Shin Yeh is a well known Taiwanese restaurant in Taipei. It's on a lot of people's MUST visit lists. They have several locations, including one in Taipei 101 which was even mentioned in the
New York Times. We visited the one on Chung Hsiao East Road.
Being a large and upscale chain, Shin Yeh's menu is in Chinese, English and Japanese. Most dishes also had pictures, so no one would have any problem ordering. The place was clean. The place settings were very elegant.
(Now that I've studied their menu a little more, I think I'm going to use their original names. You might find some a little amusing. =) We ordered 3 of their signature dishes - "Soya Boiled Pork Knuckle and Peanuts" (NT$270), "Steamed Pork Petites Topped with Egg Yolk" (NT$210), and "Fried Pork Short Ribs with Glace Dates" (NT$340). The braised pig feet came first. The dish was quite flavorful but very small. Things went downhill from there. The ground pork with egg yolk was very mediocre. The pork ribs weren't bad; however, my dad make better ribs than that! Even the glazed dates were a little tough. These shouldn't be anyone's signature dishes!
We also got "Sauteed Chives with 100-year Egg" (NT$270). This was positively the worst dish of the night. It was so bland that it was almost untouched by the end. The "Spicy Fried Shiitake Mushroom with Basil and Garlic in Casserole" (NT$360) was OK. They were chicken leg mushrooms instead of Shiitake. Watch out, the ginger slices were very pungent.
"Fresh Spring Roll Filled with Cabbage, Bean Sprouts and Grand Peanuts" (NT$160) (Yes, they said "grand". Oh, they were soooooooooooo grand. Heehee, I know I'm being mean. =) and "Steamed Bun, Filled with Lean Pork and Preserved Cabbage" (NT$80) are very popular Taiwanese snacks. Being a famous Taiwanese restaurant, you'd think they'd at least hit the mark on those two. But they were only average. I've had the steamed bun a number of times. I don't remember any place using "lean pork". As you can see from the picture, it's the opposite of lean. Don't get me wrong. It didn't taste greasy, but it's NOT lean.
For desserts, we had the complementary mochi with peanut powder, "Almond Milk with Crispy Dough" (NT$70), and "Sweetened Almond Jelly with Peach in Syrup" (NT$70). The mochi was warm, soft, chewy, and sweet. (So much better than fortune cookies. =P) The almond milk was very fragrant. The almond tofu was arguably the best I've ever had. Not only was it smooth and delightful, it also had a little bite to it, almost like tapioca balls from a bubble tea, very intriguing! Now, as good as the desserts were, they weren't good enough to turn the whole meal around.
I know I'm picky, and I can be difficult to please. However, everyone else felt that the dishes were disappointing too. They were all very puzzled since they've only had good experiences at Shin Yeh in the past. Who knows, maybe the chef was out, maybe it was just an off night. Because of everyone's reassurance, I wouldn't rule Shin Yeh out of my next Taiwan trip, but I also don't have high expectations any more.
Shin Yeh 欣葉（台菜忠孝店）
Address: 112 Chung Hsiao East Road Section 4, 2F
地址：台北忠孝東路四段112號2F
Telephon: 02-2752-9299
電話：02-2752-9299
Hours: 11am - 3pm 5pm - 10:30pm
營業時間：11:00-15:00 17:00-22:30
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