Travel Log/Restaurant Review: SunnyHills Bakery for Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes and Hotpot at Shaburi

There are a few famous Taiwanese foods (besides their street food at the night markets which is so fun to eat!) Otherwise, two of the most authentic and affordable Taiwanese eats are hotpot (or huoguo) and pineapple cakes.  I went to a few of the more famous restaurants for these treats and wanted to share my experiences.

What is hot pot?  It is basically shabu shabu or fondue or food you boil yourself.  It can be a fun individual or group meal.  You order a list of raw foods based around a type of meat - usually fish or beef.  Then you order your stock which can be light or spicy.  Your soup selection is brought to you along with vegetables (cabbage, enoki mushrooms, etc.) and starches (handmade noodles and fish dumplings - they are better than they sound and not fishy!)  It is SO fun just chatting with friends while leisurely cooking your meal.  You get to create your own dipping sauce as well (mmm for sacha sauce with dried shrimp!)  It is a cool, somewhat healthy way to eat out.

We went to Shaburi which is in ATT 4 Fun (who named this mall?) and has a really great ambiance.  It is a little pricier, but comes with salad and dessert as well.  You can save a little by going a la carte as well though sesame ice cream is definitely a great way to end this meal!

899 NTD (about $30)
ATT 4 Fun mall

To be honest, I never loved pineapple cakes.  Some brands were too greasy, others were too sweet.  But SunnyHills Bakery sets itself apart.  First, there are the ingredients: this international cast of ingredients includes butter from New Zealand, flour from Japan, and free range eggs as well as organic pineapple from Taiwan.  This adds up to a simple, flakey, and perfectly sweet (not too sweet) cake.  The second draw of the bakery is the location.  It is based in a quiet, tree-lined residential neighborhood in Taiwan.  The environment is artistic and chic and I loved the random art work throughout the place.  You can order cakes to go and the bakery will invite you to sit down for a complimentary cup of tea and a pineapple cake (two cakes for the price of one - score!) The last two pictures are from the website because I quickly devoured my cake and there was none left for photos!

350 NTD for 10 cakes (about $12)
No. 1, Alley 4, Lane 36 Section 5 MinSheng East Road, Songhan District

CnC Living Travel Log: Kisses for Free Japanese BBQ and beer in Taipei

I can't believe I forgot to post about one of the most interesting restaurants in Taipei (ok Modern Toilet restaurant wins for being most interesting/out there if you're into sitting on toilet seats and eating ice cream shaped like, well you can guess).  I always try to visit a branch of  Kan Pai Yakiniku, a Japanese bbq restaurant, when I'm in Taiwan.  The food - a variety of grilled meats/vegetables (grilled at your table), rice dishes, and some seafood are also consistently tasty and pretty affordable (you can have dinner and drinks for about $20).

But this is also one of the most fun restaurants I've been to because they have a promotion before 8:30 pm (or when the waiters get bored because we received the promotion at 9:30/10 pm): kiss someone at the table, let the restaurant take a picture, and get a free plate of bbq beef or a pint of beer.  There were a variety of people kissing of both sexes - the funniest we saw was two guys kissing with a napkin between them.  Not really a work kinda restaurant, but so fun with friends.

Here is the evidence on the restaurant walls:

 

So the waiter offered to take our picture towards the end of our meal.  The Mr. and I willingly obliged so he could get his free beer.  We smooched our winnings.  

 

Is free beer/grilled meat worth infamy on a random restaurant wall?  We thought why not (and if you never visit again, doesn't matter who will see you kissing right?)

CnC Living Travel Log: Food and fun at Taipei Shilin Night Market

Gotta love a place where you can find all kinds of food and random shoes late at night.

That place in Taipei is the Shilin Night Market in the Shilin district in Taipei - this is the largest and most famous night market in Taiwan.  This winding area in Taipei features a variety of food vendors with some small vendors selling everything from massage heat packs to hat situated on the side.
It's kinda interesting how they have food vendors in front of old temples.

In addition, you can find quite a few retailers open late (they open about 4 pm and close about midnight or 1 am) selling mostly outerwear or shoes.  Seriously there were a dizzying array of boots and pumps, many for about $30. 
Mr. Gadget also found some Lacoste shoes for about $60 (better priced than in the US or UK).

But really, we were there for the food.

The rough categories are

Then we have grilled goodies, including sausages

and corn (Taiwanese LOVE grilled corn)

...fried foods:
We started with some fried octopus (they had a variety of seasonings including a wasabi salt).  Yum!

Fried chicken breast (split breast so watch out for some bones at the bottom!) is famous here too.

...desserts/refreshments including a variety of jellies which at one stall were for some reason called frog eggs(is that supposed to be enticing?!)

These were the toppings (tapioca and aiyu jelly) for a fresh tory dessert.

  

and misc, including a variety of stone baked buns

and hot noodles (we only had medium hot - DELICIOUS but pretty darn spicy)

Definitely stop by and eat at the Shilin Night Market if you're in Taiwan!