Confit Rémi Café‧Bistro | 黑米

Location: 台北市信義區忠孝東路四段553巷22弄5號 (near MRT Taipei City Hall)
Telephone: 02-2768-1106
Hours: 11:00-22:30

For the number of clients it attracts, it is advised to make a reservation before going especially during lunch hours. This small bistro is acclaimed for its risotto nero (300NT+10%). Its so creamy, flavorful and there's richness in every bite! Its a must try!

You can also chose a set menu that comes with soup-of-the-day, home-made bread or salad. By adding 90NT you can get one of the three. 130NT you can choose 2 and with 160NT you can have all three choices. If you're on a budget, you can always just order a drink for 50NT. If you're in the mood to splurge a little, you can also opt for the filet at about 450+NT.

Confit Remi also offers pizzas ranging from 200 to 280NT and spaghetti from 180-240NT. At the end of the meal, I strongly recommend to try their creme brulee (90NT). Lovely sugar crunch on top, creamy french vanilla on the bottom....must try!

For more information, visit their website: confitremi.com.tw

Eating Time

Location: 台北市大安區永康街18號 (near MRT Dong Men)
Telephone: 02-2351-3663

Eating Time is a little bistro&grill located by Yong Kang street serving a wide variety of dishes from sandwich, burgers, omelette, eggs Benedict  classic breakfasts, sweet breakfasts and so on... They usually come with a potato side dish and a drink (refill-able).

We decided to try out the BLT sandwich which is essentially toast with bacon, lettuce and tomato. The toast was way too oily. When making a BLT, to complement the bacon on the inside, the toast should be drier in the sense of being naturally toasted and if you really really want to add the extra fat and extra calories to it, you could spread some butter on the inside, but not on the whole piece of toast. (I still find butter in this case totally necessary). Sandwich also lacked the mayonnaise punch which is one essential component in a BLT. 

We also tried the burger which was good, the meat was juicy, the cheese was oozing with creaminess, but one thing they missed was to soak the red onions in ice cold water to remove a bit of the onion-bitterness. 

Last, but not least, we tried the Philly cheese steak sandwich which in my opinion it was the best one out of the three, but it should definitely consider changing its name to steak sandwich as it is not even close to the real Philly cheese steak in Philadelphia. 

Visit their Facebook page for more info: http://www.facebook.com/EATINGTIME

PS Tapas | 西班牙小酒館

Location: 台北安和路一段21巷19號1F
Telephone: 02-2740-9090
Hours: Mon-Sun. 11:30am-2:00am

Tapas comes from the Spanish verb 'tapar' which means to cover. In the culinary sense, Tapas are appetizers, snacks or finger foods in Spain that can be either cold or hot. Nonetheless, when you talk about Spain, the first thing that comes to mind is that savory golden coloured saffron Paella! Instead of going for the traditional one, we ordered the black one that gets its colour from squid ink. The dish is quite expensive (390NT) in respect with the serving size and as for taste, it really so so. 

The Spanish tortilla (220NT) is basically a thick omelette made of eggs and mainly potatoes. 

The churros though are worth the order. Very different from the commercial ones you find in the movie theatres in Taipei, but of course, still incomparable to the ones you'll eat in Spain. Indulge yourself in a hot crispy churro dipped in melted chocolate!