Logy (Taipei, TAIWAN) ★★★☆☆

My coughing is getting worse tonight but I am hoping that my ability to enjoy delicious food remains unaffected. It's my most anticipated meal of this get-away trip to Taipei and I am ever so grateful to get a last-minute booking confirmation just before taking off. 

Logy, of Florilège fame has been one of the toughest seat to get in Taipei these days. With just 13 seats available in this theatrical setting (26 seatings in two rounds of dinner every night), I could see the reason behind the high demand. Other reasons for the popularity came primarily from its lofty pedigree which included two Michelin stars and a place in the Asia Best 50 Restaurants. Not too shabby for a restaurant who has just opened its doors at the end of 2018. 

Located in a quiet alleyway in Da'an district, the highly coveted restaurant is under the watchful eyes of Executive Chef Ryogo Tahara (田原 諒悟), who was trained in Italy before returning to Japan in 2015 as sous-chef at Florilège under owner-chef Hiroyasu Kawate and eventually moving to Taipei for the launch of Logy.

Pie tee, ikura, carrot – The surprise menu started off with Chef Tahara's interpretation of a Malaysian pie tee (小金杯). The crispy carrots on top were nicely matched with crunchy ginkgo nuts and salmon roes delivering some exciting textures (and explosions) to kick off the meal.

Akkeshi oyster, matcha, green apple – Akkeshi oyster from Chef's Tahara's native Hokkaido prefecture was next. Juice from green apples worked well with the oyster and the caviar added some lovely saltiness. I thought the matcha foam was an interesting match.

Mango, aka uni, sweet shrimp – Another dish with a crispy shell but this one really blew me away. The design and execution was simply perfect.

Seafood (or shrimp) tartare was brilliantly paired with condiments of mango and touch of Taiwanese Huadiao wine (花雕酒) in the form of jelly but what brought everything together was the Japanese sea urchin which delivered a sublime "oceanic" finish to the dish.

Mud crab, beef consommé, angelica – Like the previous dish, this was a signature dish of the restaurant but it produced a slightly different result for me. The Japanese steamed egg custard worked reasonably well with the delicate beef consommé and local mud crab but the scoop of angelica ice-cream delivered a strong burst of herby and earthy flavors (and extra bitterness) which proved to be too overpowering for the rest of the ingredients. 

Mackerel, rice, hazelnut – On top of the Taiwanese glutinous rice and hazelnut, we've got slices of smoked mackerel which has been brushed with coffee oil, finished off adorably in a “Sababushi “ soup with perilla flowers. The velvety mackerel really provided a stark contrast to the glutinous rice which was both chewy and sticky at the same time. A very odd but surprisingly delightful combo.

Eel tempura, comté cheese, Sichuan pepper – Speaking of odd combination of ingredients, here's another one with sea eel deep-fried in brown sugar (thus the caramelized crust), and served in an aromatic broth made with herbs, Sichuan pepper, chai and if I heard it right, brown sugar (again?). The eel was expertly cooked and I like the idea of pairing it with a heart-warming broth on a cool winter night but the comté cheese and chocolate sauce on the bottom and the herby notes in the broth were a tad strong for me.

There was a small break in action while Chef Tahara was preparing the main course for us.

Duck, mushroom, chestnut, blueberry – Tonight's main dish was duck from Changhua (彰化縣) roasted and served with a reduction made with duck bones.

There was a second serving of the duck (sort of) in the form of duck liver parfait which was stuffed inside a mushroom with shaved chestnut on top. A small blueberry chutney provided some lovely acidity to balance off the savory, rich duck jus. This was a reasonably good main dish although the duck fillet wasn't as succulent as I first hoped.

Pumpkin, hoijcha, caramel – Chef's Tahara's modern twist on a Mont Blanc dessert using pumpkin which is available throughout the year as opposed to chestnuts which are typically harvested in autumn.

Various textures of pumpkin including a smoked pumpkin pureé and pumpkin infused with rum were served up alongside a hoijcha (Japanese roasted tea) meringue, caramel ice-cream and roasted almond. The tea and nutty flavors provided nice complements to the sweetness of the pumpkin but I thought the caramel was a tad too rich for the delicate pumpkin flavor.

Pineapple juice, Thai basil, coconut jelly – This was a refined take on the traditional Taiwanese dessert, aiyu jelly (愛玉冰?) which I have never heard before. Apparently, it's a jelly made from the gel from the seeds of the creeping fig (my server mentioned it as ivory tree) found in Taiwan.

Here the jelly made with Taiwanese ivory tree was served in a unsweetened pineapple juice with Thai basil for some refreshing flavors, while coconut jelly cubes added textural contrast.

Almond, saffron, jasmine tea – An almond tofu (杏仁豆腐) inspired dessert with almond ice-cream served on a bed of saffron sweet soup and Jasmine tea jelly. The trio of ingredients surprisingly meshed well together and interestingly enough, I did get some almond tofu texture and flavor profile from the mix of flavors.

There were some hits and misses tonight. All in all, a very interesting meal. I thought I have used the word "interesting" enough for tonight's dinner.

There was a lot to like about the cutting-edge cuisine from Chef Tahara who combines Japanese-inspired modern European cooking with Taiwanese flair. But did I fully enjoy this dining experience? To be honest, not fully. Three things I didn't like about my meal tonight. (1) I like having dinner at a counter table directly facing the open kitchen. This was the same setup as Florilège, their flagship restaurant in Tokyo but they had a lot more space in between each guest whereas here, we were sitting very close to each other and very often, unavoidably listening in others' conversation. (2) The place was way too loud. We had a group of three who weren't drunk but they were having such a great time chatting loudly in front of everybody. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to get yourself heard in a noisy environment. There was another diner or two who were playing YouTube unmuted trying to kill time while they were waiting for the next dish to arrive. (3) While the service team was pretty capable and well-trained, a few of the servers didn't do a very good job explaining the dishes in English (I've asked for the explanation in English rather than Mandarin); and without a copy of the menu on hand, sometimes it was difficult to get a grasp of what I was eating. I didn't have the same problem with my meals at NOBUO and De Nuit, and last time I checked, they had less Michelin stars than Logy.

Well, just some personal thoughts on a few things other than food tonight. I have never seen these at the fine-dining restaurants in Europe. I guess it only happens in some parts of Asia.

Food Rating: 7.4/10

Price: $$$$

Address: 1/F, No.6, Ln.109, Sec.1, Anhe Road, Da'an District, Taipei, Taiwan

Closest Metro Station: Xinyi Anhe

Website: www.logy.tw

Opening Hours: 5:30pm - 7:30pm, 8:00pm - 10:30pm (Wed - Sun)

S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 22nd (2024)