Very Thai’s (非常泰) three locations (in Sogo Tianmu, Xinyi District’s NEO19 and on Fuxing North Road (復興北路)) are sleek almost to the point of sterile. With a predominantly black and luminous green color scheme, the walls are pasted over with pages taken from Pop and other arty fashion magazines, while the wait staff is bedecked in sharp black suits and crisp shirts.
Despite the restaurant’s painfully hip interior, its menu features excellent Thai classics. Spicy dishes are sweat-inducingly piquant, curries are creamy and rich, fish is tender, and meats are juicy. Very Thai also distinguishes itself with a drinks menu offering 30 beers imported from 12 countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Australia, the US and, of course, Thailand.
The restaurant’s appetizer menu features the basic fried golden shrimp cakes (NT$250), pork or chicken satay (NT$220) and fried egg rolls (NT$160). I opted for the Very Thai Combo (NT$380), with fried shrimp cakes, egg rolls and chicken wrapped in orchid leaf. The latter is available as a stand-alone dish for NT$280 and was wonderful. The meat was succulent and glazed in a savory-sweet sauce. The other two items, however, were lackluster. The shrimp cakes had very little flavor, even after being dipped in the accompanying sweet-and-sour sauce. The egg rolls were slightly spicy, but also forgettable.
My main course, the grilled boneless short ribs with Thai dip (NT$320), made up for the appetizer plate. Each slice of beef, served simply with a spicy dipping sauce, was cooked to flavorsome, melt-in-your-mouth perfection.
On a separate visit, my companion and I ordered a Jim Thompson shrimp salad (NT$300), Thai-style raw shrimp (NT$300), green curry chicken in coconut sauce (NT$280) and steamed sea bass in lemon sauce (NT$480).
The Jim Thompson salad (named after the American founder of the Thai Silk Company) was the blandest dish. Sliced cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber and steamed prawns were tossed and marinated in a tart dressing that lacked aroma. But the Thai-style raw shrimp certainly atoned for the salad. Each shellfish was butterflied, with a heap of minced garlic, chili peppers and various spices scooped on top. The garnish left us sweating even having scraped half of it off.
The sea bass’ light yet zippy lemon sauce provided a welcome contrast
to the fish. Fortunately, the coconut milk in our mellow, creamy green
curry, filled with sauteed chicken
strips and plenty of Thai basil, soothed our tongues.
Very Thai’s signature dessert is its homemade ice cream (NT$120). The large coconut flavored scoop we ordered (mango and durian are also available) was well complemented with slices of fruit hidden inside. The “ruby fruit” (small balls of plump and firm pomegranate-flavored jelly) in coconut milk with crushed ice (NT$90) was
also excellent. I had Very Thai’s
signature mojito (NT$170) with my meal, but I should have saved the
very sweet (and only slightly citrusy)
cocktail for dessert.
March 10 to March 16 Although it failed to become popular, March of the Black Cats (烏貓進行曲) was the first Taiwanese record to have “pop song” printed on the label. Released in March 1929 under Eagle Records, a subsidiary of the Japanese-owned Columbia Records, the Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) lyrics followed the traditional seven characters per verse of Taiwanese opera, but the instrumentation was Western, performed by Eagle’s in-house orchestra. The singer was entertainer Chiu-chan (秋蟾). In fact, a cover of a Xiamen folk song by Chiu-chan released around the same time, Plum Widow Missing Her Husband (雪梅思君), enjoyed more
Last week Elbridge Colby, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defense for policy, a key advisory position, said in his Senate confirmation hearing that Taiwan defense spending should be 10 percent of GDP “at least something in that ballpark, really focused on their defense.” He added: “So we need to properly incentivize them.” Much commentary focused on the 10 percent figure, and rightly so. Colby is not wrong in one respect — Taiwan does need to spend more. But the steady escalation in the proportion of GDP from 3 percent to 5 percent to 10 percent that advocates
From insomniacs to party-goers, doting couples, tired paramedics and Johannesburg’s golden youth, The Pantry, a petrol station doubling as a gourmet deli, has become unmissable on the nightlife scene of South Africa’s biggest city. Open 24 hours a day, the establishment which opened three years ago is a haven for revelers looking for a midnight snack to sober up after the bars and nightclubs close at 2am or 5am. “Believe me, we see it all here,” sighs a cashier. Before the curtains open on Johannesburg’s infamous party scene, the evening gets off to a gentle start. On a Friday at around 6pm,
A series of dramatic news items dropped last month that shed light on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attitudes towards three candidates for last year’s presidential election: Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) founder Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), Terry Gou (郭台銘), founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). It also revealed deep blue support for Ko and Gou from inside the KMT, how they interacted with the CCP and alleged election interference involving NT$100 million (US$3.05 million) or more raised by the
RSS