Taipei, Taiwan: Hello Kitty Cafe, Dian Shui Lou (Part 4)

This is the 2nd last day of our trip which is pretty much a shopping day to grab whatever we want before we depart tomorrow.  I shall just blog about the 2 meals (tea and dinner) we had on that day since we were busy shopping there isn't any photos taken for our shopping spree.

This is a much talk about theme restaurant in Taipei where most will visit, during my 2 hours stay there there were at least 2 tables who are Singaporeans.  Yes, its the Hello Kitty Cafe.  To get there take a MRT to Zhong Xiao Fu Xin (忠孝复兴) Station exit from exit 3 walk towards Da An road yi dian(大安路一段) turn right and walk straight all the way until you see the cafe on your right.

Note the minimum spending per person to dine there, but with the price they sale their cakes at its not difficult to hit the minimum spending.

Some deco at the entrance.  We were brought to the 2nd level.

This is the 2nd level.  I find that the 1st level have more classy feel compared to the 2nd level, just there at level 1 there will be alot of people walking past and standing around while waiting for a table.

Everything here is very 'Hello Kitty', I didn't take much photos as I am not a fan, just looking forward to my food.

This is the Hello Kitty Egg Pudding which comes which each cake set ordered.

I like everything chocolate so here's my chocolate cookie smoothie (not part of the set) - TWD 230.

Kitty Golden Chocolate Cake Set - TWD 380, it is a very thick chocolaty tart which I like.  However the 'macaroon' at the side is not a macaroon its just made to look like one (either that or the chef totally use the wrong recipe).

A close up of the golden kitty, it just a chocolate kitty.

Strawberry bubble milk tea - TWD 230.

The Kitty Orea Cheese Pie - TWD 300.  Its like a cheese pie sandwiched with Orea, find it so-so only.

Its really just to immerse in the hello kitty theme here (not for me though), the food is just average.

For dinner we went to dian shui lou (點水楼), this is another famous joint in Taiwan selling Xiao Long Bao (小笼包) similar to Ding Tai Feng (鼎泰丰).

We went to the branch at Sogo Fuxing Store, it is located very near to the Zhong Xiao Fuxing station.  The thing we didn't like about this store is that they also sell the smelly beancurd (臭豆腐) but you can request to seat further from the kitchen and it shouldn't be much of a problem.  The xiao long bao here is also highly rated.

I find the taste and texture of the xiao long bao (TWD 170 for 5 pieces) to be comparable to that of Ding Tai Feng and couldn't really say who is the winner, again it isn't so good that I will keep craving for it (have yet to find that xiao long bao).

We will always order liu sha bao(流沙包 - TWD 135 for 3 pieces) at chinese restaurant if they are available and its no exception here.  The texture of the bun is ok and the gravy also flows nicely but the taste of the liu sha doesn't give the oommm feeling, it is a bit blend.

This is the Noodle Soup with Stew Pork Hoofs in rich brown sauce (红烧猪脚面 - TWD 280).  The noodles is just of the right texture, crunchy and not too tough.  The meat from the pig's trotter is soft and melts in your mouth, proportion of the skin (full of collagen) and meat is just right.  Highly recommended.

My usual craving for marinated chicken in chinese wine (绍兴酒醉鸡).  The taste is good but the meat is still not tender enough, could be better.

It is the hairy crab (大闸蟹 － TWD1200) season, so how can we not order it.  The staff is also very professional in 'dissecting' the hairy crab for our consumption.  I still could not appreciate the hairy crab as there is so little meat and I am not a fan of crab roe, guess I am more suitable to eat Sri Lanka crab.

Overall it is a much satisfying dinner, our last one for the trip and back to Singapore the next day.

Location:
Hello Kitty Sweets
台北市大安路一段90號
Tel: 02-2711-1132

點水楼
台北市大安區忠孝東路 3段300號 11樓
Tel: 02-8772-5089

Taipei (Other Parts):

Part 1: Taipei, Taiwan: Taoyuan Airport, Wu Fen Pu and Raohe Night Market (Part 1)
Part 2: Taipei, Taiwan: Ding Tai Feng, Ximending, Barbie Cafe, Shilin (Part 2)
Part 3: Taipei, Taiwan: Hot Spring, Bei Tou, Dan Shui, Yu Ren Ma Tou, Aranzi Cafe, Wu Lao Guo (Part 3)
Part 5: Taipei, Taiwan: Hello Kitty Gate, Silver Kris Lounge (Finale)

Taipei, Taiwan: Ding Tai Feng, Ximending, Barbie Cafe, Shilin (Part 2)

As we woke up quite late on the 2nd day, we decided to skip the hotel breakfast and head to the original Ding Tai Feng at Xinyi (信義) for brunch.  We took the MRT to Dongmen (东门) Station and exit via exit 5, walk along the road until you cross Yong Kang (永康) Street and you will see Ding Tai Feng, it is just a 5 mins walk from the station.

At the entrance you will be greeted by the Ding Tai Feng mascot.  We reach at about 10.40am, although it is crowded but there are still empty tables so we didn't have to queue.

And of course the must order Xiao Long Bao.  I don't know if it is psychological but I feel that it is better than Singapore branch however it doesn't have the wow factor which have me coming back for more.

The drunken chicken wasn't as good as Singapore's though the portion is bigger, the meat is abit on the tough side but they do use sufficient wine which taste quite good.

The guo tie (锅贴) is crispy on the top (or bottom depends how you see it) and soft on the other side which is very well done.

This is something I always order, 炸酱面. The noodles is still 'crunchy' not too soft just the right texture, taste wise its ok very similar to Singapore's branch.

Next we head to Ximending (西门町) and shop around the area until evening, didn't take any pictures there.  Just take the metro to Ximen station (西门) and once you exit there are lots of shopping and food.  The famous Ah Zhong Mee Sua (阿宗面线) is located there as well.  Oh ya there is a Stay Real Shop (open by 阿信 from Mayday) in that area also.

Its close to evening and we wanted try some of the famous theme restaurant in Taipei so we headed to the Barbie Cafe (not my choice though).  We took the MRT from Ximen Station to Zhongxiaodunhua(忠孝敦化) Station and take exit 6.  After exiting cross the road and there should be a standard chartered bank not too far and you can see the Barbie Cafe on the 2nd floor.

The whole place is so pink and Barbie......

This is the Chocolate Brûlée (TWD120), very chocolaty but I prefer more bitter chocolate however it tasted quite good.

The mixed fruit mousse cake (TWD120) tasted not bed as well, will be better if there are real fruits of bite size inside.

Last we had the Barbie Classic Chocolate Honey Toast (TWD 250).  This seems like something everyone order when they are there.  The mix of fruit and chocolate ice-cream on the bread is heavenly however the bread is too tough, would be good if it is silky soft but I guess the whole structure will collapse when it is cut if it is silky soft :D

If you like Barbie and want some dessert in the afternoon or early evening it is a recommended place.  Although we did make a booking in advance but it is very empty at 6pm on a Sunday as you can see from the photos above.

To me the dessert are just like tea break which doesn't satisfy my dinner quota.  So we head to Shilin Night Market.  Take note that Shilin Night Market nearest metro station is Jiantan(剑潭) NOT Shilin(士林).  Surprisingly it is super crowded on a Sunday night, don't they sleep early before starting work the next day?  Anyway as it is already quite late we didn't shop much but wanted to head for some food.  The food stalls are no longer along the streets but instead they have been moved to an underground "Food Court", there's no more night market feel when eating there not sure why they did that.

I had a craving for oyster, in the afternoon I though the mee sua is suppose to have oyster but it didn't, so I wanted to have the egg omelette with oyster (蚵仔煎).  The first stall that we see when we enter the 'food court' sells 蚵仔煎 so we decided to give it a try and it tasted good, I am now drooling while I think of it.  Its not too costly at TWD55.

I have always heard about this 大肠包小肠 and wanted to try it.  I must say that I am abit disappointed when I finally get to try it, not because it doesn't taste good but its totally not what I expected.  All along I thought it made using the pig's big and small intestine (which I quite like) wrapping a sausage, but turn out I was only right about the sausage part (but its taiwanese sausage which I don't really like). For those who don't know what is it, it is actually glutinous rice made into sausage like (which makes up the 大肠) and they wrapped this together with some asparagus and a taiwanese sausage (which makes up the 小肠) calling it 大肠包小肠.  It cost TWD50.

Ended off the dinner with crab (香酥螃蟹), shishamo(黄金鱼) and squid(五味鱿鱼).  All of them tasted quite good if I wasn't as sleepy then I might order some Taiwanese beer to go with it.  Each of the dishes cost TWD150, so total damage is TWD450.

After the satisfying dinner its time to head back to hotel for a good rest before exploring more of Taiwan.

Location:
Ding Tai Feng (Xinyi)
No. 194, 信義路二段
Taipei City, Taiwan 106
+886 2 2321 8927

Ah Zhong Mee Sua (阿宗面线)
No. 8-1 Emei Street, Wanhua District
Taipei, Taiwan

Stay Real (Ximending)
108, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District, 武昌街二段85-4號
Taipei, Taiwan

Barbie Cafe
2F, No.128 Section 4, Zhongxiao East Road, Da'an District
Taipei, Taiwan

Shilin Night Market

Taipei (Other Parts):
Part 1: Taipei, Taiwan: Taoyuan Airport, Wu Fen Pu and Raohe Night Market (Part 1)
Part 3: Taipei, Taiwan: Hot Spring, Bei Tou, Dan Shui, Yu Ren Ma Tou, Aranzi Cafe, Wu Lao Guo (Part 3)
Part 4: Taipei, Taiwan: Hello Kitty Cafe, Dian Shui Lou (Part 4)
Part 5: Taipei, Taiwan: Hello Kitty Gate, Silver Kris Lounge (Finale)