吃飯了嗎？

Rome, Part 2

Armando al Pantheon

Heard good things about this place on the Fodors and Chowhound boards, which is usually a safe endorsement. We huddled under the roof of the Pantheon to stay out of the cold drizzle until we saw the lights turn on at 7pm. Gave them another 15 minutes to set up before dashing over. We were cold, hungry, and desperate for a bathroom so didn't care that we were unfashionably early for an Italian dinner. That ended up being a good thing as we were able to snatch up a table before the tiny restaurant filled up with tourists and locals (we ended up sharing our table with an American mother-son couple).

The salumi antipasto plate ended up being quite a big portion of salty, spicy, fatty meat for me as the SO didn't care for the cured flavor. A half-bottle of Sangiovese and plenty of bread helped to moderate the strong flavors. It sure ain't your typical grocery store lunch meat. Spaghetti carbonara was simple and good, although the egg-sauce got a bit gooey as it cooled. Noted that the ideal Italian al dente pasta is a bit rawer than what we're used to.

GF had the Chicken in White Wine. Simple description of a simple but authentically Roman dish. Browned chicken with a wine reduction sauce. Good flavor although it's impossible for the entire chicken thigh to be thoroughly cooked without the thin bits ending up a bit dry. I had the osso bucco with peas and mushroom gravy. Definitely hearty down-home food. The meat is fork-tender and the bit of marrow in the bone caps off the rich meal. Also had the chicory veggie sauteed in olive oil and garlic. The slightly bitter, fibrous chicory was a good complement flavor and texture-wise to the rich entrees.

Enoteca Cul de Sac

After another long day of walking the cobbled lanes of Rome we were tired and looking for a place to sit down and have something to eat at a normal hour instead of waiting 'til the Italian dinnertime. The oldest wine bar in Rome seemed like the perfect place for a pick-me-up.

The bar sits in a piazza between Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. Befitting the name, the space itself is a narrow lane barely wide enough for two rows of tables. The wine bottle sat in long shelves above our heads and the waiters came around occasionally with long retrievers to snatch a bottle. As expected, the wine list is a massive tome, and there's a casual menu of pastas and antipasti to go with the wine. It was mostly filled by tourists, but then it was early, plus even the tourists were a cosmopolitan bunch so it was still plenty interesting to look around. Unfortunately we're just not up to a full bottle for ourselves, so it was a glass of red Nobilo for me, and a glass of prosecco for her. I had a plate of assorted salumi to go with the red wine, and SO had a bowl of hearty onion soup to drive away the blustery day.

Armando al Pantheon
Salita Dei Crescenzi, 31
06.68803034

Enoteca Cul de Sac
Piazza Pasquino, 73
+39 6 6880 1094

Rome, Part 1

The grocery store and open-air markets were filled with cured meats and all sorts of cheeses.

Italians leave work, then hit the local bar for a drink and snack before dinner, which is why restaurants don't even bother to open until almost 8pm. Wanted to check out Caffe Greco right on Via Condotti and paid dearly for the privilege (that's a 12-euro Campari aperitif, folks). We skipped the afternoon bar breaks from then on.

Ristorante alla Rampa near the Spanish steps was a bit made-up for the tourists but it was close to our hotel and a bit of extra atmosphere ain't a bad thing for our first meal in Rome. The gray-haired waiters who've obviously been doing the job for a million years added to the environment and transacted smoothly in English. SO had the spaghetti pomodoro and I had the veal scappoline. Not brilliant but plenty good enough. Unfortunately we missed out on the famous antipasto bar but we weren't really that hungry.

We were wandering around Termini station looking for a place to eat. Pastarito was obviously a chain but it was clean and neat, a rather rare trait near the central station, and offered plenty of choices foodwise. Nothing fancy and not high-end, but the bruschetta had plenty of tasty topping on freshly charred italian bread. They delivered the pizza quatro stagione in one big pie and it was a bit of a pain to slice it with our butter-knives to share but we managed.

Ristorante alla Rampa
Piazza Mignanelli, 18
+39 06 678 2621

Caffe Greco
Via Condotti, 84
+39 6 679 1700

Pastarito Pizzarito
Via Gioberti, 25/35
+39 06 4882252

Pearl Liang 漂亮, Taipei Grand Hyatt

The help lady went home for Chinese New Year so the uncles pitched in to take everyone out to eat so mom wouldn't have to cook. The Hyatt is close to home so grandma wouldn't have to spend too long in a car. Just had our engagement banquet at the Hyatt earlier in the week, but that was catered by the other Shanghai-style restaurant. Unfortunately I was a bit busy at the time and forgot to retrieve the menu for the engagement banquet so no review of that I'm afraid.

The rooms are dramatically lit in the Western style (i.e. dim), with old B&W photos of the old China for decoration. The sliding door became an invisible feature once it slid closed, making the room into a decorated cocoon and confusing one of the cousins as he tried to find his way out to the bathroom.

First came a few plates of appetizers. Mostly standard fare that we've all had elesewhere, but in big platefuls and all superbly executed with good materials and wonderful flavor. Give me a bowl of white rice and I would've been happy to stuff myself on just these "starters."

• Oil-cooked bamboo shoots: Very homey with a richer flavor probably because restaurants can use oil while we've changed to using broth at home.
• Marinated cucumber: Crunchy and green, with some chili sprinkles for a kick
• Roasted bitter melon: Only became brave enough to eat these recently but I certainly didn't mind the small taste I had. The soy-roasting took away some of the bitter edge and provided enough additional flavors to let the bitterness complement rather than overwhelm.
• Stir-fried eggplant: Surface was fried/wok-fried until the interior side was charred but preserving the gorgeous purple color on the skin side. The standard flavoring done well, which was just fine with me on a personal fave dish.
• Roasted green hot peppers: Would've gone great with some congee in the morning. Green medium-hot peppers seeded and de-veined then fire-roasted until the skin is blistered.
• Rice flour skin-pasta in sesame sauce: Duck shreds on top for some meatiness. Good texture but I would've liked more seasme flavor, I think.
• Crunchy fishies: Fried then tossed with chilis and scallion bits. Another dish that would be a perfect complement a simple white-rice meal, or as a drinking snack.

Mains were mostly standard Cantonese-style banquet-fare.

• Clear shark-fin chicken soup: Not thickened like the usual shark-fin soups where they want richness. Here was just a clear chicken-broth with chunks of with a piece of meat and a slice of ham to remind you that even though the soup may appear to be clear and simple, a lot of good stuff still went into it. Sure tasted that way.
• Scallops and black abalone with asparagus: The seafood was high-quality and fresh-tasting, of course, but the sauteed asparagus was just as good as its pricier companions. Perfectly crunchy with that unique asparagus flavor.
• Lobster meat in uni-flavored eggwhite sauce: The sauce was totally goopy and didn't taste too much of the sea-urchin. The lobster meat itself was nicely done, though, if you didn't infect it with too much of the sauce, and the salt&pepper fried lobster shell chunks around the plate made for some flavorful but pointless gnawing.
• Soy-roasted mussels and sea cucumber: The sea cucumber is the smaller, more expensive kind, which is appreciated. The long, slow soy-roasting also infused it with a lot of flavor, which is hard to replicate at home. The mussels were totally destroyed by that cooking process, but then they're not the star of the dish.
• Fresh-steamed rock cod with squid 魷魚: Gotta have the whole fish for a Chinese New Year banquet, and the squid shreds on top added an interesting texture, not to mention an awful pun. But the steamed fish wasn't quite as perfectly done as the Cantonese masters in HK or even LA, with bits running to driness.
• Crab egg-foo-yong made with real crab meat and roe on sauteed large pea shoots: Everyone was way too full at this point to eat more than a bite or two. Would've been a great veggie course otherwise, if you discount the cholesterol-filled goodness of the crab roe.
• Home-style 湯圓 mini-dumplings: Totally tasted like home-made, with the broth strongly flavored with fried-onion-bits, but the restaurant broth tasted like it had more depth. The dumplings weren't as chewy and soft as we usually do at home, and everyone made sure to tell grandma that the way she cooks them is way better.

Desserts at Chinese restaurants usually don't rate more than a sentence's worth. However the foreigner-oriented service is actually a good thing for the Hyatt here as they brought out as rich a dessert selection as the appetizers and the mains, also served family-style which adds a nice Asian touch.

• Fresh fruits: A variety of fruits sliced and presented in the bowls. The fruits were all high-quality and sweet/flavorful enough to stand up to the full desserts.
• Lemon sorbet: One scoop of Haagen-Daaz per person. The icy acidity is refreshing after the rich meal, and not even Chinese desser-haters can complain that it tastes too sweet.
• Vanilla and chocolate cakes with fresh whipped-cream and poached pears in vanilla sauce: Found the cakes a bit dry. Felt a bit mailed-in to satisfy the Western palate.
• Black-sesame 奶烙 milk pudding: Sesame in dessert is definitely a very Asian thing. The finely ground black-sesame looked interesting and tasted good, but the slightly sandy texture took away from the smoothness of the pudding.
• Caramelized pineapple rings in vanilla sauce: The thick-cut pineapple ring was cooked (pan-fried/flambeed?) to darken the outside and bring out the sweetness but preserve the freshness of the fruit within. Pineapple is very sweet and flavorful but had enough zing to keep it from being cloying. Very tropical and very good.

Thankfully I didn't have to pay as I probably would've fainted in shock if I got even a whiff of the bill. But one fo the uncles had a membership card which got us a 25% discount, which I'm sure only took the cost from rip-off level expensive to rich-but-fair expensive. Anything to make sure mom and grandma have a relaxed and happy Chinese New Year Day, of course.

Pearl Liang Seafood Restaurant
Taipei Grand Hyatt
漂亮中式海鮮餐廳
台北君悅飯店
台北市信義區松壽路2號2樓
02-27201200

Jack's Topia 創意廚房

Noticed that it's been months since we've gone to a memorable restaurant. Now that it's my birthday and Valentine's Day and our imminent engagement it seemed liked an appropriate time to splurge a bit. I had ran into this restaurant before and was intrigued but saw the price tag and balked at the time but bookmarked the page for reference which came in handy now. The room was only half full, surprisingly empty considering it was the last weekend before Valentines, but this type of establishment isn't the type for packed tables and multiple turns anyway, and a quiet room was certainly fine by us.

Only imported bottled water here. As long as we're paying for the fancy H₂O we might as well get the CO₂, too. A slice of lemon brightened up the Pellegrino even more and the waitress was prompt to fill the glasses.

Asked for the winelist and recognized quite a few names from uncle's fancy wine collection. However I wasn't about to pay the 2-3x markups on those already high-priced vintages, and we can't possibly finish a bottle by ourselves anyway. So a glass of the house red (an Australian McWilliams Cabernet Sauvignon) will do. GF had a sip of the house Pinot Grigio and passed. Sticking to the fancy water may have been the right idea in any case as we weren't terribly impressed with the particular single-glass selection.

A couple of thin and crispy poppy-seed cookies came in a glass standing up embedded within a layer of sesame seeds. Nice presentation to demonstrate off-the-bat that it's not just a wannabe Western restaurant.

The triple-play amuse bouche was another pleasant surprise. The Hokkaido scallop had the sweet fresh seafood flavor and the wasabi mayonnaise added color and kick. The morsel of smoked salmon sitting on a rosette of a corn crisp (taste reminded me of a gourmet Frito) was a bit of salt and smoke to perk the appetite. The chunk of potato on a spoon... tasted like potato. They can't all be winners.

Can't help choosing the fois gras appetizer when I saw the choice. There were perhaps more creative choices available. But the fatty richness of the seared duck liver is still seductive, and I could soak up the excess duck fat with the good dinner rolls. The tomato confit was an interesting touch. It was a bit sweet for my tastes although I understand that's the way to go with fois gras.

I had the lotus-root salad while the GF had the cream-of-mushroom cappuccino soup. The salad consisted of the thinnest possible slices of lotus root forming an attractive base layer, with finely chopped frisee and endive sprinkled on top for color, all dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. It's not bad, but I could just imagine mom freaking out if she saw how much we were spending for such a trivial amount of food, even if the materials are imported and organic and all that. The cappuccino soup is also a fun presentation, served in a coffee cup with a thick layer of milk foam on top. GF though the soup was a bit too milky but I thought it was just fine if you didn't suck in all the foam. The foam also helped to keep the soup warm. But the foam and the small cup also meant that there wasn't much more than a few sips of (very tasty) soup.

Had to wait quite a while for our mains as the kitchen was busy handling the table of eight sitting downstairs. From their boisterous conversation GF noted that they were doctors with their wives, the traditional bedrock of Taiwan's upper-middle class. I was fine with the delay since we were moving at a European pace anyway and they've been good at pacing the different courses between my full prix fixe meal and GF's fewer a la carte selections. GF's fish course was two thin filets of white fish pan-seared for crispy skin and moist meat. The fish sat on a mound of shredded cabbage sauteed just enough to bring out the natural sweetness while maintaining the crunch. The plate was attractively dressed with light green olive oil and chunks of red tomato. I was looking forward to a hearty and savory wine-braised beef cheeks, but it was more lukewarm which was a minus. The chunks of meat were spot-on in flavor and tenderness, though. The mashed potato was very good too, although I shuddered to think how much butter was added to make it so rich and smooth.

It's officially a fancy meal when you get both petit fours and dessert. The former consisted of a green-tea mini-biscotti, an almond praline, and a truffled white chocolate. I think we both liked the classic praline best. The biscotti was hard (duh) and although the green tea color was nice it didn't bring much macha flavor. We've never tasted the supposedly wondrous fungus that is the truffle, so the earthy, slightly fungal flavor mixed with the white chocolate was distinctive and challenging but not necessarily pleasant. Although it wasn't nominally included with her a-la-carte meal, they comped the GF the tea and candy so she wouldn't have to sit and watch me drink my tea as we shared the dessert. Basic but highly-appreciated bit of service considering it's only some hot water and a few pieces of candy.

The dessert was perfectly made for sharing as we delicately split the four tasty morsels. There were mango and chocolate mousses, a gelatin topped with a blackberry confit, and a bite-sized cream puff stuffed with more chocolate mousse which I got to pop into my mouth as the GF was done. They steamed the milk when I asked for milk to go with tea, which was a nice touch but I burned my mouth when I didn't get the usual cool-down effect from the milk, which just goes to prove I'm an idiot.

All-in-all not cheap, certainly not if you care about quantity at all, but not that expensive either, if one considers a restaurant to be in the service industry instead of a simple feeding station. Too bad we finished our meal late, though, because we could've gone 'cross the street to get a Beijing-style beef da-bing to help fill the GF up.

Jack's Topia Gourmet Restaurant
創意廚房
台北市東豐街38號1樓
02-2325-6561

EVA Air / Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Lounge

It's not too hard to pick up eligibility for the frequent flier 貴賓室 lounges as a couple of trans-Pacific flights will pile up the miles pretty quickly, plus some padding from the Taiwan-Hong Kong commuter runs. This causes EVA's flagship lounge in Taoyuan tend to be overrun with folks like me, to such an extent that they had to open another area for the real Diamond-level, first-class frequent fliers. The Taoyuan food is just your standard steam-table Chinese food anyway. Although the high-mountain Oolong teabags are pretty good, such that mom always swipes a bunch when she passes through and so do I.

It also behooves EVA to have a nice place at HKG since it is a major transit point for their customers. Of course, on their home turf nobody can match Cathay's huge and fancy lounge which takes up half a level by itself. EVA shares their HKIA lounge services with Virgin Atlantic, right off the inter-terminal tram up the escalator near Gate 40. EVA fliers probably get more use out of the space, but the original design is definitely all VA. One see Branson's touch of hip in the decorative elements. The space is just a partitioned off open-area in the upper level, and they took advantage of the airy openness along the outside with pastel mod furniture looking out onto the gates and planes. The interior enclosed with a more plush look with dark wood paneling. And of course the bathroom fixtures are also a few steps up in design compared to the standard institutional fare.

The design may be modern-Euro but the free food is Asian fare. A person comes to you to take the order and brings the the food&drink to you, which is a very nice touch. It's simple food such as won-ton soup, congee, and noodles, but served in nice faux-lacquer or real-porcelain bowls with cloth napkins, albeit with disposable utensils. The portions are closer to snack-size rather than full meals, but that's plenty for a quick bite before the flight. I like the shrimp won-tons with big chunks of shrimp although the broth tastes a bit MSG. There's also forgettable finger sandwiches and mini-pastries set out for self-serve.

There's a nice bar but I haven't been inclined to partake in anything alcoholic. I do like to ask for black tea, though. It's only Lipton yellow-label, but as one might expect from a British company, the tea is served on a sleek porcelain service set. Goes well with the bread pudding from the menu.

The Clubhouse
(Virgin Atlantic and EVA Air)
Hong Kong International Airport
Level 7, escalator near Gate 40