Gusto Italianao : Multo Bella...

March 21st: Another get-together weekend with friends... this time around - we all decided to eat out - as everyone is way too busy for an in-house get together cooking session....

The Place of choice was GUSTO ITALIANO, an Italian restaurant tucked in the Nei Hu district... it is also the place of David's work - and one that we all have been wanting to try for quite a while now after seeing their website, menu, and numerous blogs by Marketchow fueled with beautiful photos of tasty offerings... and the place did not disappoint at all!!! From the clean, nicely lit surroundings, to the attentive staff -- the place is worth a try.

The Food totally lived up to marketchow's photographs and descriptions.... tasty, scrumptious, and what a great selection... for about NT$700 ($20US) per person - you will get an entree of your choice, soup and beverage plus your fill of all-you-can-eat SALAD, BREAD, and delicious desserts... Each of our entrees were deliciously prepared and nicely presented... the servings are just the right amount considering you are already getting full from the choices of breads to start with... not to mention the salad bar.. what a variety of fresh veggies to try as well as, some fully prepared starters as salmon, clams, bratwurst sausages, apple veggie salads, etc... I mean, the salad bar alone would have sufficed but one MUST have the entree for the complete dining experience.......

Of course, the best part for me is the all-you-can-eat Dessert offerings... the selection changes as each cake is gobbled up -- so how can I stop.... Bread Pudding, explosion of Chocolate cakes, fruity tarts, etc.... I think, even with the slices of each cake offered that nite, I was still able to eat half of the bread pudding laid out... I could LIVE on these sweets for sure!!!The only thing sweeter, I must add, is the company of some really good friends... Juliana, Sue, Cecilia & David... till the next time guys.... am already salivating just thinking about it....
More Photos here.

Saucy Sauces * Sauces X 4

Sunday, March 15th - I had the pleasure of sitting in on one of David's cooking classes... when I say cooking classes, I mean one that he was teaching... and when I say sit in, I mean recruited to take photos...

It was a bit nerve wracking for me going into it... not for me and my photo techniques, or lack of it -- more because I did not know how nervous David would be conducting the class... It was not his first mind you, actually his second one... after months of coaxing from his Boss, at the company he works for, he finally gave in and agreed to hold cooking classes... For this particular one, it was all about sauces, 4 of them actually: Ragu Alla Bolognese, Salsa Picante, Aceto Balsamico & Pannecata.The class was for a couple of hours only but the amount of preparations needed took so much longer... unfortunately i could not help much as I really know nothing in the kitchen, and did not want to mess anything up.. or plainly just get in the way...So I sat around, observed and just did a bit of "this & that"... basically whatever am told.... After a couple of hours of slicing, dicing, chopping, peeling -- all ingredients were then place on their individual presentation tray... each grouped into which sauce they will be used for. Then it was more time to make sure that everything is clean and all set to go for the class...

At about 1:45PM, people started coming in -- all hyped up and ready to learn. About 8people turned up for the class -- which is a pretty good number already considering it was only advertised for a couple of weeks. The class actually went pretty well... am quite AMAZED and IMPRESSED at how at ease David was though the whole thing.... everything just flowed out naturally and smoothly... the cooking was impressive as well with no big mess or mishap... like he really has been doing it for years... and the people seemed to be actually both interested and entertained... so much so that one guy even commneted, while everyone loved the class, he loved Teacher David Best... LOLS!!! Everyone were also quite HAPPY with the finished sauces, as we all -- even me, got to try each and every one of them... and as an added bonus, all sorts of Bread were brought in from the bakery of David's company, Saveurs De France.So overall, it was 5hours well spent being amazed with David's calling and learning a bit a long the way... Next Up: PIZZA MAKING CLASS, dough included....
FOR COMPLETE SAUCE CLASS PHOTOS CLICK HERE
& to learn more about David's Culinary World,Pls Click Here: Marketchow

un AMIGO para todos!!!

Since moving to Taiwan, we have tried a few Mexican restaurants -- all of them ended up being disappointments... which baffles the heck out of me as most dishes uses the same ingredients for the most part... and are prepared pretty much the same... LOLS! The places we have been served either canned crap or what must have come out of those TV dinners just microwaved, then put on a plate... most has a very soggy texture from too much heating up... leaves so much to be desired... worse, totally leaves a BAD TASTE that I avoid Mexican food in Taiwan for the most part... that is until the other nite when Jason's (David's youngest nephew) food of choice was Mexican... driven by the cooking show we attended earlier in the afternoon at Eslite Cafe....

David happen to have seen this restaurant in back of the Chung Hsiao East Rd, AMIGO... hoping for the BEST but ready for the WORST - we were genuinely surprised and elated at what we had.... nevermind that the servings were not big enough... not like the ones you would normally get in the Mission District of San Francisco.. Ingredients were fresh, crispy, and prepared just right... and they were nicely served in dishes reminiscent of the ones I actually used in Mexico...The DECOR gets an A plus from me as well... panchos & colorfully painted ceramics adorns the walls; colorful wooden chairs; a pair of Mexican's traditional costumes; and sombreros (hats) as lamps over tables.... and as an added bonus - ALEJANDRO FERNANDEZ was playing when we first came in... I was truly WON OVER at the get go...
For the rest of the photos - PLS CLICK HERE.

the "sweetest" weekend

Literally, as we made over 700 Truflles in two days!!!!

Sat the 28th, will be the third and last(LOLs!), wedding banquet for Lyn & Shaun... this is for their friends in Taipei who were not able to attend either the Nantou or Kaohsiung receptions... still over 100 of them! GEEZ!!! Anyway, as a favour and gift to the the newlyweds -- we volunteered to make the truffles as parting gifts to the attendees... each person will get a box of 4 truffles...
Now, we have never made truffles before -- we have eaten lots of them -- of course --so we thought it would be a nice challenge.. and a great present, a more meaningful gift to the newlyweds... Besides, how BAD could it be right... after all I will be working with chocs.. MY FAVE!!! Challenge was the least of it... it was also time consuming, meticulous and messy...
-Time consuming as each batch of 100 took us about 3 hrs to finish up - scooping into balls, dipping in melted chocolates and rolling in the various topping...
-Meticulous as we want everything to taste great and look good... no out of shape ones - those were either packed to give to our friends and family - or eaten right away... lols...
-Messy as between the three of us, we had a whole load of laundry the two days we made the truffles.
Still, it was all worth the troubles as we were quite relieved that we finished them in a timely matter and they actually turned out, not only PRETTY but TASTY as well... now for the real test, getting the people to try them and hearing what they have to say...

CLICK HERE for more photos of our TRUFFLE MAKING adventure...

a new "Discovery"... well....

Dining out comes too far and few in between, so when we do, we do like to try new places we hear about or have seen in passing at one time or another... One such place is Discovery: Vietnamese restaurant inside the Mitsukoshi A4 Building, in the Waner Village area... The place was is nicely done... decor not too much, subtle but still evokes the Vietnamese feel to it... the presentation was quite good too as each dish came served in ornate plates... the service is just as nice as well -- attentive and kind staff...

buit then there's the food... they left a lot to be desired... forget the fact that each dish was too little - they were not anything special at all... nothing that will keep us coming back... even the street food in the streets of Hanoi were much more tastier....
You can see more PHOTOS HERE.

Little Asia - Greenhills, Philippines

Friday, Feb 12th: Little Asia Restaurant to Celebrate my nephew and niece's Feb. Birthdays... Asian Fusion type resto - loved it....
Location: Greenhills...

Loved everything about the place.... yummy food... cool interiors... beautiful mural... service is par excellence... my only complain is the table setting... paper place setting does not suit this place at all.... they could have done better... but that is a minor misstep, as they excel in everything else....

Took my nephew and niece for their BDays.... Just the 3 of Us!!!

Something Sweet & Retro...

...from Krispy Kreme...
I guess, a visit to Manila is not complete without stopping by Krispy Kreme for a donut or two... or a box full!!! Since it is not here in Taiwan, I do enjoy the stopover there during my trips... it helps that they have one of their biggest branches in the Greenhills Shopping Center are - one of my FAVE haunts when in Manila... and it is also nice that they seem to be coming up with new things to entice and treat their donut-a-holic followers, such as me...

With Valentine's Day looming, they are pushing their "Share The Love" campaign... Chocolate covers, heart shaped donuts... with a variety of filling and topping... each and everyone of them - delicious!!! This time around they are also offering a cute little tin with a really cute retro print... fell in love with it's sweetness right of the bat...Yummy Chocolate Covered Heart-Shaped Treats!!!