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Taipei's metamorphosis as a cutting edge culinary hub continues unabated it seems. In recent years we have seen three Michelin starred establishments take up residence in the city and many others must be knocking on the polished Gaellic doorknocker about now. International celebrity chefs now vie to make Taipei their stopover of choice in Asia and the atmospheric, chaotic fare of the night markets is now not the only food that people are raving about along with the iconic Din Tai Feng. Another delectable morsel from this tale is that the prices for these treats are more than reasonable: if they charged a premium, they'd very quickly have a dearth of custom, Michelin star or no!
Not quite in the lofty heights of these establishments, but still indicative of a quantum shift in the food paradigm of the city, the slick tea house of Smith and Hsu was our destination for a spot of English high tea over the weekend. We'd often thought to pop in to the secret depths of this beautifully presented restaurant on Chung Shan North Road just a couple of blocks from our place, and one which we pass on a regular basis. Somehow we'd never be at the right time or mindset, having just eaten, be about to eat somewhere else, or not ready to face the complexities of ordering the high tea in a foreign language(my lazy!)
The huge, full length, wooden door whispers open to reveal some designer lighting and sleek ceramics and a bustling wait staff quite eager to please. We were ushered upstairs, as the main floor and basement were already full of chatting, relaxing groups. We were immediately presented with a tray of a dizzying variety of teas encased in tiny glass bottles, labeled on top with a number and type. We got the idea that these were for sniffing, so we did the olfactories on a number that took our fancy. Selecting our two pots of tea (I got caramel black!) and our special cakes, we waited for the tea and goodies. The scones were about the best I've ever eaten: I'm not a fan of that faint, metallic aftertaste in a regular scone, but somehow, these avoided that completely. They were moist yet crumbly and the clotted cream and homemade jams in strawberry and lemon were scrumptious. The smoked salmon, beef and duck boutique sandwiches were an entree to the scones and slices of heavy cheesecake and lemon meringue pie. All this was topped off with signature design Smith and Hsu cookies in the shape of an "S", an "&" and an "H"!
It was a wonderful way to while away the afternoon and was the highlight of an otherwise, fairly uneventful weekend! The Chinese New Year fireworks are spluttering out yet we're expecting a last final fling of cacophonous action in the next few days. There was sport a-plenty to distract us on the weekend, the Aussies losing a thriller against the Kiwis in World Cup cricket, the UFC putting on a great slugfest and HD streaming of the start of the surfing season from Snapper Rocks in Queensland.
Photos: Uli's beer from Friday night, street cleaners still use the best brooms in the business made from tree branches and the various bits and bobs from Smith&Hsu.