Queuing for Japanese food

It is 5 pm and a fellow foodie runs to my desk and asks if I want to try a popular Japanese place for dinner. How could I resist? Turns out a long queue forms due to it's popularity. The only way to beat the queue was to get there earlier.

Shop front with no queue:


All the food we had were of good quality. I particularly loved the squid as it was cooked to perfection! The other highlight was the miso soup. It had a unique and almost alcohol like taste to it. Go early if you want to avoid queuing.

Everyone had the eel rice / My favorite dish for the night:


Other popular dishes:



More photos at another blog. You can see how long the queue can get!


Shop name (店名): 肥前屋//Féi qián wū

Address (地址):
台北市中山北路一段121巷13-2號1樓
No. 13-2 Zhongshan North Road, Sec. 1, Lane 121, Taipei City
Zhōngshān Běi Lù, yī Duàn, yīèryī Xiàng, shísān Hào Zhī èr, yī Lóu, Táiběi Shì

Telephone (地址): (02) 2562-8701 or 2561-7859 (fax: 2541-1768)
URL (網址): n/a
Menu (菜單): Chinese
Operation Hours (營業時間):
Lunch (午餐): 11:30~14:30
Dinner (晚餐): 17:30~21:00

Japanese food & cakes in Neihu

Tonight I met up with a Taiwanese friend I have not seen for many years. We went down to Neihu (內湖/Nèihú) and tried a Japanese restaurant inside the Grand Victoria Hotel (維多麗亞酒店/Wéi duō lì yà jiǔdiàn).


They have unique seating areas around the restaurant. Have a look at their URL below for more details.

View of the garden and a sample of the private booths:


I had the "fish set" which came with a lot of nice dishes. The best dish was the beef! It was very tender and delicious. The setting is very nice and you can even talk a walk in the garden.

Salad, sashimi & the very tender beef:



Restaurant: Izakaya Japanese Dining (小魚日式居酒屋)

Address (地址):
No. 168 Jing Ye 4th Rd, 4th Floor, Zhongshan District, Taipei City
台北市中山區敬業四路168號4樓
Jìngyè sì Lù, yìliùbā Hào, sì Lóu, Zhōngshān Qū, Táiběi Shì

Telephone (地址): (02) 6602-5678
URL (網址): http://www.grandvictoria.com.tw/en/rest2.php
Menu (菜單): Chinese (English upon request; set menu is only in Chinese)
Operation Hours (營業時間): Refer to URL above.


We then went on to try some cakes. I was told that there are only 2 such shops in Taipei City. One of them is in Neihu. The cakes are nice and my favorite for the night was the lemon cheesecake.

Black forest, lemon cheesecake & a caramel cake:



Restaurant: Yannick

Address (地址):
No. 15, Lane 178, Ruihu Street, Taipei City

Telephone (地址): (02) 2657-4837
URL (網址): http://en.yannick.com.tw/
Menu (菜單): English & Chinese
Operation Hours (營業時間): 9:00 am to 9:00 pm

Japanese Style Pork Cutlet

I had a really nice mid-week (Wednesday) lunch at a Japanese Style Port Cutlet place. I met up with some old colleagues from my old office. Great company and food!

The 1st thing I noticed was how juicy the pork looked:


I took a photo of a mini menu that I kept. The pork appears to be very juicy and it was! I did not bring my camera to the restaurant so have a look at these photos.

The 2nd thing I noticed what that the menu had no English at all. Thus, I had to refer to the photos in the menu and my friends to describe what the options were.

The 3rd thing I noticed was my friends trying to explain the differences between the different pork options. They explained it as some have no oil and others more oil. I believe the explanation was lean versus fat meat. I think in the end the group all ordered the lean meat with white carrot. I did not have my camera and did not get the English translation of the menu item so I do not have much else to share.

The 4th thing I saw was a bowl of sesame seeds and a grinder. Apparently, one can grind their sesame seeds to make a powder like dressing for the rice or other dishes. Very interesting...make your own seasoning.

The last thing I found out was that many people in Taiwan want to learn English. Since I want to learn Chinese I think I will try to come up with a win-win training class where we can all benefit. Now, need time to prepare the English lessons!


Restaurant: 勝博殿(さぼてん)炸豬排/Shèngbódiàn zhàzhūpái

Address (地址):
No. 9, Songshou Rd., 6th floor, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi (新光三越) Xinyi New Life Square A9, Xinyi District, Taipei City
台北市信義區松壽路9號6樓(新光三越百貨A9館)

Telephone (地址): (02) 2725-5829
URL (網址): n/a
Operation Hours (營業時間): n/a

Business card:



Thanks for lunch guys & gal!