Don't usually visit the Far Eastern area much since it's not near an MRT stop, but GF was in the mood to go some place different, and we had plenty of time on a lazy Sunday. GF had longer to go, so I had time to do a quick search on the Net and walk around the densely-restauranted area a bit before we met up. Situated in a quiet residential alley, Herbs appealed to passer-by with lush foliage. The main room is light airy with large wall-windows and on this warm spring day the entire side could be opened to the outside seating. A second floor is available but not open during the Sunday lunch so we sat outside. Chairs were substantial and well-stuffed, more like lounge sitting chairs, and the tables were also covered in black faux-leather. The plants and burbling fountain kept the outside sitting area cool and serene.
They crack open a bottle of Evian as soon as you sit down, and charge NTD30 a head for the privilege of drinking fancy imported water in a smudgy glass. The Mediterranean menu was interesting with the emphasis on the herbs and spices, some of which is grown on-premise, although I struggled a bit with the Chinese names of the herbage. Ordered a glass of the house white to go with the food and was informed they were out. Can't they just open any old bottle and just call it the house wine? Decided to go with a Belgian fruit beer instead. Originally wanted the peach but they were out of that, too, but that's okay since cherry is really the classic flavor anyway.
I had the prix-fixe meal with soup, appetizer, main, dessert, and a drink. GF ordered a pasta and we figured we could share the rest. The appetizer was a cold cuttlefish dish. Strips of tender cuttlefish dressed with an inky vinaigrette. A bit of romaine, frisee, and white onion added color and texture. It was interesting and good, although there was the concern of ink-stained teeth. The soup was a tomato-ey broth with carrots and onion bits and flavored with chunks of sausage. Nothing special although the sausage spices did give it a bit more complexity than the usual cheap bowl of soup. Couldn't exactly share soup, so they comp-ed the GF a bowl of soup to keep the pace of the meal balanced, which was a real classy move. They also sent out a mini-scoop of peach granita before the main. The bit of icy sugar water hardly cost them anything, but the unexpected amusé was a good palate-cleanser before the entree and gave the service a high-end touch. Props to whoever designed the meal service.
GF had the seafood linguine in spicy tomato sauce. The sauce was a touch sweet for my tastes, but it wasn't overwhelming and in fact was quite balanced with the other flavors. The "spicy" was mild but no need to burn up the taste buds for a Sunday lunch. I had the snapper-wrapped scallops in caviar cream sauce. An impressive presentation of a stack of two fat scallops, each wrapped with thin filet of snapper with just a bit of skin on for color. Tender baby asparagus for scaffolding and greenage, all sitting on a white wine cream sauce. Dabs of red and black mini-caviar provided dramatic contrast to the mostly white dish. The seafood was fresh and well-cooked, the sauce was rich and the tiny fish eggs were little bursts of briny saltiness to punch it up a bit. Only oversight was that the serving dish wasn't pre-warmed, so the rich sauce cooled off quickly and congealed a bit by the end.
The dessert was suppose to be a brownie, but it ended up being a crepe roll filled with pastry cream. That was fine with me, although all that cream scared off the GF a bit. So we were all done with our fine meal, then we had to wait... and wait... even though it was getting later in the afternoon and lunchers were al well on their way out. I should've gotten rude with the waitstaff a lot earlier. Stupid me for expecting reasonable service around here, I guess. Nevertheless, despite parting on bad terms, the restaurant is a success in almost every other way, and we'll give it another chance sometime.
The Villa Herbs Restaurant
#32 Lane 11 Leli Rd., Taipei
台北市大安區樂利路11巷32號1樓
02-27323255
