Sinchao Rice Shoppe — Restaurant in Xinyi District

Overall a fantastic dining experience and excellent, kind and accommodating service after some really odd experience regarding their steak. We were served a blue rare steak despite ordering medium. Initially we thought there must have been a mistake, but they claimed that it was correctly cooked which was... Very puzzling (a simple Google search and a photo reference can clear this up pretty easily, there is no question we received a blue rare steak. This is an international standard). Unfortunately we had to send the steak back to be cooked to "medium well", and it still came out completely bloody and red. At this point we reluctantly agreed to go for well done... which was surprisingly juicy and tender despite being cooked more than we originally intended. While this wasn't the greatest intro to dining, the rest of our meal was exceptional, with great textures and flavors, beautiful ambiance and presentation. I'm sure that rare steak lovers will certainly enjoy their signature dish, though I can't begin to understand what they must believe rare is if medium-well is completely red and bloody with a 2mm cooked edge. I'm just surprised they were only able to serve rare or well done and absolutely nothing in-between. BUT THIS REVIEW ISN'T JUST ABOUT STEAK. The food here is really quite lovely all in all. We adored the fried golden lava balls, the tiramisu, and the elevated and fresh flavors of their stir fried veggies or even the simplicity of the cold tomatoes with plum sauce. And everyone makes mistakes - the fact is they were very kind and tolerant despite this misunderstanding and we -really- did enjoy the meal. Thank you for dealing with us foreigners, and tolerating...

Food is 3/5 for the taste/price but service is solid 5/5. The staff were very friendly and incredibly responsive. But I felt the food quality dampened the experience, and I expected much more given the high prices.

We ordered:

1. 高丽菜 (stir fried lettuce): 2/5 Lacked fragrance or wok taste

2. 流沙包 (taro balls with creamy egg yolk filling): 5/5 The black shell looked intimidating but had a very crunchy texture. Inner filling was very tasty.

3. 猪排蛋炒饭 (egg fried rice with pork chop): 3/5 I would prefer Ding Tai Fung over this. The egg fried rice is marginally better here but the pork chop is very thick and chewy - I didnt enjoy the meat at all.

4. 鲈鱼 (seabass): 5/5 One of the more enjoyable dishes for sure. Sauce is very tasty with the fish.

5. 鸡汤 (chicken soup that came in a teapot): 2/5 One of the stronger chicken broths Ive had that came in a teapot. Tasted a little like 鸡精, which I can get at a much cheaper price. Not a fan.

6. Duck leg (鸭腿): 1/5 This is the worst roast duck Ive had. First time in my life that Ive seen roast duck being so disturbingly bloody. There was nothing tasty about this dish either.

7. Chocolate cake roll with assam filling: 5/5 The cream with notes of assam tea wowed me immensely. I greatly enjoyed the cream with the...

Overhead in the nearby ladies washroom, “They charge a thousand NTD for fried rice. So outrageous!”

Well that begins our encounter with this eatery. We arrived without reservations after the lunch hour and were shown promptly to very comfortable half circle banquette seats. The server was very polite and understanding taking our orders in English realising we were not locals.

Yes, the prices are premium but the food is quite lovely. Delicate to be precise and perfectly balanced in taste, execution and presentation. Our favourites were the black garlic chicken soup, tomato jelly with amaebi, tomatoes with sweet plum marinade, fried rice with mullet roe and seared scallop, blue fin tuna with white truffle fried rice, roast pork and sautéed beef short ribs with pickled cabbage. Quite ordinary we’re the fried chicken, eggplant and loofah with egg.

We enjoyed the courteous service and warm woody interiors very much. While it was certainly premium, the place neither felt aloof nor haughty. After too much Taipei street food, this classy bastion came as a...