大正浪漫 - Japanese

Address: No.1, Lane.30, Sec.1 Fuxing S. Road, Zhongshan District. 

Telephone: (02)2772-0680

Hours: Mon-Sat: 12-2:30PM; 6-9:30PM

(Again dear reader, I would just like you to know that until May of 2013, my posts will be few and far between due to the mandatory military service required of me in Taiwan.  If you like what you see however, please check back often and eventually I hope to not leave you disappointed.  Thanks!)

Heaven knows I love to eat my Japanese food (sushi/sashimi in particularly), but I'm beginning to dread writing about it almost as much.  That isn't to say I have nothing to say or opinions to form, it is just that it has become increasing difficult to say something NEW about these sorts of establishments.  I think I'm even repeating myself with this particular complaint.   But really, if I have to repeat myself in my description of a solidly crafted piece of fish... then so be it.  Although the quality and style may tend to blend together in some of these higher end Japanese restaurants, you never know what may surprise you and hit you from left field.  All it takes is one dish to smack you soundly to leave an impression.  Okay.. back to our regularly scheduled program of pictures and words.

Came to 大正浪漫 with the family in the hopes of reintroducing my taste buds to proper food after the beginning of basic training.  Was 大正浪漫 successful in that daunting goal? I answer with a resounding.. kind of.  I found things to be very hit or miss at 大正浪漫 and while our meal was dotted with many highs, there was also enough lows to make me reconsider coming back. I think I've wasted enough of your time with my usual nonsense... let's get to it.

Simple salad to start.

I found this particular combination to be a bit jumbled and disjointed in both taste and appearance.

Enjoyed this platter very much.  Some halibut, hamachi, scallop and other assorted fish brethren.

The first few courses of our omakase was a bit disjointed in my opinion.  The salad was entirely too plain without hardly a drop of flavor, and while I enjoyed many of the elements of the second platter, as a whole, I thought it didn't appeal to me visually and the textures were a mismatch in style and flavors.  

This seemed to be something that 大正浪漫 seemed to enjoy doing as opposed to many other sushi restaurants I've been to in Taiwan.  Instead of presenting each dish individually, many courses were brought out together on a plate.  I like the idea of this, but the execution can lead to mixed results.  The plate can sometimes seem too cluttered and if rushed, I feel like the end of the meal can arrive just a bit too soon.  Perhaps the same amount of food will have been consumed, but it just simply won't feel that way.  Its true.. our minds are bastards who constantly mess with us.

 Delicious

Steamed egg with fish.

Typically I focus on the sashimi and sushi portion of my meal when I choose to order from the omakase menu at Japanese restaurants, but really, the cooked portions are just as important in balancing out the palette and filling out your stomach.  Without the heartier cooked food, there would be no question that I could never be full from ordering omakase... or if I somehow did manage to achieve fullness, there would most likely be a crater sized dent in my wallet.  

I enjoyed the cooked food for the most part at 大正浪漫, and thought that the pacing of the dishes was good, as there was enough time in between courses to digest.  

 Simple Tempura with salt.

 The best things of the meal were located on this plate.  Yum (uni wrapped toro, amaebi)

The finisher... almost like a dessert chirashi of sorts.

Looking at the pictures and thinking again about each course at 大正浪漫, I might have been a bit off in my initial assessment of this restaurant.  Other than one or two dishes that weren't to my liking (albeit prepared well), I don't really have much of a gripe with 大正浪漫.  Perhaps it was the presentation of a few platters and some other internal matters that seemed to have swayed me from a clearer view of the food here, but whatever it is.. upon further review.. 大正浪漫 seems to be a real winner.

The tempura was nothing to write home about, but like i said, it was there to serve a purpose of rounding out the meal and it did that well.  The course with the sweet shrimp and uni wrapped with toro was clearly my favorite as apparently the price of the item correlates directly with my enjoyment of it.  As a group, we couldn't get enough of the uni and toro combo and proceeded to add a few extra a la carte.  They came out to about 400-500NT a piece and our omakase was 1800NT.  This is on the expensive end of their package options as omakase options range from 800 and up at 大正浪漫

I also thoroughly enjoyed the chirashi, as it was both a marvel to eat and look at.  My only complaint was that why the fact that I couldn't super size it.  

 A la carte uni/toro

 extra order of fish eggs over rice for the niece

simple dessert finish.

 大正浪漫 offers a nice modern atmosphere mixed in with some tradition Japanese art.  I enjoyed the lighting and the little entry way area.  We ate at a table instead of at the bar, so I am unable to relate the experience of engaging in banter with the chef (an enjoyable part of eating at these sort of restaurants, and they often offer specialties when eating at the bar).  The service staff was friendly, although perhaps not always present, as I occasionally had to hunt them down to put in an extra order or ask for more tea.  

As you can see, I changed my opinion about  大正浪漫 mid-post, and now think that it is definitely worthy of a return engagement to see which opinion I formed is the true one.  I'm not sure if  大正浪漫 does enough to differentiate itself from the myriad of high end Japanese restaurants, but that's perfectly fine.  The place was warm and inviting, and offered excellent food.. that's all I can really ask for.

Overall  大正浪漫 receives:

-Til Next Time-