Italian Restaurants?

It’s close to Grandma Nitti’s, by the Shida Night Market. If you get off at the TaiPower Building MRT, it’s about a five minute walk.
Here’s a link with more information and the address.
urbanpeople.net/place.php?ID=171

:unamused: Hoho, seems to be taboo. Have been there twice, had about the best Lasagne this side of the world and can’t really underline the all complaints about…
Well, what’s it called again? PG rated? Something like that. :smiley:

Norbert

There’s a place in Zhonghe near the No.4 Park off of YungJen Road called Buono that serves decent, tasty spaghetti dishes. That’s pretty much all the serve. It’s a small cozy place that’s a little hard to see in the alley but the decor, meal, dessert and drinks makes it a nice Western find in the busy Yonghe/Zhonghe area. They also have wine and beer and decent cheesecake dessert.

To get there, you have to get off at the YongAn Market MRT stop and walk right toward the CPC gas stations located at the corner of YungJen Road and Zhonghe Road. Turn right at the Family Mart and go about an alley and cross the street toward the Kohikan restaurant.

i tried it tonight and i have to say it doesn’t deserve to be mentioned with alleycats or the other good places around. crust was too insubstantial–not too thin, but too papery or crackery–and the tomato sauce was uninteresting and too sparsely applied. overall after a few slices it was wearing out its welcome. ok as a snack but that’s about it.

I love Italian food. Hope we can continue this thread.

so far this year, there were two places I tried that I thought were very good:

  • Frassi - splendid experience and food (if you speak Chinese though, it’s better to have them explain each dish in Chinese; their staff’s English is not the best)
  • Pasta & Co. - the service wasn’t so good at Pasta & Co., but the food was absolutely great (but it seemed like this was just due to some poorly trained wait staff, which is something I think they can improve easily, so I want to give them another try)
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Frassi is very good indeed, prabably the best Italian fine dining on the island.

Below my recommendation list, this is very personal, but I use my “Italian person” card to adjudge haha:

  • Artbrosia, Piedmontese fine dining at the Palais de Chine, this is a real treat too, Chef Paolo (from my region) is highly creative and very skilled. Also good wine, too bad the place is frigging dark, but that’s the theme of the hotel
  • La mole (taipei), run by my best friend Simone, another piedmontese gem but more homestyle hearty cooking, very good wine selection and he makes all the pastas and the charcuterie by himself (given fucking TW gov doesn’t allow the import of Italian pork products… but French, Spanish and even British ones are ok, fucking politics)
  • Divino Taipei (Daan), Chef Enrico is highly energetic and creative giving a modern flair to Italian classics. Very good quality wines on offer, albeit a tad dear and not as extensive as other places, but difficult to drink bad here
  • Focoso, this is Divino’s steakhouse, Chef Luc has been trained by Enrico and makes delicious steaks and grilled dishes in general on charcoal. Wines are also curated.
  • Black Pepper (Daan), is now my favourite pizzeria, run by Gianluca and Luca, open till late, good pizza and good drinks. love the vibe which really brings me back home.
  • Pizza si (Bade rd), run by Zoca’s founder and owner Federico, a different style of pizza (real romana style “alla pala”) which I came to love here. Good wines too and super chill atmosphere.
  • La Locanda, one of the oldest Italian restaurants in town run by old-timer TW resident Matteo. He hails from Verona (Venice region), so many dishes from his home region, but the piece-de-resistance is his wine list, the most extensive selection of Italian wines I have ever seen in Taiwan. Impressive.
  • Rialto, near SYT memorial park, has good fare (a very good tagliata steak), decent wines at honest prices. He makes a very thin and crispy pizza, which is not my thing but the taste is good nonetheless, many will enjoy it I know that.
  • Bencotto at the Mandarin, Chef Emanuele brought finally new life to this establishment. Curated dishes offered at a not-so-expensive price given the place, wines are a rip-off instead, stupidly overpriced (but good selection, just mind your wallet).
  • Veatalia: last, but absolutely not the least on my list. A private kitchen run by Chef Vito. Hailing from Rome, offers a hearty yet refined private dining experience. He was the executive chef for the Ritz Carlton in Beijing before moving here to follow his Taiwanese wife, and the quality all shows.

There are some more which I haven’t mentioned, all run by Italian people, but some really lost the plot in my opinion (like Botega del Vin since the owner retired, or Cantina or Fumo in the new location in Songshan).

Also a note: there are many, many pizzerias run by Taiwanese ppl who make very good pizzas too! we have a thread only for that here:

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What is it you think changed with Botega? I have been there in recent months. Very satisified.

Great list - thanks. I didn’t realize how many evening-only restaurants there are in Taipei! Only a couple of those are open for lunch on a typical weekday.

I assume most of these will have a house wine I can order by the glass? Spouse doesn’t drink, and a bottle seems rather unwisely ambitious on my own.

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Since Giorgio, the old man, retired basically, the place is now run by the manager there (who is like filipino if I remember well), who runs it like an Asian restaurant. Everything too fast, the taste changed, the vibe completely wrong for me.

Not my place anymore.

Yes, you have wine by the glass in basically all of them.

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I see. I know someone else who suggested something along those same lines. They still like it but feel it’s not worth the same money anymore. Vibe different, as you suggested.

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Brilliant! Thank you @Mataiou for your tireless service to this community.

How you stay so fit and thin while also eating at all these Italian places will forever remain a mystery to me. :joy:

Guy

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Fuck, forgot one of my favourites! My brain really becoming mush these last few days: Domo de Sardegna. This is a real gem, genuine Sardinian cuisine with probably the best selection of Sardinian wine outside of Sardinia itself! Chef Pino Is a treasure to be safeguarded and Taiwan is very lucky to have him here.

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My wife would irrespectfully disagree with you on me being fit and thin😂

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Food there was good, but I watched the chef, Enrico, taste his tartar and then proceed to use the same spoon to serve guests. Pretty unacceptable behavior, especially when you have a fucking open kitchen. He just shrugged me off when I called him out about it. Seems like kind of a wanker.

Interesting.

Still cleaner than all taiwanese restaurants. Will still go

I just saved all the restaurants in your list on Google Maps. Hope to visit them all in the near future :smiley:

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Don’t forget this one. I actually may try this one first.

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you are in for a treat. I suggest also contact him first on line (they have the official restaurant line contact) to pre-order the Sardinian traditional roast pork (porceddu). And absolutely try the oven cooked seasalt-covered seabass. AND ALL HIS PASTAS!

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