Taiwan's Xinyi District - Kanpai Restaraunts; Australian Wagu Beef; Asahi Beer; "I Love You - Kiss for Meat"; Kanpai Classic; Bon Appetit!

Are you looking for a fun time in the Taipei 101 area with an energetic atmosphere, and delicious beef?   Or what about enjoying a quiet, more intimate lunch or dinner also with awesome beef, exceptional service in a classy and upscale restaurant? Well, Kanpai Co., Ltd. has it all in two distinctive restaurants.   I recently had the chance to experience a lunch and dinner at two of Kanpai’s Xinyi District Restaurant locations.  

 Deputy Manager Mars You (right) & his Staff Assistant

This chain of restaurants keep customers coming back on a regular basis because they keep you entertained with some of the best beef and service in Taiwan.  Kanpai is a Japanese owned restaurant that first opened its doors in 1996 in a small restaurant located in the East Zone of Taipei City with just three employees.  Since then they have moved and opened 17 restaurants in Taiwan.  They have restaurants around the world including the United States, Africa, South Korea, Indonesia, Russia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Japan.

First, lets talk about their Beef!

The tables are clean, the gas BBQ’s are made of brass (I think), and are polished/cleaned to look brand new.

  

 

Kanpai uses almost exclusively Australian Wagu Beef. Their beef is never frozen, but aged for at least several months or more.  I was told they buy the whole cow and export it to Taiwan where they process the beef and either offer the meat on their menu or sell the beef parts.   

The first Xinyi restaurant location which I visited is opened about 2 years ago (~2011) at a great location. It is located on the 3rd floor just steps away from the View Show Movie Theater, and is the place to go with a group of your friends or a young adult family.

Right across the street from the Movies!

 

Next, lets talk about the fun at this restaurant.  

1.  Kanpai:  Everyday at 8pm, if you are drinking beer and you finish your glass when they announce “KANPAI” you get a free draft beer on the house.

Kanpai !!!!!

2.  I Love You “Kiss for Meat”: Seven days a week, Kiss your loved one for at least 10 seconds or more, get your picture taken and let them place it on their wall with hundreds of other kissing patrons.  For this, they will give you a choice of a free meet to barbeque at your table. 

The "Kiss for Meat Wall"

Our Free entrees for the "Kiss for Meat"

3.  Are You Thirsty?: Buy 3 alcoholic drinks such as beer, whiskey, or cocktails and get one free after 9pm only.  Only from Sunday thru Thursday evenings.

4.  Beer King Night:  One night a month they have a beer drinking competition.  

More Asahi Draft Beer Please

5.  and more, so visit and find out for yourself!

Everyone wants good to great service, and this restaurant has it all!

This Xinyi restaurant is a long narrow restaurant with plenty of seating capacity, and perfect for the staff to provide the best possible service and optimize your dining experience.  The staff have great outfits promoting Kanpai and their featured beer Asahi super dry beer.   

Deputy Manager Mars You

They even have special “Rookie” outfits for newer employees. 

Service with a Smile!

I asked , “Why Asahi Beer?”  Their answer was simple, “Asahi is a super dry flavorful and high quality beer that goes perfectly with our fine Australian Wagu beef”

Now I have eaten at many Japanese and Korean BBQ style restaurants in the US, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.  One thing they have in common is that while you cook your meat and seafood at your personal BBQ table, the table and restaurant gets very “smokey” and the BBQ’s look not so clean, just like your personal BBQ at home looks after a year or two of use.  Not so at Kanpai.   The “screens they use to cook the meat on are Stainless Steel grills and Kanpai staff replace them as often as necessary as you cook your meals to eliminate “burnt” meat from creating smoke and making your next dish not so enjoyable. 

Finally, the great food…………………  

After we ordered our drinks, we were pleasantly surprised at the wide variety on their menu!

When the server came to take our order, we were offered a choice of meats for the “I Love You - Kiss for Meat” special.  The choice was either Beef Tongue or Pork Kaubi.   

Delicious Beef Tongue

Both were sliced very thin to keep the meat tender.  The Beef Tongue came with toppings including green onions.   We also ordered their “Caesar” style salad. 

So Good I ate most of it before I remembered to take the photo!

The romaine lettuce was fresh, but the generous portions of grated cheese, pepper and the very special dressing had us ordering another one.  Personally, I liked the dressing and cheese they served on the salad so much, that I used it to dip many of the meats that we cooked on our grill.  When others tasted the combination of meat dipped in the dressing and cheese we all asked for more “on the side” to use with our meal.  They do offer a lemon flavored dip for the meat and seafood, and while it was a great combination with the shrimp and chicken for example, but it was not a good match for the beef and pork. 

We tasted just about every variety of meet including beef, pork and chicken plus some of the seafood on the menu and all were terrific.  We especially liked the marinated beef slices which was incredibly juicy, tender and so tasteful.

The final dessert they offer was a very nice flan in a small glass.  I just wish they served this in a MUCH larger glass!

Good to the last spoonful!

I had a very enjoyable meal with entertainment value as well at this Kanpai Restaurant.  The overall dining experience was Excellent, but the price is somewhat expensive if you are really hungry.    

I decided I wanted to visit another one of their other locations before my trip in Asia comes to an end.    

To contact or visit this location, see the information below:

Kanpai, Xinyi ATT Restaurant

3F, No. 12, Songshou Rd., 

Xinyi District, Taipei City 11051, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

Tel: +886-2-8786-0808

Fax: +886-2-7737-5358

www.kanpai.com.tw

Leo Lin, Deputy Manager

Mobile: +886-983-619-036

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Well, a few weeks later, I had the great opportunity to try another Kanpai Restaurant before I left Taiwan on my extended 5+ month trip.  This restaurant is not too far from the one I described above, but it is their “High End” Classic restaurant. This is a very modern and stylish restaurant with lots of glass and class too! 

  

 

All of their meat and menu items are much higher quality, and of course, more expensive.  Nevertheless, when I heard about this restaurant, I really wanted to experience the very best Australian beef that you can buy in Taipei!

We had a party of 4 and shortly after we arrived we were escorted to a private booth.  

Our Booth

Ahhh....the menu!

So much to choose from....  We decided NO Seafood today!!!!

The booth was clean and they quickly brought special charcoal for our grill.   

As we previewed the menu, the meat looked incredibly marbled and we were sure we was going to have a real special meal.   

Yummy Rice side dishes

Super Beef, and Distinctive presentations!

We ordered many items from the extensive menu including the beef tongue, and a dish of potatoes and sweet potatoes baked in a cheese sauce with onions and other spices. Both of these I truly loved as well.

OMG!  Now this was truly delicious!!!

We balanced our beef eating extravaganza by ordering a chicken combo marinated in three different sauces including a quite spicy marinade.

 

Marinated Chicken Pieces

Chicken grilled to Please!

The best of the best Australian Wagu beef on the menu offered a special cut of meat and the chef brought the meat to our table to cut a nice thick steak.   

 

Eula Chen assisting the chef

After the chef trimmed the fat and presented us this steak, a beautiful server then came to our table to cook this meat for us to perfection.  

Our personal cook for this incredible steak!

She must be thinking....."I want this for dinner too!"

 

Cutting the steak into 4 servings!

Needless to say, it was one of the best tasting pieces of meat I have every enjoyed!

The service was superb and high quality.  Our grill top was replaced often, and the servers were attentive to our every dining need.   

One very pretty staff member in particular, Eula Chen, did a wonderful job for us, and if you are lucky enough to visit this fine restaurant when she is working, you will simply get exceptional service with a smile!

Eula Chen

Service with a smile!

To visit this Kanpai Classic restaurant, also in the Xinyi District, here is the address and contact information:

Kanpai Classic

8^th Floor No. 9, Songshou Road,

Xinyi District, Taipei City 11051,

Taiwan - RoC

Tel: +886-2-2725-3311

Fax: +886-2-2758-8190

Bon Appetit, Taiwan Style!

Edward C.

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May 2013 Update

Hello Everyone,

With my busy schedule, I have not posted in a few weeks.  I have since prepared a list of new blogs, including a handful remaining from my Taiwan Trip.  I will be posting several more posts later this month, and many more over the summer months, so please keep checking back for more of my interesting travel experience blogs!

Edward C.

Bravo Beer Restaurant, Great Food & Drink! - Belgian Beer; Leuven, Belgium; Flemish; Lambic Beer; Banqiao, Taiwan; Hookah.

In one of my previous blogs, I mentioned Belgian beer and the variety of glassware designed to optimize the taste and enjoyment of each specific beer produced by the brew masters.  Please see my blog link as follows:

http://letssoarwitheagles.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-top-10-vacation-destinations-around.html

In my career, I worked for a Belgian High Technology years ago and I had the luxury of traveling to Belgium many times, up to 4 times a year or more.  I flew into Brussels and rented a car to drive to a beautiful old town called Leuven in the Flemish region (North) of Belgium.   

Belgium Map - Courtesy of ezilon.com

As a side note, when driving in the northern Flemish half of Belgium, all street and interstate signs are in Flemish language.  However, as soon as you cross into the Southern portion of the country which speaks French, all the signs are in French.  So, if you do not know how to write both the Flemish version and French version of the cities, towns, streets, and sites, you will have a little difficulty navigating in Belgium.  By the way, Flemish is a Belgian Dutch language of Flanders, the Northern part of Belgium.  In this Region, their are multiple Flemish dialects. For Example the Flemish Region City of Brussels is Brussel in Belgian Dutch and Bruxelles in French.  And the French city of Arlon in southern Belgium is Aarlen in Belgian Dutch and Arlon in French.

Leuven, Belgium Town Hall and Central Square - Courtesy of Wikipedia

According to Wikipedia, “the earliest mention of Leuven ("Loven") is from 891, when a Viking army was defeated by the Frankish King Arnulf of Carinthia. According to city legend, its red-white-red colors depict the blood-stained shores of the river Dijle after this battle.  Situated beside this river, and near to the stronghold of the Dukes of Brabant, Leuven became, between the 11th and 14th centuries, the most important center of trade in the duchy."

 

"A token of its former importance as a center of cloth manufacture is reflected in the typical Leuven linen cloth, and even today, many shops sell high quality linen cloth items” especially lace doilies.

Example of a Lace Doily which Leuven, Belgium is famous for - Photo Courtesy of the internet

"In the 15th century, a new golden era began with the founding of the by-now largest and oldest university in the Low Countries, the Catholic University of Leuven, in 1425.  In the 18th century, Leuven became even more important as a result of the flourishing of its brewery, now named AB InBev, whose flagship beer, Stella Artois, is brewed in Leuven and sold in many countries throughout the world.  Leuven is the worldwide headquarters of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the largest beer company in the world. InBev's Stella Artois brewery and main offices dominate the entire north-eastern part of the town, between the railway station and the canal to Mechelen."  

"Nowadays Leuven is a real "student city", as during the academic year most citizens in its center are students.  The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven; University of Leuven) is the oldest Catholic university still in existence in the world, and the largest university in Belgium.  Leuven sports one of the liveliest bar scenes in Belgium. It boasts the "longest bar" in Europe, the Old Market, and dozens of bars and cafés crammed into a central square in Leuven."

Now I hope  you can understand the connection to Belgian Beer and Leuven!  I drank beer in almost all of these pubs surrounding the central square in Leuven where I acquired my real taste for and enjoyment of Belgian Beer.

In the US, you can find some Belgian Beer, (like the brand Stella Artois), in stores and bars.  There are also specialty bars/restaurants that carry a handful (maybe 10 to 15 different) of different Belgian beers, but the selection is limited.  One such restaurant is BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, a definte favorite of mine.

Well, to my surprise, I found a restaurant/pub in Taiwan called Bravo Beer that only sells Belgian Beer!!  Not just a few varieties, but at any given time, they sell almost 130 to 200 different Belgian beers (both bottle and draft) in each of their locations!!

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I arranged a lunch with a large group of friends at Bravo Beer’s Banqiao, Taiwan restaurant located in the HSR/MRT train station in Banqiao.   

Night view of Banqiao Station - Photo is Courtesy of Wikipedia

Front Entrance of Bravo Beer's 2nd floor restaurant

A Display at Bravo Beer showing some of the brands they sell.  These empty bottles are displayedall around their restaurant.

More empty beers on display

They actually have two restaurants here, one in the main station, bottom floor outside area, and another in the Global Building, second floor.  We ate at the second floor location and visited the other just for pictures before we headed home on the MRT.  Bravo Beer started at this location with only 3 employees and has been successful since their inception 6 years ago.  They now have five (5) restaurants/pubs and one beer hall.

The Bravo Beer restaurant menu is both interesting and many dishes are quite authentic Belgian.  While in Brussels and Leuven, many pubs sold Belgian Pizza.  All are smaller personal pizza’s in the 6” to 10” range with crisp thin crust, and delicious sauces, cheeses, meats and other ingredients, including a raw egg cooked in the center.  Bravo Beer pizzas are quite similar in quality, taste and ingredients to real Belgian pizza.  We tried three of their pizzas varieties.   

 

 

 

We also had dishes including, appetizers, mussels, beef, lamb, two pasta dishes, European sausage, shrimp, chicken, shish kabob, and more!  The photos below are certain to “wet” your appetite to visit a Bravo Beer restaurant.  Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

We were very fortunate to meet the owners Cherry Yu and Simon Lee at the restaurant, and to have them sit down and have a beer with us during our lunch. 

The Owners of Bravo Beer, Cherry Yu and Simon Lee

 

Now the Beer……  Below are pictures of just some of the great beers we drank with some very special glasses designed just for the beers we drank.  Please note: Belgian beer has a high alcohol content of 4% to 8% or more.  

This location has about 130 different beers available to their customers, mostly in bottles, and a few great ones on draft.  I was pleasantly surprised that they carry many abbey and Trapist monk beers in their selection as well as an incredible selection of fruit beers.   Below are just two of their main coolers for their beer.

Close up of some of the beers they sell

Close up of some of the beers they sell

Close up of some of the beers they sell

Most Belgian fruit beers are the lambic style with almost no “head”.     

A berry flavored lambic style beer.  One of many flavors and brands offered at Bravo Beer.

They also sell large bottles of beer, in the “wine bottle and magnum bottle” sizes.  These range up to $1000TWD per bottle (~$30 USD) .  For our group, we decided to try a Gulden Draak beer, 

..........and a “sour” beer , Liefmans Gounenband Beer.  Now this is a very different beer and one I have never tried before.

Liefmans Gounenband Beer 8% Alcohol by Volume (ABV) Flanders Old Brown Beer

is also known as a “Provision Beer” or an aged Strong Belgian Brown Ale.

This beer is a balance of oak and sour to create one of the world’s most complex beers,

& has been brewed over 330 years, since 1679.

I started out with a unique Satan Red Ale.  Please note that some of these beers I only had a small glass or taste, while others I enjoyed the entire bottle!!!!

I next tried a Chimay Red and Chimay Blue.   

Then I had a Dorval Amber and a then a draft Hoegaarden Blond Ale.   

One of my favorites when I visited Belgium was the Leffe Blond Ale.  So, I then sampled the Leffe Blond.  (They also sell a very comparable Afflingem Blond Ale.  I'll try that one next time)  

Needless to say, I was in Belgian Beer HEAVEN!!!!

 

Belgian Beers we drank with special glasses for different beers

Some of the different beers we tasted

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Their second location in Banqiao offers an area to enjoy their offerings inside and out. 

Bravo's Beer's second location at Banqiao Station.  Customers ordering on the spacious patio.

Their patio on a nice spring day in Banqiao

A view of the Banqiao District's, New Taipei City Hall from Bravo Beer's patio

 A street level view of the Banqiao District's, New Taipei City Hall - Courtesy of Wikipedia

One special experience that they offer at this Bravo Beer restaurant location is to use a non-tobacco/nicotine Hookah.  (I think they may even use beer instead of water! Please do not take my word as I did not have time to try this.)  If you are interested in trying their Hookah, just ask.

Bravo Beer's Hookah ------> COOL!

The Hookah originated somewhere in the 16^th century or so in the India or Persian Empire.  I am told it was designed to “filter” tobacco smoke through water to “purify” the tobacco smoke. 

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Well if you like delicious European style food (some with a Taiwan twist), and great tasting Belgian Beer, this is certainly a place I would recommend as a must visit restaurant.   Bravo Beer certainly brought back special memories of my many trips to Belgium and if you have not been to Belgium before, Bravo Beer will certainly create some special food and beer tasting memories for you two!

Enjoy, and as always, “Drink in Moderation” and if you do drink, be safe, and take the Taipei MRT or a taxi home or back to your hotel.

Edward C.