Italian Food Anyone?

I have always been a huge fan of Italian food. As a kid growing up in America, I LOVED when they had spaghetti day at the cafeteria (even though it was literally like, canned-food quality). My mom used to take my brother and I to Olive Garden on certain Sundays of the month, where we would order a healthy amount of food, favorites being Eggplant Parmesan, classic spaghetti and meatballs, and of course, lasagna.

After coming to Taiwan, I have been searching constantly for some American-style Italian food. I love Taiwanese food, but sometimes I feel like they tend to sweeten a lot of their recipes (sugar in pizza dough) and lighten the sauces (more watery versions of tomato marinara sauce) in order to cater to the taste buds of the local Taiwanese. I have grown to enjoy the Italian food here, but sometimes, I crave the heavy, cheesy, fatty goodness of the American Italian food.

Anyways, I guess the point of the last two paragraphs was just to demonstrate how rare it is to find an Italian restaurant that serves not-so Taiwanese style Italian food. I was fortunate to have someone take me a really decent Italian place last night.

Welcome to Antico Forno (which means "Old Oven" in Italian)!!

 The entrance to Antico Forno (right next to The Diner)

Right when you enter through the door, you can see the "pizza guy" baking fresh pizzas in a huge oven. It definitely has the novelty of a genuine Italian restaurant, and you know you're getting fresh pizza! The owner is a young guy who used to be a model (you can tell), but he's also very hard-working and has kept this restaurant open for the past 5 years. He's the one pictured below, making the pizzas.

The actual interior decor of the restaurant is quite cozy. Nothing too flashy, but definitely is cozy and comfortable. There are several small tables, suitable for small parties, and also two/three large party tables that can hold large gatherings. If you ever want to get some friends together and have some pizza, family style, this is a good restaurant to choose.

I've never been to Italy, mind you, but I can tell that this restaurant and its chefs really do take a lot of care and detail into the taste of their food. I can't be a judge to tell you if it's traditional Italian, but I can tell you as a person who's eaten A LOT of Italian food, this place makes really decent Italian. 

I came at dinner time, but the owner said that their afternoon tea time menu (pictured below) is worth checking out. You can read the details below if you're interested:

 Honestly, to the tell you the truth, I don't really know the names of the dishes we ordered, cuz I basically walked in and told my friend, "it's up to you, I eat anything." So he ordered a pizza and a pasta.

Pictured below is the 12" pizza we ordered. I believe it was called the Pine Nut Pizza, or something along those lines (sorry guys, I didn't even look at the menu, but in Chinese it's 松露帕切達） It had pine nuts, ham, and mushrooms, baked on top of a medium layer of cheese, and chewy dough. It was divine. You have the choice of choosing pizzas at 8" or 12".

The pasta was just as delicious as the pizza. We ordered the "Napoleon Tomato Pasta" which consisted of noodles that were cooked al dente (just right, not too hard, not too chewy), fresh cherry tomatoes, fresh tomato sauce, sprinkled with powdered cheese and the taste of something truffle-y, and egg white on top. I'm not quite sure what the "truffle" tasting component was, but it added an extra dimension of pleasantness to the noodles. I really enjoyed this pasta as well. I would also recommend using their hot oil to sprinkle on the food, if you are into that sorta thing. The spice of the fresh chili really blended well with the food. I'm telling you, the owner really takes his food seriously!~

All in all, I highly recommend "Antico Forno" to everyone who has a liking to Italian food. It's tasty, savory, and made with care. The staff is friendly, and honestly, it's really nice to see a young boss who really knows what he's doing. You can tell he really takes his profession seriously, which is highly reflective in his food. Also, if you're an ABC or expat or foreign student living in Taipei and are looking for a more "heavy" tasting Italian restaurant amongst the other Taiwanese-style Italian places, you should definitely considering having a meal here. 

Antico Forno

MRT: Da An Forest Park MRT 大安森林公園 (about 20 minute walk south east of station)

Address: 106台北市大安區瑞安街141號 

Taipei City, Da An District, Ruei An Street, No. 141

Phone: 02 2706 3322

Price: 300-600 range per dish

Hours: Weekdays 11:00-15:00/ 17:30-22:00

Weekends: 11:00-22:00

Rating: ********* 1/2 (9.5)

Nice service, savory Italian food, decent price

豐盛食堂 “Feng Sheng Shi Tang” + Toasteria

 So, the first restaurant I want to introduce to you all is called "豐盛食堂" which literally translates to "Rich Food Heaven". It is located near the Dongmen 東門 MRT station， a street away from the infamous Yong Kang Street. After about a 5 minute walk from Dongmen Exit 5, you will reach this pleasant, local restaurant, which serves very local Taiwanese-style foods. If you're looking to try something more local and also scrumptious, "豐盛食堂” is very much well worth a visit。 My favorites include the Pork fat dish and the Salty Egg Bamboo.

 They have a big menu, which is also not too heavily priced. The three of us enjoyed 5 dishes and it was plenty of food! Very satisfying meal! The place can get quite busy during dinner time, so be prepared to wait a bit if you didn't reserve a table!

豐盛食堂

MRT： Dongmen Exit 5

Address：台北市麗水街1之3號 （LiShui Road，No. 1-3, Taipei City）

(off XinYi Road, Sec. 2 )

Telephone Number: 02-2396-1133

Hours: 11:30-14:00/17:00-21:00

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So, my good friend, Andersen (pictured right) is the one who introduced us to the “Rich Food Heaven". He has really good taste, especially when it comes to food. Whenever we meet up, I know I won't be disappointed. After our dinner at 豐盛食堂， we walked a few steps towards YongKang Street and approached a charming little tea house called Tea Room (it is literally the size of the room). The decor was very colorful and attractive, but a tad bit small so big crowds might not be suitable. After having such a large dinner, it was nice to relax and chat over some light tea.

My brother, looking sassy as usual

I love the colors in the tea house.

This is the address, telephone number, and website for the teahouse. The tea was not the cheapest, but the taste was definitely well-worth the price. You can tell they use finer quality tea than most tea houses. 

I had the 貴妃蜜香茶 ”Eldest Concubine Honey Tea“ (gotta love that name)

It actually wasn't sweet at all, but the natural taste of the tea was surprisingly good! 

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So, stepping away from Yong Kang Street, I wanted to take time to introduce another restaurant that I quite enjoyed: Toasteria Cafe!

Obviously, Toasteria's specialty is it's wide assortment of toast-infused dishes. A lot of the food is really, really good. I have always heard good things about this cafe, and really enjoyed my visit there....well....mostly.

 (you can check the website for its dishes and address info) There is more than one Toasteria in Taipei. My friend, Chika and I went to the one in Zhongxiao Dunhua, right beside Honey Creme ice cream shop. I like how they advertise themselves as a restaurant with "only the good stuff", so none of that organic, low-fat, diet crap. "No diet coke, no skim milk, no low fat cheese!!" It's bold, but you come here to enjoy food is basically what it's trying to say!

So, Chika and I like to think of ourselves as "adventurous eaters". We're pretty much open to anything. So when it came down to choosing an appetizer, we saw one that seemed very different and intriguing. The "Mama's Chicken Liver Pate"

We thought it would be a good idea to order it....

*it definitely looks presentable*

Basically, chicken liver covered in juicy cranberry sauce and dried cranberries and some shaved nuts, surrounded by a helpful serving of thin toast

Look how excited Chika is to try something new and exciting!!!!.....

 and..........not......so..........

good.......

Look at how fast her face changes! ahha! That's really the reaction both of us had once we lathered up our toast with the grayish chicken liver. We both looked up at each other in confusion. I have had chicken liver before and really liked it, but this dish really killed it for me. I've never had food that I couldn't finish, but Mama obviously doesn't love her children that much to be serving that to them. Chika and I both agreed that the chicken liver smelled a lot like a wet dog, who hadn't taken a bath in 4 weeks. We didn't even finish it, even though we both hate wasting food. We realized why they added cranberries to the chicken liver; they were hoping it would be enough to cover the taste and smell of wet dog, but unfortunately even the taste of the tangy fruit couldn't help. I think we just were unfortunate to choose the least ugly sister of the Toasteria menu because everything else on that we ordered was really really good. I'm not eating chicken liver again, for a very, very long time.

I ordered the MED Eggplant toast, while Chika got the Three Cheese Toast. They were both divine and healthy portions. 

Each toast order is served with a side of assorted pickles.

So all in all, I really recommend Toasteria. The price of the restaurant's dishes are very fair, and there are a lot of dishes that sounded really good that I hope to try in the near future. Just one thing's for sure....no more chicken liver. Bahhh!!!

"No more chicken liver for me!"- Chika

Toasteria Cafe

Address: No. 3, Lane 169, Sec. 1 Dunhua South

MRT: Zhongxiao Dunhua (7 minute walk from Exit 1 or 8)

Phone: 02-2752-0033

Website: http://www.toasteriacafe.com

STEPHEN'S SCORES!!! (out of 10)

豐盛食堂： ********* (9)    Really good local, Taiwanese food! Fast service (not really friendly), and moderate prices. 

Taipei Tea Room: ******* (7)    Pleasant tea experience. Nice, cozy, and colorful atmosphere

Toasteria: *******1/2 (7.5) Despite the chicken liver, still highly recommended. A lot of selections to choose from, so something for everyone. The main entrees are delightful. Wish they added fries to the entrees though. One entree might not be enough to fill guys with bigger appetites.