bib gourmand selections released today: https://d3h1lg3ksw6i6b.cloudfront.net/media/pdf/Michelin%20Guide%20Taipei%202018%20Bib%20Gourmand%20Table.pdf
…and the list of stars to follow on March 14.
what do you all think? any surprises?
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Beef noodles. I’ve never once after many years of trying thought “this is so good I’ll have to come back again”. My usual thought is “ok, it’s beef, and it’s noodles” and usually something like “this is chewy meat, wonder what it is, because it’s not a quality cut”.
I’m curious to see the guide coming out soon.
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I’ll vouch heavily for Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodles (林東芳牛肉麵). Extremely delicious. On Ba-De Road.
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You have to use that kind of meat and Taiwanese beef to get that. It doesn’t taste good if you get like premium fillet from like the US
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Results announced today in the first Michelin stars awarded to restaurants in Taipei City. Twenty restaurants on the list. Some details available here:
Discuss!
Guy
I’m just hoping to see a clean list, without all the narrative and talking.
Yes damn that talking!
Your wish is my command, in PDF format:
Guy
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What is this magic you are able to conjure at a whim.
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I’m predicting extra long wait lists for these restaurants. Toilet paper style!
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Most were reporting to be fully booked until 2019…
These establishments will really demonstrate their excellence by navigating the rush of newbies while also trying to not anger their old clientele.
Guy
Michelin is usually a poor indicator when it comes to anything other than high end western food. And when they’ve really hit the spot, a Michelin star is no better way to ruin a good restaurant for the locals.
It also doesn’t make sense to rate different branches of chains such as Din Tai Fung seperately because they’ve created a detailed SOP to run the kitchen like a factory. Everything tastes the same no matter where you go in Taiwan.
the ones I’ve been to (in the past couple years):
Le Palais 頤宮 - very good dim sum, but very mediocre dishes. staff seem to be inadequately trained and aimlessly rush around without accomplishing much. the food, service, and environment are all several notches below my experience at 2* Tin Lung Heen in Hong Kong.
Da-Wan 大腕 - very good high end yakiniku but am not sure why this one deserves a star while a bunch of others do not. still my go to place to get this stuff though.
Danny’s Steakhouse 教父牛排 - decent steaks at exorbitant prices. but again, not sure why this one gets a star while Danny’s other restaurants such as A+ or 168 do not.
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon 侯布雄 - went once and was not inclined to go back. fish was overcooked and sommelier was cocky and unhelpful (c’on French dude, this is Taipei - you don’t talk to customers like that).
La Cocotte by Fabien Vergé - good, but not very good. some misses, as in the chicken was too dry.
MUME - very good contemporary cuisine. I liked it.
RAW - very good, but not much better than MUME; worth going once a while but not worth calling nonstop for one hour to get a reservation
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Recently took my parents-in-law to Da San Yuan (Three Coins 大三元), at: 台灣台北市中正區衡陽路46號; tel. 2-2381-7180. This restaurant is about 50 years old and is fairly traditional Cantonese. It’s a good choice if you’re looking for somewhere to take your pan-blue friends/family over 60 yrs old, especially if you need a private room, and don’t mind the old style (and I do mean “old”). The tab for lunch was about NT900 per person for five courses. Everything was quite good, but this was just after the Michelin announcement, and service was a little slow with the staff struggling to keep up with customer demands. Reservations will be hard to make.
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Majority of these places are not worth the hype. Joel Robochon is a franchise and the quality of the food is not that great, just looks good. Danny’s steakhouse is not great either I had better quality steaks at “the cut” or “Mark’s teppanyaki”. MUME and RAW are pretty good, more suited for a Michelin 
although if the price would be Michelin level it wouldn’t be worth it.
Haven’t been to the Asian style cuisine ones so can’t speak for those
Well, OK. But “globalized” might be a better way to put it.
Look, I get that hanging out at Bellavita might not be everyone’s idea of a good time. And the prices at Robuchon are obviously not cheap–everyone knows this. But from Chef Suga through Chef Agliano through Chef Boyer to the current restaurant headed by Chef Jean, the cooking has had its own life, its own character, its own soul. It’s nuts to dismiss this place for being generic. Anyone who has tried Chef Narita’s otherworldly concoctions for dessert, or the impressive and solid work by the current pastry section headed by Chef Takahashi–well let’s just say this is world-class food, up to Tokyo standards.
More importantly, these guys were the first to actually take this so seriously in Taiwan. They deserve credit for pushing the standards upwards and, by training many locals how to do this right, positively affecting the whole culinary ecology in Taipei. These guys deserve their star.
Guy
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Food is subjective. Michelin guide is for fun and promotion. I don’t see the point of saying whether this restaurant is worthy of a star or not. I’m sure you can find a 3 stars restaurant in Paris which serves food you hate.
Let us differentiate here. There is a huge difference between earning a star and being featured in their books, which is basically a guidebook on local restaurants. Like Lonely Planet, Fodors, etc., Michelin feature some good examples and some bad ones too. On the other hand, getting a star is a little more important although it can be a nightmare for the restaurant, as the pressure to keep it etc. can be more bother than it is worth. Living and working in France, I respect their judgements in France but would take it with a grain of salt outside (perhaps with the exception of Japan).
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We got copies of the guide last week. Man, the quality of the print is atrocious, many of the images (some of them provided to the publisher by us) look really blurry. All that hype and they couldn’t even do a standard-quality job with the print. 
Well, I have met the chef before and have ate there as well.
Quality is not great at all for the price. Food is quite mediocre.
I gotta give it that the presentation is quite good, esthetically pleasing for sure but quite disappointing in taste.
I also have high expectations for what I eat so that might be why I dislike the place, having actually eat in many Michelin starred restaurants around the world I know what the food is like and I know what to expect from it.
Not saying is an awful restaurant but it isn’t worth of a Michelin guide mention either that’s what i’m Trying to say.
I’d say location is very nice.
Service ok
Food mediocre
Presentation excellent
I agree, I’ve had nothing but great meals there.
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