fumio café tour part 1 – Taipei

One of our missions in Asia was to try out the unique cafes.  However, with limited time we could only visit a few of them.  Here are the ones we went in Taipei.

Taipei is a unique city where old and new seems to blend well together.  One example is Fongda Café (蜂大咖啡 in Ximending.  Opened since the 50s, Fongda keeps its character as an “old style” café, from its décor to the traditional Taiwanese pastries, despite the fact that it is located in the middle of a vibrant entertainment district for young people.

We went first thing in the morning for breakfast and it was already very busy.  Seeing this giant coffee syphon at their coffee bar told us they are very serious about their coffee. And indeed their coffee was really good.

Other than the traditional café, there are many “theme cafés” recently opened in Taipei.  In the Xinyi area, near the Taipei 101 there is an area renovated from old warehouses and houses.  Among those is a unique café 好丘.

It’s a café specializes in gourmet bagels (yes, bagels!).

   

Attached to it is a very neat gift shop featuring locally sourced snacks and items designed by Taiwanese artists. If you buy a postcard, you can use the stationary and stamps at a table there to put your customized message and send your memory home!

Our next stop was Yongkang Street.  Over the years it has become an area known for small artistic shops and cafés.  This one is an antique shop in a café. When we went there two local artists were doing an interview so we didn’t stay.

FabCafé is another new café with a lot of character. It is located inside the libLAB of the Huashan 1914 Creative Park.  It’s a park dedicated for various artistic functions/exhibitions, with independent stores.  The atmosphere is just a perfect match with FabCafé.

It is a concept originated in Japan, combining a “café” with “fabrication”. In the shop there’s a machine that you can bring in your own design and make your own models.  Or you can choose the designs in-store and add your personalization.  The café also holds workshops periodically to make different cool items.

But don’t forget they’re also a café, with a menu of specialty coffees and light meals. I tried their iced coffee with orange. Very refreshing for a hot summer night.

If you are visiting Taipei, make sure you leave some time to check them out ^^

(…to be continued)

Vienna Sacher Torte Experience

We’re back!

After a 2-week vacation in Europe, we’re finally back. This time we spent most of our time in Austria, including Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck.

One of the items on my agenda for this trip was to try the Sacher Torte, a Viennese chocolate cake.  You can get Sacher Torte in almost any restaurant in Austria, but we’re interested in two main places – Demel and Hotel Sacher.

Sacher Torte was first “invented” in Vienna.  Throughout the 30s and the 50s there had been legal battles between Hotel Sacher and Demel for the name “Original Sacher Torte”.  At the end they settled and Hotel Sacher got to use the name “Original Sacher Torte” while Demel got the right to decorate the torte with a triangular seal that says “Eduard-Sacher-Tort”

You can find the details on the Sacher Torte on Wikipedia. But here we just want to share our tasting experience of the torte.  As with all food it’s a personal taste so our comments not necessarily mean one is better than the other.

Our first stop was Demel.  Its Vienna location is on the high end shopping street of Vienna, and you can see the Hofburg Palace from the patio.

Inside you can see the working area for the pastry chefs. We were there late afternoon so I guess they’re off already.

So this is the much anticipated Sacher Torte from Demel.  I-LOVE-IT.

I’m not a big fan of chocolate cake because the ones in North America are typically overly sweet. Yet the Sacher Torte is not supposed to be too sweet (Austrian taste I guess?).  Even though with the chocolate icing on top and apricot jam in the middle the sweetness is just right.

We went to Hotel Sacher after a concert.  You can see the big sign “Original Sacher Torte” there.

The four of us had a light meal at Café Sacher and then shared a dessert set for two. It included (from the bottom): pancake with plum jam filling (which is another common Austrian dessert and one of Empress Sissi’s favourite), Sacher Torte, raspberry and chocolate mousse cake, petite four.

For the Sacher Torte, I found Hotel Sacher’s a bit heavier than Demel’s.  Demel’s cake was fluffier and Hotel Sacher’s cake was denser. Reading Wikipedia it’s supposed to be a dense sponge cake but I personally like fluffier cake.  The chocolate icing of Hotel Sacher’s was also a bit heavier, making the torte taste a bit sweeter than Demel’s.  Of course I’m no foodie so I can’t tell whether these differences were caused by having them in different time of the day (afternoon vs. late night).  But if you like light fluffy cake Demel would be your choice.  But if you like more richness of chocolate, Hotel Sacher’s “Original Sacher Torte” would disappoint you.

Let there be rose – Ispahan throwdown in Paris

We were in Paris last fall and one of our must-do was to try Pierre Hermé’s famous “Ispahan”.  Although there are numerous PE outlets in Paris this delicate pastry is only sold at the St. Germaine store.  There’s no seating in the store but there’s a park conveniently across the street. 

“Ispahan” is a species of rose so it goes without saying that this “Ispahan” dessert is of rose flavour.  It’s about the size of the palm so it’s like holding a burger when eating it (so much about elegance).  We read a lot about this before so we knew exactly what it is made of: rose flavour macaron, raspberry buttercream, lychee and fresh raspberries.  However, actually tasting it is a totally different experience – the complex aroma was just breathe-taking.  The subtle rose flavour mixed very well with the fruitiness of raspberries.  And the hint of lychee was just the perfect highlight of the dessert.  No wonder people say Pierre Hermé is a genius.

Pierre Hermé started off at another renowned patisserie Ladurée, where he created this gem.  Apparently there’s no such thing as intellectual property rights in the dessert world and there are many places in Paris you can get Ispahan, including Ladurée of course.  So our “try Pierre Hermé Ispahan” mission became an Ispahan throwdown.

Our second stop was Ladurée.  Unlike PE you can get Isaphan at all locations (unless they’re sold out).  This one tasted much like PE’s actually.  But we still like PE’s more, probably due to first mover advantage so this Ladurée one didn’t give us the wow factor anymore.

The other place we tried was Angelina.  We were there for the hot chocolate and Mont Blanc but we spotted it while waiting in line to be seated.  They’re not called Ispahan but some French name we couldn’t pronounce so we called it Ispahan anyway.  Hope they were not offended.

This one was our least favourite.  As you can see there were sprinkles of licorice and it did have taste of licorice.  We are not big fans of licorice so this Ispahan to us was an acquired taste.

The conclusion?  When we get the chance, make sure you try it and let the roses blossom in your mouth!