Taipei: Modern Toilet Restaurant

After travelling to Taipei all these years, it was the first time that I got down to the main branch at Ximending to try out the famed toilet-themed restaurant (便所主题餐厅）.

Click on the above restaurant name to be directed to their site.  It's best to make a reservation lest you be disappointed to find out the venue is fully booked (for dinner).  I made our reservation a few days before on their Message Board.

Usually I don't hang out at Ximending because of the crowd and overpriced goods,  so I wasn't familiar with the area and had a little difficulty trying to find this place.

I know many Singaporeans have already been to this place but I still wanted to give a shot anyway.  On our way up, a big family was just leaving.  We could tell they were Singaporeans from their accent (dead giveaway).

From all the media coverage the restaurant received, I'd expected the place to be a lot bigger and "grander", but it wasn't.  It's a cute cafe located on the second floor, adorned with bathtubs, showerheads and toilet bowls.  

Lovely wallpaper to whet your appetite :D

Even the light bulbs come in shapes of poop. Lol.

Our dining menu was reusable and creative, you just write what you want on it and it's erasable (like a whiteboard).  I was interested in a beverage with an attractive name:

Loosely translated as Shit Pee Fly Fruit Tea

While waiting, Sis and I walked around to check out the place a bit.  On the other side of the second level is where the cashier was. We were seated nearer to the toilet (the real one).

It was only after we ordered and paid that I realized almost all the other teenagers in the cafe were eating Milky Hotpot.  As it turns out, that was their best seller and people usually come here for that. Oh well.

What we had:

I thought my baked rice was rather adorable being served in a bathtub, and my Shit Pee Fly Fruit Tea served in a standing urinal.

The rice was so-so, and the drink was pretty nasty (too sour x sweet). 0.0!

Mudder's hotpot

 She was quite peeved about the whole eating from toilet bowl thing. Lol.

We ordered an extra fries to share, which was surprisingly good (Sis ate everything).

I got a bit confused when I went to the washroom, coz' i wasn't sure if I used the REAL one. Hahaha. I had to double check with the flush.

This wasn't the real toilet bowl, it's the wash basin. See what I mean?

Last but not least, we had a bit of dessert:

Chocolate ice-cream! Hahaha. I didn't like it at all.

Overall, I found the furniture was really cute, but the food was below average.  Maybe the waitress could have told us earlier that the milky hotpot was recommended. 

Modern Toilet Restaurant
便所主题餐厅

Address:
2F, No. 7, Lane 50,  Xining South Road, Tapei City
108 台北市万华区宁南路50巷7号2楼

Phone:
(02)23118822

Business Hours:
11.30am - 10pm

Average Meal:
NT$300 

The nearest metro station is 西门 (Ximen) Station, take exit 6 and walk along Chengdu Road.

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A380 In-Flight Kitchen Restaurant

This is super backdated but I've been wanting to blog about some of the places that I went to in Taipei earlier this March.

I didn't really want to go back to the same places again because I like to try new stuff, so I brought my family to a novelty restaurant -- A380 In-Flight Kitchen Restaurant （A380 空中厨房）.

The restaurant was to model after the largest passenger aircraft - A380. However, I can't say the same for the service. The "steward" and "stewardesses" were very unattentive, I had to pick up some food myself or walk up to them to let them know we needed something.

It's a very interesting concept though, for customers to have an A380 dining experience.  Check out these seats and walls:

I like how the restaurant paid attention to the little details, such that the seat belt and no smoking lights signs were also part of the decor.

There was a wide range of western food to choose from.  Sis and I chose lunch sets with different combinations, while my parents chose something from the ala carte menu.  The lunch sets came with salad, soup of the day, bread and butter, main course and a dessert.

I chose the salad with vinaigrette sauce, Sis chose the thousand island one

The soup's pretty nice and I love the butter buns!

My egg custard (yums!) and sis's not-so-nice chocolate mousse cake

Mom's baked rice (too cheesy!) and dad's nicely roasted chicken

Here's a short video clip of how the restaurant looks like:




There was a private room available, behind an automatic glass doors, my guess is it's reserved for private parties/functions/events.

We went on a weekday afternoon where only one other table was occupied other than ourselves. I guess business ain't that good for them, considering that the food is on the pricier side (in Taipei).
 

Address: 168, Dingzhou Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市汀州路三段168號)
Telephone: (02) 2367-3928
Open: Daily from 11:30am to 10pm
Average meal: NT$500
Details: Chinese and English menu; credit cards accepted

Information taken from TaipeiTimes.

The nearest train station is Gongguan. Take Exit 1 and walk for about 3-5 mins and you'll see the signboard.

A380 In-Flight Kitchen is the sort of restaurant where you'll visit once just for the novelty sake, but not enticing enough to make you go back for more.

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Foodie Tour at Genting Highlands w/ Ladyironchef

Prior to this short getaway, I kinda got sick of going to Genting.  Some of my family members enjoy gambling at the casinos, so I would go up there at least twice a year.

That said, there is something magical about this trip.  Yah, "magical". I like to use dramatic adjectives. Lol.  Maybe because this time round I was traveling with my fiance and blogger friends!

I spent the last couple of days to edit the photos (all 200+ of them!) and made some collages, despite being ill.  So expect lots of delicious food photos!  Feeling sian coz' I'm down with flu fever and I absolutely cannot taste anything. :(  Tonight was scheduled for a monthsary dinner at Summer Palace but I told Alien it would just be a waste of $ coz' I cannot taste anything. Wtf.  Looking at the Genting food pictures is just ... torturous.

P.S. All pictures can be clicked to enlarge.

The bus departed early (not even bright) from Golden Complex. Look at this Alien, I am totally his personal secretary & slave. -__-  I think because I haven't been to Genting in the last couple of years, all the coaches now are pretty damn posh, what with the TV and automated seats and all.

The weather was breezy and while waiting for the rooms, we went to walk around and have lunch.  Lunch at the Cafe Lobby was mad expensive! A small plate of chicken rice was RM18 ++. We then decided to go Kenny Rogers instead. Love the corn bits!! Heh.

Alien and I wanted to go take the cable car but it was closed, so we just walked around and I showed him where my family used to hang out.

好友记 is our favourite dimsum place of all time! That's because we didn't know where else serves that ... but more on that later.

Also walked past this cute restaurant with enlarged scrabble pieces as their signboard. Shall try that this western restaurant the next time I'm there.

Oh not to forget I had my daily Baskin Robbins fix:

 YUMSSSSSS

 Dinner was held at the luxurious Genting Palace.

Everybody was looking forward to the 9-course dinner that night.  Here's the menu:

How can you not look forward to that???  And we dig in!!

My favourite though, is the soup. I like it so much that I had two servings of it. Heh.

 

 Nadnut loved the Thai Mango Salad thingy,  I love the abalone dish, and the two boys (Clifford & Alien) ate the fish eyes!  

Desserts were sooo good too.  The glutinous ball was so soft and tastes like those Japanese mochis.

The chef came around to talk to us about his creations.  It took us only one dinner for our group of 10 people to bond. Lol. We even went for a late night movie after that - Ice Age 4 in 3D!  (RM18 only)

Can you see the "clique" forming? Lol.

The following day, we woke up for brunch at Resort Cafe.  This place serves rather traditional Malay cuisines.

Dblchin looks so much like a doll! (Digression because got chio girl) /envy
   

It was a buffet lunch and I didn't take a lot of pictures.  Nadia introduced me to one of her favourite food, beef something. A little gelat for me but very savoury. :)

Plenty of desserts for you to choose from too!!  Lunch here is RM43++ per person.


Instead of heading to the outdoor theme park as planned, many of us wanted to visit the strawberry farm.  I'm guessing because we don't get to see that in Singapore!

4 of us shared a cab down, and us girls (Nadnut, Dblchin and I) had very interesting conversations on the way hahaha.

Nadia wanted to steal the bunting for her engagement shoot. Lol

At the strawberry farm it was pretty warm, I don't know how Alien can stand wearing his coat!

Alien and his attempted strawberry face.  >_<

The farm has a new section for meant lavender - very pretty lilac flowers in bloom!  Small farm but still, flowers make people happy :)

There was also a small area set aside for giant lettuce, and boy they were huge!

We all took a break at the small cafe and I got a strawberry popsicle for myself and Clifford bought mushroom tempura which was the MOST amazing fried mushrooms ever! 

As we headed out, we entered a small mushroom farm as well.   Although the do-not-touch sign was up, Alien and I were just curious. Heh.

The dinner last Saturday was also VERY yummy.  It was an international buffet served at Coffee Terrace.  The place is huge and all the cuisines were very clearly labeled.  We were spoilt for choice.

At the Chinese counter, you can pick your own meat and vegetables and the chefs will cook on the spot for you!

Everybody was queuing for the salmon sashimi (I had one big plate myself), but Alien and 3 servings of that LOL.  Angie enjoyed her laksa and thanks to HP's introduction of the Char Kway Teow, I get to eat the best CKT I ever had!   We forgot to bring our the strawberries (bought at farm) to go with the chocolate fondue! :(
 
Dinner was great, so great I almost went into food coma right before Khalil's Fong concert.  The dinner is about RM70++ per pax.

Alien was supposed to sit somewhere else but Beixin was so kind to swap her tickets with him (Alien is a fan of Khalil)! 

It's pretty cool to watch a concert at Genting, we've got free Khalil posters and light-sticks too!  Some of the bloggers stayed back after the concert and got a group shot with him.  We left by the main door to collect my camera so I missed that opportunity :(

Khalil is good live, it almost sounds exactly like the recordings really, but his concert wasn't spectacular or managed to keep many entertained. :/ 

On day 3, we were just so pampered!!! SO MUCH GOOD FOOD at Genting Palace. Brace yourself for ---

The carrot cake and egg tarts were the chef's specialty. 

The chefs were dedicated and skilful, and even asked us to eat more. We were really stuffed.  15-course dimsum for breakfast!!!  A breakfast like this is made for royalty, and costs RM600 nett (I'm guessing the price is for a table of 10 though?). 


If I had to choose, I would say Genting Palace and Coffee Terrace serves the best food for this trip.  I'm definitely coming back for more.

I don't know how to say this but our table of 10 people became closer after just a short 3D2N trip, we bonded over good food, camwhoring, shopping etc, everything was just very very pleasant.  Proof:

Alien and Clifford (Rachel's BF) hit it off, joked throughout the trip.

The nice folks at Genting had given such great hospitality, and even gave each of us a box of mooncakes to bring home.  Thank you so much for everything! :) :)

My Nuffnang trip with the bloggers have been very enjoyable. What's there to trouble with friends, food and laughter? :)

I also came back fat wtf. I gained about 2kg from all the good food I ate. :X

Now I can't wait to go back there again to enjoy the cooling weather and eat delicious food. Bring your family and friends along, that's your best bet of having a good time at Genting!

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