樂埔町 Leputing — Restaurant in Da'an District

Of all the old buildings that have been restored as restaurants, this place is definitely my favorite. What sets this place apart from the rest isn't the architecture, but the food. I haven't been to Andre Chiang's RAW, but from what I've had of his food (Westin in Hsin Chu), the cuisine at Leputing plays safer in terms of flavor, but is far more successful in applying traditional flavors to fine dining. The standout dish of my meal was a tiny cup of soup, inspired by a traditional taiwanese dish, luffa(絲瓜) with oysters; I think it's a dish that anyone who grew up in a Taiwanese family would recognize. The base of the soup was a thick, concentrated puree of luffa, very rich and surprisingly savoury. It was topped with a foam made from water used to cook oysters, light in mouthfeel but very aromatic with a strong and immediate oyster flavor. The flavors in traditional luffa with oysters already work very well together; the soup took it to the next level. This one dish has convinced me that capabilities of the head chef here, whoever he is, is very very good. Service was better than average in Taiwan, very good for the price, but I would like to see them raise prices and improve service even if it's just a little bit. They're not in your face about everything like other places, but to me, the best service is the kind that stays in the background unnoticed until you need it (I've only experienced that level of service in very high end restaurants though). For the money (lunch), this place is well worth it, everything is top notch for the price. I ordered the most expensive set on the menu (1880 twd) with filet mignon, and it was definitely worth it. Word of warning: the filet was rare (they didn't let me choose my steak temperature for some reason), but that is the way I like it anyways.

Update: My second visit, I brought my portable lighting setup and took pictures. This time I ordered the short rib, which was also excellent. The menu hadn't changed from the last time I visited. I wonder when it'll...

Using Taiwanese seasonal and local ingredients to create a series of culinary sensations. Inspired by the Autumn in Taiwan, these dinner set featured local ingredients in the golden leaves season, such as crab, wild mushroom, goose, and even rare spices that only indigenous people would know where to find. Leputing showcased their skill, knowledge, heart and stories in their artwork-liked dishes. However, dinning here was not only gastronomic, Leputing has filled the signature Taiwanese hipster style to every details. The architecture and interior was from Japanese colonial era, with a zen garden inside. Occasionally showing garments and ceramics made by local mastercrafters that could be purchased, helping local artist to preserve the traditional craftsmanship. Last but not least, their service was spot on, staffs are eager to explain their dishes, the whole expensive was very pleasant, gastronomic and intellectual.

28/03/2019 第二次來#樂埔町 用餐, 跟上次一樣, 都是充滿期待。 與上次不同的是, 今次主要是想享受他們的內庭園景, 加上晚餐菜單跟上次一樣, 所以我們選擇在一個悠閒的星期一下午, 來一頓用在地食材烹調的午餐, 慢活一下。

在星期一下午一點, 餐廳裡人蠻多的, 看上去大多是有錢太太, 事業女性, 像我們這種#騎腳踏車來的食客 應該比較少吧。 前菜有#牡丹蝦 蔬菜沙律, #煙燻魚 豆腐配百合泡沫, #野菌 #馬告 #雞湯 。特別喜歡他們的雞湯, 雖然是第二次喝, 依然感覺清新獨特。

我們最想試的主菜- #雞卷賣完了, 所以我們點了煎魚跟菜單上沒有的#鵪鶉。

煎魚配上#昆布奶油 , 魚肉鮮嫩, 廚師刻意保留魚鱗, 把魚皮弄得很酥脆。旁邊的小藍薯也很特別, 馬鈴薯味很濃, 小顆的一粒, 看上去好像石頭。

#去骨鵪鶉 內藏#高麗菜包 , 就名字已經很有氣勢。鵪鶉烤得很焦脆, 顏色很吸引, 肉汁多。 裡頭的高麗菜包, 內餡是滿滿的肉粒, 配上用馬鈴薯做成的#鳥巢, 口感豐富。

甜品是蘋果派和#海鹽焦糖霜淇淋 , 白巧克力外殼包著蘋果泥跟奶油, 配搭很好。 那個焦糖霜淇淋真的不可小覷, 它的味道爆發力很強, 味道就是很濃的#almondroca 做成霜淇淋的感覺, 很厲害, 會上癮。

還有差點忘記的那個香菇竹荀土鍋飯, 好食到要#打包 耶。

聽店長說, 新菜單會在四月尾五月推出,...

I booked this place about a month in advance because I wanted to have a nice fine dining but not Japanese, perhaps Taiwanese meal during my TPE trip. And so we booked Leputing. This place was a Japanese home turned restaurant complete with stone garden and beautiful views. I read another review about awkwardly stepping onto the wooden floor with my shoes on and I felt the same as I walked in that day.

We ended up having lunch on our last day, and they were serving the Mother's day special at $3880pp.

White Asparagus/Broccoli Puree/ Anchovy Panko quite delicious

Spinach Mackerel/ Pea Puree/ Pine Vinegar quite delicious, I especially liked the vinegared fish

Pork Rillettes/Pickled Bitter Gourd/ Brioche/ Cucumber alright, this reminded me of traditional steamed ground pork

Charcoal Chicken Meatball/ Black Garlic Oil/ Chicken Broth this was alright

Slow Cooked Amadai/ Cassava/ Smoked Cream Sauce delicious, the cassava chips were blackened by the squid ink

Premium A5 Wagyu it was extremely premium, better than other A5 that I had in the past.

Chishang Rice I think it looked nice but needed some kick, but filled our stomachs

Dessert was the very best. It was a white peach dessert with peach sorbet.

Overall okay, there were some pleasant surprises like the dessert but I would not have liked to enjoy the dessert the most. I think there are similar around, I should want to try other...