Taiwan 2009: Gorgeous Scenery - Taroko Gorge, Sun Moon Lake, Alishan Mountain

This entry will be food-lite so I can focus on some of the spectacular scenery in Taiwan.  I was really surprised to discover so much natural beauty in the country and we ended up doing a TON of trekking.

Taroko Gorge: one of Taiwan's prettiest national parks known for the abundant supply of marble and some jade.  The name "Taroko" means magnificent and beautiful. Full Wikipedia article here.

 

 

Fishermen hard at work on a random beach: after they hauled in the catch, we bought some ultra fresh fish.

 Sun Moon Lake:  The color of the water was unreal and we ended up taking a boat around the lake

 

A mochi vendor in one of the nearby towns

A stack of bentos

Pork chop, chicken leg over rice bento with lots of bamboo shoots and greens - yum!

What a stylish little kid

Alishan Mountain: one of my favorite experiences of the trip though we were all freezing, soaked and had to wake up at 3AM to hike up to get a view of the sunrise.  This mountain area contained waterfalls, villages, high-altitude tea plantations and plenty of ancient trees.  Full Wikipedia article here.

 

 It's a golden pig!  See - I'd never let you guys down by not featuring at least a mention of a pig in every post :)

And then as we were driving down the mountain, we came upon this group of monkeys by the side of the road:

And we finally get to the sunrise:

Full photoset can be found on my flickr page.

Taiwan 2009: A day of hot springs and great cuisine at Spring City Resort

There's no better reason to fall in love with Taiwan than for the food.  It seduces you on every corner of every street, in street stalls and tiny restaurants, in the chaotic night market streets. If there were ever a country that treated finding great food as sport, this would be it.  Add to the fact that most things are insanely inexpensive and it makes for a foodie paradise.  In the two weeks I spent roaming through a great deal of the country, one of the most memorable days I had was at a the Spring City Resort hot springs.  They wouldn't let me take pictures of the actual hot spring facilities but I did manage to get a good set on the wonderful meal that took place beforehand.  In this resort, the deal was that you essentially got to use the hot springs for free (if you didn't want to rent a room) if you spent NT $500 on food (~$15USD).  If you didn't eat, you'd have to pay NT $800 for entry to the hot springs, which made no sense at all.  We of course chose to have an enormous meal with 11 people and ended up nearly falling asleep in the hot springs afterwards, but it was worth every bite.

I honestly didn't have very high expectations for the meal but I was really blown away by the quality of the ingredients and sheer deliciousness of all the food that came out.  Here's a sampling:

* $1 USD = ~33 NT

The Hot Springs:

Images courtesy of TripWolf

The Food:

Stir-fried clams with asian basil (NT $280): One of my favorite dishes - I ate so many clams while in Taiwan and I've rediscovered just how much flavor they add to any dish and how much I adore them

Deep-fried shrimp "doughnuts"

 

 Deep-fried shrimps with golden garlic (NT 480)

 

Sauteed milk and egg whites with roe: I have no idea what exactly was in this dish but it wasn't a favorite of mine.  The texture was very mushy with egg white bits and some sort of fish was mixed throughout.

 

Drunken Chicken (NT 280): beautifully prepared; gelatiny, chewy skin (in a good way!), rich wine taste

 

Bamboo and shitake casserole

 

Sauteed string beans with shrimp sauce (NT $240):

Unidentified, delicious mushrooms - do any of you guys know what kind of mushroom this is?

 

Roast chicken with shrimp chips

Sesame pork chops

More Info:

Spring City Resort

Address: No.18 You Ya Rd
Beitou Taipei
Taiwan R.O.C

Heading off to Taiwan and Japan

Hi boys and and girls - just a note to say that I'll be heading off to Taiwan and then Japan for the next few weeks so posts might be a bit sporadic.  I'm going to try to blog from the road though and I think this is going to be an amazing food trip :)  Eating is a bit like a national sport in Taiwan so I'm definitely hoping I'm up to it!  If any of you have any recommendations or places you'd like me to hit and review, post them in the comments and I'll see what I can do.  The most fervent request I've gotten thus far is the Modern Toilet restaurant in Taipei but I'm not really sure I can stomach it - I tend to eat first with my eyes and I'm pretty sure that'd be an awful idea in this particular restaurant.

Modern Toilet cuisine - image courtesy of time.com

Washington, DC in Pictures and Highlights

I spent a weekend in Washington DC with a good friend just in time for the cherry blossoms festival.

The full slideshow:

Food Highlights:

• Founding Farmers: 1924 Pennsylvania Ave. NW (20th/Pennsylvania)
• Jaleo -480 7th Street NW - Spanish, Tapas - a brainchild of my favorite new chef, Jose Andres and really playful and authentic flavors (if not preparations).  Loved seeing him with Bourdain on the Washington DC show on No Reservations

• Ben’s chili bowl: 1213 U St NW (near 12th st) - I had no idea they could cram so much flavor into a single half-smoke (a half beef, half pork hot dog, seared and covered with chili)
• Tabard Inn: 1739 N St (17/18th) - a thoroughly charming brunch location set in a lovely inn.  Get the freshly fried donuts, don't eat too many of the complimentary muffins and also try the eggs benedict with house-made ham
• Busboys and Poets: 2021 14th St (and V) - a spacious, bustling and adorable cafe, spoken word performance houes and bookstore
• Dupont circle farmers' market - great cheeses, pastries, veggies and flowers

Places to hit next time:

• Minibar: 6 seats, 2 seatings a night, food from Jose Andres' crazy imagination and some of the most creative cuisines this side of the world make this spot impossible to get reservations for.  Already planning my next trip to DC if I can ever manage to snag a resy.
• Cafe Atlantico brunch: latin dim sum!
• Madam's Organ (dance – Adams Morgan) 2461 18th Street, NW