Taipei: Buffet Madness with Family - Day 1 (Pt. 1)

After arriving in TPE at 10pm, then out until 4am, I was surprised that I was able to wake up at 9am, and leave from Diana's place to 新光三越 Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A11 Store for a Sunday lunch with my mom's side of the family. Jet lag didn't hit me hit so I was ready to feast!

I haven't seen that side of the family for over 8 years so imagine how surprised I was when I found out one of my cousin is already a freshman attending college! The last time I saw her she was just starting middle school. Seeing her and the new baby cousin made me feel super old... But of course, what better way to rekindle and catch up than pigging out at a top notch Japanese buffet?

My aunt decided on 欣葉 Shin Yeh, which is one of my favorite buffets anywhere! High quality Japanese food with few items changed to suit a Taiwanese's palate, but for the most part, fairly authentic Japanese items. It's pricey, at $750 NT, even for US's standards but it's definitely worth it! There's several locations but they chose the A11 since it was closer to the bus transfer station.

欣葉日式自助料理 Shin Yeh Japanese Buffet

台北市松壽路11號5樓

新光三越信義店A11館

SongShou Road #11 5F, Taipei City

ShinYi Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A11

Shin Yeh Japanese Buffet!

The drinks station. They have espresso machine, juices, Calpico, cocktails, and even all the beer you want!

Sashimi and cold item section.

Hot food section. My favorite part of the buffet.

Selection of fruits.

This station is a little bit more random, with a variety of salads, steamed items, noodles, and rice.

One of Shin Yeh's most popular item, huge tempura shrimp!

Grilled chicken wings. Lighting seasoned.

Kama, aka fish collar! Nothing crazy like salmon or hamachi fish collar but for a buffet, this is awesome! I don't know what fish it is but I never turn away from a fatty piece of fish collar :D

The wings are prefect with a little bit of white pepper salt.

The fish collar. Grilled with only salt so again, perfect with a bit of white pepper! I think I must've ate 10 of these. They are pretty small :P

Some type of grilled fish. My aunt told me the fish is pretty expensive in Taiwan. No clue what it is but I'm guessing it is 竹魚, which is Japanese horsemackerel.

Unlimited sashimi! Tuna, salmon, swordfish, whitefish!

More sashimi! This time with smoked shark!

The always popular shrimp tempura. It's the combination of huge fresh shrimp with prefect flaky tempura batter, and always fresh-fried.

Chicken cartilage! Weird to some people cause they can't stand the soft and crunchy texture but I love it!

Duck fried rice? Yes.

Started out with a coke cause I was craving it for some reason :P All sodas come in tiny bottles!

Cold soba noodles.

Fried rice and udon.

This is the "healthy living" section with healthy tea pot & steamed egg.

Pork sukiyaki! There's a huge controversy with beef right now due to politicians being stupid so there's essentially no beef on the menu right now.

Salmon roe handroll and shrimp hand roll. I like how the salmon roe handroll is not stuffed with rice. The shrimp handroll is my favorite out of the two cabbage, shrimp, bonito flakes, peanut powder, and a little of Japanese mayo!

Salmon belly miso soup. Miso + seafood is so simple but so good.

Some Calpico to wash it all down!

Now, this is the "healthy" tea pot.

What is it? Well it is essentially just water boiled with some ingredients that are good for you body.

Clams, shrimp, chicken, ginger etc. It 's all about the essence and the flavor.

Steamed egg. So smooooth. Japanese's steamed egg is the best.

Ham carving station. Again, this used to be roast beef or something but Taiwanese people are freaking out about beef because US beef is added with leanness enhancing additives. Meh... been eating beef all my life...

Popular flavors of vinegar drinks! For awhile, flavored vinegar was extremely popular in Taiwan because, well, vinegar is good for you! Looks like people still love it. Personally, I can only take 1 or 2.

For desserts, I started out with red bean soup with hot 湯圓 tang yuan and boba. Japanese buffet offering boba as a topping? Taiwan's buffet is awesome.

Chocolate fountain! I'm sure this is better than the crap Golden Corral serves.

More Asian sweets & pastries.

Ended up with chocolate-covered marshmallow, chocolate-covered tomato, mochi, creme-filled bread, and sesame ball.

Chocolate-covered marshmallow & tomato. I admit, I'm not a good chocolatier :P

Creme-filled bread. Soft spongy bread that's filled with vanilla creme.

Mochi dusted with peanut powder and sesame ball. More traditional items.

Went for more and got creme brulee with a cup of cappucino!

Now... for some reason the milk in Asia always have a much stronger milky flavor so any items that have dairy in it, you get a more flagrant, milky flavor out of it. This creme brulee was so rich, thanks to the milk!

I had to save some room for the fruits!

Guava and passionfruit. The green guava is my favorite fruit! None of these in the US so I always eat as much as I can.

蓮霧 lian wu and starfruit! Again, two fruits that I can't find in the States! Lian wu is also called wax apple, and another one of my favorites.

Decided to end the meal with something cold! It used to be Haagen Daaz but I don't think it is anymore.

Went for the mango and red bean. For the mango, if you've had any Asian mango-flavored candy, you'll know that the flavor is very different from any Western flavored mango food items.

Even though I've been to Shin Yeh several times, I really tried to try everything at least once this time around, so by the end... I was stuffed beyond belief. Funny thing was I didn't even realize I ate that much because I was talking to my relatives for the majority of the meal and not paying attention to exactly how much I've ate.

Taipei: Hectic 4-Day Trip - Night 1

Exactly 2 week ago, I left for Taipei on the annual work trip that happens every March. Originally I didn't want to go since the dates were so close to a trip I had already planned with a few friends to New York, which meant that if I did go to Taipei, it would only be a 4-5 days trip. Combine that with jet lag, the fatigue of travel, and taking so much time away from the office, I was hesitant. Being jet lag would suck, especially if I will be traveling back to the West Coast then off to the East Coast on a red eye flight!

However, it just so happens the dates fall perfectly on Diana Cheng's birthday! Since I haven't seen Diana since she moved to Taipei trying to get her ID, I figured I might as well take advantage of this trip! Plus... I didn't get to go on the work trip to the Far East last October so decided to go on this work trip. I planned my trip so that I would leave on 3/9, arrive in Taipei 3/10 at night, do what I gotta do, then fly back on 3/14 TPE time, and arriving on 3/14 at night US time, which would give me a little over 4 days. I would then sleep one night, head to work, then take off to NY on 3/15 on a red eye flight. Before I left I was definitely preparing myself for the onslaught of jet lag and the abuse my body would take from eating & drinking :P

Oh also, this trip is my first time using the newly acquired Panasonic Lumix LX-5 so some pictures may turn out crappy =/

The familiar VIP lounge at LAX. China Airline does not have their own lounge at LAX and shares the lounge with several airlines.

Packaged snacks.

Some small sandwiches.

Pastries.

Of course, the usual cup ramen.

Free alcohol!

I knew I was gonna eat on the flight so only got few things. I also wanted to schedule out my sleeping time carefully so once I arrive in TPE at night, I won't be too tired to go out for Diana's event, so I didn't take advantage of the free alcohol :P

Shin Ramen. Just using the oolong tea bag as weight to cover the top! I actually took a few of the tea they had there and turns out they were Ten Ren Tea. Not bad.

China Airline's business class. The plane that I was on did not upgrade to the new business class products yet, so all the chairs and entertainment system was older. China Airline's really not known for the first class & business products, but service is always good.

Crappy resolution TV screen.

Free slippers.

Appetizers! Fried fish cake with beef pastry.

Fish cake was whatevers but beef roll was pretty good!

Hint of cumin and various spices!

Small glass of sauvignon blanc.

Cold plates. I like how they serve one course at a time.

Smoked Salmon Terrine plate.

Lightly smoked salmon.

Salad with lemon vinaigrette dressing.

Garlic bread! I love China Airline's garlic bread. I always get at least 3-4.

For entree, I went with the Teriyaki Salmon. I've learned over the years not to get any red meat. It's always overcooked! The salmon was actually pretty good! A little too buttery but teriyaki sauce was salty and sweet.

Fruit plate after the meal. (Had to shut the windows cause the light was just coming straight into our eyes).

For dessert, I could've gone with the guava mousse, but went for the Haagen Dazs Vanilla instead :P I love vanilla ice cream. I can eat it all day long haha.

For breakfast, I went with the Taiwanese Congee selection. Again, I've learned over the years never order Western breakfast if it was some sort of omelette. Those omelettes just look way too fake to me.

Pickled Lotus Root and Pork Sung 肉鬆 side dishes. I always ask for more pork sung!

Green Onion Egg "Omelette" and Shrimp & Corn side dishes. These two were meh.

Silk Thread Roll 銀絲卷, which is a type of steamed bun. Usually it is plain, with a little bit of green onion inside. The cool thing is that the dough is rolled out then they fold it into this shape before steaming it. Was expecting it to be hard but not bad for a bun on a plane.

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My flight was actually delayed by an hour so once I got to Taoyuan International Airport at 9:30pm, I seriously hauled ass to get to Diana's place in Yonghe, New Taipei City, which is across a river from Taipei. Since I was going out right when I landed, I didn't want to bother my relatives so I crashed at Diana's. When I finally got to her place at around 11pm, I changed in 5 minutes then we took a cab to ShinYi District and headed to a lounge called Stream!

It's a nice lounge that is on the highest floor of a buidling. You get a fairly nice view of Taipei and even though it is not a rooftop bar, there is a patio section. Unfortunately it was raining in Taipei and quite cold for the duration I was there (around 45-60 F) so it was not as enjoyable as it could've been. I also forgot my camera since I was hurrying so I just took a few pics with my iPhone.

Diana's cake! Fancy looking! It is actually a cheesecake.

Since we were ordering Belvedere bottles (yup it was cheaper than Goose), we got some free service: fries, fried mozza, and onion rings. Actually was not bad at all!

Also got a ton of free tequila juice shots thanks to Cyeh and Diana working it hahah. Not much alcohol in it but still, a nice gesture!

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Diana pretty much passed out around sometime between 1-2am so afterwards we all decided to get some food! Here's a huge reason why I love Taiwan: they have freaking beef noodle soup at 2am!!

We went to LingDongFang 林東芳牛肉麵, which is a popular beef noodle spot that serves it until 4-5am! Of course it is mostly the party crowd that is here at this hour, but that's not the reason why it is famous. The beef noodle soup here is legit! Lighter in color and the broth focuses more on the flavor of the beef stock, which is cooked with various herbs as well.

Of course, if you are more used to the 紅燒 braised flavor, you can also add... chili paste!! The paste here is actually oil in its hardened state and someone told me that it is made with beef lard, that's why it can be in that state. Well, whatever it is, the chili paste is amazing!

Afterwards, we took a cab back to Diana's place and honestly, I was still hungry. I planned to eat before I headed out but due to the flight being delayed, I didn't get a chance to and the small size beef noodle soup that I ordered did not fill me up at all! Luckily, right around the corner from Diana's, there is the 樂華夜市 LeHua Nightmarket!

Now at this point, it is around 4am so most of the food stands and vendors closed. However, 肥豬的攤, a famous fried food stand, was still open! The name literally translates to Fat Pig's Stand, so you know they got some good food. This stand has been in business since 1985 and they are actually famous for their special white pepper seasoning that they use!

Variety of items that can be fried, including chicken, veggies, tempura, and sausages. There's also more unconventional items like seafood, chicken butt, and even chicken skin! (Hands not stable since still feeling the alcohol haha)

I ended up ordering the fried string beans and popcorn chicken! GAH! I'm so mad that I didn't take the time to actually take a good picture since it was boooomb. The white pepper seasoning really was good, especially with the chicken! Fried food at 4am is what exactly what I want in Taiwan :P

All the milk tea spots were closed by this hour so Diana went to 7-11 and got me a 午後の茶奶茶 Afternoon Tea Milk Tea! 7-11 is the best haha.

Now that I think back on it, it was a pretty hectic first night! Good thing I planned out my sleeping schedule on the flight so I'd have enough energy to stay up and still be tired enough to fall asleep. Also got to eat a few things on my must-eat list! Beef noodle soup? Check. Popcorn chicken? Check!

Pictures

Fine-tuned the template a bit so it will allow 800px photos rather than only allowing 500px. We'll see how it goes :P