Few days ago my lady invited me to a restaurant to celebrate my birthday. She didn't tell me where we will be going and I also didn't want to know. When it comes to surprises, she's very creative. Last year she brought me to dine on top of Taipei 101 and I knew that this year she'll come up with something similarly awesome. And I was very right about that: We went to a teppanyaki restaurant in Songshan, Taipei's eastern district. The restaurant is called Chamonix 夏慕尼 and serves Western food prepared in front of you on a hot plate, which is called teppanyaki (鐵板燒) and was invented by the Japanese after the II World War (source). It was my first time to such a restaurant. I've seen some of them on my several trips around Asia, but I never had the chance to try the food and see "the show", which is part of the experience. I want to introduce the restaurant to you, because I really loved it and I'm sure many of you would love it, too. I hope this post will be useful to those, who look for a good teppanyaki restaurant in Taipei.
This is how things went: My lady has reserved a table for us at 17.30 and we had to rush to get there (the trains were crowded). Once we reached the right station, we took a cab, that brought us to Guangfu Road, where the restaurant is located. This is what we saw:
Once we went inside, my girlfriend confirmed the booking and we were sent up to the first floor to our seat. Generally around 10 people sit at the iron plate. At the beginning, you're given drinks (water, champagne) and the menu, which is in Chinese and English. The price of dinner is always same: We paid 980 NTD per person (around 23 Eur or 33 USD in March 2011) and that included drinks, which were constantly refilled, and following courses: amuse-bouche, three appetizers (breads and butter, a soup, a salad), entreé, main course, side dish, dessert and another drink. I have to say that I was very very full and completely satisfied with the service (the waitress spoke English to me) and the food, which was truly delicious.
Our chef was very skilled and friendly, even spoke some English to me. He would sometimes explain what he's doing and also give us tips how to eat. I liked that a lot.
See a video of how he prepares a steak and cuts it in small pieces.
3rd course - second appetizer: Soup. My lady's soup on the left, mine on the right. I had thick mushroom soup, which was excellent. Hers was very tasty, too.
I chose the Mediterranean salad and it was one of the highlights of my dinner. I really recommend you this one. The sauce is to die for and the meat is really tender. I loved it.
5th course - entreé: Fried chicken and fried fish. It wasn't bad, but not really something that would make my taste buds explode. Next time I rather try something else.
6th course - main dish: American styled beef steak, medium rare. It was so soft and juicy, it was truly a divine experience and together with the salad another highlight of the whole dinner.
7th course - side dish: We got a small bowl of rice after we finished the steak and I was already so full, I could hardly eat it. The taste was good, but I could've as well skipped it.
After we finished all the yummy foods at the hot plate, we were asked to move to another part, which looked like a small café. Like anybody else, we had our deserts and drinks there.
And then came a part I have not anticipated: Two waitresses brought me a small cake, lit a candle and started to sing happy birthday to me. I was really shy, because all other guests were starting to look at our table (and my blushed face). It was a very sweet gesture and a moment I will not forget. I'd like to thank my girlfriend for bringing me to this lovely restaurant.
Funny story: Right after my birthday song was finished another interracial couple (Taiwanese girl + White guy) sat down behind us. The girl wanted to give him the same surprise, but he must have seen me and how everybody looked at me and politely declined the song. At that point I realized that it's very common for Taiwanese girls to bring boyfriends to this restaurant. Maybe they should rename it "Happy Birthday Restaurant", but then it wouldn't be so interesting.
Chamonix is definitely worth a visit, I highly recommend it to everyone. My tip: Be very hungry, before you go there, because the food is really abundant. Best is, if you reserve a table before you come (most people do so). Not sure, if they speak English, but you can try. In case they don't, ask a Taiwanese friend to reserve it for you. You can also go directly to the restaurant without reservation and wait there, but that might not be such a good idea, because I think they're always well booked.
How to find the restaurant?
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The easiest way to go to Chamonix is to take the MRT Train and exit at Nanjing East Road Station and then take a cab to the restaurant (you'll need 5 minutes). You can walk, too, but it may take a while (15-20 min). If you chose so, walk eastwards along the wide Nanjing East Road (南京東路). The first interesting building you'll see is the Taipei Arena, a large multi-purpose stadium. When you pass by that building, you're halfway through. The restaurant is located near the intersection of the Nanjing East Road and smaller Guangfu Road (光復路). Once you arrive there, turn right into the Guangfu road, the restaurant is on the left side (viewing from north to south). Check my photo above to see how it looks like from outside.
[My FOOD IN TAIPEI page][My TAIPEI page][All photos and videos by MKL, 2011]
