There are so many restaurants in the city of Taichung that we could realistically eat out for every meal and never eat at the same restaurant twice over the course of a year (maybe longer) although we would probably be eating the same types of food over and over (dumplings, rice, etc.). Restaurant styles range from traditional US sit-down restaurants with many tables to smaller restaurants with perhaps a table or two to small kiosks that don't have seating and are designed for take-out only. Most restaurants are family owned and are very cheap. However, you can still find expensive restaurants in the area. We try to find a new restaurant every weekend to go to that everyone can enjoy. Andrew and Lilly are fairly picky so we try to find restaurants with the basics (chicken nuggets, french fries, noodles, rice, or sometimes great pancakes like this picture of Lilly at Early Bird Cafe on ZhongMing So. Rd. near Chris' office) even though that is not always possible.
A few weekends ago we drove by a restaurant that looked like it fit our criteria and had a fun atmosphere. Of course, we decided this based on the outside appearance of the building. Appearances can be deceiving! Once inside, it was evident that the dining attire was not casual. After attempting to translate into English what the seating host was trying to tell us, we realized that dinner was by reservation only. We took a business card to make a reservation at a later date and turned to leave. We were about to cross the street to try another restaurant when a woman ran out to tell us that they would go ahead and serve us and set up a table for us. We were seated at a beautiful table with these plush pillows on both of the bench seats.
Scene: An American family of four with shirts and shorts on in a formal restaurant. Both kids are now semi-throwing pillows at each other and parents, parents are frantically trying to discipline while the kids move on to playing with the china plates, nearly dropping them on the floor, causing the locals to stare in disbelief and the parents to want to hide under a rock. Lucky for us, we later learned that restaurants are deemed "great" if children are running around and being loud. There goes our attempts to teach Drew and Lilly restaurant manners!
 |
Steamed Vegetables and Shrimp
|
 |
| Salmon |
We ordered off of a completely Chinese menu using pictures and ended up with a plate of steamed vegetables and shrimp (very tasty!), a plate of semi-raw salmon with thin radish strips (pretty good), and a plate of seafood and crispy couscous that we still have yet to identify. The last plate contained a type of seafood that resembled tad-poles (baby frogs). I was thankful that the first two plates showed up first and that I had eaten enough as I soon lost my appetite! Chris, who is very brave and would never let food go to waste, dove right in and finished off the plate. I truly could not look at him the same for at least a day as all I could imagine were those things in his stomach. HA! We also ordered one beer (and were asked if we would like to order one for each of us) and it was a good thing we only ordered one as we were served almost 2 liters of bijou (Taiwanese Beer). At the end of dinner we asked for our check and the waitress asked if we would like dessert. We don't typically order dessert so we said, "No thank you" and she proceeded to send the manager over. The manager insisted that we order dessert so not wanting to cause a scene and not really understanding what she was saying we said, "OK" and were served a type of ice cream/gelatin. The top was fruit flavored jelly with a type of rice in it while the bottom layer tasted like ice cream with a gelatin texture (the kids didn't like it but Chris and I did). Often times dessert is included with the price of the meal. The Taiwanese culture love free stuff! They tend not to understand when someone doesn't want what they are offering for free, which could be the reason the manager was sent over to explain dessert to us. (Side note - If free samples are being given away at a grocery store, regardless of the sample, there will be a very long line.) We signed our check and I put a tip on the table and we left. We were about to get into our car when our waitress came running after us and exclaimed that we had left some money on the table. What honesty! We later found out that tipping is not common in Taiwan (even where there is space on the credit card slip). However, you will find tip jars at some of the smaller restaurants.
 |
| Chris pouring a beer from our 2 liter tap |
 |
 Couscous and mystery meat |
|
|
| The "unidentified" sea food/mystery meat that Chris was later told was probably raw oysters. |
 |
| Lilly and Andrew at a Pizza Shop called Salute and owned by the wife of one of Chris' co-workers. The restaurant has kids toys outside to keep children entertained while their parents eat. The waitress even came out to play with the kids so we could enjoy our food. |
Last week we were invited out to dinner with some of Chris' co-workers to a family-style restaurant called the Hot Pot. The idea is that various vegetables and meats are placed into boiling broth (spicy or non-spicy) placed in the middle of the table and you take the items out of the soup that you want. This was a really fun experience. I tried plum juice for the first time (has a smokey flavor) and tried many new varieties of mushroom as well as clotted pig's blood (not much flavor beyond the seasonings used and has a jello consistency). Chris tried cow stomach (has a rubbery, squid-like texture). Chris' Taiwanese co-workers have tried to explain some of the Taiwanese customs and rules to me: One of the customs, according to this group of individuals, is that you do not take a drink of your beverage without saying, "Cheers" and toasting someone or something. Therefore, you are toasting throughout the entire meal. When you make the toast and take the drink, you hold the glass with one hand and place the other hand beneath the glass (as if you are setting the glass on your open palm). You make eye contact with the person you are toasting the entire time or it is considered rude if you look away. The person being toasted determines when you stop drinking (when they put their glass down, you put yours down). I was told that another form of etiquette is to never gesture with your chopsticks or take them away from the table with you. The Taiwanese consider walking around with your chopsticks very dangerous, especially for children. I was also told that you should never stab your chopsticks into your sticky rice as a place to put them while you get a drink, etc. (similar to placing a surfboard upright in the sand so you don't have to lay it down). Doing this means that you wish death to someone at the table. I suppose it's your call if you want to do that or not. We all had a fun time, learned some new things, and the kids had a chance to play with a couple of Chris' co-worker's children and make some new friends.
 |
| Me and Nancy, one of Chris' co-workers, enjoying our soup. |
 |
| Another one of Chris' co-workers, Sandy, and her son, Kevin, who is a few years older than Drew. |
 |
| Strips of raw cow's stomach and raw carrots ready to be thrown into the boiling soup |
Last week we were invited out to dinner with some of Chris' co-workers to a family-style restaurant called the Hot Pot. The idea is that various vegetables and meats are placed into boiling broth (spicy or non-spicy) placed in the middle of the table and you take the items out of the soup that you want. This was a really fun experience. I tried plum juice for the first time (has a smokey flavor) and tried many new varieties of mushroom as well as clotted pig's blood (not much flavor beyond the seasonings used and has a jello consistency). Chris tried cow stomach (has a rubbery, squid-like texture). Chris' Taiwanese co-workers have tried to explain some of the Taiwanese customs and rules to me: One of the customs, according to this group of individuals, is that you do not take a drink of your beverage without saying, "Cheers" and toasting someone or something. Therefore, you are toasting throughout the entire meal. When you make the toast and take the drink, you hold the glass with one hand and place the other hand beneath the glass (as if you are setting the glass on your open palm). You make eye contact with the person you are toasting the entire time or it is considered rude if you look away. The person being toasted determines when you stop drinking (when they put their glass down, you put yours down). I was told that another form of etiquette is to never gesture with your chopsticks or take them away from the table with you. The Taiwanese consider walking around with your chopsticks very dangerous, especially for children. I was also told that you should never stab your chopsticks into your sticky rice as a place to put them while you get a drink, etc. (similar to placing a surfboard upright in the sand so you don't have to lay it down). Doing this means that you wish death to someone at the table. I suppose it's your call if you want to do that or not. We all had a fun time, learned some new things, and the kids had a chance to play with a couple of Chris' co-worker's children and make some new friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment