of the dishes were seafood, the waiter recommended a bottle of 2008 Salviano Orvieto Classico (a white wine).

As for the food, our group ordered everything from the DineLA menu so that we can sample each dish.

The appetizers were perhaps one of the best dishes of the evening. The chef utilized one of the freshest mozzarella and tomatoes for a salad that I've ever tasted. In addition, balsamic vinegar that accompanied the salad was especially fragrant and tasteful. As for the seafood salad, consisting of calamari, lobster, shrimp, and green beans with a lemon dressing, it amazed my taste buds with a perfect amount of acidity and oil. The last appetizer on the menu was a spinach ravioli with pomodoro sauce. The ravioli was pretty decent and well seasoned, while the pomodoro sauce's texture and sweetness provided uniqueness to the dish.

Unfortunately, the entrees were not as exciting and tasteful as the appetizers. The three choices were lobster and asparagus pasta tossed in light white wine pomodoro sauce, sea bass with lemon oil herb sauce, and lastly, filet mignon with a port wine reduction sauce.

I'll start with the lobster pasta. This is perhaps on par with the pasta I ate at Covel Dining Hall... too salty and some of the pasta was undercooked. In addition, the pomodoro sauce was definitely not like the pomodoro sauce I tasted from the appetizers. Furthermore, parts of the asparagus were unpeeled, thus leaving a horrible texture in my mouth. The only thing I can find right about the dish was the lobster tail and other lobster bits. Unfortunately, I do not return dishes to the kitchen because that would be wasteful, but if I was Gordon Ramsey, I would have spat it out and lobbed the dish into the open kitchen's trash.

On the other hand, the sea bass was mediocre. One of my friends had to send it back to the kitchen after an initial bite and trade it for filet mignon. The reason? The sea bass was overcooked and the sauce had enough acidity to put in a hole in your tongue. Aside from that mishap, the sauce had a nice herby flavor and the mashed potatoes and spinach were quite delicious, but those are only side dishes and not the main attraction.

Lastly, the filet mignon. Is there anything that can go wrong with this dish? The other two were already two strikes. The third one means its out. Unfortunately, the filet mignon was a home run. Perhaps one of the best steaks I've ever tasted. The outside was nicely seared, leaving the inside medium rare. The port wine reduction sauce was an additional key to making this dish successful. The flavors were sweet, savory, and brilliant. I later asked the chef for the recipe. The key is in the homemade veal stock.

Now onto the desserts. Who doesn't like desserts? I guess no one dislikes desserts. The restaurant offered tiramisu, an espresso shot with vanilla gelato, and molten cake. I will skip the vanilla gelato and espresso shot because, well, it tasted like how it would sound ... pretty normal. The tiramisu was not too sweet and the coco powder did not overpower the overall cake. The lady fingers and mascarpone cream tasted like I was eating clouds. The chocolate molten cake was also brilliant. The hot cake had a perfect level of sweetness and provided a texture to die for.

Overall, I would give this restaurant a 6.5 / 10, where 10 is a 3 Michelin star restaurant, 5 as some place like the Cheesecake Factory, and 1 as a sushi place with fish that has gone rancid.

Unfortunately, no one brought a camera :(. No pictures : (

Restaurant Review: The Glendon Bar and Kitchen

The Glendon Bar & Kitchen
1071 Glendon Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024
www.theglendonla.com

On the quiet residential stretch of Glendon Ave, one restaurant remains open on a late Saturday night. Cocktails and tall wine glasses were being passed around, while everyone was happily chatting away. The restaurant's dim lighting and candles makes it a perfect place to bring a date to drink and eat. After 10 o'clock, the restaurant becomes a bar and lounge with its bar and cocktail menu.

Even though the interior decor creates an upscale environment, Executive Chef Nick Jacobs has prepared quite a diverse American menu that has its high and low ends in quality and price. The appetizers range from $6-$12. For starters my friends and I ordered the Cajun calamari and slider duo. These dishes left a negative first impression of the Glendon. The calamari was over-breaded and overcooked, and the spicy red pepper aioli did not have a hint of smoky spiciness. The sliders had its ups and downs with the base of the burger being soggy from the onions, but aside from that, the horseradish aioli tied the under seasoned beef patty together pretty well.
(Sliders)
The Glendon also offers 14 inch thin crust pizzas, which I found to offset the mediocre appetizers. The first to come out was the Glendon, which consists of bacon, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and mozzarella cheese. To my surprise, this was no ordinary pizza. The pizza was extremely crispy and flaky like a puff pastry and the toppings and sauce create an interesting combination. On the other hand, the South pizza was a disappointment. It was like eating a slice of a tortilla salad, where the beans and greens offset the taste of the BBQ chicken.
(Coffee Crusted Seared Ahi Tuna)
As for the dinner entree ($12-32), I ordered the coffee crusted seared Ahi with a spinach artichoke puree, which is apparently one of the chef's specialty dishes according to the waitress. This interesting dish had the potential of being amazing , but I found the tuna to be bland with subtle coffee flavor that got overpowered by the puree, which was quite acidic.
(Delicious cobbler)
Lastly, dessert ($8) was the final item of tonight's dinner. So far, most of the dishes were only mediocre and did not leave a wow effect for its price. My friend ordered an apple currant cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream. This was probably the best thing of the night. The cobbler tasted fresh out of the oven and had the perfect sweetness level. The hint of rose flavoring sets the dessert apart from ordinary apple cobblers you find at other restaurants and cafes. The pastry chef is Renee Faris seen on TLC's Cake Boss. No wonder the dessert was delicious.

Because the restaurant opened a month ago, I would have to be quite forgiving and return again in the near future to allow the wait staff and kitchen to get the hang of things. Hopefully the on my next visit, the menu has changed or the quality of the dishes have improved.

I'll give it an overall 3.0/5.0.

Some of the photos courtesy of my friend Jeannie.

Restaurant Review: Ports O'Call Buffet

For my current adventure, I am in Las Vegas. Of course, you may think it is still spring break for me, and I am at Vegas to have fun. Well, yea ... I am here to have fun, but the fun consists of filtering containment water, watch a steel bridge get constructed, and cheer on UCLA in paddling a concrete canoe. Whoa! Concrete can float? Yes sir, it can, as long as you make the aggregates and concrete mix less dense than water and strong. I'll include a picture tomorrow of UCLA's canoe. If you haven't guessed why I am at Las Vegas yet, I am attending the annual ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) Pacific Southwest Regional Conference 2010 hosted by the University of Nevada - Las Vegas. Man, that was quite a mouthful.

Ports O'Call Buffet

4000 West Flamingo Road

Las Vegas, NV 89103

My first dinner in Las Vegas was at Ports O'Call Buffet at the Gold Coast Buffet and Casino with ASCE for a team dinner. The first thing that most tourists of the Sin City would do is to indulge in buffets.

Ports O'Call, located in the back of Gold Coast's Casino, does a unique theme to buffet by offering a variety of ethnic foods: American, Chinese, Korean, and Italian, along with diverse types of desserts and seafood. One of the best attributes of this buffet is the price. As poor college students, this buffet is ideal since the cost ranges between $10-15 (Depends on if they have specials like seafood or prime rib).


(Ethnic Food Stations)

Although this restaurant serves a wide range of ethnic foods and is inexpensive, the chef lacks control of cook times, moisture retention, and seasoning for the hot foods. A majority of the meat and seafood dishes were beyond overcooked or over-seasoned to hide the taste of the meat. Though, there is one exception to the seafood case: cocktail shrimp. These little creatures are always delicious. No wonder it is the most consumed food item in Las Vegas.


(Plate of Italy ... sorry no shrimp pics)

The best component of the buffet was the desserts. My sweet tooth rejoiced. The cakes were moist and not too sweet. The texture of each cake and pastry were beyond my expectations because the hot foods were not as delicately handled. The pastry chef and his assistants at Port O'Call have successfully made the last course delicious to balance out a majority of the bad entrees.


(Yum. Desserts!)

I would recommend this restaurant to those who are low on budget and would like to try different Americanized ethnic foods. I would not recommend this restaurant to those who would like fine dining foods or creative culinary talent.

Dress: Casual
Chatter level: Moderate
Kids: Bring em'

Review Rating:
2.4/5

Tomodachi Sushi: Adventurous and Creative Sushi

Restaurant Review:
Tomodachi Sushi
10975 Weyburn Ave
(Westwood) Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 824-8805

Tomodachi, meaning friends in Japanese, well deserves its name, for the restaurant is an excellent place to go with friends, new and old. The restaurant is small, but can accommodate a small group of buddies for chatter.

Out of the various restaurants that offer sushi in Westwood, Tomodachi has the best selection of items with over 50 types of rolls. Not only do the sushi chefs know the basic California and spicy tuna rolls, but they also are innovative and create unheard of items, such as the colorful mango and tuna roll. Of the several rolls sampled, from the classic salmon roll to the intriguing spicy tuna and salmon volcano roll, each had a great texture and flavor.

For the non-sushi lovers, Tomodachi also offers Japanese dishes, such as teriyaki salmon, various rice bowls, and salad. Even though those dishes are available, the restaurant name says it all. It is a sushi restaurant and should stick to what it does ... make sushi.

With great tastes and menu selections, Tomodachi will create curiosity that will drain your wallet. The specialty rolls range from $10-$15. If you want to sample a variety of rolls, bring friends and share the wealth.

Review Rating: 3.9/5.0
Menu Price: Moderate

Lunch at Gypsy Cafe on Broxton Ave.

Restaurant Review:
Gypsy Cafe
940 Broxton Ave
(Westwood Village) Los Angeles, CA 90024

Tucked next to the Bruin Mann Theater, near UCLA's campus, Gypsy Cafe has a prime location for food and hookah, attracting many hungry college students.

Businessmen, students, medical workers slide into the restaurant filled with the sweet aroma of fruits and spices from the hookah. On a nice, Californian, sunny day, you see a few customers enjoying the Westwood scenery on the sidewalk, while smoking hookah and enjoying their kabobs. Step into the restaurant, you would be sent into a rustic world. The clay tile floor, large wood framed windows, and wooden chairs provide a Mediterranean feel with the addition of Spanish guitar music quietly droning in the background. Though, on the downside, the LCD televisions, were out of place by playing hip-hop music videos without the music.

For lunch and dinner, Gypsy cafe offers a specials menu with a variety of sandwiches, kabobs plates with rice and salad, and pastas. The open kitchen serves excellent kabobs with a side of hummus, rice, and salad. The meat is juicy and well-seasoned without an overpowering flavor of herbs and spices. The hummus is a bit watered down, but the pita bread is thin, delicious, and well-baked. Both items produce a good combination with the rice and kabob.

With the addition to the tasteful food, the wait staff is friendly, quick, and efficient. The meal was quickly made and sent to my table in less than 10 minutes, which is quite fast for a busy restaurant.

Review Rating: 3.0/5.0
Menu prices ranges from $7 to $20