Japanese . Taipei
Date visited: March 2018
The quality of Japanese food is fantastic in Taiwan, owing to the 50 years of Japanese occupation during 1895-1945. In addition to food, Taiwan has also adopted many Japanese traditions in their culture.
The restaurant is run by chef 阿傑 (Ā jié) and his wife, and sources their seafood from Japan. Chef is Taiwanese but learnt to cook Japanese cuisine in Japan. He would also travel to Japan frequently to source new ingredients and to learn new skills with his staff.
Located only a few minutes walk from the MRT station, the evening began with a silky chawanmushi (steamed egg) and a soft and bouncy meatball made of fish and shrimp in clear broth.
Chef showed off his knife skills when scoring this piece of squid. This was so fresh, crunchy yet creamy in texture.
One of my favourite seasonal ingredients in spring- the hotaru-ika (Firefly Squid). Served with a citrus mustard dressing, it was delicious.
Shirako that has been lightly seared, served in-between nori seaweed
Meiji maguro (baby tuna) sushi- melt in the mouth
Tuna roll with sea urchin
Hokkaido crab with crab liver sauce and Japanese dressing – very sweet flesh and rich from the liver sauce
Steamed abalone with pickled radish and abalone liver
Kasugodai (Spring Snapper) sashimi
Clmm stew the white radish, rich with the flavour of clam stock
Kuruma-ebi (Japanese Tiger Prawn) sashimi, served along with it’s head that has been grilled over charcoal. Chef prepared the live prawn at the counter- the tail was still twitching when it was served (!)
If I recall correctly, this was a type of flatfish sashimi
Kinmedai (Splendid alfonsino) sushi
Ankimo (monkfish liver) served with picked wintermelon to balance the richness.
Hokkaido scallop sashimi
Two types of shellfish sashimi- the white piece was exceptionally crunchy
Grilled fish with green sauce made from the flowers of a plant with the taste similar to spinach and parsley.
Shime Saba (Cured Mackerel) sashimi, strong flavour pairs well with the ginger 
Otoro sushi (tuna belly)
Charcoal grilled A5 waygu
Uni temaki (sea urchin hand roll)- very decadent
After a piece of piping hot mixed vegetable tempura, miso soup was served
Dessert was a simple jelly with fresh strawberries and a mango sauce. Enjoying my last cup of tea, I was given a small piece of cheesecake my one of the sous-chefs. This was apparently created by him and was only recently added to the menu. It was a light tofu cheesecake with sesame, nutty and perfect sweetness. Lovely!
Although I have not visited other sushi restaurants in Taiwan, compared with my experience in Tokyo , this is one at the top of my list. Superb taste, quality and the warmest hospitality. Thank you chef 阿傑 and the team for a fantastic evening, I wouldn’t hesitate to revisit next time when I am in Taiwan.
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peckish bites 