LONGTAIL: A MODERN, WESTERN-STYLE RESTAURANT IN TAIPEI RUN BY ONE OF TAIWAN’S RISING STAR CHEFS
The Cost -$42 per person
The Atmosphere – When you walk into Longtail, you feel like you’ve entered a trendy New York restaurant and for a second you might forget that you are in Taiwan. Set in the Da’an District of Taipei, Longtail’s interior features exposed brick and a modern, tiled bar with bartenders wearing button-down white shirts, dark ties, and chic aprons. The tables and chairs are contemporary wooden pieces and the dim lighting makes for an intimate setting. The restaurant is perfect for a romantic dinner or a special evening out yet casual enough for a nice dinner on a weeknight. Dressing up is appropriate but not necessary though athletic attire, casual shorts, and flip-flops would make you stand out in the wrong way. Reservations are accepted and are highly recommended as you are not likely to get a table without one.
When you walk into Longtail, you feel like you’ve entered a trendy New York restaurant and for a second you might forget that you are in Taiwan. Set in the Da’an District of Taipei, Longtail’s interior features exposed brick and a modern, tiled bar with bartenders wearing button-down white shirts, dark ties, and chic aprons. The tables and chairs are contemporary wooden pieces and the dim lighting makes for an intimate setting. The restaurant is perfect for a romantic dinner or a special evening out yet casual enough for a nice dinner on a weeknight. Dressing up is appropriate but not necessary though athletic attire, casual shorts, and flip-flops would make you stand out in the wrong way. Reservations are accepted and are highly recommended as you are not likely to get a table without one.
The Order – Shrimp Sliders, Persimmon Salad, Uni, and the Kaya French Toast.
The Fantastic – What is the dish that was ordered that you cannot miss? The Shrimp Sliders. These are not your typical sliders; served two to an order, the patty is made of a lot of toasted shrimp mixed with chives and lemongrass which is then topped with cucumbers and pickled onions. Under the crispy patty you’ll find a tasty sriracha mayo which sits between the shrimp and the bun. Every single part of the slider is incredible in both taste and texture from the perfectly crisp toasted patty bursting with shrimp and lemongrass flavor, to the wonderfully pickled onions, to the creamy sriracha mayo which adds a small kick, to the toasted, yet fluffy bun. This dish hits on all levels and is absolutely delicious.
The Great – Surprisingly, the second-best dish of the evening was dessert. The Kaya French Toast consisted of two homemade brioche cubes that were dipped into a coconut cream and pandan leaves mixture and then deep-fried to give it a crispy outer shell. The “French Toast” is served with an espresso ice cream that is topped with a soy caramel sauce. The combination of the two is quite nice but it is the brioche that you came for. It has an incredible, warm sweet interior which goes perfectly with the crunchy exterior, and the pandan and coconut flavors give this otherwise upscale western dish a really nice Asian touch.
When the Uni arrived at the table, most of what I saw was foam with a couple of pieces of sea urchin on rectangular rice beds protruding out from it. The rice was a bit crispy on the outside but soft on the inside making for a very nice resting place for the great portion of uni that sits atop each bed. The uni was fresh, slippery, and delicious and I was impressed with the quantity of it in the appetizer. To my delight, one of the best parts of this dish was the foam which was made from pomelo and was topped with some shiso leaves. Many foams tend to have little to no flavor and often just add some texture but the foam in this dish had a great pomelo flavor that combined extremely well with the sea urchin. While I wish there was less rice to allow for the uni flavor to dominate, this was a great appetizer and even though it is the most expensive one on the menu at about $36, if you are a fan of sea urchin, it is worth the price.
The Persimmon Salad was the third appetizer that was ordered to complete the savory part of the meal as we decided to go the all-appetizers-no-entrées route. Persimmon is not so commonly found in Taiwan and so it was nice to see it on the menu. Chef Lam’s persimmon salad was presented in an elegant fashion with some colorful greens and nuts in the center of the plate with cut-up pieces of the fruit forming a circle around them. The salad is topped with a yogurt source and a delicious, silky avocado mousse with citrus vinegar as well as sesame seeds. It was a modern, elevated salad and was a nice light option.
The Verdict – The entire experience at Longtail was great from beginning to end. The food is excellent and Chef Lam’s use of high-end, international ingredients was a wonderful theme throughout the menu. Longtail should absolutely be on your list of restaurants to visit while in Taipei and when you go, make sure to order its signature shrimp sliders.
Longtail
longtail.com.tw
No. 174號, Section 2, Dunhua S Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106