HOME CENTRAL TAIWAN DINING

COMPASS MAGAZINE November 2011
　

	Family talent makes Light Taste Restaurant a winner By Niang Chen Translated by Sho Huang 51-1, YaTan Rd, Sec. 1, Tanzi District (04) 2535-8511 Hours：11 am-10 pm No service charge. Credit cards not accepted. Parking lot available. Light Taste Restaurant is truly a joint family endeavour. Chef Liao Qing-xing, once executive chef at the Grand Hotel Taipei and winner of countless international culinary prizes, humbly notes that he learned all his skills from his mother Liao Liu Tao-luan. The chef's Vietnamese wife, Nguyen Thi Thu, also has great culinary abilities, and a close relationship with her mother-in-law means they practice their cooking skills with each other. In fact, in 2009 the 88-year-old Liao Liu Tao-luan even won the Hakka Creative Cuisine Competition championship with her daughter-in-law and a classic Hakka stir-fry. The restaurant's cuisine is a mixture of Chinese ingredients, French-style presentation and five-star hotel quality, although its prices are surprisingly reasonable. Another attractive feature is its almost 1,000-square-meter interior, which includes a garden with various plants that block the outside noise. This helps relax diners as soon as they enter.
	Angus Rib Eye (NT$400/8 oz.) This tasty medium well-done steak is juicy and flavorful, but very reasonably-priced. Diners can try vary its taste by enjoying it with some red wine vinegar or black pepper sauce, cooked with chicken bones and onions. Fresh Kiwi Fruit Juice is also available for NT$110.
	Pan-Fried Codfish with Lemon Salt (NT$310) The golden-brown codfish can be eaten with some wonderful yellow lemon salt, sour kumquat juice, or the restaurant's homemade sweet-and-sour pickled vegetables. A good complement is a female favorite beverage--the Fresh Fruit Tea (NT$110) made with jasmine green tea, some seasonal fruit and preserved plums.
	Three Cups Chicken (a la carte NT$240; set NT$300) "Three cups" refers to the sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine. After deep-frying exactly 300 grams of chicken leg meat, the chef pan-fries it with sesame oil, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and rice wine. A bit of Chinese basil is sprinkled on top just before serving, and the final result is a crispy, flavor-filled and very appetizing chicken entree.
	Pork Stew with Assam Black Tea (NT$230) The Assam black tea, grown in Nantou county, gives the streaky pork and crispy bamboo shoots a very refreshing flavor that is filled with a black-tea fragrance.
	Green Papaya Salad (NT$180) This refreshing, appetizing salad contains shredded green papaya and carrots with fish sauce, lemon juice, peanuts and cilantro. The restaurant now provides home delivery services, allowing diners to also enjoy this sour and spicy delicacy at home.