EVA Air Royal Laurel TPE-SFO 长荣航空皇玺桂冠舱

This is a continuation from my earlier post BR17 SFO-TPE.

BR18 Taipei to San Francisco: Dinner/Supper is a full-course with Hors d'oeuvre ~ Main Course ~ Dessert

Hors d'oeuvre: Goose Liver Pate, Cajun Spiced Prawn with Red Wine Jelly

There is a wide selection of main course available including meals you can order in the plane from the on-board menu, and exclusive meals pre-order from evaair.com

Main: Duck Breast with Mixed Vegetables and Potatoes (available as exclusive pre-order main course in evaair.com)

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EVA Air Royal Laurel SFO-TPE 长荣航空皇玺桂冠舱

Let us go straight into EVA Air Royal Laurel Dining. This is not meant to be a review. The photos are purely information sharing.

BR17 San Francisco to Taipei: Dinner/Supper is a full-course with Hors d'oeuvre ~ Main Course ~ Dessert

Hors d'oeuvre: Seared Roasted Lamb Loin and Scallops with Beet Juice Reduction

There is a wide selection of main course available including meals you can order in the plane from the on-board menu, and exclusive meals pre-order from evaair.com

Main: Grilled Rack of Lamb with Green Beans and Potato Gratin (available as exclusive pre-order main course in evaair.com)

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EVA Airways Airport Lounge, The Garden

This is not a review.

EVA Airways VIP Lounge -The Garden, at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (also read my other Taiwan experiences here) was such an interesting experience to be shared with you.

Let us start with the hot-food dishes that you can order from the menu. While the other half likes Spicy Wontons 红油抄手，I prefer the cabbage and pork dumplings and Peng Hu Loofah Gourd Noodles. According to the kitchen personnel, the dumplings are not just some frozen dumplings that are boiled before they are served; instead the dumplings are freshly prepared and cooked on-site.




Some dessert takes e.g. ice-cream, handmade flan-type pudding, handmade soy bean drink and oatmeal drinks. Some of the items might be seasonal and not available all the time.

Desserts and sweet treats

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Taiwanese cuisine, Fu Lou Restaurant, Tainan 福楼台南

Fu Lou Restaurant （福楼）in Tainan, Taiwan has garnered very good reviews from locals and foreign visitors. The menu is amazingly extensive from sashimi, teppanyaki to local Tainan delights.

One of the top ten recommended dishes: Roasted Sponge Gourd

The entire menu or even the Top Ten dishes cannot be covered (and tried) in a single restaurant visit but the fact is, we can only do once this time. Therefore, the best (easy-way out) is to try some of the popular and recommended dishes.

Clockwise from top-left: Baby Napa Chinese Cabbage with Dried Red Cherry Shrimp 炒娃娃菜, Homemade Shrimp Rolls 虾卷, Roasted Sponge Gourd，Grilled Squid,

All the dishes were spot-on delicious. Homemade Shrimp Roll - the shrimps were not too finely minced, therefore the fillings did not turn out pasty. In fact, the shrimp rolls had that springy bite, and were so juicy and moist, quite different from the shrimp rolls in Chou's and A-Sha though all delicious. Fu Lou's rolls were also generous with the shrimps - the rolls were mainly shrimps with a little minced-up Chinese celery that gave the savory rolls a good fresh balance.

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Silks Place, Tainan 台南晶英酒店

Silks Place, Tainan 台南晶英酒店 is a relatively new establishment and in less than three years, it has received numerous accolades in the hospitality industry.

The highlight of today might sound or even appear weird but the salad-bar offering of the hotel's breakfast is worth the mention.


I like the fresh micro- and salad-greens which includes pea-shoots, alfalfa sprouts, radicchio, red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce that can be combined with beets, cherry tomatoes, lotus root and lotus seeds, pine-nuts, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, almond, cheese. Head towards the egg station (the only complaint I have is that there is only fried/"sunnyside-up" option; no poached or hard-boiled versions available), top the salad with an egg and there you go - a nutritious and delectable breakfast which sets you up ahead for the rest of the day sight-seeing and shopping.

With fiber, proteins, power-nuts-and-seeds, this surely defies the misconception of hotel breakfast being unappetizing and lacking healthy options.

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Fruits in Taiwan - Spring/ Summer 春夏水果在台湾

We missed out on some of these fruits last November. So, this April/May trip in Taiwan, we had our fair share of in-season fruits.

Wax Apple 莲雾 - the peak season is sometime in February/March but we hopped on to the end of the season's harvest and enjoyed some subtly sweet, juicy and crisp wax apples. The texture is no where near to apples, instead something in between crisp-firm Chinese pear and crisp-soft watermelon.

Black-Pearl Wax Apple

There are a few varieties commonly found in Taiwan namely "Bullet-Shaped" Wax Apple 子弹莲雾 and "Black-Pearl" 黑珍珠. The fruit lady actually told me the elongated "Bullet-Shaped" Wax Apple is the modified version of the bell-shaped wide-base Black Pearl (shown above).

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Japanese Ramen, Udon, Tonkatsu in Tainan, Taiwan 台湾日式料理

I should not be dining in air-conditioned food courts and instead, should be out there trawling through the streets of Taiwan for street-food. However, convenience turns evil when I am just steps away from department store - Shinkong Mitsukoshi (新光三越). Moreover, unlike Taipei which is well-connected and served by the Metro, Tainan does not have a rapid transit system. To move around, you either have to take the bus or a cab; or maybe drive, ride a scooter or walk. However, I would say it even takes experience to walk along the streets in Tainan, because many times, there might be no pedestrian pavement or sidewalks, and you might find yourself running into scooters along the road and randomly-parked cars along the pavement.

That gave me more excuses to walk next door, to the mall, out of convenience; and I had three first experience(s) with chain-restaurants/eateries within the mall.

First was Ippudo Ramen (一风堂）at this branch location at Tainan Place/Tainan Fun Center (台南新天地/小西门) adjacent to - Shinkong Mitsukoshi Tainan Place. I seem to be hooked on their Shiromaru Motoaji 白丸元味  - the most basic of classic Hakata-style ramen in the store - finding myself with this same order on multiple visits, different days.  The Shiromaru Motoaji is delicious and deeply-flavored. It is also the most budget-friendly yet most classic bowl of ramen in the store. I also like that the store caters to different customers with options of sodium level (standard or less sodium) in the broth; and options of varying texture of noodles (ranging from al-dente to soft texture).

Besides Ippudo Ramen, I also tried Inaka Udon (稻禾乌龙面）that has 25 years of hand-made udon noodles tradition. Without fail, I go for most basic and classic which is udon noodles in bonito-infused broth （柴鱼上汤).

Basic classic udon noodles @Inaka Udon, with side-dish vegetable salad @Inaka Udon

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K-Lin Bao 克林台包, Tainan

As this is not a food review on K-Lin Bao （克林台包), the post will be kept brief and short. In fact, meat bun is not a particularly new item to me, and to many of us. The only difference between K-Lin meat bun (八宝肉包) and the meat buns I grew up with is - this bun uses salted egg yolk pieces while the Singapore version typically includes hard-boiled egg pieces.


There are also crystal dumpling （水晶饺） and vegetarian mushroom buns (菇菇包) which are good but nothing to wow about. Perhaps the only highlight is how they kept the handmade buns tradition alive. In addition, the most interesting aspect of K-Lin is its history, transforming from a supermarket then to a pastry/bun store now.

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Fruits in Taiwan - Autumn/Fall, Winter 秋冬水果在台湾

Taiwan is famous for its fruits, with wax apples 莲雾 specifically the Black Pearl 黑珍珠 variety,  guava (they call it 芭乐, we call it 番石榴 ) and pomelo 文旦, for example, well-known to tourists visiting Taiwan. Without question, summer in Taiwan, just like summer in agriculture-centric countries, means plentiful of fruits such as watermelon, mangoes, lychees, longans, bananas etc.


But it was November when we visited Taiwan, so what fruits can we get to enjoy? This Red-Flesh Dragon Fruit might not be the peak season but since we have a chance to try it, why not? The Red Flesh Dragon Fruits not only contains more antioxidants- anthocyanins, it actually tastes better than the common white-flesh variety which is typically quite bland.


We were also introduced to a fruit - Grandis Pomelo 大白柚, which has a thick yellow-skin and the flesh is sweet and super juicy， much juicier than pomelo 文旦.


As it is commonly said, the locals (and true gourmands) eat Grandis Pomelo 大白柚 while the layman only knows about the pomelo 文旦.

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Taiwanese cuisine, A-Sha Hotel, Tainan, 阿霞饭店的台菜

With more than 50 years of culinary culture, A-Sha Hotel 阿霞饭店 is well-known for its traditional Taiwanese cuisine 台菜, and is visited by many celebrities, and Taiwan past-and-present presidents.

As it was not easy to find free time during a weekday, we had to plan around a weekend crowd.  (Note: Reservations recommended especially if you are not a local. You do not want to find yourself in disappointment especially when a long way from home, and when this is one of the travel/culinary destinations to-do). We made our reservation before our outbound flight from San Francisco to Taiwan, so we could look forward to our first experience with authentic and traditional Taiwanese cuisine while on-board the dreaded long-haul.

How about a short orientation about this historic restaurant?

Courtesy: A-Sha Hotel Website

Originally, we wanted to order the famous Sticky Rice with Mangrove Crab 红寻米糕 (refer to the video above) from the ala-carte menu; however, there are quite a few famous dishes in A-Sha; thus set-menu was the way to go. Usually, set-menu gets a bad rep. and personally, from past experiences, it has been; but in A-Sha it is not.

The two-person set-meal $1500NT (about USD$50) is considered reasonable and worth the buck with the restaurant's renowned establishment and menu offering: (1) Charcoal-Grilled Mullet Roe, (2) Steamed/Boiled Fresh Prawns, (3) Platter of Shrimp Rolls, Crab Cakes, Sausage and Stewed Colon*, (4) Choice of Scallop Pork Tripe Soup vs Sharks Fin Soup (we picked the Scallop Soup), (5) Choice of Sticky Rice Mangrove Crab vs Fried Fresh Eel (Sticky Rice Mangrove Crab of course!), (6) Sweet Dessert Soup.


Why an asterisk* with the Platter of Shrimp Rolls, Crab Cakes, Sausage and Stewed Colon*? Because the sausage and stewed colon are two items that we DO NOT eat; and often, set-menu means standard, that also means items can hardly be changed/exchanged. Still, no harm asking the server about the non-standard and so I did.

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Airline Fruit Platter Meals 航空水果餐

Do you ever peep at the "neighbor's" or "neighbor's neighbor" meal in an airplane? I do, sometimes. There was once when I saw a "special" meal being served and thought "that looks good". Surprising huh, coming from an airline meal. I did not know what meal it was - either a fruits, or raw meal platter? Have you requested for any "special" airline meals? 


You can do so in advance if the airline offers such a service. No longer is such a service reserved for passengers or travelers with special dietary needs e.g. vegetarian, or for religious reasons.  If you cannot stand soggy vegetables, over-cooked rice, over-salty fish/chicken dishes in most standard airline meals, how about going light and refreshed with a hydrating fruit platter? As far as I know from my recent trip, Singapore Airlines and EVA Airways offer this fruit platter option.

You can eat relatively well - no more non-appetizing airline meals. There are also options like raw food meals that I have also considered trying but I really do not want to run the risk of bacteria contamination especially in raw vegetables, so meantime I am satisfied with Fruit Platter meals.

What is your most memorable experience when it comes to airline food? Or share your worst nightmare?

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Oyster Omelet 蚵仔煎, Ningxia Night Market, Taipei

I totally concur with the saying that taste is absolutely subjective. Taiwan is a snack's paradise with night markets offering street food in almost every main city - Taipei, Taichung, Hsinchu, Tainan etc. Street food and snacks such as Oyster Vermicelli, Oyster Omelet, Fried Salt-and-Pepper Chicken, Stinky Tofu, Shaved Ice, Beef Noodles, Braised Pork Rice, Peddlar (DanZai)Noodles, just to name a few. Despite the galore of street food and snacks, there is really no item I can single out as my favorite other than Tainan's Milkfish Rice Porridge/Congee - a dish I do not mind eating regularly.

"Uncle" busy with his many oyster omelets @ 圓環邊蚵仔煎 @圓環邊蚵仔煎

I definitely love my Mee Siam, Popiah, Fried Carrot Cake, Bak Chor Mee, Prawn Noodles, Satay, much much better! Perhaps these are the taste(s) I grew up with, so these food is comfort that has already grown into me.

Ningxia Night Market 宁夏夜市 is a relatively small night market located in western Taipei，Datong District and particularly popular amongst the locals. As our hotel is located pretty near within walkable distance, and there is also a Formosa Chang branch location within this area, it fitted our dinner plan.

Huge pan filled generously with fresh oysters and lettuce for the oyster omelet @圓環邊蚵仔煎

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Yongkang Beef Noodles, Formosa Chang in Taipei, Taiwan 永康牛肉面， 胡须张

After a few days in Tainan, Southern Taiwan, indulging in many rounds of milkfish porridge, trying eel noodles, trying the famous Danzai noodles, shrimp rolls, we headed to Taipei, northern Taiwan for a day before heading back to California.

I am not quite a fan of beef noodles per se. However, I do like to try food or dishes especially those that have been recommended or deemed good through words-of-mouth. Yongkang 永康 Beef Noodles was recommended by the locals in Taiwan, being rumored as Jackie Chan's favorite beef noodle in Taipei. I am not quite sure how Jackie Chan's "endorsement" works here ...BUT...WELL...

Stewed Beef Noodles in Light Broth 清炖牛肉面

Anyway, upon verifying the facts only till now, only after we visited Yongkang, it seems Jackie Chan's favorite beef noodle stall is rumored to be Laozhang 老张 Beef Noodles and not Yongkang (apparently, Laozhang closest competitor). No wonder the mix-up.

Braised Beef Tendons Noodles 红烧牛肉 (半筋半肉）面

I usually like beef noodles in clear broth 清炖 as this is how I can taste real beefy broth, a broth that is not overpowered by the spices typical of the braised version 红烧. I am also usually more of a fan of beef tendons to other parts of beef, however, a combination of tendons and meat is only offered in  the braised version. Okay, so I am not getting the best of both worlds in a single bowl but that's alright. The server did mention that they can combine the tendons and meat in the clear broth version if we really wanted it; however the tendons would have been braised anyway, so it is going to be added into the original clear broth. Finally, we just went with all-meat for the clear broth stewed beef noodles, and tendon-and-meat combination for the braised beef noodles.

I first read about Formosa Chang from Noobcook's review sometime back, and never fail to register that in my food memory..."would love to try it someday if I get a chance".

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Tainan Must-Eat Snacks 台南小吃

Unlike Taipei (台北，Northern Taiwan) and Taichung (台中, Central Taiwan) that boast many more modern restaurants with new and creative cuisine concepts, the southern part of Taiwan - Tainan 台南 which is also one of the oldest cities in Taiwan，leans itself towards old-time nostalgic delights 古早味 including the food and snacks. Besides milkfish and eel noodles, there are many other supposedly must-eat Tainan snacks 小吃. However, with just a few days to spare, I have decided to "reserve" my appetite (and stomach) for those snacks (I think) I would enjoy e.g. milkfish porridge - which I did enjoy and enjoyed very much; and those which I would like to try for once e.g. eel noodles. Some other snacks enjoyed in my recent Tainan trip include:

1. Peddler Noodles or Dan Zai noodles 担仔面

Dan Zai Noodles @度小月担仔面

The portions may be small and noodles looking ordinary but it is big on flavors. Al Dente noodles topped with braised minced pork, perfectly cooked prawn, tender bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, tangy black vinegar and sharp minced garlic served in a deep and flavorful broth that has been cooked with prawn stock  From a Singapore perspective, it will be like a combination of Singapore Prawn Noodles (Hae-Mee) and Minced Meat Noodles (Bak Chor Mee) in a single dish.

Du Hsiao Yueh Dan Zai Noodles has been serving Dan Zai noodles for more than 100 years and its original century-old store 百年老店 is situated along Tainan City, Zhong Zheng Road No. 16. This store is tight on space and we were squeezed to one corner, beside a beverage fridge. If you want to have some spacious comfort while dining, you may want to consider their other newer and bigger store at Zhong Zheng Road No. 101.

Stall address:
度小月担仔面, 台南市中西區中正路16號, opens at 1100am. This is the first original century-old store.
Other locations, refer to Du Hsiao Yueh website

2. Shrimp Rolls 虾卷

Chou's Shrimp Rolls @ 周氏虾卷

Don't they look like Goreng Pisang (Fried Banana Fritters)? These shrimp or prawn rolls are indeed shaped similar to those long banana fritters. The rolls are crispy on the outside and filled generously with shrimps, minced meat, fish paste and vegetables (Chinese celery and scallions) on the inside. The shrimps are definitely not over minced in the filling as you can still bite on plump and springy shrimps. Over-minced shrimps tend to lead to rolls with pasty inside and the texture and bite is lost as a result of over-mincing the shrimps in the filling for shrimp rolls.

Chou's has been around for more than 50 years, and has successfully transformed a street snack like shrimp rolls into a brand name that is now used to market its modern, air-conditioned eateries.

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Eel Noodles 鳝鱼面

Eel noodles （鳝鱼面 Shan Yu Mian) is another popular dish in Tainan, Southern Taiwan.

Eel e-fu noodles @阿辉炒鳝鱼

The "eel" taste (quite tasteless actually) and its firm and springy texture is not what I expected of eel, and not realizing until now that this "eel" is not the eel (or freshwater eel - unangi) that I am used to. This "eel" is a eel-like fish, commonly known as swamp eel or rice-field eel.

From what we observed, the most commonly ordered items at 阿辉炒鳝鱼 seems to be Wok-Fried E-Fu Noodles with Eel 鳝鱼炒意面 and a "wet" version 鳝鱼意面羹 with consistency similar to Lor-Mee. Three ingredients are prevalent in both dishes: eel, onions, and noodles. Both noodle dishes are on the sweet side which I found weird. Definitely not a huge fan upon trying these eel noodles for the first time.

Stall address:
阿辉炒鳝鱼 (Tainan A-Hui), 台南市中西區西門路二段352號

Tag: eel, swamp eel,rice-field eel

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Milkfish (and Belly) Porridge in Tainan, Taiwan 虱目魚粥

I usually like my rice porridge or congee more soupy than thick and starchy. How about you? So between Cantonese porridge in which the rice is boiled longer then cooked down with the soup broth or water to a thick and smooth consistency; versus Hokkien-style (also Teochew-style) porridge in which rice grains in the porridge are soft yet intact (you still have to bite and chew on the rice) with visible rice grains and brothy soup distinctly separated in that same bowl of porridge yielding a typically more soupy/watery porridge, I tend to choose the latter.

Milkfish belly porridge, @ 阿星咸粥

Hokkien-style porridge may be cooked in two ways - either soup is directed ladled over cooked rice 泡饭/饭汤 or the rice grains are cooked with a high proportion of fluid (water or broth) till the grains absorb broth flavors. I prefer the latter.

It is my first time trying milkfish porridge 虱目魚粥 and this has by far become my favorite Tainan or Taiwan dish or snack (breakfast). I enjoy it very much, perhaps because I have always enjoyed Hokkien-style porridge.

Milkfish belly porridge, seafood combination porridge, and pan-fried milkfish belly, @阿堂咸粥

A lot of milkfish porridge stalls in Tainan open really early, as early as 5.30am (some even open 24 hours!). The locals and early-birds sure have a good breakfast before they start their day.

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Milkfish, Awa, Ikan Bandeng, Bangus, 虱目魚

Milkfish (虱目魚 pronounced Si Mu Yu) is a southern Taiwanese specialty. Some popular Taiwanese milkfish dishes include milkfish (and milkfish belly) rice-porridge (虱目魚粥, 虱目魚肚粥），pan-fried milkfish belly （煎 虱目魚肚） and fishballs made from milkfish （虱目魚丸). Have you tried this fish before?

Top left: Milkfish belly porridge; top right: seafood combination porridge, bottom right: fried milkfish belly

If you are hearing about milkfish for the first time just like me, you may want to know more about this fish. It is also known as Awa - in Hawaii, Ikan Bandeng in Indonesia, Bangus in Philippines. I am not quite sure the method of preparation for milkfish in these countries, but I surely like how the Taiwanese prepares them, incorporating de-boned milkfish into a Hokkien-style rice-porridge. I have actually seen whole milkfish being sold in the Asian supermarket - 99 Ranch, in California, USA; however, I don't think I know how to de-bone this notoriously boney fish that is said to have more than 100 to almost over 200 fish bones!

Milkfish has good nutritional value - very high in niacin and Vitamin B12, high in phosphorus, high in selenium, high in vitamin B6. Similar to other oily fish e.g. sardines and salmon, milkfish is also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) - "nutrients" for the brain. However, since it is high in purine, gout sufferers should mind their intake of this fish.

Tag: milkfish

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Stuffed Tomatoes...served whole

I watched the Japanese chef peel the skin of each tomato while I ate at the counter. There was a large tray of peeled tomatoes waiting to be prepared for starters and served.

My patience waiting for the appetizer paid off as I thought it was lusciously beautiful.

Note: This was taken months and months ago at a Japanese restaurant in Taiwan. The restaurant was located just downstairs, where we stayed. I suddenly miss those "carefree" days. And I still have many "un-posted" photos to post, so here you are.

Italian food - Fatty's or fatties ?

I found a few "lost" and neglected posts in my dashboard. Yes. I have been neglecting my blog for a while now. I know.

This was a typical dinner during weekends in Taiwan, taken few months ago. When you order the pasta, it comes with...

...complimentary bread


...complimentary salad...


then the main dish such as Spaghetti Bolognese...


...and Seafood Pasta.

It is no wonder we will all become fatties in no time! :P


胖仔義大利餐廳
精誠路50巷1號
台中市
Fatty's Italian Restaurant
1, Lane 50, Ching Cheng Rd
Taichung, Taiwan

Tag: Taiwan

Stir Fry Vegetables with Pork? Or aquatic plants?

水蓮菜 (Shui Lian Cai) - taken at Taichung, Taiwan

I do not know what is the English name for this vegetable but seems to me, they are roots of some kind of aquatic plants or Nymphoides. Perfect chance to be wordless today! Cos' I don't know and can't elaborate more. Ha! Anyone seen this before? Let me know the name!

Tag: Taiwan eating