a3 Italian restaurant, Bella Vita. Dinner with Dan

Dan had to pick up his surf board somewhere in this area. He hasn't tried this restaurant yet, so I took him here. Food has improved a bit since last time. Service is usually pretty good here.

Bread was better than before.

2 kinds of butter: "butter" butter, and "beef, Nori(Japanese style sea weed), sesame" butter

My "must": sparkling mineral water

Usually order Badoit when I go to Robuchon. (Reminds me of Paris and the  good old times there. Sometimes certain scent, taste or sound worked like a time machine, suddenly brought you back to some period of time in the past.) Pellegrino is more popular here in Taipei though. A bit of sparkling water is good for digestion and can prevent you from getting too drunk. (It's always easy to drink too much champagne.)

Amuse Bouche(Starters):

 From left to right: herb, crab meat spring roll with some fish eggs on top; beet jello; raw tuna with apple puree.

Ordered 2 glasses of  Bollinger champagne.( Legend has it: This is the favorite champagne of  the queen of England.)  This is one of the reasons I kept coming back to this restaurant. Not very many restaurants in Taipei have a special selection of champagnes by the glass. Usually you can only find Moet or Veuve, which are good but a bit boring because you kind of see them everywhere. Bollinger went well with this dish, and the following salads with Proscuitto ham, scallop and the soup as well.

A nice salad with arugula, pine seeds, figs and grilled cheese. I ordered it every time when I came.  Sorry about the picture because I couldn't resist to take a bite first.

Parmesan rolled with fig, Arugula lettuce, Parmesan cheese foam

Chefs today really love the "foam" stuff, not sure why?

Roasted Hokkaido scallop with cashew nut crust, cauliflower pop corn, asparagus with Balsamic vinegar, beetroot. topped with a bit of curry foam. (foam again?) 

Pretty interesting flavor with all these ingredients and preparation. But very good indeed. My favorite dish tonight!

Tomato consomme with spinach and Ricotta cheese ravioli

**Main course #1: Lobster ghocchi(Sorry! Lost some pictures because I was not familiar with my new camera.)

 Lobster was fresh and cooked just right, ghocchi was good, too, and the portion was quite generous. Sauce was a bit too creamy for me but Dan liked it.

*Pairing wine: Joseph Drouhin Chablis Premier Cru 2007(Available by the glass.)

Very typical Chablis, light green olive color, hint of mineral. Took a while for the aroma and flavor to show themselves. Went OK also with the beef dish.

**Main course #2: Pan fried US Angus short rib and duck liver with red wine sauce.

*Pairing wine: IC Sestante Valpolicella Classico Superiore "I Pianeti" DOC 2007

(Also available by the glass.)

Always liked the reds from this area, but this one still gave us a nice surprise. Not very complex but rich, elegant and had a long finish.(Just did a Barolo tasting, this one had a even longer and nicer finish.)

Apricot and peach white chocolate mousse with raspberry macarrone

Desserts have improved a bit.  On top of the almond biscuit was a piece of kiwi, a blueberry and a small tube filled with berry juice. Suppose to inject the juice into the mousse in the glass and enjoy them altogether. (Interesting idea, but the tube looked strange, reminded me of some type of medical equipment?)

Macarrone with raspberry and a bit of gold on top

I loved raspberries but got a little bit sick of the macarrone. Not saying that they are not good, but recently Taipei got flooded with this kind of dessert.(Just like the beloved "foam" thing of the chefs.)

Excellent espresso. (Dan couldn't sleep the whole night!)