Fleur de Sel — Restaurant in Taichung

First, I must say, Fleua de Sel French restaurant ,truly lives up to its Michelin-starred reputation. Everything, from the service, the food, the cleanliness, and the meticulous attention to detail, was impressively refined!

Today, We chose two autumn tasting menus:

Longan wood chargrilled pigeon / Persimmon / Salmis sauce Pan-fried Australian beef filet / Potato / Black peppercorns / Red wine sauce

The amuse-bouche was a delightful start, with each bite both visually appealing and flavorful. The mini apple, with its perfect balance of sweet and sour, was especially captivating and truly awakened our appetite!

My first recommendation would be the Crab Meat Salad: crab meat encased in a yuzu-flavored shell, topped with avocado ice cream. Tasting them together was extraordinary—the rich flavor of the crab, the citrusy yuzu, and the creamy avocado all harmonized in the mouth, creating a complex yet surprisingly cohesive flavor profile. This dish truly outshined the octopus!

Another standout was the Roast Duck Consommé with Asian Mixed Leaves. Made by slow-cooking an entire duck, the broth was rich and robust, with comforting warmth. This was served with a duck meat dumpling and was an option paired with beef tongue. As for the first main course, Butterfish with Caviar (likely French) served with a lemon butter sauce, was exceptional. The acidic notes of the lemon combined with the creamy butter sauce enhanced the fresh, oceanic flavor of the fish and the caviar. It felt as if I had been transported back to the sea, with the silky smoothness of the sauce adding an almost airy, foam-like texture in the mouth. This was an outstanding dish!

The other main, Abalone , featured South African abalone, which takes 8-10 years to reach a size suitable for consumption, paired with a rich mushroom risotto. Although I’ve lived abroad for years, this dish brought me back to my roots with its nostalgic taste and texture reminiscent of the rice my grandmother used to make. This may sound understated, but this was undoubtedly my top dish of the evening. I felt a deep sense of warmth and appreciation, as if all the hardships I’ve faced were somehow acknowledged and comforted by this one dish. Perhaps it was a hint of sesame oil or the abalone liver crisps, but regardless, I’m deeply grateful to the chef for creating this soul-warming dish on the autumn menu. 🙏 Regarding the Australian premium filet, I suspect the steak was sous-vide before being seared. Having tried many fillets around the world, I’d like to offer a bit of feedback here. While the filet was cooked to perfection, my experience with the wine pairing was a bit mixed. I initially asked for the wine list, but perhaps because I appeared younger, they only mentioned two pairing options—one with three glasses and another with four, including dessert, with explanations of the respective prices. I’d suggest the restaurant reconsider this approach, as wine preferences, especially for pairing with main courses, can be quite personal. The light French red wine served with the Australian filet, while fine, was not an ideal match, in my view. Given the quality of the meal, why not pair it with a bold red from South Australia? The depth and richness of a South Australian red would elevate the premium Australian filet to another level. I understand that restaurants often curate pairings with specific intentions, possibly even budget considerations, but a South Australian wine would better complement this exceptional filet, bringing out the chef’s skill even more profoundly. For a Michelin-starred establishment, guests are unlikely to forgo an ideal pairing due to minor cost differences, so I recommend exploring a slight adjustment to the main course wine . I noticed that the entire menu incorporates green elements, reflecting the chef’s meticulous approach to flavor and presentation. I greatly admire the chef’s artistry and extend my gratitude to the entire team for their high level of service. I’ll certainly return on my next vacation to...

It was artistic, it was delicious, it was beautiful.

For the first time in my life I actually liked sea urchin. The amuse bouch was warm and served with steamed egg, rice crispy, sesame, and seaweed. A well balanced taste and great way to start a meal in the cold winter.

Amazing squid rice - delicious and surprising every bite. It looks like rice but its not.

Lobster is fresh in a cute caterpillar presentation. The crisp explodes with flavour!

OMG blown away by the best onion soup I have ever had. Sweet and savoury, fragrant but light, I was in heaven, swimming in cheese, truffle, onion and beef broth.

Cod, scallop, and pigeon are all delicate and delicious! Very nice fusion of Taiwanese flavours in French cuisine. Pigeon has strawberry sauce but was cooked in Chinese herbal flavours. Chestnut sauce lingering your mouth for a whole minute, very fragrant.

Oh did I mention its bread? Its amazing. 3 out of 4 choices were quite designed to "Taiwanese" taste buds in a way they were very soft and light, but all freshly baked and packed with flavours. Rose croissant, vanilla mango, rye bread... yum! Well done on the salt sprinkle too, staying true to the name of the restaurant.

Pallet cleanser is beautifully Taiwanese with Guava ice cream, sea salt, oolong jelly. Classic flavours I grew up with in Taiwan, refreshing and distinct. Only wish the oolong taste can be a bit stronger (use 重烘培烏龍 instead of 輕烘培烏龍 for the jelly).

Dessert trio has lots of ways to eat it, fun and enjoyable. A surprise in every bite.

Finisher of longan chocolate truffle is beautiful. A perfect finishing touch to end the meal.

A beautiful symphony down to the last note.

The service was one of the best too. Friendly and attentive. A cup of warm water served immediately after I had light coughs. I dropped the menu card from my seat and they rushed over to pick it up (Michelin star test) all passed with flying colours!

One of my best meals in 2022. Definitely lived up to my long anticipation and high expectations of this...

This is a Michelin star winning restaurant in Taichung, we booked a table for 6:00 pm of four about a month in advanced, but we were stuck in the traffic jam, thus we called the restaurant to inform the situation, and the restaurant defers our booking for 30 minutes, although it says reservations could not be defer or cancel on the website. The meal we order is NTD 3800 no menu set per person, excluding wine pairing, it is the set most people order in this restaurant. In the set, there are ten delicate molecular gastronomy dish, it is quite interesting to have this dish, every bite is a surprise, you could never know what it is before putting it into mouth or asking the waiter. Although we do not have wine pairing this time, we’ve order Italian white truffle as a pairing for the main dish, it adds a different flavor to the dish, it is around NTD 980 per gram, and thus we end up over NTD 5500, it is a bit over the budget, but it worths. All the dishes are well seasoned and nicely cooked, and the waiters are nice and friendly, no wonder this restaurant win a Michelin...