Miss. Delicious #83 : Chamonix Teppanyaki in Taipei!

in #food7 years ago (edited)

Dear Steemit friends :

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Navigating the food landscape in Taiwan often feels like an exercise of piecing together fragments of history to an island wrought with so many cultural influences. Whether it's the native aborigines, Han Chinese, Japanese or the KMT, Taiwan has long endured a plethora of cultural influences which shape it's society and culture today. Though the putonghua speaking Taiwan often masquerades as Chinese in culture (including it's food), notwithstanding, it is a place laden with delicacies from all around the world, each with their unique footprint, each with their cultural heritage.

Today, Miss. Delicious will be paying a visit to Chamonix Teppanyaki in Taipei. This well reputed establishment is owned and run by the Wowprime Group, a food and hospitality conglomerate that has become a success story case study for businesses in Taiwan. It is often lauded as one of the top employers in Taiwan with the highest ratio of university educated employees in the food and hospitality industry. I don't personally think having a university degree is as important as people make it out to be, and in the context of working for a restaurant, even less so. Still, it is an interesting fact!

In-fact, Wowprime has built up such a reputation that it has been listed in Forbes Asia's 200 Best Under a Billion list of smaller public companies. Employees are paid every two weeks, and receive pro-rata bonus payments at the end of the month. As such, the Wowprime group boasts one of the lowest employee turnover rates in the entire industry at 25%. Low turnover rates mean that less money is spent on training new staff and is a reasonable indicator for employee satisfaction.

For Wowprime group, Chamonix represents their first foray into high-end Teppanyaki. For the unacquainted, Teppanyaki is a style of Japanese food where the food is cooked on an iron griddle. Typically, the food is cooked infront of guests and thus the skill of the chef becomes an important part of the food experience. Teppanyaki restaurants can be found all over Taiwan, but it is by no coincidence that the Taiwanese love Japanese food. Rather, it has a lot to do with the history of Taiwan and Japan.

Quick history lesson

In 1895, the island of Taiwan was ceded to the Japanese Empire when the Chinese lost the first Sino Japanese war. For 50 years, the Japanese wielded their influence on the island, on the one hand helping develop the island economically, building infrastructure, developing industry etc. but also stripping the national identity of Taiwan and it's inhabitants. For those 50 years, the education system followed that of Japan. All classes would be taught in Japanese and mandarin or the the native dialect was banned from official use.

Despite the repressive rule, the Colonial Government brought about stability and significant growth in Taiwan during their 50 years in power. Long after the Japanese gave up Taiwan and left, their occupation continued to affect the local people. After all, several generations of people were subjected to the Japanese way of life, essentially morphing their cultural identity.

Chamonix

In my previous posts about Taiwan, I frequently made comparisons of the streets and architecture to that of Japan. Reading more about the history of Taiwan and Japan, I hope the similarities between the two make more sense.

Similarly, knowing that the Japanese way of life affected several generations of Taiwanese people, is it a surprise that Japanese food continues to be popular in Taiwan? I guess not.

Chamonix has been so popular that it has now opened nearly two dozen branches in Taiwan with an outlook of expanding to mainland China with many more.

Getting a table isn't too difficult. Most people in Taiwan will pre-book with tripadvisor or something like opentable. Usually a deposit to cover the cost of the meal secures your table but for tourists like myself a phone call a day in advance is the usual etiquette.

The branch I visited was tucked away in the basement. It almost felt like the secrecy of location was intentional for the purpose of exclusivity. Once I found it and went inside, I realised my hunch was probably not too far from the truth.

The central dining area was spectacular. It was shielded by a veil of modesty beads, which teased the curious circular shape of the dining table and the Teppanyaki iron griddle's where the food magic happens.

Sadly, this area requires even more advanced booking which meant that I was relegated to a more secluded and less exciting area in another part of the restaurant.

This waitress took me to one of the many rooms just at the back of the restaurant. The setup in these rooms will be more familiar to frequent Teppanyaki goers, a elongated semi circle for the iron griddle, seats arranged around the perimeter.

The Set Menus

The usual way to order at Teppanyaki restaurants is with a set menu instead of a la carte. At Chamonix, it is no different and you also have the choice of two set menu's or ordering a la carte.

The two set menu's differ in price quite considerably, the more expensive one offers some exclusive steak of the 1855 variety as well as imported seafood from Norway and Australia.

I opted for the New Champs Elysees menu which seemed to be the more popular choice, perhaps because it is also less than half the price of the other set menu and seemed to offer more or less the same dishes.

The Food

Complimentary bread both warm and soft and smells like it just came out of a Subway oven.

The warm appetizer of choice here is the Scallop. It is served with a hint of quite thick creme which could almost work as it's own little soup. As you can see, the servings here ascribe to that of other luxury dining places with bite size pickings served on large plates. The scallop itself, soft and juicy confirming it's freshness.

Soups

First up, the Classic Seafood Soup. A very light soup which i'm sure western diners would find quite bland. However it does draw your taste buds to the fish fillet which itself is again very soft and full of fresh sea aroma. The tomato base in this case is sour, but only very slightly. It's a delicate balance but I think the same dish in China would have over done it with the saltiness. In this regard, the soup is very well done.

Soup number two is the tender beef slice gravy soup. Acting as a precursor to the beef coming in the main course, the soup was again very plain, so much so that it surprises you how good gravy can taste when diluted to this degree and not overwhelming the taste of the beef.

One of the highlights of the Teppanyaki experience is watching the chef prepare the food right in front of you. The chef uses two inverted triangular shaped spatulas to cook the food on the iron griddle. Often wielding them like swords, using them to cut the food, as well as stir fry them. It's weirdly hypnotic watching them work and honestly is one of y favourite parts of the Teppanyaki experience.

Fruit Salad

Lemon Sorbet Shot

Truffle & Mushroom Salad

Pan fried vanilla chicken breast with Pesto

Shrimp stir fried rice

French style crisp fried Bass fillet

Sautéed Tenderloin Steak with Truffle and Garlic

Lyon Chicken breast cutlet and seafood combo

Dessert

Strangely, the dessert is served in another part of the restaurant. I would assume it is because the griddle tables would melt the desserts very quickly.

First up we have the Chocolate Mousse. The theme of the restaurant is delicacy, and even it's desserts are made to be "sweet enough". This chocolate mousse is no different and tastes surprisingly "light" for a traditionally rich dessert.

And finally, the Strawberry Sorbet with Cheese. Topped off with a mini Oreo biscuit, my absolute favourite dessert and a great way to cool down after a very hot main course.


That wraps up the Chamonix Teppanyaki gourmet experience. Did you feel hungry reading the post and looking at the pictures? I hope so! Food is one of the primary reasons people visit Taiwan, and today, it continues to be considered a food capital in Asia. Today, we learned that the Japanese occupation of Taiwan has helped it infuse the very best of Japanese food culture into the already expansive list of exotic foods on offer.

I can't think of a Teppanyaki place that exudes quite as much luxury as Chamonix. Indeed it was a shock to me to find that there can even be classy Teppanyaki. Still, i'm very glad that Chamonix have set a very fine example and I'm sure that if you decide to pay it a visit, you will be very happy that you did.

Taiwan really is a fascinating place, and I look forward to sharing more of my travel adventures there with you all.

Remember to vote for this post if you liked it, follow for more travel and food adventures, and leave a comment to let me know what you think!



美食和风景,可以抵抗全世界所有的悲伤和迷惘。带大家游览过台湾的风景名胜之后,怎能不找一家超有爱的餐厅,抚慰一下辛苦了一天的身体,心灵和大家的胃。在台湾,有很多非常好吃并且地道的日本料理,正巧,我也是日本料理迷。这次我选定的餐厅是台湾著名王品餐饮集团旗下的创意铁板烧餐厅,夏慕尼新香榭铁板烧。除了王品集团一贯注重的精美餐厅装潢和优质服务,这家餐厅也用心改善人们对传统铁板烧的老式印象,出其不意的把法式料理和酒吧吧台的设计风格完美结合。我对这家餐厅充满了好奇,怀着满心的未知数,一起走进餐厅吧。

整个餐厅的第一印象就是怀旧与未来感相结合,把永恒,经典和创新,前卫相结合,刚刚还在老电影旧剧照的画框边合影,一转眼就来到了被一串串闪烁光芒的水晶珠帘包围的超大型圆桌旁边,中间柱子上是复古胶片感十足的旧照片,而圆桌则由下向上打着射灯,透出时尚前卫的射灯。低调的奢华感仿佛把我带入了未来世界。服务员热情礼貌的把我带入座位,和酒吧一样,你会与陌生人一起共享,只不过这次在吧台中央的不是调酒师,而是今晚的主厨,他将负责整个圆桌客人的餐点。看了菜单之后,我选择了最为经济实惠的铁板烧套餐,前菜,汤,主食和甜点各选一样,因为菜单做成了画册一样,有每道菜的解说和图片,所以变得非常好选择。

选好餐之后,就一起静静欣赏主厨施展手艺,再把你选的食物做好并送到你面前。这样观摩烹调全过程的模式,非常少见,所以我觉得非常有趣。只见主厨一会耍起了铲子,游刃有余的技艺,犹如武侠小说中大侠们挥刀舞剑般帅气,一会主厨又玩起了酒精上点火,滋滋作响,如同变魔术般把一道道本是普通的食材,两下变成一盘盘精致诱人的料理,主厨超高的技艺让我的眼睛应接不暇。首先是主厨现场煎的帕玛森起司面包,还搭配了洋葱酱,蜂蜜芥末和玫瑰盐作为调味酱料,当然还有无限畅饮的香槟。接下来是热前菜松露蒸蛋跟干贝,看起来简单,吃起来味道却很特别。接着服务员端来摆盘精美的海鲜,在你面前注入热乎乎的海鲜清汤。

另一盘依旧是摆放艺术的生牛肉,当滚烫的牛肉高汤注入盘中,牛肉片瞬间被烫熟,食材和做法有多新鲜,尽在口中和眼里。接下来是凡尔赛鲜果沙拉,色味俱全,让人垂涎欲滴。松露百菇沙拉,一款新鲜口味的沙拉。上主菜前,服务员送来柠檬雪芭,冰沙口感酸甜,目的是为了调换口味。主餐来了,鸡排海鲜双拼,鱼肉和鸡肉都很鲜很嫩,让人可以交换口味,细细品味。嫩煎松露菲力牛肉,牛肉很嫩,几乎入口即化。法式海鲜盘里有烤大虾,鱼肉和干贝,吃起来非常有鲜甜的口感。

最后餐厅还非常体贴的设计了炒饭,只见樱花虾炒饭颗粒分明,不油不干火候刚好,虾很酥脆,口味偏甜。主餐告于段落,服务员带着我离开铁板烧的区域,来到了甜品区,非常有质感的沙发和吊灯,营造出法式甜品屋的温馨。非常少女色的覆盆子沁心奶酪,搭配花俏的裝飾,草莓、OREO和清新的薄荷叶,冰沙酸甜的味道,清爽极了。浓情巧克力慕斯,精致漂亮,糖浆,水果和小叶片画龙点睛,更衬托主角的味道醇正。这一盘盘贴心的餐点完全满足了顾客的所有夙愿。今天的台北美食之旅就到这里吧,之后还有更多有趣的美食故事要和大家分享。

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Great pictures!!!

You got a 3.04% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @fproductions!

Hey very cool pictures! Have you been to Hitachi Seaside Park Japan, Red Beach Panjin China, Zhangye Danxia Geological Park Gansu Province China, Tianzi Mountains China, or the Yingxi corridor of stone peaks of Qingyuan China? Even though they are natural places seemingly without fancy restaurant? Would be nice to see you travelling to some of those beautiful places. Truly amazing places (check them out) https://steemit.com/travel/@kickassfacts/30-kickass-and-surreal-places-on-earth
Thank you for the post @sweetsssj

Definitely.... Looks so enjoyable and thanks for making us enjoyable through these lovely pics.

a lovely post today, @sweetsssj, with colourful photos of delicious food and an explanation of the eclectic nature of the Taiwanese cuisine.

Your retrospective on how the Japanese culture helped shaped modern Taiwan was enlightening and emphasized the uniqueness of this dining experience.

The Chamonix is obviously intended by the Wowprime Group not only to provide elite high-end Teppanyaki dining but to showcase their unique approach to the hospitality industry. Perhaps the insistence on a university educated staff is unnecessarily ambitious but it gives a clear indicator of their high level of expectations.

Your review of the appetizing soups and delicious menu items was very informative especially for prospective patrons, and the dessert offerings looked exquisite.

Your post was not only a thorough review of The Chamonix and high end Teppanyaki dining, but an enlightening look at the impact of Japan on Taiwanese history, culture and the evolution of this particular cuisine.

An excellent post combining the elements of travelogue and restaurant review.

Hi john, thank you for the lovely reply again.

I'm still at odds as to why degree education seems to dictate employ ability in this sector. I think it might also have something to do cultural expectations and attitudes towards education. Certainly, the norm of most Asian countries is to obtain a degree and than get the best job you possibly can given your certificate. I some how doubt working in a restaurant was what they envisioned when they graduated. Still, the fact that there is only 25% turn over rate of employees means that they're doing something right.. or, Taiwan is just not doing very well economically such that it is an employers job market.

I'm fairly indfferent to the 'class' of food, so the efforts to make the place seem high-end was mostly wasted on me. The most important thing remains the overall experience, from the customer service, presentation, atmosphere, price, all the way to the most important of all - food! I can honestly say, i've never walked out of a Teppanyaki feeling quite as full. That usually means the food was really good. In the case of Chamonix, they've done so well to disguise the amount of food by spreading it out across many courses and in small digestible portions. I noticed this is something that quite a lot of Japanese restaurants tend to do, and also happens to go along with their 'miniaturization' of everything.

University educated personnel? It is interesting though because the Japanese have a long tradition especially involving geishas and are partial to the idea of a well -educated host who could converse with customers on a variety of topics. That may have something, or nothing to do with this desire to hire people with degrees, lol.

That's a perceptive comment about smaller digestible portions of food and the 'miniaturization' of everything - no doubt facilitated by your university training, my friend :)

Very nice comment and Informative articles as always by @sweetsssj it's remarkable of happy and never ending journey of great life. Thank you so much for this amazing article. have a great day to all.

nice comment. this post is really good. i like specially images. looking beautiful.

Hi. I am writing about healt. I am giving so important informations. How about follow me? :)

Well it looks like you are in another interesting journey. I just finished reading your article and just to let you know, I am always impressed because you go such in detail on your post which gives us a lot more information. They were 2 Photographs that caught my eyes pan fried vanilla chicken breasts and tenderloin steak with garlic they look so delicious all I can say keep up the great work look forward to your next post

hi mannyfig1956, thank you for paying attention! I'm impressed you spotted those details, so thank you for being very observant. Out of those two, my favourite would be chicken, i've actually never been too fond of red meat!

你去的是哪一家夏慕尼呢?那個圓型的桌子挺有趣的。我只去過板橋那一家。
王品集團有好幾家我都很愛去,王品的餐廳除了主餐之外,其他前菜也都很精彩。
日式料理我比較喜歡去藝奇和陶板屋。陶板屋的鴨胸超級好吃的,比夏慕尼的鴨胸還好吃,下次你可以去試試。
西餐的話,王品牛排的王品牛排非常好吃。哈哈!這句話聽起來好奇怪!不過你試過後就知道王品牛排的特別之處,那個牛肉部位的鮮嫩度真的不是蓋的!
希望這些分享可以讓你下次來玩的時候有更多的選擇可以考慮。

好像是中山北路的呢,谢谢你的超详细美食清单,下次再来准备要一一尝试下^^

Japan seems like truly such a beautiful place, just looking at pictures of Japan on the internet blows my mind. Isn't it amazing how there are 195 countries in the world and every single one has different things to offer: the culture, the food, the technology, the monuments... I've thought about travelling to Japan multiple times, and I definitely will visit some day (hopefully I can meet you too :D).
The food you ate looks so delicious, and I can't stop wondering how much money this meal cost you all together. Seafood is my favourite dish to eat, so my mouth is definitely watering just watching these images.

Really enjoyed reading this post :D.

Would be greatly appreciated if you could provide any kind of feedback on my blogs, whenever you get a chance. It will encourage me to keep doing better and help me on my journey. Thanks!

Regards,
@inspirationalrag

hi inspirationalrag, i'm glad you have taken quite an interest in Japan, and I think that Taiwan would suit your fancy quite some given it's extensive history with Japan. Aside from the food, you can also find many other traces of Japan's occupation all those years ago, for example the architecture in many parts of Taipei resemble exactly that of Japan.

You will be surprised, but the meal costs 70 dollars for two people. The larger set manu is about 80 dollars each. Substantially more than the set menu I opted for. I think the higher one is not worth it at all.

I will drop by and have a look at your blog. Thanks for pointing me there!

You know what @sweetsssj? Some writers have text, and others have context. Your text has context. And while I am a vegetarian, your posts are making me reconsider. Haha.

The highlight for me was the lesson on Japan's influence in Taiwan. I have a particular bias to colonial history and I cannot but compare the kind of colonialism the Japanese practiced compared to the Europeans and the Americans, I won't bore you with the details, except to say that your posts have given me a lot to think about. As ususal, another great one.

hi nicholas, always great to have your commentary here. I have a feeling I asked you before, but it wouldn't hurt to ask again - have you always been vegetarian? And what is the reason you initially decided to become one?

Perhaps you could write about some of the colonial discrepancies between the Japanese and Europeans, I certainly would enjoy a good read of those!

Thanks much. It is just as refreshing for me to read your posts. Concerning being a vegetarian, I developed an auto-immune diseases, called ulcerative colitis. I was on 15 pills per day, and would have been so for the rest of my life unless I stopped eating meat. I steal and eat a bit of fish sometimes, but for the most part I can't eat meat. I wrote about it in an earlier article.

Re the colonial differences between the two is something I am looking into right now. The big difference is that Japan is no longer in these countries, as far as Europe and the USA are concerned, their form of rule has merely morphed into more sophisticated forms of control. These controls are executed through international bodies like the IMF, World Bank, the WTO among other forms of control. Plus, Europe's has been only about plunder. I am not saying that the Japanese did not do a lot of horrible stuff. What happened in Nankin, for example, was beyond savage; but at least they are no longer in these countries exploiting them, or may be I am wrong. And I am not saying that Japan is not a part of those international bodies, but she, doesn't have that leverage on the international scene she had pre-World War II.

Furthermore, she modernized Korea. She built railroads, factories and communication systems. The Europeans did these things solely to cart resources away. The Japanese did this too. And again, their rule was harsh. But compare this to what the Brits did in India, they devastated the textile industry on the sub-continent. Plus, how many former European colonies have reached developed world status? I can't think of one.

This might seem like an oversimplification. As you know, this is a rather complicated issue, and I am in the process now of writing about something like this. It has to do with China in Africa and the Americas. There is this BS about China trying to colonize Africa. In a nutshell, I am gonna rubbish these claims by delving into how Europe's relationship with Africa is different from China's. Japan will be mentioned also. I will post the link in your comment section so you can see my take on it.

美食和风景,可以抵抗全世界所有的悲伤和迷惘。

哇!怎麼一開始就來上這一句啊?^^

你這介紹台灣的工作真是到位啊!棒棒搭!

下次到台北,去吃一家台灣最高檔的餐廳 R.A.W.,我吃不起,等著看你分享好了.... 但是聽說要很早預約...

谢谢啦,你太谦虚啦,什么,怎么会有滴溜哥吃不起的餐厅,在哪里,拉出来给个差评,哈哈哈^^

我可不敢給差評,人家老闆是世界百大名廚啊!XD

Wow, what a meal!

Yes, indeed, looking at those beautiful courses triggered some hunger pangs. The small garden with the wood and rocks somehow also reminded me of a restaurant in San Diego where chefs cook at the table.

Thanks for sharing your lovely evening with us. :D

😄😇😄

@creatr

nice gif. which is used in this comment. well done.

you're welcome creatr, thanks for your input :) I sure want to visit San Diego some day!

I hope you do. San Diego is a very lovely harbor city, with lots to see and do.

Do you like comic books? It is where the annual ComiCon conference is held... ;)

I see, I never knew that! I actually don't read comic books at all, but that's probably a good reason for me to adventure there and see what its all about.

It really makes me hungry now !!! What a great profession you got sweetsssj. The perfect Blog. If the other bloggers are done with their work - they go to eat. But you are already done haha. I enjoyed again your story but now I need something delicious . . .

haha it's just one of my passions along side travelling. Being a connoisseur can be difficult sometimes!

That you do this with passion can I see in your posts. Keep on ;) What passions else ? Jewelry ??