CHASING FOOD DREAMS: Taiwan Travels – Le Palais @ Palais de Chine Hotel

Fine Cantonese Cuisine

Taiwan has recently been graced by the world-renowned food bible, The Michelin Guide. Out of the 126 restaurants in the Michelin Guide, only one made it to the highest star accolade. A 3-star rating was awarded to Le Palais at Palais de Chine Hotel in Taipei and we were honored to be able to make a visit to Le Palais recently on our Taiwan trip.

The moment one steps into Palais de Chine Hotel, it’s a revelation of Chinese and Western cultures cleverly married into harmony of elegance. The tradition of yesteryears has been given new life and updated to today’s modern style. At the foyer, one will meet Lady, the horse sculpture that signifies the earliest mode of transportation for travelers.

Located on 17 floors, Le Palais epitomizesd the same chic and elegance the hotel reflects. Gorgeous ambiance of mysterious opulence, the dining room is designed to impress. A main dining area of glorious brass and gold, dark steel, mirror ceiling, elegant furniture, Chinese oriental ceramic pieces, Chinese paintings and beautiful table setting will set an air of fine dining to follow.

Le Palais also has lots of private rooms flourished with much grace as its main dining area. Lavish light pieces, huge round tables in dark ambiance, the restaurant clearly is out to impress its diners.

Helming the kitchen are culinary duo of Executive Chef Matt Chen (陳泰榮) and Head Chef Ken Chan (陳偉強). Cantonese cuisine is their forte and Le Palais menu is filled with signature Cantonese cuisine that includes dim sum to Hong Kong roast and other classic dishes.

Our epicurean journey began with dainty morsels of plump dumplings. Dim sums are always irresistible, especially when they are made to perfection. Whether they be steamed dumplings or fried dim sum, it takes a skillful dim sum chef to churn out consistent baskets of dim sum with quality and fresh ingredients.

Tuck into pretty pleated Palais de Chine Steamed King Prawn Dumplings and one will be awarded with juicy sweet prawns encased in thin crystal skin. Crustacean sweetness, the dumplings are a joy to eat!

The Chicken and Lard Dumplings topped with Abalones are equally as delicious as the earlier dumplings. Delicious flavours and bouncy filling finished with lavish baby abalones, these siew mai had all the check marks of the perfect classic dim sum.

Hong Kong style Barbecue Pork uses a lean cut of meat. Le Palais version was scrumptious! Tender and succulent, the pork has a solid balance of savory and sweet notes. We certainly could not fault this lovely piece of roast…

Another roast appeared in Crispy Roast Baby Duck and boy did this one rocks! Duck, specifically selected from Vietnam, has been truly honored with meticulous preparation that resulted in a luscious aroma wafting through the air as soon as it was presented. Lacquered to rich hues of red amber, the duck is cut in front of us and served with a side of salt pepper mixture and lime wedges.

The duck is amazing in flavours. The crispy skin, the moist and tender duck flesh and the salty sublime notes was perfection on a plate. The chefs added that they selected this 28-day old duck because of its perfectness for roasting and we fully understand this once we savored the duck.

If indulgence is the motive for this dining experience, then one simply must order the Braised Middle East Abalone & Goose Web in Oyster Sauce. Premium ingredients like abalone and goose web requires a skilled chef to cook them well. This land and sea duo was excellent. The abalone was toothsome to bite and delicious with a delicate brown sauce. The goose web, highly prized for its soft and gelatinous goodness, was also cooked very well and beautifully glazed in the same sauce. Plump mushroom was well-braised and crisp tender asparagus shoot completed this dish.

The Stir-fried Shredded Tofu, Chicken and Ham is a dish that really showcase knife skill to new heights. Tofu cut finely and cooked gently with finely cut chicken and ham in a delicate broth. It’s a classic Cantonese dish that has rather simple and comfort flavours. This one would go well with steamed rice.

Our final dish of Stir-Fried Tiger Grouper Filet with Asparagus fared decent. It was a dish cooked well. The fillet fish was cooked just right and so was the asparagus. It was a faultless pleasure.

Le Palais showed a combination of exquisite fine Cantonese cuisine with quality ingredients set in an amazing ambiance. We heard that their reservations are full for the next few weeks so make sure to call in for reservation way ahead on your trip for a taste of this 3-star Michelin restaurant in Taipei.

Please contact Le Palais at +8862-2181-9985/86 Fax +8862-2181-9971

LE PALAIS

17F, Palais de Chine Hotel

No. 3, Section 1, Chengde Road,

Datong District,

Taipei City,

Taiwan 103

Tel: +886 2 2181 9999

Website: www.palaisdechinehotel.com/tw/index.php

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Palaisdechinehotel/

Business Hours:

Monday to Sunday