Zhongshan District, Taipei City｜Taïrroir

What is memory? The heavily umami-flavored instant noodle snack (科學麵), overcooked herbal-fragrant tea eggs (茶葉蛋), and sauce-covered cornstarch-thickened oyster omelet (蚵仔煎), were the frequent snacks I used to have as a common Taiwanese kid. Decades later, being through college, grad school, and couple of decent jobs, I can now look back and say “I’ve made it.” With a jaw-dropping beautiful wife and a restless, always-trouble-seeking 1-year-old son (staying home with grandma tonight, thank god), driving a luxury SUV and living in a stylish top floor apartment, this expensive meal is something special to enjoy once in a while with a significant other. It is romantic, memorable, adventurous. It’s a date; it can only be. The hostess greeted me as I exited the elevator. My date had already seated as I searched for a parking spot, which wasn’t exactly easy to find during a Saturday night price time and took me some circling. Entering the dinning area, I was immediately drawn to the elegant but not overstated ceiling design: “bronze.” The see-through glass wall separated the open kitchen, integrating the cooking and the dining without chef’s shoutings and cooking noises. It was quiet, but the gentle western and Taiwan pop song mix in the background lightened our mood. (Imagining Wubai 伍佰 songs played in a French restaurant!). The pace was on time, and the servers are well-trained. We only had to wait for a bit for the main entrees. Now, the food. Simply amazing. It is like watching a movie, so I cannot tell you what and how the dishes were because that will spoil your experience. But, I think you’ll have to be a culturally, not just linguistically, local to fully understand and appreciate. It is not a fusion between fine-dining French cooking and traditional Taiwanese night market snacks; it is a representation, or even a reinterpretation, of Taiwanese street food in French cuisine. It is a memory lane. Bravo! Do visit!

Lovely experience. All dishes beautifully presented, some disapppointing in flavor but was impressed by visible effort and thought that was put into details and dish composition.

Coming in for a lunch. Good services and friendly staffs. The taste of the dishes are very good and the presentations are very nice also. Worth a try if you like fine dining experiences. My overall experience are good here though the price of a set menu is not so friendly. Still, I might come back for a dinner one day to enjoy all the cousins made by the chef.