Sweet Dynasty (糖朝) has earned a reputation in Hong Kong and Taiwan for excellent desserts. Its Chinese language name is a pun on Tang Dynasty, and the restaurant takes its treats seriously, with a fifth of the menu dedicated to douhua (豆花), or tofu pudding, sweet soups, bubble tea and other confections. But the restaurant’s savory dishes, which include a wide variety of dim sum staples, are hit-and-miss.
Some were very good, including the fried turnip cake (煎北菇蘿蔔糕, NT$70), which has a crispy exterior that gives way to a tender middle punctuated with crisp turnip pieces and soft mushroom slices. The steamed rice roll with shrimp (鮮玻璃明蝦腸粉, NT$160) and steamed dumpling with shrimp, pork and bamboo shoot (筍尖鮮蝦餃, NT$100) were also pleasing. The tiny bits of bamboo in the latter’s filling added a welcome contrast to the chewy rice wrapper.
The seafood and pork shiumai (海皇燒賣, NT$100), or steamed dumplings stuffed with shrimp and pork and topped with a sprinkling of shrimp roe, were a disappointment, partly because they were overcooked, leaving the wrapper slightly too chewy. The shiumai was also not served with the customary mustard dipping sauce. In fact, supplying guests with condiments seems to be a weak point in Sweet Dynasty’s service. On both our visits, we had to grab a condiment tray from a neighboring table, only to have it whisked away by staff almost immediately. They were refilling the bottles, a process that seemed to take forever.
This was unfortunate, because many of our other savory courses could have used some help. From the photo in Sweet Dynasty’s picture menu, we expected our plate of water spinach (空心菜, NT$160 or NT$220 depending on portion size) to come topped with slices of ginger, garlic, chili peppers and other exciting flavor enhancers. Instead, we got a heap of unadorned veggies so soggy it left puddles on the table whenever we lifted a portion to our plates. The fried scallops with egg white (蛋白炒帶子, NT$340 or NT$510), or a pile of sauteed scallops sandwiched in between a layer of egg white and youtiao slices, was also bland.
A meal at Sweet Dynasty should be planned so that most of what you eat comes off the restaurant’s dessert menu. Standouts include the steamed egg custard buns (蛋王蒸, NT$80), which are also available fried, and the hot tofu pudding with almond soup (豆腐花杏仁露, NT$80), a comforting pick for a cold afternoon. On warmer days, the sago soup with fresh fruit (鮮雜果西米露, NT$90), which features watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew balls and tiny pearls made from sago palm starch floating in coconut milk, is a refreshing choice. One of the restaurant’s specialties is tofu pudding in a cask (原木桶豆腐花, NT$220) for splitting among multiple diners. On a recent weekend visit, almost every table had a wooden bucket sitting on it.
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
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
Last week the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the budget cuts voted for by the China-aligned parties in the legislature, are intended to force the DPP to hike electricity rates. The public would then blame it for the rate hike. It’s fairly clear that the first part of that is correct. Slashing the budget of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is a move intended to cause discontent with the DPP when electricity rates go up. Taipower’s debt, NT$422.9 billion (US$12.78 billion), is one of the numerous permanent crises created by the nation’s construction-industrial state and the developmentalist mentality it
Experts say that the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on Friday was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modeling suggesting thousands could be dead. Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people. Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had