Alleycat's PIzza

Address: (Store Visited) No.1, Sec. 1, Bade Rd. , Jhongjheng District, Taipei. 八德路一段1號, Taipei

Telephone: (02)2395-6006

Hours: Sun-Thurs: 11:00AM-12:00PM; Fri-Sat: 11:00AM-2:00AM

Pizza.  Is there a more ubiquitous food that is used for parties, gatherings, and get togethers?  The door bell rings, and someone holding a stack of card boxes that comes up to their chin is standing there..an awesome sight to behold.  Why is pizza so popular? Let's try to count the ways.  Its ridiculously easy to share, it can be custom made to anyone's preferences, it is visually appealing, and of course.. it tastes fantastic.  I'm sure i'm forgetting something, but you get the idea.

Alleycat's is my first foray into testing out the pizza that exists here in Taiwan.  To be honest, I have only heard disparaging remarks as to the state of pizza here, but where's the fun in just listening to others? So on a Tuesday night, I packed up my camera and ventured out with some friends to see if the naysayers were speaking the truth or not.

 A fine selection of liquid treats were available.

Simple salad to get started with.

Let's get some of the specifics out of the way first.  There are 9 Alleycat's Pizza establishments in and around Taipei, which gives you an idea to the popularity that it has managed to achieve.  It has marketed itself as the best pizza in town, and offers up thin crust pizzas as well as calzones, and other appetizers and such. 

They have pretty good happy hours and offer up a fine selection of beers.  I am led to believe that the Tien-Mu location often has live music (check their FB page for more info), and it really is a nice place for you and a group of friends to kick it and congregate around some food.

 Basil Pesto Bruschetta. 150NT

Alleycat's offers up 7 signature pizzas for your choosing and a host of ingredients for you to either create your own pizza pie or to tweak their creations in a fashion that's more to your liking.  We perused the menu for a while and eventually settled on a salad, bruschetta and two large pizzas (10' for regular and 12' for the large).

The salad was simple but flavorful.  I found the bruschetta to be a little lacking.  The bread wasn't very fresh in my opinion and not crisp enough. The size of the pizza was adequate, and I would say it wouldn't be too much trouble for a grown man or woman to polish off a whole large pizza if they were called upon to do so.  

I loved the area where this particular Alleycat's was located, and the decor and atmosphere of the restaurant itself really gives it bonus points.  There was ample seating both inside and out, and the booths were cozy, and the restaurant gave off a hip yet warm vibe.  For a Tuesday night, the restaurant was surprisingly jam packed.  I don't know if this applies to the other restaurants, but it can't hurt to be safe and make a reservation if you plan on dining at this or any of the other Alleycat's Pizza Locations.

The Quattro Formaggi.  With extra sundried tomatoes and basil as per our request. (450NT + 30/50NT per extra ingredient)

The Maialona.  Their most popular item.  Really is essentially a sausage party... literally.  (480NT)

Now we've come to the main attraction.  Its nice to have a alluring location and all that extraneous stuff, but if the pizza doesn't deliver, then there is really no reason to head to Alleycat's.  It's here that I think we get to bit of an grey area as to the quality of their pizza and how it should be judged.  

Living in America essentially my entire life has exposed me to lots of pizzas.  They were of varying degrees of mediocre, good and great, because lets face it... there is no such thing as bad pizza is there?  If I were to judge (and of course that's exactly what I'm doing) I would place the quality of this nights effort between mediocre and good.  

Being a carnivorous male, I enjoyed the Maialona more, while my female friends were more partial towards the quattro formaggi with extra sundried tomatoes and basil.  My friend was correct in saying that the crust was entirely too burnt, and the pile of crusts that piled up on her plate like discarded bones was good evidence of that.  Another gripe that was pointed out was the saltiness of the sundried tomatoes and of the quattro formaggi in general.  I enjoy my food slightly on the salty side, so this wasn't a huge issue with me, but I felt it had to be pointed out for mockery.

I enjoyed the flavor of the pizza overall, and it had a bit of sweetness to the dough that I found pleasing.  Like I said, it is almost impossible to make pizza that is awful.  Even pizza that tastes like the cardboard boxes it came in is still acceptable.  But we are stretching for a higher standard here, especially from a chain that touts itself so highly and gets raves reviews from many of its patrons.  Was I disappointed? I wouldn't go that far, but after having so many great pizza places in the States, it is difficult to be excited about Alleycat's and the pizza pies that they offer.

Alleycat's Pizza is a great place to hang out and more likely than not, I will be tasting one of their other creations soon.  It is a perfectly decent slice of pizza that has its flaws.  It's just that if this is the best pizza Taiwan has to offer... then we have a whole lot of work ahead of us.

Overall Alleycat's Pizza receives:

-Til Next Time-

Canoviano Ristorante Taipei

Address: No. 9-2, Sec. 2, Jianguo N. Rd, Jhongshan District, Taipei.  台北市建國北路二段9-2號1樓

Telephone: (02)2515-5855

Hours: 

Outside of Chinese and Japanese cuisine, I think that Italian food might come next in line in terms of popularity.  I don't know why this is.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some Italian food, but I just can't pinpoint the reason why it has reached the level of popularity that it has here in Taiwan.  Maybe all pasta reminds us of the noodles that the Taiwanese love so much? Whatever the reason may be, there is a large population of Italian eateries throughout the city, and it was on a Sunday afternoon that I found myself in such a restaurant.

 Went with the prix fixe meal from both sides of the menu.  Variety is the spice of life right? 

Mullet roe over capellini in tomato sauce.  Just getting warmed up. (classical prix fixe menu)

Make no mistake, Canoviano Ristorante is most certainly a classy restaurant, and if you choose to dine here, be prepared to shell upwards of 3000NT per person.  We were a party of 6 adults and 4 children, so fortunately I was able to sample both of the items on the prix fixe menu.  The Classical, which is 1880NT and the Special which is 2980NT.  They also of course have a separate a la carte menu, but I would definitely suggest ordering one of the prix fixe menus as it is both abundant in food, and fantastic in quality and selection.  

 Pan seared black tuna in balsamic sauce. Two types of tuna, really enjoyed the texture of the tuna, and the sauce goes perfectly with the tartar and seared tuna.  Only wish there was more.

 White asparagus, parma ham, and truffled poached egg.

Duck confit, figs and shampignon. All three items from the Special Prix Fixe. 

Canoviano inhabits a rather large luxurious space that possesses high ceilings and comfortable looking chairs.  The staff is very attentive to a glass that is about to be emptied, a plate that needs cleaning, or whatever other needs that you may have.  Like most prix fixe menus of restaurants of this caliber, the food is prepared and ordered to follow a specific palette.  

 Grilled scallop with handmade pumpkin flavored pasta.  One of my favorites.. lord knows I love pumpkin, scallops and pasta.. but when they combine forces? Game over. (classical prix fixe)

 Liver pate ravioli in chicken broth with gold flakes.  Pretty.  The raviolis were very delicious, but I wasn't a big fan of the bland nature of the chicken broth.  (classical)

Spicy cuttlefish pasta, garlic flavored.  Basically its squid ink.  I loved the bite to the noodles, and the kick that the spiciness gives to it.  Cooked al dente, and it was fantastic to look at. (Special)

I don't know about you, but I've been trained by a lifetime of eating to think of Italian cuisine as basically just a big ol' bowl of pasta, with possibly some calamari and some bread.  In my mind, I just imagine the scene from the Godfather where everyone is sitting around the table with the checkered table top, and everyone is scooping out giant meatballs.  Obviously Canoviano is not that type of place, but there is of course a market for fine dining of any sort, and I have learned to appreciate when something is done right and done well.

The food was delicious. But a friend of mine told me once, that once you reach a certain level of food, when everything is expected to taste good, it really just comes down to appearance, and I think Canoviano scored on that as well.  

 Grilled fresh fish, spinach, and job's tears which is basically just barley.  (classical)

 Grilled scallop and pan seared fresh fish.  Enjoyed the scallop much more than the actual fish.  Felt it was a little on the dry side and lacked a little bit of seasoning.  The texture of the scallop was magnificent.

Caviar over sea urchin risotto.  It was as delicious as it sounds.  

To be more specific, the style of Canoviano should be classified as more of a Japanese-Italian fusion (what a combo).  Just looking at some of the ingredients used so far (like the uni risotto) should have given you some inking of that.  The restaurant was opened by a Japanese chef who had similar success with a Canoviano in Japan.  The daily menu sets change based on the season.

 One of my favorites anywhere. Lobster bisque.  The lobster is sneakily hiding under that foam.  (Special)

 Some lemon ice to cleanse the palette before the main dishes.  

One of the two choices on the special prix fixe menu for the main course.  Grilled AUS wagyu over an assortment of vegetables.  I've had better steak, but this was still very good.  Vegetables were grilled well and complemented the wagyu well.  Not a large portion of meat, but that can be forgiven when so much came before it.

The other main dish option: Grilled lamp chop.  I enjoyed this more than the wagyu.  The more generous portion had something to do with it, but the lamb was just extremely tender.

The food really was almost as good to look at as it was to eat, and that's saying quite a lot.  The restaurant was relatively empty on a cloudy Sunday afternoon, but if it ever gets busy they have addition seating upstairs with a private dining room.  

Okay.. i'm really running out of things to say here.  All you need to know is that sometimes you get what you pay for, and Canoviano is one of those places.  The food in my opinion was exquisitely prepared and that was well reflected in both appearance and in the flavor of the dishes.

It is a great place for a romantic evening, or simply just a great place to enjoy a fine meal.  But again, the prices can get a bit high if one isn't careful, so let that factor into your decision before you give Canoviano a try.

Overall Canoviano receives: 

-Til Next Time- 

Truffled poached egg with shampignon Risotto.  The other risotto was much better.  This was amazing to look at, but the flavor was a little lacking,  

 Good god.  We had to order seconds of this dessert.  Under the creamy sauce was a caramel ice cream and bananas.  With little flakes of sugar.  Sometimes it just never is enough.

 Earl grey pudding with gold flakes. 

 Financier cakes to top it off.  I accidentally referred to them as corn bread upon first laying my eyes on them.  Believe when I say I was severely reprimanded by the sister for my mistake.

1885 Burger Store

Address: No.24-1 Pucheng St. , Daan District, Taipei.  

Telephone: (02)2367-8258

Hours: M-Th: 11:00AM-10:00PM; F: 11:00AM-11:00PM; Sat: 9:30AM-11:00PM; Sun: 9:30AM-10:00PM

There is no more basic part of the perceived American dining experience than the hamburger.  When visiting Taiwan as a child, all I ever heard when visiting relatives was that I must eat a lot of hamburgers, because that's how people in the States apparently get so large.  Its safe to say that times have changed in the last 20 years or so, in that food is now global, and that really, one can get any type of cuisine in almost any developed country.

But the permeation of food throughout the world isn't the only fantastic change to have happened in these few short decades.  There also has been a push to take any type of food, regardless of its pedigree, and to really dress it up and make that item into a gourmet meal.  Burgers use to be thought of as just some part of a diner's menu or something that is picked up after you scream your order into an intercom.  

But boy, has the burger certainly come a long way.  

Banana chocolate milkshake.  About what you'd expect from such an fantastic invention.  Could of used a little something to dress it up however. Appearance wise.. a little lacking.   140NT

Quaint little store with all matters of mix-matching decorations.  Booths were comfy.  

Now you can get a burger patty of almost any type with ingredients that are usually reserved for michelin star restaurants.  The gourmet burger has really become something of an art form, and while I wouldn't say that 1885 Burger Store is such a place, it is however on a growing list of Taipei burger joints that try to bring an interesting interpretation to this timeless classic in the food pantheon.

 My burger.  Mushrooms with pepperjack cheese.  Tried to keep it simple to really see how the quality of the meat would be. 210NT

Some fries and something healthy to fool your digestive system to not hate you.

1885 Burger Store is located in relatively close proximity to Shida University and the adjoining night market. It is one of the many burger establishments that surround the school, and it really is in a great location for the type of food it serves.  If I were to open a burger store, I definitely want as much walk by traffic as humanly possible and would definitely want to cater my creations to a younger crowd.  The fact that the universities are also full of foreigners who might be a bit more partial to a juicy burger patty also definitely helps.  

 Friends burger of choice.  Pineapple bbq cheese burger.  Fantastic combination of words right there. 230NT

I would categorize this as my first real burger experience since the move back.  I've popped into Burger King/Mcdonalds once or twice.. but that was more of a guilty pleasure than anything I would want to call a satisfying meal.  I wanted to keep it simple for my first burger so I elected for a pepperjack cheese and mushroom burger.  They offer you three types of bread: ciabatta, whole wheat, and a cream bread, I opted for the ciabatta.  

I was a little surprised that they didn't ask how I wanted the burger to be done.  It stands to reason that when dealing with hamburger meat, you probably don't want it too raw, but what if I had wanted it well done? That option was not given to me, and I'm a little miffed by that.  The meat was very juicy, and really was full of natural flavor (even before I slathered ketchup on it).  It was of an adequate size, and the fries were crispy and fresh.  

Up close and personal. 

1885 Burger Store also serves up all manners of breakfast food at all hours of the day, but I don't think I would come to a restaurant named the Burger Store.. and order something that wasn't a burger.. but maybe that's just me.  They offer daily specials that will save you some NT (they include a drink with the order), and really, overall the burger was more than adequate.  

Their signature creation is the PB&J hamburger (i'm as intrigued by the possibilities as you are), but like I said, for this trip, I wanted to only judge the patty on its own merits without too much extraneous flavors to clutter it up.  So in that regard, I was very happy with what I ordered and what I received.  There were somethings lacking, but the place was pretty crowded on a Tuesday night, so they are definitely doing something right.

There will be more trips to more burger establishments on this food roller coaster of mine.  But this was definitely a good start.  

Overall 1885 Burger Store receives: 

-Til Next Time-