taiwan trip- food-best dining experience

since there are too much stuff to blog, i shall do it slowly over the holidays (or whats left of it-less than 3 weeks sob sob :( sad la)

this post will be about the best dining experience in Taiwan.

a short info about this very unique place..

Shr Jeng North Third Road (near Wenshin Rd., sec. 2)
(04) 2254-5678, 2254-6789;
Hours: 10 am-12 midnight


This amazing establishment is arguably Taichung's most unusual restaurant, thanks to the creative fancies of owner Hsieh Li-shiang, who has already gained widespread attention with her four other eateries in Tainan and Chiayi. Miss Hsieh uses big, weathered pieces of driftwood, Chinese stone sculptures, antiques, welded metal, and chunky, rough wooden tables and chairs in her restaurants. The Taichung restaurant is her largest and seats over 500 on three levels. The cave-like building resembles something that might have been dreamt up by Antonio Gaudi, or out of a science-fiction movie, with brownish concrete lumped in all shapes and directions. A large basement, fish-filled lagoon, surrounded by nooks and crannies containing tables. The filling Chinese/Taiwanese food includes various "Simple Meal" selections (NT$280/person), from lamb chops to Hakka-style pork, which come with bowls of rice steamed with sweet potato, vegetables, soup, drink and dessert--fresh cream "mochi" glutinous rice cakes. There are also table-menu specials for four or more people (NT$500/person), and the NT$1,000/person, 10-course lobster special meal. Food is served 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m., with coffee, tea, beer (NT$120) and other items available at other times. Heading southeast on Wenshin Road, section 2, turn right onto Shr Jeng North 3rd Road just after the Taichung (and Foreign Affairs) Police headquarters and the restaurant is on the left, on the back side of the Chaoyuan (Lin Garden) Restaurant.

source from:http://www.taiwanfun.com/central/taichung/dining/0305/0305wnFIVE.htm


we had dinner here on our 5th day..

the entrance of the restaurant. something very eye-catching. it was breahtaking all the way...

guess where this place is..THE TOILET!! thats the wash basin...

don't laugh at me!! there was also another girl snapping photos with her camera. its just too unique not to take photos ^-^

the doors to the toilet

the toilet. hahahha

and downstairs they had this place for diners to take photos. so cool right??? there were mainly driftwood furniture, weird statues and this lake...wood and water elements..just perfect!

with mummy and poser sister. she is so gonna get me if she sees this photo>.<
the staircase.


the dining area downstairs. we sat on the first floor.

this is our dining area. the table on the far right is our table. the eight of us plus a couple with their little girl (from the tour group) joined us as well.
me with my cousin

the second most important thing besides deco...the food. it was just as impressive as the deco!

first up is the rice. something so basic but deserved to be mentioned. you see, the rice they serve in Taiwan is slightly different from the rice back in Malaysia. its much nicer. hehe. its softer and cuter, round and plump. somewhat like sushi rice. my mum even bought rice back home from Taiwan (cost 200 Taiwan dollar for a 2kg pack!)for starters, we had muachee. it was super good! soft and silky with a peanut coating. yummy!

here are the main dishes!

this is the squid. quite nice, but had a slightly burnt taste...
this is the kung po chicken. one of the best! hehe. its spicy and the peanut really compliments it. had juicy flavourful pieces of chicken.
prawns. they seem to have an abundance of prawns. we ear prawns almost every meal (lunch and dinner) this is cooked with STONES!! not much of excess seasoning, so could taste the original taste, it was pretty good cos the prawns were fresh
oooooo. this wins the best "fish dish" award. some of the other fishes we had were either

1. too bony

2. had "muddy" taste

3. had thick n stubborn skin n flesh

btw, this is COD fish. thats why it was sooo good! never had cod fish for a very long time, simply cos its too expensive! so this was a real treat.

and the most common vegetable goes to....
the cabbage! no surprises here! haha
well, its not so bad as cabbage is one of the vege that is classified as "i don't mind eating that" group to me :P

and the weirdest drink award goes to....the sour plum juice. can't exactly describe the taste, took one sip and thats it! its sourish and bitter and super weird!

this is a vege dish also. not sure what it is but it was quite good.

bamboo shoot soup. the weirdest soup I've ever tasted. well, in Taiwan its either this or miso soup. i don't like both, sadly :(
this is yummy too. mussels cooked in sweet sour style with a bed of vege. very appetizing, the mussels were huge and fresh and the sauce was very good. two thumbs up :)

overall, the food was good and the ambiance was superb. i don't think there is anything quite like this...this dining experience is the best I've ever had so far. in both Taiwan and Malaysia.

if you ever get a chance to visit Taiwan, this place is definitely a MUST!!