Due to various factors, I've been in an average mood lately, so I wanted to have a happier birthday this year. I love to go to Taiwan and I love to eat, so this "Michelin star-studded trip to Taipei" was a natural progression.
Looking at the latest Michelin list in Taipei, I thoughtfully chose a few starred restaurants and made a reservation. I went to Longtail, a restaurant that has been in business for two years and has been awarded one star for two consecutive years.
Chef Kenneth Lam is a man of substance, having worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris and New York, as well as at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong over the past 20 years. The chef wanted to create a stylish bistro that combined the concepts of cuisine and bar, blending the different food cultures he had experienced to create a fusion of cuisines that knew no boundaries. So Longtail is not as formal as a Michelin fine dining restaurant, the ambience is very relaxed and the service is very friendly, so I can enjoy the food and listen to the relaxing music while chatting with my friends over a glass of wine without any hassle.
We chose the 8-course Longtail Experience menu with our friends, which is NTW1880 per person, not too expensive and we can try more food.
Red and sweet sashimi, green papaya, saga, chilli, lime, wasabi.
First up was a special appetiser, a soup made from Taiwanese loofahs with some sweet clams and a touch of ginger because of the crushed purple ginger. After moistening the throat, the first course was an appetiser with a touch of Southeast Asian flavour. The ingredients were all fresh and seasonal Taiwanese ingredients, including fresh and toothsome red sweetfish, together with refreshing shredded green papaya, sweet sakka pulp (pangolin lychee), homemade lemon gel and chilli, which was refreshingly spicy, sweet and sour, appetising and delicious.
"Fig Toast, Ricotta, Port, Lemon Chamomile.
The second starter was made with ingredients from Taiwan's Yunlin County and European cooking techniques. Sandwiched between fragrant figs and slightly crispy toast was the chef's homemade ricotta cheese, which was served with a port wine sauce - a surprisingly tasty and memorable combination!
Duck Liver Dumplings, Sweet Corn, Lamb Cheese, Thai Lime
Longtail's own dumplings are made with a thin, chewy skin and are stuffed with tender duck liver and topped with a little bit of creamy, tangy sheep cheese. The slightly thick yellow sauce is made from sweet corn and Thai lime juice, which not only enhances the flavour, but also neutralises the greasiness of the duck liver with its fresh sweet and sour sauce, and the unique aroma of the corn seedling and cronuts that are placed on top of the dumplings.
"Shrimp Burger
Longtail is a must-try signature snack. The buns are handmade American-style sweet bread, baked to a crispy exterior and soft interior. The hamburger of Dice Burger, though small in size, is stuffed with crispy outside, elastic inside, and very thick fried shrimp steak, which is deep-fried with shrimp batter, pork and lemongrass spices wrapped in pork net oil, making it particularly flavourful and tasty, and eaten with sesame seeds and pickled onion, making it juicy and delicious without being greasy, and full of Thai flavour.
"Grouper, Green Bamboo Shoots, Turmeric, Dill".
The first entrée was a very meaty grouper that was not overly tasty, but with the addition of a secret dill sauce and sautéed dragon sap leaves as a finishing touch, it was another delightful flavour.
Australian filet mignon, carrots, chilli sauce, garlic.
The final main course was a filet mignon inspired by Taiwan's spicy hot pot. The restaurant served us a beautiful pink medium rare steak just as we requested. The steak had a controlled flame, no blood, and was tender and juicy, with a refreshing side dish of garlic cloves and carrots. Below are two different sauces with different flavours. The green garlic lemon sauce is made from grated ginger, spring onion and garlic, which we usually like to add to our hot pots, but I prefer the red spicy sauce, which I initially thought was not spicy enough, but it turned out to be a very powerful sauce. The steak was even better with both sauces.
"Passion Fruit, Palin Cotton Candy".
Although we were full, there were two more delicious desserts waiting for us. The first was a handmade marshmallow with passion fruit sauce, sandwiched between two sweet and sour passion fruit flavoured hawthorn biscuits.
Cheesecake, Mel Lemon Jam, Tamarind, Shiso Ice Cream.
The final dessert was a fluffy mousse-like cheesecake on the outside and a very special shiso flavoured ice cream on the inside, topped with a fried shiso leaf and a crunchy kumquat and candied lemon underneath the cake, so you could have several different delicious flavours in one serving.
All in all, I think Longtail's one-star award is well deserved, as the chef's cooking skills are superb and every dish is exquisite and delicious. The chef's knowledge of various ingredients and his skills in combining them are at their best, and the dishes are so innovative that not only is the seasonal menu updated from time to time every season, but one or two dishes may be changed every month, so guests will have a different surprise every time they go to eat there, and the prices are not too expensive, and it is not difficult to book a table on the official website either. Before the meal was over, I told my friends that I would eat at Longtail every time I came to Taipei from now on!
Address: No. 174, Sec. 2, Dunhua S. Road, Daan District, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Open: Mon, Wed, Sun 18:00-02:00, Thu-Sat 18:00-03:00, Closed on Tuesdays
Tel: +886 2 2732 6616
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Chinese (China)