As one of the top resort hotels in the region, I expected more from Volando. Other than the in-room hot spring bath, their only other facility is a restaurant. A tennis court, exercise room or even a little whirlpool would have been a nice treat.
After our brief visit to the Old Town in the afternoon, we were starting to run out of things to do but thank goodness, the front desk staff gave us two items which ended up saving the day for us (1) a pair of complimentary tickets to a night concert at the hotel lounge by the river and (2) a pair of dinner coupons at the hotel restaurant, ABU Cuisine.
Taipei's ABU Authentic Cuisine has earned a reputation for quality since its opening in 2009. Owner and head chef William “Abu” Bu (布秋榮), previously worked for different high-end hotels in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Finally we had something to look forward to this night.
We had the 6-course degustation menu starting with a warm abalone and zucchini salad. The abalone had very good texture and flavor to it (5/10).
The other appetizer was a duck liver pate with grapes and ginger. The pate was placed in a small container labeled "ABU Authentic Cuisine" and we ate straightly out of the container (4/10).
The salad with white asparagus, parma ham and parmesan cheese was also a very disappointing dish. I am a huge fan of white asparagus and the ones offered here were really not up to par by any stretch of imagination (2/10).
After four less-than-average dishes, finally we had a little something to cheer about - a Wonli crab and lobster bisque that was rich and silky smooth. A little more crab or lobster meat would have been perfect (7/10).
Our fish course was a moi fish with a scallop sauce. I couldn't find words to describe this scallop sauce but it was a fairly good match to go with moi fish (5/10).
Our palate cleanser was supposed to be an organic rose sorbet (according to the menu) but it tasted more like pineapple. Well as long as it's refreshing, that's all that matters right?
It's been a roller coaster ride all night and the main courses again failed to live up to expectation. Our first main course was a steamed truffled beef tenderloin with anchovy garlic sauce and by looking at the following picture, you know it's dry as an old boot (2.5/10).
Our second main course, a king prawn with garlic herb butter sauce also didn't fair a lot better. For a restaurant touted for its contemporary cuisine, they got to work on that presentation (4/10).
Our pre-dessert was a little tart with mango custard.
Perhaps the best dish of the night was our dessert - a soufflé with a lot of custard cream. This was very good (7.5/10).
I was prepared to be blown away by ABU's authentic cuisine but apart from the restaurant's quiet ambiance and riverside view, it failed to impress us with a cuisine that lacks character and flair.
Food Rating: 4/10
Price: $$$$
Address: No. 3, Yanti Wulai District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Tel: +886 (0)2 2661 6555
Website: www.springparkhotel.com.tw/en/06fb/soyan.asp
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