Reviewer with Braces: Not Particularly Friendly Sink 😂

This restaurant located in the Zhuanwei Military Village has an unassuming appearance but surprises with its dishes. The chef puts great care into each dish, and the staff is very enthusiastic and talkative. The only downside is that the restroom facilities are somewhat rudimentary.

The restaurant updates its menu every season, combining local specialties from Yilan with seafood, and each dish is quite exquisite. The set menu is priced at 1,380 NTD, plus a 10% service charge.

Here are the dishes from this meal:

1. Hamburger patty with a runny egg yolk and tomato salsa
   The hamburger patty paired well with the salsa, and the texture was pleasant.
2. Sprouted grape bread with Zhuanyuan peanut butter
   The peanut butter has a unique flavor.
3. Loofah puree soup with potato foam and clam foam
   The soup is on the lighter side, slightly tasting of loofah and clam; I personally found it hard to understand.
4. Seared scallop mixed salad with apple vinaigrette
   A fairly common salad.
5. Main course: Honey-glazed cherry duck three ways
   This dish presents the duck in different seasonings, and the meat was acceptable.
6. Main course: Ribeye steak with beef bone gravy
   The steak was cooked just right.
7. Dessert: Lemon tart
   The separated lemon tart was a bit of an adjustment for my personal taste.
8. Drink: Seasonal special from the Ruins
   I forgot the specific content, but it seemed to have added Yilan kumquat.
9. Drink: Latte coffee
   The texture was smooth.

Overall, the restaurant is suitable for those who enjoy trying new things, but I personally would not return.

🔅Actual dining date: 2024/09/21
*Please do not repost or use photos without permission & for commercial purposes

A friend saved up for 1.2 years to visit this restaurant. Apart from choosing one of two main courses, drinks include coffee, black tea, or a special beverage, with the rest fixed. Here’s a simple introduction to the dishes on that day.

Seasonal Menu
Both main courses of the day are priced at $1380 + 10%.

▪️Burger patty · Soft-boiled egg yolk · Tomato salsa
In addition to the above ingredients, there are also cracked leaf sesame leaves, which are particularly noted for their mild spiciness when eaten alone. The flavor of the salsa is lighter, pairing nicely with the sesame leaves. The burger patty is very juicy and delicious.

▪️Germinated grape bread · Zhuangwei peanut butter
The bread is quite standard, but I particularly like that the butter is made from peanuts, giving it a peanut aroma. I cleaned my plate thoroughly.

▪️Bottle gourd soup · Potato foam · Clam bubbles
This dish was a bit hard for me to appreciate. The bottle gourd is pureed completely; the potato foam is delicious, and the clam bubbles have to be savored carefully to taste the flavors. There is plenty of fresh clam meat, so overall it’s not bad; just presented in a unique way with the bottle gourd and clams.

▪️Seared scallops · Mixed greens · Apple vinaigrette
The apple vinaigrette is quite fragrant, refreshing with the greens, but I feel it doesn’t go very well with the scallops. However, the scallops are tender and delicious! It’s a concept of each part following its own path.

▪️Main course: Rib-eye steak with beef bone gravy
As introduced, the meat is freshly cut upon ordering to maintain freshness. While not exceptionally tender, it’s not difficult to chew either. I quite liked the seasoning of the steak; it was beautifully plated, and the portion was larger than expected.

▪️Main course: Honey-glazed cherry duck in three styles
The three styles include original flavor, white wine jujube sauce, and red wine grape sauce. This dish immediately caught my eye when served; the duck meat was incredibly rich, with three large pieces! I liked it quite a bit (though I cut off the oily parts); the skin and meat tasted great as-is. The jujube sauce is quite special, and I found the red wine sauce to be just okay.

▪️Lemon tart
Though called a lemon tart, it’s presented in a deconstructed manner. In fact, the cookie at the bottom along with the lemon mousse (and filling) is quite tasty, and the shape is eye-catching. If it were described as a dessert, I think it would be perfectly fine and delicious, but as a deconstruction, for me, it no longer resembles a lemon tart; the cookie can't replace that hard, crisp texture of a tart shell.

▪️Latte coffee · Seasonal special from Ruins
The coffee is standard. The seasonal special is an Americano with jujube sauce flavor, which is quite unique and refreshing to drink, somewhat similar to Sicilian coffee—very refreshing, but there’s an unpleasant... maybe it’s a jujube skin odor (?) that slightly detracted from the experience; it’s good, yet a bit stinky?

Overall, we visited on a Saturday afternoon when it was raining, and we were the only guests. The dining environment was very comfortable, and the staff was warm and introduced the dishes in detail. I enjoyed both main courses; while the flavors don’t make me particularly eager to revisit, I highly recommend it for those who enjoy this style to come experience it! There’s also a beautiful seaside nearby for taking photos. (Food 3.5 + Atmosphere 0.5)

P.S. When we made the reservation, we could freely experience printmaking or a fern board class; we chose the latter, but since my hands got quite dirty during the process, I didn’t take photos. You can take your work home, which is pretty great!~~