Gigantic signage left no doubt as to the restaurant’s specialty. Every table had a bubbling pot of ducky goodness. Rich Duck and Ginger broth with all the fixings, our friend poured in a full bottle of Chinese Wine. Yikes!
Didn’t deter us from the Taiwan Beer and another full bottle of Baijiu, of course.
Kaohsiung. 72*f at 6pm. All the folks bundled in their warm jackets and hats give this barbarian the incredulous side eye when I walk by in shorts and polo.
Nice repeat dinner at this very vegetable forward restaurant. Greatest variety of greens I’ve ever seen at any venue, even at the most prolific farmer’s markets. Each variety sport a name tag designation, albeit in Chinese only.
For us omnivores, choice of animal and fish proteins, but that’s definitely a side. It’s all about the veggies.
The pot was split between Chinese herb on one side, and Cumin on the other. The greens were tasty just barely blanched in either. Most of the greens were described to me as “mountain vegetables”. I thought dw had made up the term, but apparently that’s a legit Taiwanese descriptor for these indigenous greens.
The visual is splendid, the different textures and nuances made for a fun tasty experience. All good, especially the taro, pumpkin, bitter melon and the faux meats.
The proteins were good, not outstanding. Two of our friends are Buddhist vegetarians, so we got their allotment of proteins. Stupid me. Wasn’t til the end that I made a dipping sauce of vinegar/soy/Thai chile. Took to another level.
Gonna hit Cijin Island tonight for great seafood. Can’t wait!!!
If you have time, can you describe more the soup base in both hot pot places. Inspired and would like to have some hot pot at home too, but need ideas on broth! TIA.
Ha! On my 2nd visit (last year), I finished my meal with a heaping healthy plate of the pristine greens. Drizzled a bit of dressing from the salad bar (there is an actual salad bar) for a very unique salad. The lovely servers were totally flabbergasted by my creation, as were my dining companions.
Would love to further experiment different green/dressing combos. Good eats!
The base was very light last night. More a tincture than a soup, or even a broth or consommé. Detected a slight cumin finish in one, and herb flavor was imperceptible in the other. Using a dipping sauce at the end really helped in the flavor department.
The broth at the duck place was almost a soup, rich and delicious from the get go. I’m used to a lighter liquid medium, but this duck base was spot on.
We buy cooked poultry (mostly roast duck) every so often. The carcass, especially the neck and backbone always end up as a base for soup or congee. Will use our homemade duck base for hot pot soon.
Do you do hot pot much? We saw lots of potentially great hot pot ingredients browsing the Paris markets.
Sailed to Cijin Island on the local ferry for seafood. All of 6 minutes and NT30 (USD$1.00) later, feeding time!
Dragged our boring selves to our oft visited favorite Cijin restaurant (address and directions on previous posts). Robust seafood quality and unimpeachable freshness, despite this being the off season and the ebb of mainland Chinese tourists.
We specified our Squid simply quick stir fried with only Green Onions. The Snow Peas were a bit of an annoyance, but turned out to be quite tasty with snap. Side note: squid in Taiwan is sometimes/mostly served au naturale, ie, with the beak/spine in place.
The Starting our last day in Kaohsiung with a dbl espresso and an Island classic, Pineapple Cake.
Revisited a canteen style local joint for yesterday’s lunch. Delicious self serve small plates with favorite local goodies. A check off menu slip to order fresh housemade Baos, Noodles, Dumplings, etc… we opted for XLB’s (soup dumplings). 1x Pork. 1x Loofah.
The Taiwanese Gnocchis type dish was good as ever. Toothsome with a delightful chew and slight wok hei.
We rarely eat breakfast (foods) per se, with one exception. The Kindness Hotel is a homegrown Taiwanese chain that we really like in central and southern Taiwan.
Breakfast and Dinner included in the very reasonable rack rate. I could go on and on. Let the pics do the promo.
More and more folks are wearing masks in Taiwan now, especially in the service sector. If this precaution helps to contain the potential spread, I’m all for it.
Seriously thinking of canceling our Shanghai trip in May. Would suck if the town is put on quarantine during our visit.
My wife loves Salty Soy Milk, me not so much. We used to have drive to the east bay or down the peninsula to satisfy her craving. You can bet she gets it Asia.
May is pretty far in advance but … kinda scary that three cities are in lockdown so far. Also the number reported seems suspiciously low from the Wuhan area if other countries and cities are already reporting an increased tic already. Anywho, stay safe and eat plenty!
And yeah, I never cared for salty soy milk. In the brief time I was in Taipei I opted for the sugar one haha.
