The VVG Bistro is a small French restaurant that can be difficult to find if you haven't been told its exact address. Although its entrance is half obscured by shrubbery, it has nevertheless generated a following and can get quite crowded on the weekends. The creative dishes provided solid fare that lives up to the restaurant's name: Very Very Good.
Upon entering the eatery, one is greeted by a wooden horse towing a wagon of fruits. The walls are lined with bottles, jars and cardboard artwork. The restaurant was designed by owner Grace Wang (汪麗琴) with the help of her friends. It has a Bohemian feel with its mismatched furniture and colorful water glasses. The staff are young and dedicated, but be prepared to wait a while before your food comes.
The kitchen takes up the center of the restaurant, where you can see the chefs always busy preparing dishes. This activity produces a lively atmosphere for conversation.
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The VVG Bistro offers French cuisine that is sometimes prepared in inventive ways. To start off, the watercress and coriander green soup, a consomme garnished with bacon, is served in a tall cocktail glass. Its thick flavor and interesting presentation makes up for the fact that it's a small portion.
The main courses range from NT$520 to NT$680. The fisherman's dream is a spicy seafood combination with prawns, squid, clams, oysters and tiny shrimps. It's well cooked and topped with savory fettuccini. The roasted chicken dome is a large fist-sized ball of tender meat on a bed of bell peppers and risotto. There is an accompanying chocolate sauce which provides an interesting taste combination.
Each main course comes with a plate of bread and for an additional NT$60 you can add a cup of homemade pesto sauce. The pesto achieves a balance in the strength of its garlic and olive oil that most pesto sauces do not. For less expensive fare, the linguine dishes in the pasta section are priced at NT$320 to NT$380 and are just as filling as the main courses.
While the main entrees are consistently good, the weekend brunch (NT$420, served from 11am to 4pm) is the most popular lunchtime order. It offers a full variety of breakfast items, including a refreshing chicken roulade, an amaretto pound cake, strawberries with homemade yogurt, and a choice between fruit champagne or a glass of cucumber juice. The brunch also includes tea or cafe au lait. The cafe au lait is an entertaining experience as it is served in generous amounts in a large soup bowl. VVG Bistro also has a wide range of other teas, coffees and alcoholic beverages, along with a selection of homemade desserts.
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 national security speech marked a turning point. He signaled that the government was finally getting serious about a whole-of-society approach to defending the nation. The presidential office summarized his speech succinctly: “President Lai introduced 17 major strategies to respond to five major national security and united front threats Taiwan now faces: China’s threat to national sovereignty, its threats from infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military, its threats aimed at obscuring the national identity of the people of Taiwan, its threats from united front infiltration into Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges, and its threats from
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
RSS