Up For A Feed

Why would anyone make a toilet themed restaurant? More to the point, why did I go to such a place? Curiosity, curiosity got the better of me. At Modern Toilet you are seated on a toilet, the table is a bath with a piece of glass on top, food is served in mini urinal looking plates, bowls look like toilets and many other bathroom inspired items. The idea must have caught on in Taiwan as Modern Toilet has many different branches all over the country.

The food was OK, nothing special, average pasta served with some soup with ice cream for dessert. Despite the average food, I had an enjoyable meal here because the whole place had a very fun vibe. Looking around you could see people laughing as there food was presented to them and I found myself doing the same.

Certainly an interesting place , check it out…

Out the front

Soup

German sausage spaghetti with tomato sauce $240 New Taiwan Dollars  ($8 AUD)  served in sink style plate , including soup and ice cream.

Seafood with cream sauce spaghetti

Ice cream

People seated on toilets

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Some pics around Taipei

Bikes

Modern Toilet -  Xiamen Taipei

http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/

I was intending to go to Joel Robuchon’s 3 Michelin star L’Atelier for a late dinner. I did not have a booking  but it was 9pm on a  Tuesday night so I thought I would go see.  Luckily there was space but I was told the kitchen would be closing in 30 minutes. Knowing this I elected to jump straight to the desserts.

Bread basket complementary –  A selection of breads white , sourdough, mini croissant   plus a few others accompanied by some really nice butter. I think I tried one of each of them , all were very good.

La Sphere - Raspberry mousse in sugar ball with rose cream custard and grapefruit sorbet $160 HKD ($21 AUD)

This desert was so beautiful to look at everything looked so delicate and well constructed it seemed a shame to break it all up but it had to be done. The sugar ball was so thin just tapping it broke the shell revealing the sorbet inside.  I really did taste as good as it looks, all the different flavours worked well together with nothing being overpowering or too sweet.

Chocolate ball $160 HKD –  this came out as a whole ball and when it was placed in front of me the waiter pored some hot syrup over it melting the chocolate into how you see it here.

Cappuccino $48 HKD ($6 AUD) – very good strong coffee that came with some caramel syrup

Snail shells, rocks the odd leaf and fake grass inside the glass on the bar

The counter dining area

Chefs hard at work – view from the bar

Impressive wine cellar

I had high expectations and L’Atelier certainly lived up to them going by the small sampling I had.  The service was excellent all the waiters were knowledgeable, friendly and not pretentious at all.  All the food/deserts were exceptional with so much attention to detail put into every dish.  Next time I am in Hong Kong I will certainly go back to L’Atelier for the full tasting menu.

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Hong Kong

Shop 315 & 401, The Landmark

www.robuchon.hk

I wanted to check out  Din Tai Fung and see how it compared to the Sydney outlets.  I had just arrived in Taiwan , in my hotel room and I look out the window and see Taipei 101. Knowing there was a Din Tai Fung there I headed there for dinner. They also have many other locations around Taipei too and I later found one just down the road of where I was staying.

Taipei 101 has a shopping mall at the bottom floors very much like Sydney tower and Westfields, off to the side of the food court is Din Tai Fung. Like Sydney there is a large gathering of people out the front waiting to get in. I line up get a number and wait to see my number on the screen. You are also given a menu and order form. The menu is in English and Chinese but the form is in Chinese only. The menu is all numbered so is the order form so for non Chinese readers like me you just have to look up what you want in the menu and then mark the number of it on the menu.

Even on a what looked like a busy Friday night I didn’t have to wait too long, only about 10 minutes, then within minutes of sitting down the food was on the table.

Out the front of the restaurant

Menu – Dimpling Man

Dumplings

Xiao Long Bao 

Xiao Long Bao Ready To Eat

Beans with minced pork

Pork chop fried rice

Steamed Pork buns 

Inside the Pork bun 

So to compare to Sydney the main two differences are price and service. All this food you see here cost about $20 AUD!. Yes it’s a big busy restaurant but all the staff were all very friendly and helpful  in stark contrast to Sydney where it seems like the staff  just are there for herding people in and out. Going from memory of what the Sydney store’s dishes taste like, I could not taste any difference. Same recipe, same taste. There were some subtle differences but I think that is just the taste from the local ingredients coming through in the dishes.

Din Tai Fung – Taipei 101 Mall