T+T (Taipei, TAIWAN) ★★★★☆

Like my previous two meals at Frassi and de nuit to kick off this Taipei trip, my third meal was a dandy. T+T is a Michelin starred restaurant specializing in Asian fusion. After stints at top restaurants in Asia including Singapore’s Restaurant André, Johnny Tsai opened his own bistro T+T in 2018. Short for “tapas tasting", T+T is best known for its small plates that blend western cooking techniques with an Asian twist, which helped the restaurant snag a Michelin star in 2021.

After checking out of my hotel this morning, I hauled my bags to breakfast at Capella Taipei and then headed to T+T.

Quail egg, sesame oil, seaweed — The tasting menu started off with a fun little bite inspired by Korean cuisine. A marinated quail egg sat on a jelly made with sesame oil and what I thought was Korean Doenjang (大醬, or soy bean paste), with the nori cracker and perilla tying everything together. A nice appetizing nibble.

Oyster, garlic, vermicelli — It was immediately followed by an off-menu treat.

 

This one was inspired by Taiwan's famous oyster vermicelli (蠔仔麵線). An oyster wrapped in crispy kataif noodles was deep-fried and served with garlic mayo and shaved katsuobushi. Seriously delicious! The crunchy kataif paired with the zesty, garlicky mayo really made the dish pop, and the oyster, marinated in milk and sake, was fantastic.

Scallop, pine nut, pumpkin — The second dish of the tasting menu was grilled scallop topped with chestnut purée and roasted pumpkin, and finished with a Korean inspired pine nut emulsion. There were some nice smoky flavors from the scallop and perhaps the pine nuts too.

Sea bream, winged bean, sambal — Pan fried sea bream was served with a powerful laksa sauce with crunchy winged green beans drizzled with the intense Sambal.

The spicy kick from the punchy laksa sauce really took the sea bream to another level.

Kanpachi, yuzu, Korean perilla — Thin noodles served cold in a light broth flavored with yuzu. 

The refreshingly cold noodles were topped nicely by a layer of marinated kanpachi and Korean perilla tempura. Not bad.

Duck, truffle, wheel pie — Next up, piping hot wheel cake (車輪餅).

The wheel cake was packed with duck confit and truffle cream sauce that brought a slightly spicy and peppery kick.

Wagyu, pear, scallion — This was inspired by the Korean barbecue. The charcoal grilled New York cut wagyu steak was nicely matched with a sauce made with scallion and beef jus.

Condiments of lettuce, apricot, pear, and Korean chili paste were reminiscent of a traditional Korean BBQ spread. The wagyu was juicy and succulent, working well with the garlic purée and savory-sweet scallion beef jus. My only complaint was that the sauce leaned a little towards the sweet side.

Abalone, ginseng, chicken — One more seafood dish came in the form of Korean abalone on a bed of rice soaking up the ginseng chicken soup underneath.

The piping hot ginseng soup burnt my tongue!

Lemon, chayote, dark plum — My pre-dessert was green apple sorbet and slices of green apple paired with dill, dark plum syrup, lemon juice, and chayote. It had a burst of acidity and fruity notes, helping to cleanse my palate almost instantly.

Coconut, peanut, Gula Jawa — Dessert was custard cream and coconut sugar mousse/gula jawa peanut wrapped in a coconut sugar wafer, served alongside a scoop of milk ice-cream.

And a cup of tea to help with my digestion.

I almost got killed by the amount of food being served here this afternoon!  😆😆 It was a lot for NT$2,680. This had to be the best NT$3,000 (including tax) I've spent on this trip.

P.S.  T+T is one of the toughest reservations to secure in Taipei. In the end, I was only able to get a high bar table instead of a regular one. But sitting at the bar came with some neon lighting from the wall, which made taking photos a bit tricky. So, my apologies for the poor quality of some of the shots!

Food Rating: 7.5/10

Price: $$

Address: No.11, Lane 165, Dunhua North Road, Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan

Closest Metro Station: Taipei Arena

Tel: +886 2-2719-9191

Website: https://www.facebook.com/tt27199191/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:00pm - 10:00pm daily