More girlie drinks in Taipei

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We're back in Taiwan again to spend more time with the Parental Units, and after running around shopping for ingredients and some cooking prep, Foursheets needed a place to unwind and meet up with Little Rabbit. During our last trip home, Foursheets took a liking to the girlie izakaya we discovered, so she decided that's where we should have our first dinner on this trip, before most of Taiwan shuts down for the Chinese New Year break.

We were once again seated in the Old Town West (老城西。酒食製作所) part of the space, but not at the bar counter this time. With an additional mouth to feed, Foursheets's secret plan was to order up a storm so that we could try more dishes. Alas, someone had already stuffed down a bowl of Taiwanese shaved ice and a softserve ice cream just before meeting up with us, so... not at full capacity, then.

But before we get started with the food, girlie drinks are in order. I asked for something that caught my eye on our last visit, and it turned out just as girlie as what I ordered before.

The nocturnal scent of riesling (麗絲玲的夜香氛) - with late-harvest riesling and vodka as the base, this had the scent of morning-harvest jasmine tea, along with white champaca (玉蘭花) essence and the sweetness of white grapes. Very fruity and refreshing. Of course, it's the decor on the stem that caught my attention when the drink arrived...

Deep-fried Hiroshima atomic bomb oysters (酥炸廣島核彈大牡蠣) - I wasn't the least bit surprised that Foursheets ordered this again. The oysters are tasty, and I love the salmon roe on top. The raw cabbage and mayo balanced out the grease from the batter very nicely.

Burdock tempura (香柚手作牛蒡天婦羅) - this wasn't what we expected. Little Rabbit thought this would be simply deep-fried burdock, but it turned out to be Taiwanese tianbula (甜不辣) with slices of burdock. Pretty tasty and slightly sweet. Served with Japanese yellow mustard on the side.

Potato with rich cheese and mentaiko (濃郁起司明太子馬鈴薯) - I liked the topping of mentaiko (明太子), mayo, and cheese... but the thick slab of potato at the bottom - not so much.

Grilled chicken cartilage (鹽烤雞腿腳筋) - this was pretty decent.

Kung pao chicken cartilage with green Sichuan peppercorns (青花椒麻宮保雞腳筋) - I didn't realize the cartilage would come in such big chunks, and these were really crunchy. Sprinkled with lots of red chili powder and more spicy than numbing. Not sure there was any green Sichuan peppercorns... Having said that, the deep-fried rice crispies (鍋巴) were really good!

Chayote shoots with tofu and sesame sauce (深焙胡麻玫瑰白玉龍鬚菜) - Foursheets decided to order this again for some veg. Still nice with the shaved katsuobushi (鰹節) and sesame sauce, but kinda filling thanks to those big chunks of tofu.

Hardcore spicy miso chicken wings (超硬派味增激辛手羽先) - well... the wings were OK, but the sauce was more sweet and not really spicy.

Stir-fried ox tongue with cabbage (牛舌と高麗菜の燒) - the tongue had been cut into very thin and small slices, then stir-fried in black vinegar with cabbage. I do love those flavors, as I grew up with cabbage fried in black vinegar. I didn't care for the presence of bean sprouts, but I guess it helps to keep costs down.

Stir-fried white water snowflake (炒個好吃的水蓮吧) - this was, hands down, the best dish of the evening. Foursheets and I love this veg, and they've executed it perfectly so that we could taste the wok hei (鑊氣). Must order it again.

Stir-fried cabbage with sakura shrimp (櫻花蝦梨山高麗菜) - I love Taiwanese cabbage for their sweetness, and I would always be happy to have it stir-fried with dried sakura shrimp. Sadly they also decided to add bean sprouts.

Dark roasted Oolong (深培烏龍) - gin-based with Campari, dark roasted Oolong tea, lime juice, and longan honey. Definitely tasted the strong flavors from the tea, but also with fruity acidity.

Pretty happy to be back here tonight, but thanks to my lack of sleep last night, I refrained from ordering more girlie drinks. There's always next time!