mei eats

Burger Bonanza

Posted in Food News, Non-Asian on June 4th, 2007 by mei| | 1 Comments.

Burp. I’ve been eating waaaaay tooo many burgers as of late.

It’s quite surprising how many burger joints have sprouted just this past year. In the past one would have to resort to Mickey D’s or da King but now, Taipei-rens are spoiled for choice. I’ve mentioned a few burger joints in an earlier post but here are two more to take note of.

Bongos, the brother branch Coda, is a nice little eatery tucked away in the Gongguan area. What I liked about it at first sight was the option of outdoor seating. There simply aren’t many options when it comes to dining al fresco in Taipei, are there?

Moreover, I was quite nicely surprised that there is a used book selection!!! Being a prolific reader I am aghast at how expensive books can get at a certain bookstore that opens 24 hours and at the other store in the tallest building in the world… but back to food. Yours truly was truly happy that Bongo caters nicely to the vegetarian palate. I ordered the veggie burger (pictured top left) and was not disappointed. Given that a friend said that the meat burger is much better than the veggie one, it was still pretty darn good. Now, I am all curious about the beef one. Next time.

The veggie patty was nicely spiced and the texture was just right. It was dense, chewy and HUGE! I had to take many breathers to polish it off. The burger came with fries that were…alright, a salad (which I liked, nice fresh mixed salad leaves – you pick the dressing) and a soda which is, well, the same anywhere. Go on Mondays, like I did, and you get a 10% discount (or was it because I was wearing that mini skirt?). Can’t exactly recall how much tab was but I’d say 200nt ballpark.

Pickles is another burger joint that I tried out recently. It’s in the Shida area where I hang out a lot. Pickles serve your average burgers as well as some brunch food items like waffles. No veggie burgers here, tho’. Waaah.

I had their bacon cheese burger (top right). It is okay lah. Nothing wrong with it but I didn’t feel the love with that burger. Can’t quite pinpoint what it was. Perhaps the sub par quality of the side dishes (you can choose two of the following: regular fries, hash browns, criss cut fries, and cole slaw). The cole slaw was pretty much just shredded lettuce with mayo and the hash brown… I didn’t even order the hash brown! Nonetheless, I am not writing this place off. I would give them another chance if they can come up with a vegetarian option. The staff was extremely attentive. Prices range between 100 and 200nt.

The last pix is of Mei’s lentil veggie burger(bottom left). Looks alright but taste-wise it could be better. Cut me some slack, will ya? It was my first time making a veggie burger patty and I didn’t even use a recipe. Truth be told, I just wanted to use up the bag of lentils I have. Well, for anybody who is curious enough, it was a mixture of lentils, edamame, shitake mushrooms, carrots, shallots and garlic. I think it would taste better with more spices (cumin? definitely more shallots and garlic) and if I added some cooked pearl barley for extra chewiness. Anybody with good veggie burger recipes, message me!

Oh, some of you may remember my post about the other new burger joint, California Grill. I did manage to make a quick visit when it first opened up. I had the salmon burger and it was really really good. The only thing that could be getter was the bun. I thought it was a bit dry and stale tasting and despite being priced comparable to the other burger joints (100 tdo 200nt range) I thought the portion was a bit on the small side.

Bongos
No. 3, Alley 5, Lane 74
Wenzhou Street
(in the Gongguan are)
æº«å·žè¡—74å··5å¼„3è™Ÿ
02 2365 6059

Picklesã€€ç¾Žå¼æ¼¢å ¡
No. 24, Lane 40, Taishun Street
(in the Shida area)
æ³°é †è¡—40å··24è™Ÿ
02 8369 5858
Closed on Tuesdays

Mei’s Veggie Burger Joint
Message me if you want to do “business.” Hah!

Code: Coda

Posted in Non-Asian on May 10th, 2007 by mei| | 1 Comments.

Hunger may be the best spice but I’d say camaraderie comes in a close second. Now don’t you start having assumptions. Yours truly is still the cold hearted objective food eater who could be the most in her element when she scarfs down solo but given the choice – she’d much rather be with friends. So an impromptu dinner for a party of six on a Monday night? Happiness that you can eat.

After much deliberation – and detours – Mei and company ended up at a local American-Italian eatery called “Coda.” The interior is quite spacious and nicely lit with soft lighting. Decor is somewhat prosaic but I’ll cut them some slack – this time. Fare selection is, well, fair. You have your choices of pizzas, pastas and burgers… most of what you’d normally expect at an this kind of establishment. What I found disturbing was the fact that the restaurant does not serve wine by the glass. There are wines by the bottle. Just not by the glass. A certain other pizza eatery in town caters to this one personal quirk and despite the fact that I usually end up drinking more than a glass’s worth, I am a frequent customer just knowing that I can order a nice single glass of wine.

Even before my friends and I decided on the restaurant, I already knew where we were going and exactly what I would be ordering given the likelyhood that we would be eating at that restaurant.

Ravioli. My friend went for the cheese ravioli so naturally I went for the another – the spinach ravioli with tomato sauce. Both Rose and I agreed that mine was the better of the two. The spinach raviolis weren’t mind blowing but for Taipei it was pretty darn good. The sauce was rich and the bread that came with our pasta order was dense enough for sauce-sopping. Rose’s cheese ravioli with pumpkin and gorgonzola sauce was a tad on the rich side in my opinion and somehow the flavors were just a wee bit off. I also have to say that I didn’t find the banal flat yellow color all that appetizing. However, the worst thing about her dish was that it was served way late. In fact, all of our dishes were served quite some time apart. It would have been nice to have all our main courses served together.

The side salads were good. Leafy mixed greens and not stale romaine. Levenade ordered a full Ceasar salad. Didn’t ask him how it was but I took it from his silence at the table that it was pretty good. Miam miam. Kat and Justine’s pastas look okay but personally I just felt that pasta shouldn’t be swimming in so much sauce. Then again TIT (This is Taiwan) and I can’t judge the taste by looks alone. I give Mr. Tanenbaum’s cheesy fries a thumbs up and the hamburger looks as if it deserves the other thumb up. I think I might go for that next time.

Levenade was the only one who ordered dessert – Tiramisu. I thought the portion was too tiny and we both agreed that there wasn’t too much taste to it – just mascarpone and sugar. Would be much better with more coffee and a touch of rum… and perhaps more ladyfingers.

Constructive criticisms aside, I was happy with my dish and at 300nt for my ravioli set I would go back again. With friends.

Coda
No. 23, Lane 283
Roosevelt Road, Section 3
02 2365 2769
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Burger Bonanza

Posted in Food News, Non-Asian on June 4th, 2007 by mei| | 1 Comments.

Code: Coda

Posted in Non-Asian on May 10th, 2007 by mei| | 1 Comments.