時尚高潮食記：泰集信義微風餐廳 Thai Bazaar Xinyi Breeze Centre – Curry Crab

時尚高潮食記：泰集信義微風餐廳尋找螃蟹咖哩 Thai Bazaar Restaurant Xinyi Breeze Centre – In Search of Curry Crab

(Scroll down for English/英文版向下看)

「咖哩蟹」這三字聽起來像國際級的三字經，但它卻勾起我初抵加拿大的回憶。殘編第一次吃螃蟹咖哩，是在多倫多某新加坡餐廳。當時真的想大叫：「后里蟹」（欸、不。。。是「咖哩蟹」）！從此這家螃蟹咖哩成了我們家中聚餐的首選。最近螃蟹季，我們找到了泰集信義微風餐廳的螃蟹咖哩

先看影片:

(English/英文版):

“Curry Crab” is pronounced as “Ga Li Xie” in Mandarin Chinese, with “Ga Li” meaning “curry” and “xie” meaning “crab(s).” The whole term “Ga Li Xie” sounds somewhat like an international swear word. However, it brings back the memories of Canada when I first moved there. My first time eating curry crab was at a Singaporean restaurant in Toronto. It was so good, I almost yelled “Holy “Xie (crab)”! Excuse me, I meant “Ga li xie”! The Curry Crab had been one of our family favorites for gatherings ever since. It’s crab season in Taiwan, imagine my excitement when I found Thai Bazaar, a Thai restaurant in Taipei serving curry crab.

Watched our video first:

• 殘編吃遍全世界咖哩、也去過新加坡，對新加坡料理卻沒有太大的印象，只記得在新加坡時，有人在我面前吞劍、用頭敲破椰子，還有猴子幫我抓蝨子。

(English/英文版):
I’ve eaten curry from across the world and have also been to Singapore. However, Singaporean cuisine didn’t leave me much impression. The only memories I still have of Singapore are sword swallowing, someone breaking a coconut with his head in front of me, and monkeys picking off my skin.

• 加拿大多倫多是個多元化的移民之地，反而能在那裡吃到更道地的各國料理，還能學到如何正確的發”Phở“（越南河粉）一字的音呢！殘編照樣尋尋覓覓，在希望渺茫的「台灣」島上妄想找那曾經有過，卻沒能天長地久的美味。友人得知我的渴望，找到信義微風廣場的「泰集」餐廳，熱情邀約我一同去品嚐他們的「咖哩螃蟹」。

(English/英文版):

Toronto is a multi-cultural city filled with immigrants, even after traveling to over forty countries, some of the most authentic cuisines I’ve eaten were at restaurants in Toronto, I also learned how to finally pronounce the word “Phở” correctly from a Vietnamese restaurant owner in Toronto after mispronouncing it for years.

Like always, I search for the once familiar flavor on this hopeless island, Taiwan. A friend learned about my cravings for curry crab and invited me to Thai Bazaar, a Thai restaurant located in Breeze Centre Taipei Xinyi that features “curry crab” on their menu.

• 可能是我臉臭、不友善，受邀時，對方霹靂啪啦解釋一堆，我只想阻止他，跟他說:「You had me at “curry crab (你講到「咖哩螃蟹」四字就已説服我，無需再說（殘編最討厭囉唆）」。

(English/英文版):

I’m not a friendly person, and I probably didn’t look too convinced. He explained a lot about how great this restaurant was supposed to be when he invited me. I stopped him saying, “Say no more, you had me at curry crab.” I don’t like small talks or long BS.

• 信義微風很多路口禁止左轉、不好下車。衛星導航定位四點抵達，我卻遲遲4:30才進入微風廣場。不過泰集5:30才開，所以無所謂，只是對等待的友人稍些不好意思。
  泰集微風信義店餐廳內裝潢有木頭、爬藤、繩子等元素，給人東南亞的渡假風（請看影片）。

(English/英文版):

Xinyi Breeze Centre can be a pain to get to by car. There are no left turns at most intersections. The GPS showed 4:00pm arrival, I stepped into Breeze Centre at 4:30. Thai Bazaar starts their service at 5:30 so it was okay. The Xinyi Breeze location had elements like wood, vines, and ropes in their interior, giving it a Southeast Asian vacation feel (watch our video).

• 我們在週日晚上前往，還沒開放進場時，並無需排隊候位。門口陳列一份誘人的彩色菜單，在等待進場時，我們心裡早已盤算好要點哪些菜色。殘編站得很累，但是只要一想到待會兒有朝思暮想的「螃蟹咖哩」可以吃，一切都覺得值得。入場後當然就是先點大家已有共識的「咖哩螃蟹」($860)啦！

泰集信義微風菜單 （Thai Bazaar Restaurant Taipei Xinyi Breeze Centre Menu）

泰集信義微風菜單：咖哩 （Thai Bazaar Restaurant menu: Curry）

泰集信義微風菜單 （Thai Bazaar Restaurant Taipei Xinyi Breeze Centre）

泰集信義微風菜單：海鮮 （Thai Bazaar Menu: Seafood）

泰集信義微風菜單：咖哩螃蟹

(English/英文版):

We went on a Sunday night, and there was no need to register or wait in line ahead of time. The menu stand at the door displayed an attractive color menu. We already planned in mind what we wanted to order while waiting for the restaurant to open. Waiting is exhausting, but the thought of “crab curry” that would follow made everything easier. We ordered “Curry Crab” ($860) once we were in.

• （我的）人生本來就是處處碰壁、哪有那麼容易就能得到想得到的？不久之後服務生告知我們當天已無螃蟹，因為他們每天的螃蟹都是當天售完便不再提供，並建議要預定。聽到這裡我們都笑了，決定將就一點，改點咖哩明蝦 （$680)。人都來了，平常像餓死鬼，四點半就開飯的殘編，都已經等到五點半了，怎麼能空手而歸呢？咖哩系列的菜另外還有「綠咖哩椰香嫩雞/沙朗」、「紅咖哩椰汁嫩雞/沙朗」、「咖哩什錦蔬（素）」、「咖哩魚片」、「綠咖哩椰汁魚片/明蝦」、「咖哩明蝦/螃蟹」、「南瓜咖哩牛腩」、「南瓜咖哩綜合菇（素）」、「泰北黃咖哩雞腿」、「南瓜咖哩雞」跟「咖哩魚片（大安店限定）」、「椰汁紅咖哩海鮮」、「紅咖哩椰香魚片」、「綠咖哩椰香嫩雞」「綠咖哩椰香沙朗」。

泰集信義微風菜單：咖哩 （Thai Bazaar Restaurant menu: Curry）

(English/英文版):

(My) life is full of obstacles anyway. Nothing comes easy. Just when I started to think this was all happening too easy, our server told us crabs were sold out for the day. They only have a limited amount of crabs each day, thus preordering crabs is recommended. We laughed and decided to change the order to curry prawns ($680). After all, we have already waited for over an hour. Other curry dishes include “Chicken/ Sirloin with Coconut Green Curry, Chicken/ Sirloin with Red Curry,  Vegetables with Sweet Yellow Curry, Fish Slice with Sweet Yellow Curry, Fish Slice/ Prawns with Red Curry, Beef / Chicken with Pumpkin Curry , Mixed Mushroom with Pumpkin (Vegetarian), Massaman Chicken, and Steamed Seafood with Red Curry.

We also ordered Fried Mama Noodles with Seafood ($390), Stir-fried Water Spinach with Homemade Shrimp Paste($200/400), and Stir-fried Pork Jowl with Cumin Flavour ($360).

• 除了「咖哩明蝦」我們還點了媽媽麵（$390）、「蝦醬空心菜」（$200/400）、「孜然松阪豬」 （$360）。
  服務生在點菜時，貼心地問我們辣度是否需要做調整，以及可以接受的辣度。在加拿大吃過亞洲料理的人都知道，點大辣只會讓人翻白眼。在台灣吃泰國料理還不熟悉，我就意思意思點了小辣。殊不知它辣勁十足，原本的「不屑白眼」都變成「充腦白眼」了，殘編強力推薦喜歡吃辣的朋友們挑戰「大辣」喔！

(English/英文版):

Our server thoughtfully asked us the level of spice we wanted when she took our order. If you’ve eaten at Asian restaurants in Canada, You know even the hottest level of spice makes you roll your eyes. I am not familiar with Thai food in Taiwan. To be safe, on a scale from mild (small), medium to spicy (big), we tried mild (small). The “mild” kicked us hard. I recommend spicy food lovers challenge the “big spicy”!

以下是食記報告(The Food)：

• 三重奏/Trio- ThaiPas （$890）：
  這一道是開胃拼盤，有金錢蝦餅、涼拌花枝和香蘭葉包雞。好像持微風卡，還是有合作的相關信用卡可享半價優惠，但因為其中有一道被視為不道地的「月亮蝦餅」，我們就沒考慮點它。

泰集信義微風菜單
（Thai Bazaar Restaurant menu Xinyi）

(English/英文版):

This is a chef’s recommended appetizer trio platter with shrimp cake, squid and pandan leaf chicken wraps. Certain cardholders enjoy a half-price special. Since “shrimp pancakes” aren’t considered as authentic Thai food, we passed.

• 蝦醬空心菜/ Stir-fried Water Spinach with homemade shrimp paste.（$200/$400）

泰集主廚特製蝦醬 （＄200/$400)
（Thai Bazaar Restaurant homemade shrimp paste）

菜單上的英文應該是不小心寫錯了。空心菜的蝦醬是用泰集主廚特製、用炸蝦碎做的，比較有口感，蝦醬分開單吃的話，沒什麼甜鹹度，但撒在青菜上就大幅增加這道菜的口感。

(English/英文版):

The menu reads “Water Celery” which I believe is a typo. Since the shrimp paste was “homemade,” I had to try it separately. The shrimp paste itself has minimum sugar and salt., but sprinkled on the veggies adds texture to the dish.

• 泰式炒海鮮Mama麵/ Fried Mama Noodles with Seafood（$390）：

泰集媽媽麵
（Thai Bazaar Restaurant: Mama Noodles）

「媽媽麵」聽起來像是家中廚房的私廚料理，但因為這一道在上菜前服務生就已經跟我們提過是泡麵做的，所以我們並沒有抱太大的期望。但是有別於港式餐廳的「公仔麵」，這道泡麵加的不是罐頭午餐肉或何苞蛋，而是繽紛的蝦仁、花枝、黑木耳、蟹管肉。再加上檸檬葉和主廚特製的炒醬，上菜後服服務生建議我們將料跟麵條拌勻使用，拌勻後就是很標準的泰式酸辣味。同行的友人竟然還拿它拌飯（有「炒麵麵包」的概念），殘編嚇傻了。。。

(English/英文版):

“Mama Noodles” sounds like a homey dish or your “mama’s pasta” using your mom’s secret recipe. Our server gave us a heads up that it was made with “Mama instant noodles, “Mama” is the brand name, so we didn’t expect much. However, instead of serving the noodles with just SPAM meat or egg, the Mama Noodles is served with shrimp, squid, black fungus and crab meat, and stir-fried with lemongrass and a chef’s special sauce. Our server recommended us to mix it well before eating. It is full of flavors and has a very standard Thai cuisine taste, my friend even added it on rice, he shocked me.

• 咖哩明蝦/ Curry Prawns （$680）

咖哩明蝦的軟法國麵包/ Curry Prawns bread

咖哩明蝦/ Curry Prawns（$680)

咖哩明蝦跟咖哩螃蟹一樣是用特調黃咖哩料理，但食材似乎有些不同。菜單上面寫的「螃蟹咖哩」是用紅蟳、鴨蛋、椰汁和洋蔥料理的黃咖哩，而「明蝦」卻是用「鮮美大明蝦、泰國茄子以及椰子」所料理出來的黃咖哩。兩者皆附有「法國軟麵包」。

殘編不愛吃白飯，更不愛吃麵包，但是為了品嚐這一道好久不見的咖哩，還特地點了從未點過的白飯，準備大快朵頤一番。殘編去過泰國兩次，在多倫多也吃過無數次泰國人開的泰式料理餐廳以及傳統的印度餐廳。其中的黃咖哩、紅咖哩、綠咖哩都試過了，泰集的黃咖哩卻好像沒有吃過的咖哩。「泰集」的黃咖哩極度濃稠，海鮮系列原料除了薑黃外，還加蛋炒，外觀有很明顯的炒蛋痕跡，但因極度濃稠，還真不知道要如何扮飯，搭配法國麵包比白飯合適（請看影片）。

(English/英文版):

I don’t like rice, and I hate bread even more. But to taste this much-anticipated curry dish, I ordered rice for the first time and prepared myself to pig out. I have been to Thailand twice, I have also eaten at many authentic Thai restaurants and Indian restaurants in Toronto. I’ve tried yellow curry, red curry, and green curry, but none quite like the “yellow curry” served at Thai Bazaar. The yellow curry here is very thick. In addition to turmeric, the curry for the seafood series is also cooked with eggs. The thick texture of the curry sauce makes it better on bread than with rice (watch the video!)

• 孜然松阪豬/ Stir-fried Pork Jowl with Cumin Flavour（$360）：

孜然松阪豬/ Stir-fried Pork Jowl with Cumin Flavour（$360)

這一道是殘編覺得「當然最好吃」的料理。上菜時撒滿辣椒，有生辣椒，也有乾辣椒。雖然不太能看到孜然，但是吃起來孜然香味顯著，不輸辣椒。

(English/英文版):

I love my herbs and spices, so in my opinion, this is the best dish of the night. At first sight, the pork seems to be served with more chili peppers, dried and fresh. Once eaten, the cumin flavour takes over.

• 「泰集」信義微風店還有好多種咖哩我還沒嚐到，一定要再訪（重點是要二戰螃蟹咖哩。。。）

Thai Bazaar Restaurant’s Taipei Xinyi Breeze Centre location features a lot of different curries that I am yet to try. Oh, and I still need to turn my Curry Crab fail into a success…