desserts/western: i recommend HELLO KITTY SWEETS

HELLO KITTY SWEETS
No. 90, Da An Road, Sec. 1
(02) 2711-1132

MRT: Zhong Xiao/FuXing

website: hellokittysweets.com.tw Chinese only

hours: Sun- Thurs 11:30 AM - 10 PM; Fri- Sat 11:30 AM - 11 PM

$-$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs available, lots of booth seats

Visit reviewed: 4/7/2011

What would you expect from a restaurant called Hello Kitty Sweets? 

Two stories of ceiling to floor pink and pillowy pink walls and Hello Kitty lounge chairs? Check, check, check...

The outline and image of the mouthless cat everywhere you turn in the restaurant? No detail is too small to escape for Hello Kitty lovers to see and want (a Hello Kitty tissue box cover? where can I get one?! starts googling on iPhone) Check, check, check...

Rows of pink and chocolate Hello Kitty cakes, desserts and chocolates?  Check, check...

Check, check, check...

And there's more...

And all that eye candy is at the front of the store before we sit down and order. Besides the desserts that you can order from the counter, there is also a full menu of pastas, gratin rice, grilled meats, pizza and even a Hello Kitty hamburger and Hello Kitty bread bowls, as well as afternoon tea sets.

mmm or hmm?

The menu is only in Chinese and can be a bit confusing, but there is a picture for each dish and the waitress was helpful in explaining what is in each dish when we asked.  The price for each dish is for a set meal, which includes a drink, salad, soup, bread roll, choice of small appetizer along with your main dish.

I had put off checking out Hello Kitty Sweets because I heard that there were long waits and the food was not worth the prices, but on a weekday, I had no problem getting a reservation for a large table (made a few days in advance) and my low expectations for the food probably helped me keep a reality check. I definitely wouldn't come just for the food, it's more for the whole experience and I had a bunch of Hello Kitty fans in my group as I was hosting my cousin and her daughters. I was definitely surprised to see almost all the other tables were adults, some cameras in hand, and quite a few men too (perhaps dragged or bribed there?).

The starters in the set are forgettable- a small salad, a mysterious creamy soup- but the bread roll is the first Hello Kitty photo op.

The choice of appetizers included escargot and smoked salmon, but I opted for this liver pate.

The food came at a relatively steady pace and the main dishes were a good size. I snuck some of the fried appetizer plate (NT$380 ala carte) that my cousin's kids ordered which included onion rings, fried chicken, croquette and fries. Tasty.

I don't know why, but I asked for the egg on the meat sauce spaghetti (NT$400/set) to not be raw. It came out more fried than soft boiled like I've enjoyed at Bellini Pasta Pasta. If there's a next time, I'll have to try it as is so that I can stir it all together. The spaghetti had typical sweet, tomato flavor. But where's the Hello Kitty meatball or Hello Kitty cheese cutout? Lol.

Lots of pesto and shrimp (NT$400/set) in my cousin's dish. The kids loved it and finished it.

The Hello Kitty burger (NT$450/set)! I didn't try this, but I thought about ordering it. Would it be one of the more manly things on the menu? LOL.

Set drink (very sweet ice tea) and set dessert- a creme brulee Hello Kitty pudding. 

We didn't have to room to sample any of the cute cakes that I saw, but perhaps on another occasion. There's a NT$300 minimum per person fee to dine in, but if you just want to get some cakes to go, there's also a mini Hello Kitty Sweets at the nearby Fuxing Sogo selling cakes and desserts. But then you don't get to breathe the Hello Kitty Sweets atmosphere and cuteness. There's even some souvenir goodies available to purchase behind the counter, but I didn't realize it until I was browsing other blogs.

Did I mention even the bathroom is Kitty-fied? Is this too much, or the complete experience?

   

 

Hello Kitty lovers- how far would you/did you fly from to eat at Hello Kitty Sweets? I know for some of you this might be a "must" destination for your Taipei trip. For those of us lucky enough to have it in Taipei, it's worth a visit if you are a Hello Kitty lover (like me), or want to treat one to a meal.

american/burgers: i recommend CHEESE DAVID

CHEESE DAVID
or CHI SU DA WEI
No. 102, Kun Ming St.
(02）2311-1800

MRT: Ximen

website: ximen.com.tw mostly Chinese

hours: 11:30AM-10PM; closes 10:30PM on Friday/Sat

$-$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted. fast casual seating on 2nd and 3rd floors, stairs only

Visit reviewed: 4/14/2011

After moving back to Taipei, I found myself craving all sorts of things that I never gave a second thought to in the states. Fajitas. Subway cookies. Meatballs. And philly cheesesteaks.

So when I heard about a philly cheesesteak place opened in Taipei, I knew I had to give it shot, especially after hearing that it was opened by a Taiwanese American who lived in Philly and had moved back to Taiwan.

There's probably a good portion of Taiwanese people who have never been to Philadelphia, so this would be their first exposure to a philly cheesesteak. I've never had a cheesesteak in Philly either, so I can only imagine how awesome they might be. My memories of the smell and sizzle of philly cheesesteaks are from Steak Escape at the Galleria Mall in LA (but I think I usually ended up with Chick-A-Fil or the orange chicken from Panda Express).

Cheese David is located in Ximending, closer to the theaters than to the MRT stop. Once you get onto E Mei St., it's easy to spot with its red and white three stories.

The plastic menus have English and Chinese as well as pictures. Besides cheesesteaks, there are burgers, chicken sub sandwiches and tuna salad sandwiches. I was also surprised to see waffles and desserts on the menu, though the desserts looked slightly Costco-ish.

Once we placed our order at the counter, we had to wait for the food to take it upstairs where the seating is. So I wandered over to the window where they were grilling up the beef and spotted the tub of cheese sauce. Scoops of cheese sauce going on fries, going on cheesesteaks.

It looks pretty promising...

I have to admit that the packaging and concept is pretty well thought out. The bright orange logo is on all the wrappers and cups and the cheesesteak even has a sticker with the cartoon image of Cheese David.

Upstairs, we can't wait to dig in. I asked them to cut the cheesesteak (NT$185 set meal) and burger in half so my friend and I can each try half. 

I wished there was more steak after my first few bites. At least twice as much, if not more. Is it too American of me to want a huge pile of meat overflowing out of the bun, or is that a reasonable expectation for a philly cheesesteak? Just google "philly cheesesteak" if you want to see what I mean. 

So I can't help but to be a little disappointed, even though the flavors are good, especially if you enjoy gooey cheese whiz-like cheese sauce.

The burger (NT$175 set meal) is decent too, with a better meat to bun ratio, though the bread on the cheesesteak is better than the bun on the burger. It's a good size and I can't really think of other burger places in the Ximending area besides McD's. And I devoured my cup of cheese fries and probably some of my friend's. 

I can imagine how this place is popular with people looking for something different and there seem to be a lot of students hanging out and studying in the seating area. Hard core cheesesteak lovers might want something more, but for some looking for a taste of "home," this might do the trick.

At the end of the meal, most of my friends agreed that we might not come out of our way for a second visit, (especially since I had started experimenting with making my own cheesesteaks at home!) but it is worth trying once to see if you like it or not. I could totally see how if you're really jonesing for cheese fries, and in the area, Cheese David wouldn't be a bad place to hang out for an hour or two.