子元 - Japanese

Address: 台北市民生東路三段113巷7弄7號 No.7, Alley 7, Lane 113, Section 3 Minsheng East Rd. Songshan Distract

Telephone: (02)2713-1233

Hours: Mon-Sat: 11:30AM-2:00PM, 5:30PM-10:00PM

And I'm back.. in so many ways.  My time in the R.O.C military has come to an glorious end and so has my hiatus from trying to fatten up all the English readers who happen across this hobby of mine.  Pardon me.. but .. DAMN it is good to be alive.. high fives are definitely in order.

My trip to 子元 actually occurred during my last vacation, but as the diligent solider in charge of a nation's safety.. can't really begrudge me on finally catching up on some writing.  Appropriate that I shake off the accumulated rust in the form of Japanese food, and let me tell you.. 子元 is every bit worthy of the praise that I'm about to chuck its way.  Let's not waste time and get to the pictures and words.

Tasteful

This was a random lunch date with the mother and sister wrapped up in the guise of a pre-bday celebration meal for yours truly.  Basically it was everyone's way of telling themselves it was okay to enjoy a nice meal that was going to cost a pretty penny.  I wasn't going to argue.

子元 has a nice modern feel to it with a hint of old Japanese decor thrown in.  With the use of lots of wood and the charming little garden out front.. the ambiance of the establishment falls in line with many of the Japanese restaurants around town.  It is neither spectacular nor disappointing, but just something you take in without really noticing its there.  It's clean and more than suitable for our needs, basically everything anyone could hope for.

Let's get started!

This was my first trip to 子元 and like almost all Japanese restaurants of this nature and quality I highly recommend sitting at the bar.  It is almost nice to get chummy with the chefs and overall I just think service is better this way.  You probably give up a bit of comfort and privacy, but what you gain I think outweighs the negatives.

Omakase options. Some vinegrette dipping sauce.

The family and I decided to order a set meal and let the chef wow us with whatever was fresh that day.  I always enjoy coming to Japanese restaurants with the sister and mother because typically they offer if not differing views from me, they at least give me a slightly different perspective in what it is that makes a meal enjoyable to them.  

Like anything else in life, it's usually a good thing to have people to bounce opinions off of... even if it might make you want to strangle them at some point.

This meal took place nearly 2 and a half months ago, so perhaps there is much I don't remember, but one thing still rings as clear as it did on that day... the food was without question, amazing.  

Halibut wrapped uni.

Scallops

Toro.

Now, what really goes into making sushi amazing? It doesn't seem like the chef would have a lot to do in just simply slicing up pieces of raw fish.  But of course describing it so simply would be doing a huge disservice to these skilled chefs.

More than just acquiring tremendously fresh fish (a must obviously), I feel like a sushi chef has to infuse his own personality into the food that he prepares.  Its a lot about presentation and the little touch ups that brings something we can do ourselves at home with the right budget to something that takes years of experience to master.

子元 was clearly more than capable in all these aspects and the food more than showed that.

The fish that was served just looked like it wanted to be eaten.  Everything was fresh and the old chestnut of it melting in your mouth applied wonderfully to all the nigiri and sashimi that I had the pleasure of eating.  Our meal was left in the hands of our very capable chef and he made sure that our palette followed a path that ended with deliciousness.  A good combination of cooked food and sushi made it way onto our plates and I must say I enjoyed every item that was offered.

Pretty.  Seems a lot of these meals end with their version of a chirashi finisher.

Perhaps I'm a little out of practice here, but I just wanted to be brief with my review and give the basic nuts and bolts and let the pictures do the talking for once.  子元 was wonderful.. and it really is as simple as that. Was it the best I've had in Taiwan? If not.. then it was pretty darn close.  It's been months since my taste buds have had the pleasure of enjoying the food from 子元, but I'm not really exaggerating when I say that my face is lit up in a grin right now at the mere memory of the meal.

I'm glad to be back dear reader.

Overall 子元 receives:

-Til Next Time-

I wanted more... extra ordered Negitoro.