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Danny & Company and D&C Bistro

March 26, 2013 in Food

The stylish setting of Danny & Company

The stylish setting of Danny & Company

Taipei has no shortage of awesome restaurants, and if you ask me, one of the most awesome of the awesome is Danny & Company, which has been billed by local foodies as the “godfather of steak” — though in my opinion it offers so much more.

Thanks to my insanely slow food posts, I have now been to both Danny & Co restaurants — its bistro near the big Ferris wheel close to MRT Jiannan Road Station, and the teppanyaki joint near MRT Da’an Station (three times!). Both are sublime and are highly recommended for anyone looking for a great meal that doesn’t tear a hole in your wallet.

Both restaurants employ a set menu-type lunch set (that changes with the seasons) where you can order a main dish (different grades of steak, poultry, seafood or pasta) and to go with an appetizer, soup or salad and a dessert. The price is dictated by the main course and can range from NT$1000 to in excess of NT$2000 if you go for the top grade steaks.

You can’t really go wrong with anything at Danny & Co, which is what makes the restaurants so amazing. You can tell the chefs have put a lot of thought into the menu and, from what we’ve been told, fresh produce and dishes aimed at bringing out the natural flavours of the main ingredients.  Check out the photos below.

Danny & Company

I’ll start with the teppanyaki joint first because that’s where I went first (and second, and third). There are a couple of long teppanyaki plates in the restaurant but it’s really not a proper teppanyaki restaurant. There was only one time where I sat at the counter — the other two times we got our own comfortable tables. That’s why it is generally just referred to as Danny & Company, while the other one is known as the D&C Bistro.

Since my first visit was probably around a year ago (call me Mr Slow), I’m not going to sit here and pretend I remember all the dishes, so I’m just going to post the photos and comment where I recall.

One of the menus I sampled

One of the menus I sampled

One of the best things about D&C is the unlimited fresh bread, hot and freshly made. The bread itself is nice, but what sets it apart from other places is its truffle butter (which was unfortunately only available at the restaurant, not the bistro — at least when I visited). I could probably have a whole meal of just the bread and the truffle butter. But truthfully, you should pace yourself, because you don’t want to miss any of the dishes, especially the dessert.

Bread. Garlic butter. That's all there is to say.

Bread. Truffle butter. That’s all there is to say.

The first appetizer is the Porcini Gnocchi, a dish that could have easily failed but turned out to be perfection. Creamy, but not too creamy, and the gnocchi ‘s texture was just right.

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Porcini Gnocchi

 The other appetizer we got was the Seared King Prawn. Small but delightful, thanks to the tangy romesco sauce.

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Seared King Prawn

The soups at D&C are always amazing. Some of the best soups I’ve ever had at a restaurant, in fact. Smooth, creamy, full of flavour and piping hot, but not at all heavy. The carrot soup blows every carrot soup I’ve had away, while the oyster soup was something I never thought I would enjoy that much (I never even thought oysters could be made into a soup!).

Carrot Soup

Carrot Soup

Oyster Soup

Oyster Soup

From my experience, main courses often fail to live up to expectations because the appetizers are so good. Not so at D&C. On the first visit was got the Saffron Lobster Pappardelle, which tasted as good as it sounds. Real chunks of succulent lobster and housemade pasta with a saffron broth. Drool alert!

The other main was of course a steak, and we got the most expensive one, the Australian M5 Wagyu Top Cap. I know, I hardly have steak in Sydney and I have to come all the way to Taiwan for some Australian steak. But let me assure you it was worth it, especially because of the roasted garlic which I scoffed down without fear of bad breath. Incredible.

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Saffron Lobster Pappardelle

Australian M5 Wagyu Top Cap Steak

Australian M5 Wagyu Top Cap Steak

We were stuffed by this time but as they (our stomachs) say, there’s always room for dessert. The desserts at D&C are made fresh daily and are not on the menu. We ordered a special creme brulee (first photo), which was very unlike its name but went very well with the ice cream. The one I will always remember, however, was the cupcake. Best. Cupcake. Ever. (I initially thought it was a muffin, but was quickly set straight.)

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An unusual creme brulee

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Best cupcake ever. Ever.

And just when you think it’s all over, out come the petit fours.

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Petit fours

That was our first visit to D&C. Next up are some photos from a second/third visits, which were taken on an iPhone, so the quality sucks a bit.

Seared Scallops

Seared Scallops

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Something with nuts…

Pretty certain this is a salad

Pretty certain this is a salad

Yes

Quite sure this is the King Crab Salad

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A lesser grade steak, which I believe is one of the New York ones

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Definitely the Seared Quail, which was brilliant, except I’m not a big fan of the polenta cake

Raw Fish of the Day

Raw Fish of the Day — I remember it was very good

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The Braised Pork Belly with the crispy skin and sensational edamame puree

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Not sure what this is. Could be lamb.

Chocolate lava cake

Chocolate lava cake

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A chocolate mousse or cake or brownie of some sort, with ice cream

Details:

Address — No. 33, Lane 52, Siwei Road, Da’an District, Taipei (walking distance from MRT Da’an Station on brown line)

Phone — +886 2 2705 9911

Hours — Lunch 12-2, Dinner 6-10:30

Website — http://www.dnc.com.tw/onewteppan/

D&C Bistro

The Bistro, also about a 5-7 minute walk from an MRT station, has a different menu but similar food concepts. It has a similar ambiance as well, so I would definitely recommend it for people who enjoyed the teppanyaki restaurant.

This visit may or may not have been to celebrate Valentine’s Day — I really can’t recall, but what I can recall is that it was awesome.

Danny & Co Bistro

Danny & Co Bistro

The first thing I will say is that the bread at the Bistro is good, but not quite as good as at the restaurant because of the lack of truffle butter. The bread is still freshly made and hot, but instead you are left with regular olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip in.

Bread

Bread

For the appetizers, we asked the waiter, who recommended the Grilled Calamari and the Teppan Scallop, not to be confused with the Seared Scallop. The calamari was one of my favourite dishes as it combined a warm potato salad (underneath) with a really light but tangy vinaigrette dressing. The scallop was good too and very different to the seared one because it was served with sweet corn and had a dash of truffle — and everyone loves truffle.

Grilled Calamari

Grilled Calamari

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Teppan Scallop — apologies for my inability to focus.

As you’ll see below, there is only one soup photo because the Bistro only serves one type of soup a day. On this day we had the tomato basil, which, like the carrot soup at the restaurant, was the best soup of its kind I’ve ever had. It just tasted like really fresh tomatoes, and the dash of balsamic on top gave it a great kick.

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Tomato basil soup

For the mains, we decided to skip steak this time and go with something different. We got the shrimp linguine because the lobster cream sauce just seemed too good to miss, and the roasted chicken leg because I was seduced by the sun-dried tomato chutney. Neither disappointed.

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Linguine with shrimp and lobster cream sauce

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Roasted chicken leg with snow peas and sun-dried tomato chutney

Fearing that the mains would not be enough (which makes no sense whatsoever), we also ordered their Truffle Fries as a side dish. The fries were expertly fried, and the truffle was great, but it’s not something I would have again, especially since the set meal was more than enough.

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Truffle Fries

Last but not least, the desserts, which were also not on the menu and had to be introduced verbally by the waiter. We went with a chocolate tart and a unique bread and butter pudding, both served with ice cream.

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Chocolate tart

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Bread and butter pudding

By the way, both places apparently serve really good wine as well, but I can’t comment since I don’t drink.

Details:

Address — No. 55-57, Lane 69, Jingye Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei (walking distance from MRT Jiannan Road Station on brown line)

Phone — +886 2 8502-5779

Hours — Lunch 12-2, Dinner 6-10:30

Website — http://www.dnc.com.tw/bistro/

Rating: 10/10

PS: Strictly speaking, Danny & Company is better than D&C Bistro, but if I only went to the latter I probably still would have given it a perfect score.

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Book Review: “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins

June 26, 2012 in Book Reviews, Reviews

Let’s face it, it was only going to be a matter of time before I set out to devour The Hunger Games, the next big thing for young adults after Twilight and Harry Potter.

The first thing I will say is that I watched the film version first (review here). I also followed that up with a viewing of the eerily similar Battle Royale (review here), which is based on the cult classic novel by Japan’s Koushun Takami. Accordingly, it needs to be kept in mind that my impression of the book has been somewhat tainted by what I already knew going in.

Hence, if I had to sum up The Hunger Games in two words it would have to be “pretty good.” For the most part, it is well-written and exciting, but lacks the “wow” factor I had been hoping for. Again, a large part of that might be because I already knew everything that was going to happen.

For those needing a brief outline, it’s about a post-apocalyptic North America that has been split into 12 districts, all of which are ruled by the oppressive central government known as the Capitol. Every year, to remind the masses of their powerlessness, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games, where one teen of each sex from every district is thrust into a televised battle to the death where there can only be one victor. The story follows Katniss Everdeen, a feisty girl from the impoverished District 12 who is pretty handy with a bow and arrow.

The film version, barring a few minor details and changes, essentially covered everything and in some cases improved on the book. So if you’ve already seen the movie, I’m not sure there is a whole lot to be gained from reading the book as well in terms of discovering new things.

That is not to say, of course, that reading The Hunger Games was not a pleasurable experience. While Collins is not on the level of say JK Rowling when it comes to storytelling, she is certainly much much better than Stephenie Meyer. Collins’ style is direct and to-the-point, plus she has a knack for action sequences. Her descriptions could be stronger but at least they are not unnecessary or over-the-top. The initial chapters setting up the world and the games are excellent.

This is a very easy-to-read young adult book that uses a straightforward, page-turning-inducing narrative (in which chapters often ended on cliffhangers) where the allegorical undertones are hinted but never fully explored. Personally, I liked it that way.

There was also a little bit of romance but thankfully it steered clear of the mushiness of Twilight. Importantly, here the girl isn’t just someone looking for love and nothing else (Bella Swan, cough cough), but is actually a strong character capable of holding her own against a bunch of badasses. And it’s nice to see the boy being the damsel in distress for once.

In all, this was a stellar start to a trilogy, though I must say not entirely worthy of the praise heaped onto it, especially considering how similar the concept is to Battle Royale, which was published back in 1999. Having now read Catching Fire, the second book of the series (review coming soon), I can say that the story really does begin to expand and grow into something truly special. But as a standalone piece of fiction for which I have already seen the film version I can only give it…

3.25 out of 5

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Mirror Mirror (2012) vs Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

June 8, 2012 in Best Of, Movie Reviews, Reviews

As I have foreshadowed, my movie reviews are a little backed up, so why not kill two birds with one stone with this double-barreled review of two new films based around the same premise, Julia Roberts’ Mirror Mirror and Kristen Stewart’s Snow White and the Huntsman?

To be honest, I didn’t have much an interest in either film, but as usual, I watched both. What can I do? I’m a film buff.

First up, Mirror Mirror, which should have been more aptly titled “Lily Collin’s Eyebrows.” Since the Taylor Lautner vehicle Abduction, Collin’s eyebrows have been elevated to a whole new level. I was so distracted by the eyebrows that I often forgot to focus on the film. Which is easy, by the way, because it sucked donkey balls.

The majority of Mirror Mirror’s plot follows the original fairytale. Collins is Snow White and her stepmother and the Queen, Julia Roberts, is trying to get rid of her so she can remain the fairest of them all. Yes, there is a prince and yes, there are dwarves. No surprises.

Theoretically, Mirror Mirror should have been the better film. Just about everyone’s impression of Snow White comes from the Disney cartoon, which made it naturally more suitable for a family comedy as opposed to Snow White and the Huntsman’s “re-imagining.” While it was admittedly trying to be fun, Mirror Mirror suffered from a complete lack of freshness and laughs. The majority of the jokes were what I would call “family humour”, which is code for unfunny. There may have been a couple of good ones here and there, largely thanks to the charming wit of Winklevii star Armie Hammer as the prince, but for the most part the jokes hopscotched between obvious, lame and unimaginative. I can see children enjoying it, but I must say I cringed more than I laughed.

Mirror Mirror was more this

To be fair, the film was not badly made. Director Tarsem Singh, who last worked on Immortals, infuses flair into the art direction, and the costumes, especially those donned by Roberts, were all quite brilliant. The performances were strong and, thankfully, no one took themselves too seriously.

But in the end, I just couldn’t force myself to like or enjoy Mirror Mirror. Some might think the final Bollywood tribute sing-song was a redeeming feature but I found it totally bizarre and somewhat uncomfortable. If the film had lifted my spirits prior to this point I might have felt differently, but alas, it did not.

This brings me to the second Snow White film, Snow White and the Huntsman, which I thought would stink even before I caught the first trailer. Surprisingly, while I also struggled with it, I found it to be the better motion picture overall.

The Huntsman (let’s just call it that for short), is in the vein of last year’s Red Riding Hood, you know, that Amanda Seyfried “re-imagining” of another popular fairytale. It takes the basic plot and essentially does whatever it wants with it. In Red Riding Hood’s case, it was obviously inspired by the love triangle and teenage angst from Twilight, which doomed it to suckiness from the outset. In The Huntsman’s case, it’s a lot more complicated. This one takes “inspiration” from a lot of movies, from Lord of the Rings (or some might say Game of Thrones), Joan of Arc, Braveheart, Alice in Wonderland, Kingdom of Heaven, just to name a few. It’s both a blessing and a curse.

In this one, Snow White is imprisoned by the evil Queen for years before a daring escape into the enchanted forest, and a new character, known only as the Huntsman, is tasked with tracking her down. To me, even though the script was pretty muddled, it was by far more interesting because there were characters and plot points I didn’t expect. Sure, the story takes some questionably wild turns and spirals into absurdity on more than one occasion, but at least it kept me wondering what was going to happen next (for the most part, because at 127 minutes it was way too long and lost my interest for a while).

The final act of the film, the supposed climax, was crap and predictable. Anyone that has seen the trailers or the poster will know that Snow White, who has been imprisoned in a tiny cell since she was a child, mind you, suddenly becomes a sword-wielding badass for some reason. Her obligatory Braveheart-style motivation speech (which has become a staple of every movie with a big battle scene these days) was probably the most WTF moment I have seen on the big screen in years.

The standout character in the whole film has to be Charlize Theron as the crazy bitch/witch of a Queen. She’s fascinating despite the shortcomings of her character and Theron does an amazing job of portraying the seductive nutjob notwithstanding the sometimes trite dialogue she has to spew out.

Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman is also an interesting character and he fits the role well, but there were too many loose ends when it came to his relationship with the princess.

Snow White and the Huntsman was more this

Speaking of which, if there is an Oscar for unexplained/exaggerated heavy breathing, Kristen Stewart would win it every year. She’s not bad in this but her act is wearing thin on me. I became a massive fan of hers after watching Into the Wild back in 2007 (one of my favourite films of all time), and sadly my affection for her has dwindled with every subsequent film she has been in (well, Adventureland is an exception). By the time I watch Breaking Dawn: Part II, I might very well find myself despising her.

Visually, the film is stunning, with the scenes involving Theron’s spells and the enchanted forest exemplifying what movie magic is all about. Amazingly, this is the first feature of director Rupert Sanders, who was previously best known for his advertisement of the video game HALO. I’d be very interested to see what he comes up with next.

Although it’s very difficult to compare two such different films, ultimately, The Huntsman is the better movie. That’s not saying a lot, considering how disappointed I was in Snow White, but as pieces of entertainment, it’s not much of a contest.

Mirror Mirror: 1.5 stars

Snow White and the Huntsman: 3 stars

PS: Ray Winstone must be the only guy in Hollywood who can play Beowulf and one of the Seven Dwarves. Just sayin’.

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Book Review: ‘The Death of Mao’ by James Palmer

May 4, 2012 in Book Reviews, Reviews

Recently I’ve been really getting into Chinese politics because of my work, and so it was quite exciting for me to receive a review copy of The Death of Mao: The Tangshan Earthquake and the Birth of the New China by Beijing-based British writer James Palmer.

As the title suggests, the book focuses on the devastating Tangshan earthquake of 1976, and the death of former Communist Party leader Mao Zedong less than two months later. While it is a non-fiction book, The Death of Mao doesn’t read like a textbook. Full credit must got to Palmer, who has applied his research and writing skills in creating a surprisingly intimate account of two of the most pivotal events in Chinese history.

While Palmer tries to tie the two events together, he doesn’t quite succeed, and the book reads more like two separate stories — one which describes the last days of Mao’s death as those around him vie to be his successor, and another which vividly and comprehensively describes what happened before, during and after the worst earthquake of the 20th century by death toll.

The part which focuses on Mao plays out like a political thriller and is a riveting read for anyone interested in Chinese politics, communist politics or just politics in general. Palmer skilfully recreates the tension and paranoia sweeping through China at the time as Mao’s enemies and allies prepare for the Chairman’s inevitable death (due to ill health). Palmer pulls no punches in dissecting the reign of terror created by Mao and his frightening personality cult, recalling the millions of people who perished during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. He also does a fantastic job in navigating through the complex web of political characters, their motivations and interpersonal relationships. While Palmer sticks to reported facts most of the time, he doesn’t follow it slavishly, using extensive research and common sense to deduce which facts are likely true and which ones are probably part of the Communist Party’s well-oiled propaganda machine. It’s an absolutely fascinating read.

As interesting as the politics are, the part of the book that deals with the earthquake was, personally, even more compelling. The Tangshan earthquake of 28 July 1976 flattened an entire city and killed, by Palmer’s estimation, around 500,000 people (statistics have ranged from 240,000-655,000). Lasting just 23 seconds, the energy released from the quake is said to have been 400 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Yikes.

Palmer builds up the suspense leading up to the event itself, describing previous earthquakes and how seismologists believed that a major earthquake might strike but didn’t dare make predictions because they were terrified of the consequences if they were wrong. And when the earthquake finally hits, Palmer uses the hundreds of interviews he conducted with survivors to masterfully shape vivid first hand accounts that rival any work of fiction.

As scary as the earthquake was, the aftermath was even more horrific. Once again criticizing the politics of the time, Palmer notes how the Chinese government refused foreign aid despite desperately needing it, instead putting their efforts into making up reports of how citizens patriotically went to save pictures of Chairman Mao rather than their own family.

There were so many images from this section of the book that will stay with me for a long time. There’s the doctor tossing amputated limbs into a growing pit full of arms and legs that had to be sawn off (often without anaesthetic) to save lives. There’s also the wasteland of rubble, rotting corpses and shit from busted sewerage pipes summering in the summer heat.

But for all the horror, there were some stories of hope and inspiration. Despite there being reports of looting and other opportunist crimes, as well as militia drunk on their own power making things worse, Palmer was keen to emphasize the overwhelming courage, selflessness and solidarity of the victims, who did everything they could to help each other and find survivors. It’s definitely one of the better and more complete accounts of any natural disaster I’ve ever read.

Palmer’s writing style is simple and straightforward. The Mao half of the book is more journalistic, while the Tangshan earthquake half is more personal. Occasionally, Palmer would break through and insert himself into the narrative to demonstrate a point. At first I found it a little jarring, but later on I felt it added to the intimacy of the narrative as a whole.

Ultimately, I found The Death of Mao to be a wonderful and incredibly insightful read. It doesn’t quite work as a single piece of work because the Mao and earthquake parts felt so different, but if you look at it as two separate but intertwining pieces then both worked extremely well.

4.25 out of 5

PS: I found it particularly interesting to compare the political situations detailed in the book to recent events in China. Palmer was particularly critical of the Communist Party of the time for its suppression, hypocrisy, corruption and propaganda, and tried to imply that the Chinese people had grown up after seeing how the government handled the earthquake and were no longer being duped. But as we have seen from both the Bo Xilai scandal and the Chen Guangcheng affair over the last couple of months, it is arguable that little has changed. The Chinese people may have become smarter and more savvy when it comes to the bullshit that the government spills, but it certainly hasn’t stopped the government from trying (and silencing anyone who gets in its way).

PS: Also interesting that Palmer was so negative about the Communist Party, considering that the acknowledgments section of the book seems to suggest that he either works or used to work for the Global Times, an English paper whose parent company is owned by, you guess it, the Communist Party.

 

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Review: The Walking Dead (Season 2)

April 23, 2012 in Reviews, TV

I got into The Walking Dead when it was still a comic book. Years ago a friend had lent me the first few volumes, which I enjoyed but didn’t think was anything too special (could be attributed to my bias against American comics). When I heard about the TV series, however, I became very keen because I knew it had tremendous potential.

Season 1 of The Walking Dead was great television. Anything with zombies makes pretty good television anyway, but it’s not often that a post-apocalyptic world depicted on TV is so dreary, bleak and horrifying. It had a love triangle, some volatile characters and plenty of terrific deaths (both meanings intended).

Season 2 came with a lot of expectations. What were they going to do this time that could top the solid first season?

Having now watched all of season 2 in its entirety, I have the feeling that perhaps my desire to like the show is greater than how much I really like it. The dark mood of the first season was maintained well, but significant portions of it felt somewhat repetitive and was extraordinarily slow for a show aimed at zombie lovers.

It’s strange, considering when you list the main story arcs of the season it sounds pretty awesome:

  • The little girl, Sophia, goes missing, and the gang split up and set out to find her;
  • Rick’s son, Carl, is accidentally shot and almost dies — then becomes a bit of a douche;
  • The gang find refuge at a ranch owned by the enigmatic Hershel;
  • Glenn gets a lady friend;
  • Daryl grows a heart — for a while;
  • Lori gets second thoughts about the pregnancy;
  • Andrea goes half mental; and
  • Shane goes full mental.

This doesn’t even mention all the excellent twists and turns, such as Sophia’s fate, Hershel’s little secret, the gang of dangerous survivors they run into — and of course, the mega big huge revelation of the finale, not to mention the first appearance of one of the comic’s coolest and most memorable characters. Oh, and the deaths of key characters were pretty shocking too.

Core cast of season 2

And so it baffles me while for stretches throughout this second season I found the pace to be excruciatingly slow. Part of it probably stems from the fact that the majority of the episodes take place on Hershel’s farm, meaning there is very little movement. I admire the efforts to make this a hard-hitting drama focused on the human characters and all, but to be honest, I just wanted to see more crazy zombies.

Is that wrong? I mean, let’s face it, the zombie scenes are still the most thrilling — by far — and at times during season 2 I almost forgot they existed. I suppose the point was to show that the humans are more dangerous than the walkers, but humans, for the most part, aren’t quite as exciting as decomposing cannibals. Not to say that they should go overboard and turn this into a video game because the drama is what drives this show, but slightly more balance would have been welcome. It’s really their own fault for making the zombies so wonderfully frightening — kudos to the make-up and special effects team, by the way — which only made me want more of them.

Nonetheless, judging from the final scene, it appears season 3 could be an explosive and very bumpy ride — depending on how closely they follow the comic. Season 2 was relatively strong but it could have been a lot better, in my humble opinion, had they hastened things a little. Perhaps sensing what a commercial success the series is they decided to drag it out for as long as possible.

In any case, I hope the Governor makes an appearance in season 3.

Rating: B

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