After spending the last few weeks trying some of the newest French and European restaurants in the city, Taiwanese food certainly provides a good change of pace on paper.
The menu at Check-in Taipei is a hybrid of traditional recipes with fusion twists. Ingredients are sourced locally and dishes are freshly made in house to preserve the authentic experience.
At the helm is executive chef Leung Nga Fung who has previously worked for L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon and Amber. He has put together an innovative collection of dishes including chicken and waffles (inspired by salty crispy chicken 鹽酥雞), oyster duet (inspired by oyster omelette 蚵仔煎) and C.I.T. noodles. (Inspired by 台式滷肉) that promises to be mind-boggling and exciting.
With the restaurant still in its soft opening phrase, alchololic drinks are currently unavailable but you will find a small selection of Taiwanese inspired tea drinks, designed by award winning drinks specialist Shin Chiu.
From the moment we stepped into this the restaurant, it felt a lot like a Spanish tapas restaurant.
The complimentary drink was not a sangria though. It's a special green jasmine tea that tasted a bit like beer with my first sip.
All the dishes on the menu came with a small "tapas-like" portion and the first to arrive was the oyster duet - a homemade oyster soup paired with oyster croquettes. That provided quite a promising start.
The oyster soup which was served with a set of little tea pot and cups, was so creamy and delicate. The oyster croquette, like most croquettes, was its usual party-pleaser. Perfectly deep fried, crunchy and flavorful (7.5/10).
The oyster duet was followed by the chicken and waffles, a dish inspired by the famous Taiwanese street food salty crispy chicken.
Full marks for the creativity but the salty crispy chicken never seemed to mesh well with the homemade waffle, pineapple chutney and balsamic maple syrup (2.5/10).
Full marks for the creativity but the salty crispy chicken never seemed to mesh well with the homemade waffle, pineapple chutney and balsamic maple syrup (2.5/10).
Next up was one of the signature dishes here - "Ping Pong". It's fun just looking at the beautiful presentation!
Each ping pong ball was made with purple yam on the outside and mochi and parmesan melt inside. It was then finished with sea salt flakes atop.
I thought it tasted a little like having a croquette but less crispy. The mochi was the difference maker here giving it a very unique texture (7/10).
The C.I.T. noodles was the perfect dish for sharing. The combination of house braised meat sauce, rigatoni, crispy basil, 63 degree organic egg and parmesan was an interesting example of "West meet east" cooking and we thought it did alright (5/10).
Each ping pong ball was made with purple yam on the outside and mochi and parmesan melt inside. It was then finished with sea salt flakes atop.
I thought it tasted a little like having a croquette but less crispy. The mochi was the difference maker here giving it a very unique texture (7/10).
The C.I.T. noodles was the perfect dish for sharing. The combination of house braised meat sauce, rigatoni, crispy basil, 63 degree organic egg and parmesan was an interesting example of "West meet east" cooking and we thought it did alright (5/10).
This has to be one of the hottest dish in Hong Kong right now - Gua Bao. Everybody is doing it, from celebrity chef Harlan Goldstein to Ms. May Chow of Little Bao.
Three different gua baos are served here including a vegetarian version with eggplant but at the end of the day, we decided to stick with originality - braised pork belly.
I thought the steamed buns were fresh and spongy, the pork belly nicely braised and flavorful though the sweet bean sauce could be a little less spicy (5/10).
Wrapping up our dinner was two skewers of "Four Cup chicken". I know all about the famous "Three Cup Chicken" from the Taiwanese cuisine but where does the fourth cup come from? I was eager to find out...
Each skewer came with several pieces of chicken fillets marinated with the house-made three cups sauce and a quail egg and then caramelized leeks were sprinkled on top to provide the finishing touch. The "fourth cup" came courtesy of our server who sprayed the skewers with a special rose wine perfume.
I thought they were too heavy handed with the seasonings here (4/10).
We did thoroughly enjoy the creativity put into each and every one of these dishes. As expected, some dishes (oyster duet, ping pong etc.) worked better than others (chicken and waffles) so there's still work to be done. But more improvement work is required on the service side as most servers were lacking the skills to make the dining experience worthwhile.
Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address: G/F, 27 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central / Hong Kong Station Tel: +852 2351-2622
Website: www.checkintaipei.com
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