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It seems there is a restaurant that also offers traditional kaiseki cuisine with private dining services. There is a second floor that I didn't go up to, and I'm not sure if the first floor only sells set meals; however, the place feels like a strong and experienced establishment. It's clean, comfortable, and bright, and it seems that many celebrities have visited, like many Japanese restaurants, they also broadcast baseball games.

The akajita-don is a fried shrimp rice bowl, and most of the other tables were ordering this. We ordered the kurojita-don, which is a crab rice bowl. The batter is soft and crispy, and while the crab meat is quite sweet and fresh, there isn't much of it. The fried shrimp with soba noodles was very warming to eat in the snow, but the fried shrimp was different from the one in the akajita-don, so we later ordered an additional akajita fried shrimp. It was tasty but not spectacular.

The set meals come with pickled vegetables that can be purchased separately, which are really good.

Reviewer with Braces: There is a restroom.

This place is the Heron Pavilion, located near Zhonghe Park No. 4, a small restaurant specializing in Japanese cuisine. It only has counter seating, so there aren’t many seats available. It is advisable to arrive early during peak dining hours or to reserve some waiting time. The overall environment is clean and comfortable, without any oily smells, and payment is convenient, supporting Line Pay.

This time I ordered:

• Unagi rice $350 (+$60 for the upgraded set)
  The set includes a salad and a hand roll (fresh shrimp or crab meat available). The unagi was meticulously prepared, rich in flavor, and melts in your mouth, while the rice was perfectly cooked.
• Salt-grilled Matsusaka pork $250 (+$100 for the upgraded set)
  An incredibly impressive dish, the Matsusaka pork was cooked perfectly, maintaining its tenderness and juiciness, with the saltiness enhancing the aroma. The juices flowed down to the shredded cabbage underneath, adding overall depth to the dish. The side dishes like seaweed sprouts and burdock root were also refreshing, and together with the rice and miso soup, it was satisfying without being greasy.
• Seared flounder sushi $135
  Generous ingredients, with thickly sliced flounder that is smooth and slightly chewy, and the searing adds a distinct aroma.
• Grilled salmon belly $300
  Rich in fatty flavors with a slightly crispy skin, the fat is rich without being overwhelming, recommended for friends who enjoy salmon.
• Beef short rib with sea urchin sushi $220
  Well-distributed marbling with sea urchin, providing a rich flavor profile, it was one of the highlights of the day.
• Seared salmon sushi $95
  The salmon is rich in fat, smooth in texture, seared just right, and reasonably priced.

Overall, this place is a high cost-performance ratio Japanese restaurant worth revisiting. The ingredients are fresh, the dishes are delicately prepared, and the prices are friendly, suitable for those who love Japanese food but want to avoid disappointments.

🔅Actual visit date: 2025/04/03
*Please do not reproduce or use photos without permission & for commercial purposes

It seems there are more and more branches of Matsuya. Usually, my family only eats here when we feel like it. We've had beef bowls and grilled meat rice before, which are pretty standard. I have the strongest impression of their curry; ever since trying it once, I almost always order curry, and this time was no exception.

▪️Classic Curry Beef Rice Medium $185
I haven't had it in a while, but I remember their curry being spicy and quite fragrant. This time, I found the curry surprisingly salty. The portion of rice is generous but still not enough to balance it out; I feel like they could reduce the sauce to two-thirds (it might still be salty). The beef is tasty and has some seasoning, but combined with the sauce, it becomes too salty. I recommend not mixing all the sauce together if you decide to try it...

▪️Beef Rice Medium $95
It's not a large bowl, but it's fine if you just want a quick bite. The beef sauce pairs well with the rice, and their rice is quite good.

▪️Rich Tonjiru $55
This is more of a pork soup, with less miso flavor. It has a bit of oil but is okay, and it has a lot of ingredients inside. I personally quite like this bowl.

Overall, the flavors are normal. You order using a machine upon entering and then wait for your number to collect your food. You also need to clean your own table after eating. Their business hours are quite long, making it a good option for late-night snacks. Although I found the curry a bit salty this time, I still like the items. Additionally, they also offer breakfast items, which is cool; I haven't tried that yet!

Shared a 298 rice bowl set and a 378 deluxe set with friends.
The portions are very large and fulfilling!
For the main course, you can choose beef, pork, chicken, fish, or vegetarian, and the chef can also mix and match.
I ordered the fish rice bowl set, and there were two slices!
The deluxe set had four slices of beef, which weren't very tender but were cooked very deliciously!
There was popcorn on the rice, which was a very unique combination and surprisingly tasty.
The soup had a lot of ingredients, including various mushrooms, seaweed, and tofu.
The fruits and lettuce in the salad were very fresh, and the dressing was passion fruit flavored and very tasty!
The drinks weren't listed on the menu and were asked by the waiter after we ordered; you could choose between black tea and kumquat lemon, and the kumquat lemon was very delicious! (Neither of us ordered black tea, so I don't know how it is.)

The Qingming holiday was arranged for a two-day short trip, and since we were staying in Jiaoxi at night, we reserved a restaurant in advance due to concerns that popular places would have long wait times. ☺️

When making the reservation, I informed them that we had a child and requested to avoid a counter table. However, on the day of the visit, we arrived 10 minutes early only to be told by the owner that the previous guests were late and might need another 20 minutes. The counter was available for immediate seating though. I was a bit taken aback at first (thinking that if the previous guests were late, they should inform them to shorten their meal time rather than affecting the next guests). However, throughout the dining experience, the owner was very polite and even treated our daughter to complimentary appetizers and fruit 🍇, which showed their willingness to make amends.

The restaurant is quite small, with only 6 seats at the counter and 2 tables for 4 people. The owners are an elderly couple, with one additional staff member (or possibly their son 👦). The menu is straightforward, with only 3 set meals, and other options for a la carte sushi 🍣, Japanese dishes, and drinks. The atmosphere is reminiscent of a small shop in Japan 🇯🇵.

Today, we ordered four sets for 4 adults and 1 child, plus a portion of fried chicken. Each set includes a main dish, three side dishes, miso soup, a plate of tempura, and white rice. An appetizer was provided beforehand, which was chilled octopus salad 🐙; the texture was very chewy, and the wasabi six-grid salad was voted as the best dish of the day. The main dishes included ginger sauce pork, sashimi, and grilled fish. Although the portions were not large, we could sample a variety of dishes. The sashimi platter had 6 types of fish, but the serving felt a bit small. The grilled fish that day was supposed to be flounder, but since I usually eat that often, I paid extra to switch it to my favorite red snapper 🐟. The grilled fish was tasty, though the size was average. The tempura included shrimp 🍤, eggplant 🍆, sweet potato 🍠, and enoki mushrooms 🍄, which made for a generous plate. The fried chicken was well-marinated and tender 😋, and we were also served a small plate of fruit snacks at the end, making for a perfect ending.

The overall dining atmosphere felt like a visit to a small shop in Japan. 👍 The owners were great at hospitality and focused on the quality of the dishes. However, at this price point of 700 yuan, I felt the cost-performance ratio wasn't very high. Interestingly, I had just had afternoon tea the day before at a spot that also offered similar set meals, and it looked even more substantial on other people's tables. I hope to visit again next time for a different experience. 🎁

Food Quality: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Food Price: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Service Quality: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Dining Environment: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

Curry on Shichang Street

At first, just eating curry was actually quite boring, but later it became amazing when paired with Sichuan pepper.

Whether it's salad or curry, adding Sichuan pepper makes it delicious.

Couples can order one salad and one rice; the curry rice can be refilled infinitely.

Calculating, it costs less than 200 per person to eat until full, which is really impressive for a curry restaurant in Taipei! 👍

This week, I took my daughter and her good friend to the White House Pavilion on the North Coast to celebrate her 5th birthday 🎂. We spent the afternoon playing on the beach and didn’t want to travel far for dinner. I found a nearby Japanese restaurant with high ratings on Google, so we decided to take our chances and were lucky enough to get a table in just 10 minutes.

This place offered sashimi that Dad loves, as well as seafood set meals suitable for kids. We ordered the sashimi rice bowl from the tiered menu 🐟, a grilled squid set meal 🦑, a la carte assorted sashimi, and stir-fried water spinach 🥬. The restaurant provides free unlimited miso soup, which, despite being complimentary, is not to be taken lightly; it contains lots of tofu and fish, making it quite substantial. The stir-fried water spinach was glistening with oil, and the two kids had a competition on who could eat more, nearly finishing the whole plate. It seems kids do eat more when encouraged by their peers, as my daughter usually doesn’t eat this much vegetable. The sashimi on the tiered menu included about three sweet shrimp, eel, scallops, salmon, flounder fin meat, shrimp roe, and tamagoyaki. The ingredients were all very fresh and generous in portion, providing great value at this price range. The assorted sashimi ordered a la carte included five types of fish, varying based on what was available that day, allowing us to enjoy an even wider variety than what was in the rice bowl. The freshness was, of course, unquestionable 👍. Additionally, I was very satisfied with the grilled squid set meal, which featured the less commonly found red-eye mullet, with portions that were quite generous; it was enough for me and my daughter to share.

Overall, the meal was delicious, the variety of fish was abundant, and the prices were reasonable. It is indeed best to enjoy seafood in coastal areas. The kids who love seafood, especially in Yilan, were very satisfied.

Meal quality 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Meal price 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Service quality 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Dining environment 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Conclusion:
You can give it a try, but I wouldn't rush for it
Because coming from Philinter language school, you need at least 350 ₽ for transport
In terms of taste with desserts
As for the meals
In the Philippines, you can find them everywhere, but there aren't many memorable places
I would prefer to spend my money elsewhere

However, this restaurant also has a bar, so it could be a nice place for good drinks

Rating:
3 stars out of 5 (maximum)

Dishes:
seafood pasta ₽398
pork sising ₽298
Ankake katsu-Don ₽338
Toco-rice (Tacos Rice Bowl) ₽338
san miguel pilsen ₽330
mixed avalanche pancake $498

Introduction:
pork sising
is a famous Filipino dish made with sizzling pork.
It uses chopped pork and is topped with an egg, which you can squeeze some calamansi on and mix before eating.
It's very flavorful and rich in fat, making it great with rice.

seafood pasta (forgot to take a photo)
The pasta I had in the Philippines is completely different from the taste I know in Taiwan
It's bold in flavor, with a lot of sauce
But the noodles are a bit like oil noodles, possibly not the type of noodles commonly found in Taiwan
Because there is a lot of sauce, but the noodles do not absorb it in that way
Personally, I wouldn't get used to it.

Ankake katsu-Don
Pork cutlet rice bowl
The fried pork cutlet is quite decent, similar to those in Taiwan.

Toco-rice (Tacos Rice Bowl)
A dish from Okinawa, as per my Japanese friend
My Korean friend and I both think it’s delicious
The crispy bits on top mix well with the TOCO texture
Each bite has a nice crunch
It's a bit spicy, with a refreshing overall taste.

san miguel pilsen ABV: 5%
A Filipino beer that is on the lighter side
Compared to Taiwan Beer
It lacks maltiness, making it suitable for beginners.

mixed avalanche pancake
Very impressive presentation, the soufflé is delicious
It's on the pricier side.

For water, you need to pay separately
Since it’s a semi-open space, it can be quite warm.

Reviewer comment: Has a toilet

This restaurant is Gyukaku Japanese BBQ, located near Park No. 4. It’s a la carte style, providing table service for BBQ.

During this visit, the ingredients felt fresh, and the dedicated grilling service was stress-free. However, the grilling speed was a bit slow, possibly because there were more customers that day. Fortunately, the restaurant's exhaust system was well designed, so there wasn't too much smoke during the meal.

The quality of the meat was quite good, and overall it’s suitable for those who don't want to grill themselves and want to focus on enjoying BBQ, although the prices are relatively high.

We ordered the following items:
• Australian Wagyu diaphragm $430
• Australian beef short rib $280
• Beef tongue $980
• Marbled Matsusaka pork $240
• Sesame vegetable salad $160
• Cod liver $220
• Zucchini $110 (the first serving was a bit bitter, and after notifying the staff, they immediately replaced it with a new plate)
• Onions and salt rice with egg $90
• Calpis $50
• Grilled mochi $120
Subtotal $2,680, service charge $268, total $2,948.

Next to the Champs-Élysées, there's a must-visit shop filled with Japanese flavors. The shop's name 'Shrimp' is pronounced the same as 'prawn'.

Specializing in tempura Japanese cuisine, there’s no sushi or sashimi, but there’s delicious tempura and grilled dishes, plus endless miso soup.

Today, I ordered the soft-shell crab rice bowl and found it to be a great deal; it even had a shrimp inside! The batter was just the right thickness, crispy and crunchy!

Before the meal, they also serve a warm bowl of miso soup to warm the stomach! I ordered the soft-shell crab rice bowl, and it came with an additional shrimp.

The soft-shell crab was very fresh, and I ate the whole thing. The owner even kindly asked if I wanted it spicy. If you prefer spicy, they add a green chili, which has a numbing sensation without being too hot, so it won’t burn your throat!

The seating is limited, so it’s recommended to visit on weekdays or make a reservation. The service is very comfortable and attentive, and the atmosphere of this Japanese izakaya is very pleasant, perfect for a few friends to enjoy a drink together.