The newest and the hottest topic among the gourmets is this: La Festa. Under the surveillance of chef Igor, the food here is creative, nicely presented, very artistic and tasty, if not authentic.(That's not what the chef is focused on anyway.)
The place is not so big but cosy, has a very inviting ambiance. The service is quite professional. The only thing that's not so perfect is the "private room" area, which is located in the very back of the restaurant, past the open kitchen counter. With some sliding doors and curtains, they can adjust how big or small the private room should be according to request, but the whole area has only one window and looks a bit messy.
Gala dinner:
We arrived late according to the Taiwanese standard and got the last table. (But of course I made a reservation in advance.) It was fully booked, which I think was partly because it was a so called "Gaja" wine dinner. But eventually, although the wines are indeed from the same famous pristine winery, they were not the "Gaja" top wines you expected. Therefore, the NT$4000+10% per person price range was "just right", not what you thought a "real great deal".
Nice setting.
You got a detailed menu with every dish and pairing wines on it.
Carpaccio di aragosta(lobster), beef carpaccio.
Pairing wine:
La Credenza sparkling wine.
The raw lobster and beef was good with a bit of olive oil and a generous amout of truffle on it.
But the truffle needed some heat to "turn it on",
the food was not hot enough at all to bring the aroma out, quite a waste.
simple but crispy and refreshing,
matched OK with the dish.
A 100% Chardonnay, more on the light side, no oak.
Well balanced and pairing well with the risotto and ravioli.
Beetroot risotto, truffle cream and black truffle.
Beetroot seems to be one of the chef's favorite ingredients. Mine, too.
The warmth of the risotto started to unfold the scent of the truffle, nice.
Everything in the picture looks delicious, don't you think?
Home made fontina ravioli, truffle caviar, black truffle foam& parma ham powder.
Fontina is a kind of cheese from higher mountains, light, creamy and grassy.
Classical match with the truffle,
now you can savor the thick aroma of the truffle,
both on nose and on palate.
Nice!
Nice!!
Very nice!!!
Gaja Sito Moresco Langhe 2010
Nebbiolo based, Barbera and Merlot.
A nice, elegant red, light.
Vous avez des beaux yeux?
White truffle tagliatelle, langoustine, foie gras and porcini mushroom.
The white truffle tagliatelle was manifique,
but the sauce was fishy and salty, pity.
Gaja Ca'marcanda Magari 2009
Merlot, Carbernet Sauvignon, Carbernet Franc.
More intense, good for the beef.
9+wagyu beef, purple potato sauce, truffle salt.
The purple potato is from Taiwan, surprisingly good with the beef.
Sorry!!!
I ate one piece of the beef already.
Just looked too tempting!
White chocolate mousse, oat cookies and milk truffle ice cream.
The truffle ice cream was extraordinaire!
White chocolate mouse with Japanese green tea was good but a bit too sweet for me.
A display of assorted hams.
***
Another day when I came with my sister for lunch:
Entrance and waiting area:
Bar
A pretty impressive cellar with some really famous bottles:
Echézeaux, Romanée Conti, Gaja, etc.
I like the design of the rest room, half open, simple but nice.
Breads were very good that day, freshly baked.
Olive oil and some black olives.
Bread was so good at lunch time, squid, sea salt, cheese flavor etc.,
The night of the Gala dinner, the bread was a bit too hard and dry.
It seems like they weren't prepared to serve bread,
but you still needed it with some dishes.
Dan asked for it and we waited quite a long time.
It was probably reheated and they heated it too long.
Now they use i Pad to show their wine list.
Good idea for my eye sight.
This is the bottle of house wine we ordered.
Carpaccio Di Barbabietola
Beetroot carpaccio, crispy roll with goat cheese and walnut.
Very nicely presented and tasty as well.
uovo Morbido
Soft cooked egg, fois gras, procini mushroom sauce and black truffle,
Except this one they forgot to put fois gras on,
so they treated us for this and served another one later.
With fois gras.
Soft cooked eggs are always good with truffles, with or without fois gras.
Avioli Liquide
Ravioli with soft filling served with duck meat.
Warm and juicy, with some type of potato powder on top, which looked like goat cheese.
Agnolotti del plin.
Agnolotti served in a napkin, poriani hazelnut oil, grana padano cheese and black truffle.
The house wine was smooth and went well with pasta and beef cheek.
A nice change after our V. C. P. Champagne.
Guanciale alle mele
Slow cooked wagyu beef cheek,
Tonka bean flavoured green apple puree.
Admiring the ceiling while waiting for our desserts.
A tasting sample from their newly designed afternoon tea menu.
Mousse al cioccolato bianco e te.
Ivoire Valrhona white chocolate green tea mousse, oat crispy cookies.
Chef's special Tiramisu.
With coffee cream,
and yogurt.
Lighter than the usuall Tiramisu, good for the season.
Cream Cotto All Arancia
Crème caramel, coffee mousse and Marsala ice cream.
Good strong espresso.
***
One other day in Marco Polo:
My favorite chef at Marco Polo: Antonio Tardi is leaving Taipei to go to Guang Zhou Shangri-La Hotel, and his excellent sous chef Michael Lin is in La Festa now. Took my friend to lunch one afternoon, this was the menu he designed for us.
Wine menu for this season.
Tuna salad with sea salt and olive oil.
Antonio's Chanel No.5 for olive oil.
Risotto?
No, this was some pasta shaped like rice.
Tasty with just some chive, mushrooms and a little bit of cheese.
His famous beef cheek.
Fish dish looked good as well.
Our wines of the day:
Started with a Pinot Grigio with our salad, then Chardonnay with fish,
and Italian Cab with my beef cheek.
Most beautifully presented dessert I've seen here in Marco Polo.
Espresso should be stronger.
***
Simple, fresh and good.
Very Antonio.
Hope to see him soon somewhere in the world!
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