January 19, 2009
長谷川先生的家
We always together with wife's younger cousins to celebrate the big school holidays. The kids love American-style burger-and-fries. The workin' folks prefer a posh restaurant, preferably in the fashionable streets of east-Taipei. Nowadays there are plenty of places which can satisfy both requirements, as fancy-burger restaurants seems to be the latest fad.
This particular spot went with the quiet-elegance approach. You know it's a low-key place when the Help Wanted sign is bigger than the store's name sign. The restaurant and its large picture windows are obscured behind an artfully overgrown garden and patio, topped off with a red telephone booth. They endeavored to make the inside like a cozy home, with thick wood dining tables and lots of bookshelves filled with random items and mirrors on the walls. Sitting around the long table it felt as if we were in the dining room of a well-appointed European home, which is certainly a unique atmosphere for these parts.
Invited David along with us for this occasion, and he went straight for the deluxe signature-burger.
You get an extra fried egg and onion rings on top of the standard bacon-cheeseburger, which is like an Aussie or Kiwi thing, I think. Unfortunately the beer was stupid expensive, so he only had a couple of small-bottle Heinekens and I demurred altogether. The Oreo milkshakes were good, though, fresh hand-made and all.
As for me I had the straight-up bacon-cheeseburger. All the elements were certainly in place. Lots of fresh veggies and good crunchy bacon on a fresh-baked bun. But where's the beef? Although I'm sure the beef is as high-quality as the rest of the ingredients, the Mickey-D-sized patty seemed to get lost a bit within all the trimmings. The Diner is still the winner, far as patty mass goes.
A good time was had by all, although the location seemed more appropriate for a date than a boisterous gathering, apparent by the fashionable couples occupying the other tables. Maybe we'll have to come by ourselves the next time. But boy there sure are lots of other burger places still left to sample.
長谷川先生的家
光復南路240巷45號
02-27415880