YEN Taipei — Restaurant in Xinyi District

Taiwan, known for its legendary culinary scene, has amazing food for every budget and preference. Yen, located within the W Taipei, is a solid choice for people wanting to try something out of the ordinary Chinese, yet remains true to its traditional roots.

I curated the set menu myself for our family, and couldn't be happier with every single dish. The Peking Duck is very well prepared, rivals the one at Le Palais Taipei, and many high caliber, Michelin star worth establishments around the world. The staff hand carves the duck and hand wrap each piece for us. One particular incident I remembered from this meal was during the carving the chef accidentally dropped a piece of the duck onto the floor. (I've never seen this happen in my life) He then went back to the kitchen, and returned with a single piece of duck to add it into our dish to compensate. I thought that was...interesting.

Although all the dishes were amazing, the particularly special dishes for me included the taichi crab steamed egg, the pepper fried dragon tiger grouper, and the king crab rice soup.

The taichi crab steamed egg is perhaps the best chawanmushi/steam egg I have ever enjoyed in my life. they utilized the crab innards for the yellow side, and crab meat for the white side, separated with a green chain of chopped zucchini, all set on top of a silky smooth, crab dashi infused steamed egg. The result is a work of art that contains multiple layers of flavoring, intense and light, depending on the side of the dish you are eating.

The dragon tiger grouper is typically steamed. The chef chooses deep fry means he is quite confident he isn't going to overdo it, and he did just that. The fried coating is thin and not overpowering, enables me to taste the fish's freshness, but at the same time, flavored with multiple layers of Chinese pepper corn, weaving numbing and spicy sensation velvety together.

The king crab rice soup has a bit of a theatrics to it. Named after China's ancient beauty Xishi, the dish comes to the table with the broth and rice separated. The rice has both regular and rice crispies. When they pour the king crab bisque into the hotpot containing the rice, steam rises and rice crackle, with the steam meant to represent Xishi enjoying her bath. The dish had such an intense king crab aroma and flavor, made it irresistible to be licked clean.

YEN in W Taipei has taken Chinese cuisine to a new level, by maintaining their traditional flavors and turn them into work of art. I highly recommend anyone to give it a try, you won't be...

First off- service was good (but not great). Everything else is laughable:

1)Waitress said if the dish did not say “per person” then the dish served 3-4 people. The dishes (for 3-4 people) is more like enough for one to two people! VERY small portions. The menu items for a single person (“per person items”) are more like single person appetizer portions. One person in my group ordered the fried prawns- two shrimp fried with panko (with shells still on). Another person ordered fried fish (“per person” item) and the fish was the size of 3 cm x 3 cm. 2)Food quality- bland, under seasoned, and nothing special. All of our dishes lacked seasoning and are not original. Literally nothing tasted amazing- they looked nice (presentation I would give this 3 stars) but flavor I give 1 star. For the price you should dishes should be awe inspiring. 3) Tea- unless you are drinking the tea as soon as they fill your cup, you are left with a large cup of cold tea. Waitress does not check with you if you want your tea replaced because of this. The tea cups are about 3 oz. so unless you really like drinking tea fast, your left with cold tea to accompany your meal. 4) website mentions “Sophisticated Casual”. Why is it then I notice people in zip up hoodie sweaters, t-shirts, nylon rain jackets?

Overall this is one of the most disappointing restaurant experiences I’ve ever had. For the price you’d expect SO much more. I get it’s a great view- so what? Ambience cannot fix terrible food- you will just be disappointed and hungry at the end, staring outside the 31st floor window with food regret- wondering where you should have gone to have a...

Yen’s is one swanky Chinese restaurant! The Las Vegas style decor of the W Taipei hotel lends itself to the ritzy Chinese restaurant on the 31st floor. If you want s seat by the window, we recommend making reservations. Any other table us just fine though. The vertical lines of the decor are interesting - ropes running from floor to ceiling, a very tall ceiling, caged light fixtures and so on continue the vertical lines theme of the W.

Service is attentive and first class. Expect warm hand towels at the beginning of the dining experience and tea service throughout your meal - no teapot left at the table, the servers refill as needed throughout dinner. The teapot is warmed over s tea light candle at the servers’ station to keep it hot though.

Each entree is brought out one at a time, which is great for ensuring each is enjoyed when at it’s perfect temperature. All of our entrees were delicious! For a part if 4 adults, including the 10% service charge, the total bill was $7000 NTD or about $228 US. Not bad, but none of us ordered any liquor. We definitely said yes to desserts and their mini egg tarts were delicious!

The dining room is a bit cold - take a seater ladies.

Wouldn’t mind going again if I wanted another elegant dining experience but with so many other options, we opted not to go back this week. Maybe again next time because the food, service, dining experience and value all get high marks from...