A shout out once again to the people over at the TW Foodies Facebook page for once again highlighting something I wouldn’t have found otherwise, particularly Det. String, who has official bragging rights on finding something first.
If you have been reading this page you’ll have probably noticed I haven’t got round to having Thai food yet. Like Japanese food, Thai is just too easy to find so I have been saving it for later and instead first I bring you Isan food which IS Thai but is part of the no man’s land between Thailand and Laos. In the absence of a Laotian restaurant (I tried to find one, and if there is one please let me know) this fits my criteria because, it can and- my point has pretty much been made now.
I have never been to Thailand; I have no particular reason for going/not going it just hasn’t come up. I’ve always enjoyed the food, but as no expert I’ve only had the same dishes over and over. I also trained a bit in muay thai, which was never my thing it was far too brutal and seemed to attract the wrong kind of martial arts foreigners, i.e. those who are looking for a scrap. One class I attended was brimming with homophobia/Islamophobia and I actually took pleasure in kicking the arse of a French fascist there under the guise of “practice”. So I turned my back on it, going back to the classical martial arts which look cool, but are not necessarily useful in a real fight.
Going to Somtum Der yesterday was a bit of a first for this blog, even at this late stage of the game, in that the restaurant is part of a food court area, and this place is a chain of sorts as their website shows they have branches in different cities worldwide. I had always had the stereotype that food courts were either severely overpriced posh food or low effort tourist spots or have familiar brands everywhere. This was none of the above.
I got there for lunch, as always one of the first people there because of my un-schedule. The décor was pretty bright in the “hungover, need shades” style but fine by me. I’ve heard that the place is getting popular so I sat at the bar area in case it did indeed get swamped with groups. From what I could work out, the staff were Thai, or at least the waitress who helped me was, as it is 2020 and mask wearing is just the norm now, I couldn’t really tell until she said certain words- but very friendly, chatty.
I decided to go with something which is considered one of the Isan foods that you must try, larb pen (spicy duck salad, though larb is made with most meats), lemon grass juice and a side order of rice. I went for the duck, mostly because I don’t get to eat it that often. I’m not a spice man generally, as I may have mentioned before, I have been known to sweat eating butter chicken one of the most inoffensive of Indian (I’m sure made for British tastes) foods, so this burned. I enjoyed the flavor, red onions, peppers and something else I couldn’t work out but- wow that kick was insane. I was sweating in about 30 seconds. Good thing I had the drink which helped with the heat. I was having a bit of a dodgy belly about eight hours later, but that is me and my own spicy food issues rather than anything they did. I guess my body needed the shove.
I’d say the portion size was fine, though I am pretty tall by most standards I’m not a big eater which surprises people-but all in all I was satisfied and would eat it again.
So having finished earlier than expected, I had a bit of a mooch around the food court to see if there was anything sexy I have missed during my research of what is about but came up with nothing. What I will say though, this is finally a reason to go upstairs in the Taipei Main Station Breeze area- it is affordable and is just that little bit different.
Menu:
Larb pad 220NT
Iced lemongrass juice ?? (I forgot)
Rice ( I forgot)
But came in at under 420NT
Address: 100, Taipei City, Zhongzheng District, Beiping West Road,
Best way to get there: It is in the food court upstairs of the main area of Taipei Main station. Long time Taipei people will know that that the station is a rabbit warren with terrible signage, but basically, do what you can to get to street level and then go upstairs from the square where the workers hang out on Sundays.
52 Cuisines? 