After the dizzying heights of Cantonese and Iranian food I bring you the nice homely cuisine of Belgium.
It has been a strange week this week outside the safe world of eating food and wandering about town. I’m not here to make grand political statements of course, but I write this week as the US is on fire, the virus continues unabashed and on a personal note, I have been diagnosed as an asthmatic. This has seriously curtailed my ability to wander the streets in the afternoon as (as of Tuesday 2nd June); I am yet to have an inhaler, relying on medication that sort of works for a bit. I am ok in an air conditioned environment, but as soon as I leave I’ll be coughing up stuff that is scarier than The Exorcist.
If you aren’t familiar with the seasonal changes in Taiwan, we are now in the rainy season (梅雨季which translates from Chinese as “plum rain season”) which generally means ok in the morning, pissing down like you wouldn’t believe in the afternoon for a while and then sort of rainy sort of not in the evening. It being humid here, horribly so in Taipei at this time of year, people get sick a lot and this year I have succumbed. Badly. I have never known a cough like it.
So, Belgium eh? Belgium. It doesn’t strike fear into anyone’s hearts, it doesn’t sound exactly exotic to my mind if you look at some of the more out there things on this list. That being said, it will be exotic to someone somewhere, I could get all teacher-y on you and bang on about experience, blasé attitude and everything, but I’m not wearing that hat today. Belgian food is however, represented in Taiwan as a food from another country so it qualifies, and I’m happy to try anything. It was also an easy journey via MRT/bus from my house.
On entering I realized I met the owner, Marc, through other friends a few times in the past though he didn’t remember me. I knew he had had restaurants before but I had some feeling he had left Taiwan years ago. He was quite open about the fact that business these days is not what it was, in his area of town alone he has known 10 or maybe 15 restaurants have closed in the last few years. Even wholesale is down. This has meant a limited menu not by choice, but rather through necessity and it is a story I hear more and more as I go to different restaurants that don’t stock local food. He pointed out he has the capacity to make XXX number of liters of coffee a day, but cannot take the chance as it is likely it will not get sold.
A slightly bleak picture, but I guess that’s what I get for trying to do a food challenge during a world changing pandemic. In the end, I settled for a panini and Belgian fries with salad (290 NT). Very tasty and was different from the regular bread I’m used to here. The fries were real chips like we have in the UK, big irregular sized. A good salad too. I didn’t order a drink except water, and didn’t really check the drinks menu for soft drinks; however the restaurant itself is well stocked with Belgian beers (Marc clearly knows that side of his business!) Though I was the only person there aside from him and his wife the place had a nice atmosphere. I guess on a busy day it would be a good time to be had by all. I’d like to come back and see some more stuff from the menu, because I had only planned on a quick reconnaissance type lunch.
We chatted for a while about mutual acquaintances that Marc had not seen for a while, the world situation as it is and a few other things until my chest started tightening and it was getting close to me losing my voice. A very chatty guy and his wife is very friendly too, but I really had to cut it short. Sorry about that!
It has left me wondering how much longer I can continue looking for the “out there” stuff. The mainstays like Thai, Japanese etc. are going nowhere but if supplies are running short and it’s not financially viable for the owners, I may not be able to finish this project (I hope for their sakes they can get through this). I have done 20 (I think) now and I can count at least ten on my hit list which will be fine. Let’s hope so.
Price
Panini with chips 290
Address: No. 2 1F, Alley 6, Lane 553, Section 4, Zhongxiao East Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, 110
Getting there best bet is to go to Taipei City Hall MRT and then walk maybe 5 minutes. It is much closer to that stop than Sun Yet San Memorial Hall.
52 Cuisines? 