The Traveling Hungryboy

Taipei's Zhongshan district is home to several Michelin-starred restaurants in Taipei like RAW and Tairroir. But I can never get a reservation at those places, and it's not often that I'm up in that area during evenings either. Yet today I finished a meeting nearby at around noon, so I figured that I might as well try to score a walk-in to either of the aforementioned venues. Sadly, I had no such luck. So I quickly looked up the next closest Michelin-listed place, and it was these guys at the Grand Victoria Hotel (168 Jingye 4th Road 4F, 6602-5678).

To be clear, they don't have stars yet, and they are not even a Bib Gourmand. It was just a mere l'assiette plate listing in the guide. But I can see why Michelin listed them: the quality of the ingredients used was excellent (much better than Wildwood last night, who disappointingly brought out a dessert whose mango was tasteless). The service was attentive too. But the beech ovens didn't really impart much flavor to the food, and it wasn't cheap either. I definitely won't pay those prices again.

from The Traveling Hungryboy http://bit.ly/314kI6K
No 168 Prime Steakhouse in Taipei's Zhongshan District-The Traveling Hungryboy