Taipei Thing #21: Have some scallion pancake

蔥油餅

Yet another suggestion from Jesse was fulfilled by Christine during our afternoon feast: scallion pancake! I was originally intending to seek out one of the famous (read: one with mile-long lines) places in Taipei, but I didn’t need to bother after Christine said she’d be glad to help me cross this one off my list by cooking it for me!

To be honest, I don’t normally order this dish because I don’t like oily foods, and the very name of it in Chinese literally translates to “onion oil cake.” That’s not to say I don’t love it, though, and Christine’s was perfect. Somehow, I finished the whole thing, despite the fact that I was already full – that’s how good it was.

The moral of the story is that, if you visit Taiwan, scallion pancake is one of those things that you simply can’t leave without trying. Just be careful not to get addicted. My solution to that is to only eat it if Christine cooks it!

Not on the list: Afternoon tea with friends

Waffles a la mode

This post is primarily an excuse to post more photos of food, as you can probably tell. My friend Christine, who is pictured below, and whose brother supplied my delicious peanut mochi, loves cooking for friends, and she invited me on this day to join her for afternoon tea. Besides waffles with bananas, ice cream, and whipped cream, here are some other things she put together for us:

Vegetarian sushi

I ate about half a watermelon by myself

More of the spread, including Christine's awesome homemade pizza

Christine is one of those people who really embodies the welcoming nature of people in Taiwan, and you can tell by the diverse company she keeps. Every time she hosts a dinner or barbecue (always featuring Christine’s home-cooked food, which is so good she really ought to have a restaurant), I meet people from so many countries and backgrounds that I can’t keep track of them by the end of the evening. I never cease to be amazed at how well she gets to know so many people, never forgetting a name, particularly since I myself constantly struggle to match names with faces. I really ought to take a few lessons from her!

Our lovely host!

Taipei Thing #8: Eat at 新卡莎 western-style vegetarian restaurant

Vegetarian lasagna! Good!

Kaifu suggested that I try out an interesting vegetarian place in Gongguan that he had been to before, so who better to help me find it? I had never heard of this place before, but surely had passed it without noticing. (Location here. #1 on the map)

There were surprisingly a lot of choices on the menu:

I was tempted to go for the basil steak, a house specialty, but the lasagna was calling my name. I was afraid I’d be disappointed, since Taiwan isn’t exactly the place to go for decent lasagna, but it turned out to be quite good (see header photo). The lasagna was stuffed with fresh vegetables, and not too oily. I’d get it again, if I weren’t interested in trying other things.

Here are a few more photos from our visit:

Kaifu's mushroom dish. Reportedly a little tough.

The dining room. Classy "western" style.

The storefront is nice, except for that ugly sign.

Overall, I liked the place. I’d like to go back a few times and try some other dishes, especially that basil steak. Another thing that made this task fun was the owner’s son, perhaps 4 years old, who was helping to set one of the tables. I was holding my breath as he handled the glassware, but he was ridiculously adorable shifting the silverware around, trying to make sure everything was in the right place. Keep an eye out for him if you go. 🙂