時尚高潮食記：首都大飯店豫園中餐廳 – Review: Yuyuan Chinese Restaurant – Capital Hotel Taipei

(英文版看下面/Scroll down for English version):

時尚高潮食記：首都大飯店豫園中餐廳

Review: Capital Hotel Taipei Yuyuan Chinese Restaurant

環遊世界評鑑各大飯店的殘編上回挖寶挖到了滄海遺珠神旺商務飯店的驚人餐點，於是開始了我的一系列「還未被發現的好酒店」之旅。首都大飯店早有聽說，但遲遲沒機會實地造訪，這週終於抽空去評鑑。我們光顧的是二樓的豫園中餐廳，先看影片：

英文版/English:

I’ve been reviewing luxury hotels my whole life, last time when I decided to try a business hotel called San Want Hotel Residences in Taipei for a change, it turned out to be an excellent hidden gem. So I started my mission to look for “good hotels that are yet to be discovered.” I’ve heard of The Capital Hotel for a while now, but I haven’t had a chance to visit them yet.

Last week, I finally took the time to check it out. Our mission of the night was to try Capital Hotel’s Yuyuan Chinese Restaurant located on the second floor of the Capital Hotel.
Watch our video first:

• 首都大飯店大廳環境 (Capital Hotel Taipei & Its Lobby)：

首都飯店大廳乾淨，頗有星級水準。大廳進門右轉直走走廊底即是電梯，只有一座，彷彿少了那麼一點氣勢。

英文版/English:

The lobby of the Capital Hotel is bright and clean, quite the level of a star-rated hotel. The elevator is down the end of a hallway on the right. There is only one elevator, making it not as “grand” as the hotel’s Chinese name suggests.

• 豫園中餐廳 (Yuyuan Chinese Restaurant)

我們造訪的豫園中餐廳在二樓，電梯玻璃窗看出去，一樓似乎有室外座位，讓我蠢蠢欲動。二樓電梯打開後，各式各樣的中華瓷器與古色古香的中式藝術品引導我們步步進入豫園餐廳。門口掛著寫有「豫園上海湯包」字樣的弧形匾額。進入豫園餐廳後，大廳是古典雅緻東方風格的桌椅，裡面更是有適合中華文化宴客的六至十四人包廂。

首都大飯店豫園中餐廳

首都大飯店豫園中餐廳

豫園中餐廳櫃檯- 首都大飯店 Yuyuan Chinese Restaurant counter – capital hotel taipei

英文版/English:

The patio seating on the first floor that I see through the elevator’s glass windows almost made me want to turn back. I’m not sure if there’s a restaurant for that.
Yuyuan Restaurant:
The elevator opens on the second floor to an Oriental decor, a variety of Chinese porcelain and antique art pieces line the hallway and guide us into Yuyuan Restaurant. Upon entering is a curved sign that reads “Yuyuan Shanghai Soup Dumplings.” After entering the Yuyuan Restaurant, the main dining hall is filled with elegant and oriental style tables and chairs. There are also six to fourteen-person booths suitable for Chinese gatherings.

• 殘編對中餐不熟悉，於是點了豫園品饌套餐 （$1288+10%服務費），將選擇困難症問題丟給餐廳處理。套餐裡似乎少了青菜類，於是我們加點了「清炒娃娃菜」

Yuyuan Chinese set menu

英文版/English:

I’m not too familiar with Chinese cuisine, so we ordered the Yuyuan Chinese Set Menu ($1288+10% service charge) and passed the baton along with our decision –making problems all together to the restaurant. We see a lack of veggies in the set, so we ordered a Chinese baby cabbage.

• 豫園品饌套餐 (Yuyuan Chinese Set Menu):

• 弄堂三味品 (Appetizer Platter)

• 

  弄堂三味品
  (Appetizer Platter)

弄堂三味品裡面有醉雞、素鵝（素豆皮卷）與苦瓜。餐點看起來美味可口、多樣化，美中不足的是服務生上菜時並無做任何介紹，甚至ㄧ問三不知，要不是同行的友人在餐飲業已有十來年以上的主廚經驗，我還真不知道我在吃什麼。

英文版/English:

The appetizer platter includes drunken chicken, vegetarian bean curd roll and bitter gourd. The dish looks delicious and diversified, but our server didn’t make any introduction when serving the food; she also had no knowledge of what she was bringing to the table when we asked.

弄堂三味品：素鵝 （素豆皮捲） (Appetizer Platter): Vegeterian roll

弄堂三味品：苦瓜 (Appetizer Platter：bitter gourd )

弄堂三味品：醉雞 (Appetizer Platter)：drunken chicken

• 醉雞

醉雞用枸杞點綴，友人覺得醉雞雞味比較重，殘編倒是吃的很開心。素豆皮卷似乎是豆皮包覆著菇類與黑木耳，當我們問服務人員內容物為何，她只隨便的應了一句「就是一些素的東西」。這道吃起來跟看起來是一樣的。

苦瓜清脆爽口，似乎帶點梅香味，苦澀味完全去除，連平常不敢吃苦瓜的友人都讚不絕口，愛吃苦的殘編更是覺得再來一整盤都不嫌多。

The drunken chicken is garnished with goji. Our friend thought the chicken tasted too strong, but I loved it. It was hard to figure out what the ingredients were in the bean curd roll, our server simply replied “just some vegetarian stuff,” when we asked her. My guess is mushrooms and black fungus. The bitter gourd (bitter melon) is crisp and refreshing with a hint of plum scent, which removes the bitterness.

• 炒娃娃菜 (Chinese baby cabbage)

炒娃娃菜
(Chinese baby cabbage)

清炒娃娃菜上面有加幾片紅蘿蔔跟菇點綴，口味清爽。

英文版/English:

Chinese baby cabbage is topped with a few slices of carrots and mushrooms, the taste is light.

• 三鮮圓籠蒸餃 (Seafood Steamed Dumplings)

看似皮厚難嚼的蒸餃，一口咬下居然有噴湯汁水柱的驚喜（仔細看影片！），讓我們忍不住跟服務人員要了薑絲跟烏醋，打算將它以「湯包」處置。是否進門前的「湯包」招牌，正是因此？服務生給的薑絲夠多，不會有外帶小籠湯包回家後發現薑絲不夠或薯條沒給蕃茄醬的讓人想翻桌困擾。被這個問題困擾許久的殘編忍不住稱讚賞這位大氣的服務生說：「你好帥！」

三鮮圓籠蒸餃
(Seafood Steamed Dumplings)

英文版/English:

The steamed dumplings look “dough over filling” with thick skin and possibly hard to chew. Once bitten down, soup squirts out the dumping (watch the video) like a real soup dumpling (xiaolongbao)! So we ask for ginger and black vinegar to take care of them as if they’re soup dumplings. The “Yuyuan Shanghai Soup Dumplings” sign upon entrance makes sense now, maybe soup dumplings are their specialty. The server was generous with the ginger, he didn’t give us the kind of frustration you usually get when you realize there’s not enough ginger in your take-out xiaolongbao or wasabi in your sushi delivery.

• 翠綠鮮帶子 (Stir Fry Vegetable with Scallop)

翠綠鮮帶子
(Stir-Fry Vegetable with Scallop)

這道是肥美的干貝搭配翠綠的切段大蘆筍和紅黃彩椒覺得是廚師用新鮮的食材下去炒的，有蘆筍、新鮮干貝、彩椒還有蒜片，炒出五顏六色的色彩，擺盤鮮豔。

英文版/English:

Jumbo scallops are stir-fried with sliced asparagus, red and yellow peppers, and garlic. The presentation isbright and colourful.

• 金蒜銀絲蒸蝦（蒜泥蒸草蝦）(Steamed Garlic Prawns with Vermicelli Noodles)

金蒜銀絲蒸蝦（蒜泥蒸草蝦）/ Steamed Garlic Prawns with Vermicelli Noodles

滿滿的金蒜沫完全融入蒸蝦裡，蒜香紮實濃郁，再擺上一整坨青蔥絲提味，蝦子的床是入味的粉絲。這道根本就是螃蟹粉絲煲的精緻版啊！ 東粉完完全全入味，甚至比蝦子本身的海鮮味還要濃。粉絲再來一鍋吧！

英文版/English:

Steamed shrimp is presented on a bed of vermicelli noodles and topped with lots of garlic and scallions, the vermicelli is full of seafood flavours and leaves us wanting for more.

• 古法東坡肉 / Dongpo Pork

古法東坡肉
( Dongpo Pork)

這道東坡肉以古法製成，淋上師父親自製作的滷汁看似細緻美味，可惜肉質過肥，甚至見不著瘦肉的蹤影。讓我們筷子欲夾又止。東坡肉跟上海飯菜飯（砂鍋菜飯）一起上，建議搭配一起吃。

英文版/English:

Pork belly meat is cooked with the ancient recipe. Unfortunately, the meat is almost 100% fat with no traces of lean meat. Dongpo Pork is served with Shanghai Style Vegetable Rice. The server recommended us to eat them together.

• 上海菜飯 / Shanghai Style Vegetable Rice

上海菜飯
(Shanghai Style Vegetable Rice )

服務生雖一樣未介紹，但這道上海菜飯似乎混了臘肉、碎菇、及切碎的青江菜一起拌炒，用燒燙的熱砂鍋上菜，有意學韓式「石鍋拌飯」的感覺。雖然上菜時砂鍋熱的吱吱作響，我們卻遲遲等不到鍋巴的形成，於是跟服務生多要了一個燙鍋來做鍋巴。換鍋後翻煮了好一陣卻還是沒有鍋巴的蹤影。可能是飯粒油份過多，無法形成的鍋巴，稍嫌可惜。

英文版/English:

The waiter provided us with no information for this dish either, but this Shanghai Style Vegetable Rice seems to be mixed with bacon, mushrooms, and chopped vegetables. It is served with a hot clay pot, similar to a Korean style “stone pot bibimbap. We all know the best part of bibimbap is the rice crust. The dish was sizzling when served, but the crust never formed because the rice was too oily. We even asked for a new container to make the crust. The results remain the same.

• 蔥油蒸鱈魚 ( Steamed Codfi­sh with Scallions)

蔥油蒸鱈魚
(Steamed Codfish with Scallions)

入口即化的嫩鱈魚，加入淡淡的蔥油香，更能提出鱈魚的清鮮，魚肉爽口易下嚥。

英文版/English:

Codfish is very tender with a touch of scallions; the dish is light and easy to finish.

• 圓盅燉雞湯 (Stew Chicken Soup)

圓盅燉雞湯 (Stew Chicken Soup)

圓盅燉雞湯 （Stew Chicken Soup) 首都大飯店豫園中餐廳

這盅雞湯香甜可口，湯中帶雞骨肉，肉質熬至軟爛、入口即化。不懂料理的殘編篤定若不是蘿蔔雞湯就是香菇雞湯，故湯如此香甜。同行的廚師朋友說他就是雞本人而已。詢問之下，還真是純雞湯而已。殘編羞愧不已。

英文版/English:

Chicken soup is sweet and delicious and cooked and served with bone-in chicken meat, the meat is cooked to fall-off-the-bone tender, and the soup sweetened entirely with the chicken’s natural flavours only.

• 寶島四季鮮水果 (Taiwanese Seasonal Fruit)

寶島四季鮮水果
(Taiwanese Seasonal Fruit)

餐後上的寶島四季鮮水果有葡萄，還有西瓜、哈密瓜、跟芭樂各一片。

英文版/English:

Taiwanese Seasonal Fruit Includes grapes, and a piece of watermelon, cantaloupe, and guava each.

• 主廚精緻甜品 （Chef Exquisite Dessert)

主廚精緻甜品
(Chef Exquisite Dessert)

我們的主廚精緻甜品是撒滿椰子絲、椰子口味濃郁的椰香雪花糕，布丁狀的糕點咬下去是一絲一絲的椰子絲。同行友人說椰子糕不好做，要做出如此濃醇的椰子糕不簡單。

英文版/English:

Our chef’s exquisite dessert is a coconut-milk pudding/cake with lots of shredded coconut. “To make such a rich coconut-milk pudding isn’t easy,” said our chef friend.

首都大飯店豫園中餐廳結論 （Conclusion）:

台北首都大飯店既名為「大」飯店，豫園中餐廳雖佈置裝潢別緻，卻讓我們在吃得一頭霧水，殘編覺得以一家「大飯店」來說，首都還有很大的進步空間。

英文版/English:

Capital Hotel Taipei brands itself as a “Grand” hotel（首都“大”飯店）in Chinese, which leads one into expecting star-quality service and food. Both Capital Hotel‘s food and service see room for improvement.