三井Mitsui Cuisine M

Went out with 2 of my old friends from university. I only see them once or twice a year, so we need to find a place which serves good food and wine, and is quiet enough so we can have a nice long talk. One of my friends was in the mood for some sushi, so I decided to take them here. Although this was my first time here too, I tried 2 other ones under the same name, the food and service were usually pretty good.

This one is located in Xinyi area (信義區) , right across the street from Eslite bookstore. They serve Japanese style sushi, raw and cooked seafood , beef, and their signature dish: Taiwanese and Japanese crabs. (Really big ones.) Have a good selection of wines and Sakes as well. The restaurant is on the first floor of City Bank building, the entrance is very private, behind a curtain, almost hard to find, but there's always someone waiting there to take you to your table.  As soon as you walk in, there's a glassed wine cellar hanging above, crystal chandelier, and soft jazz music. We got a table right by the picture window overlooking the outdoor garden. Although it's a bit dark inside,  the colorful lights of the garden and modern buildings make a pretty good contrast.

Starter: Fugu skin salad

(Fugu is a kind of poisonous fish, you need a special license to serve it.) 

Sea Urchin on top of thin noodles made of mountain potatoes(山藥)

Sea urchin itself is usually a bit too strong for me unless it's freshly opened, and a little bit sticky. But 

the mountain potatoe's slightly spicy aroma and crunchy structure balance it out nicely.

None of my friends could drink too much, so we ordered a 375ml Sake.

Smooth and refreshing, but not impressively good.

I liked the touch and the look of the small gold Sake cup, made me feel like a Tang Dynasty poet.

Assorted Sashimi:

Top left to right:

Tuna, salmon belly, 紅甘(some kind of slightly chewy fish, don't know the English name), Shrimps(牡丹蝦)

The salmon was extremely good, almost melted in the mouth.

This kind of shrimp tasted almost creamy when eating raw, very good with Sake.

The content in the gold bowl is An kang fish liver.(安康魚肝)

Very popular in Taiwan and Japan, but really, not my cup of tea.

Fortunately, both of my friends enjoyed it.

Grilled "Red Throat" Fish, (紅喉)

A bit fishy for me but juicy and sweet, very good indeed.

Taiwanese crab(毛蟹)

Steamed, with just a little bit of vinegar or nothing at all when you eat it.

Grilled beef

A bit chewy.

Nigiri Sushi

Left to right:

Squid with a bit of ginger on top, Wasabi rice under. Raw fresh squid also tasted kind of creamy, pretty

good though.

紅甘(The kind of fish that I don't know the English name)

Slightly grilled salmon Sushi with chopped black olives on top, Wasabi rice under.

Elephant nose shell fish soup with ginger and some vegetables.

Wine cellar

Overall, the ambiance here is better than the other 2 restaurants I've been to, but each one of them has

 1 or 2 special dishes which you can only get in that location. Servers here tend to be younger than the

 other two restaurants, most of them are OK, but the one who gave advice about what to order

 seemed to be a bit impatient.