I have had 3 3 stars Michelin star meals so far in my life, a French cuisine at epicure in Paris, a Japanese cuisine at sukiyabashi jiro in Tokyo, and now, a Chinese cuisine at Le Palais in Taipei. I confidently declare this was the best 3 star meal I’ve ever had. It lives up to its name, price, and hype.
After I made a reservation, I researched its repertoire of dishes, and discussed with the restaurant staff. The staff relentlessly worked with me and created a one of a kind 8 course set menu that was within my budget.
The first dish was the suckling roast pig. It was the only dish I wasn’t blown away by, but nonetheless tasted great. What makes this dish unique is they remove all the fat of the pig, and reassemble the lean meat and crispy skin into a single bite. However, I felt it could have used a little bit of fat to make it more layered in texture and flavor.
Not shown in the attached menu was the second dish, the prophet duck. It is named after some Chinese poem that I don’t have much appreciations of, and it was a bit awkward when the server recited the poem to us. However, this was one of the best ducks I’ve ever had the pleasure to indulge in my life, rivals the ones from the NYC Peking duck house and Orlando’s morimoto Asia. Unique to this restaurant, this particular duck is less than 1 month old, making it extremely tender. The fat content is just right, slightly on the low side, but doesn’t feel dry. The duck is cut into bite size pieces and enjoyed as is, maximizing it’s original flavors without additional condiments, enabling one to truly enjoy the pure taste of a high quality roasted duck.
The 3rd dish was the fish maw chicken soup. The soup was very thick, as a result of hard boiling brown rice into its stock, using old hens. The fish maw was well flavored, signaling the chef’s skill with such a difficult ingredient to work with. The flavor of the soup blew me away, it had multiple layers of scent and flavor that is difficult to describe, an experience that is quite unforgettable.
The 4th dish followed the soup was a beautifully presented “winter melon hat”. The winter melon is meticulously shaped into a perfect circle, with a thick, rendered chicken and duck stock within the plate. Upon cutting it open, I found within a generous serving of crabs, scallops, and duck meat stuffed inside the melon. Although all courses from tonight were skillful kung-fu dishes, I found this particular dish a true testament of the chef’s amazing culinary skills. Needless to say, the aroma, and flavor of this dish is simple in its own class.
The next dish is the steamed dragon-tiger grouper. Simply put, this is the best fish dish I have ever enjoyed in my life. The balance of the unique soy sauce blend and the Sichuan peppercorn created a flavor symphony in my mouth, and was simply a delight to enjoy.
The second course of the prophet duck came on as the 6th course of the meal. It was prepared in the famous hongkong typhoon shelter style, a flavor style often used in crabs and lobsters, but it is a first for me to be done on a duck. Moreover, the way it is done is also unique, the fried batter was extremely thin, with a beautiful red coating. The savory flavor was just right, not overpowering the flavor of the duck. The prophet duck is a signature dish at the restaurant and I can see why that is.
Onto the 7th course as we reach closer to the end of the meal is a unique scallion cake. Differ from traditional scallion cake, the way it is done here is closer to a stuffed meat cake in Taiwan, where an abundant of yilan 3 star onion and shrimp is stuffed into a light, chewy yet crunchy crust, altering my understanding of what a scallion cake is capable of tasting like. This is the best scallion cake I have ever had in my life.
Finally, the dessert is a double cheese pastry shelled in a fluffy, powder sugar coated crust. This was the perfect way to end the meal, and was fantastic tasting in every possible way.
Le Palais lives up to the 3 star Michelin motto, that it is worth to plan a trip just to dine at this restaurant. Every dish was in its own class, and although it is extremely expensive, I would consider to return to the restaurant again simply because of its amazing meal.
halfcastdota
if you’re still in taipei you should eat at yangming spring in shilin. one of the best meals i’ve had ever
Hexready
I am headed there for the first time later this month, seeing this makes me even more excited!
3 Comments
I have had 3 3 stars Michelin star meals so far in my life, a French cuisine at epicure in Paris, a Japanese cuisine at sukiyabashi jiro in Tokyo, and now, a Chinese cuisine at Le Palais in Taipei. I confidently declare this was the best 3 star meal I’ve ever had. It lives up to its name, price, and hype.
After I made a reservation, I researched its repertoire of dishes, and discussed with the restaurant staff. The staff relentlessly worked with me and created a one of a kind 8 course set menu that was within my budget.
The first dish was the suckling roast pig. It was the only dish I wasn’t blown away by, but nonetheless tasted great. What makes this dish unique is they remove all the fat of the pig, and reassemble the lean meat and crispy skin into a single bite. However, I felt it could have used a little bit of fat to make it more layered in texture and flavor.
Not shown in the attached menu was the second dish, the prophet duck. It is named after some Chinese poem that I don’t have much appreciations of, and it was a bit awkward when the server recited the poem to us. However, this was one of the best ducks I’ve ever had the pleasure to indulge in my life, rivals the ones from the NYC Peking duck house and Orlando’s morimoto Asia. Unique to this restaurant, this particular duck is less than 1 month old, making it extremely tender. The fat content is just right, slightly on the low side, but doesn’t feel dry. The duck is cut into bite size pieces and enjoyed as is, maximizing it’s original flavors without additional condiments, enabling one to truly enjoy the pure taste of a high quality roasted duck.
The 3rd dish was the fish maw chicken soup. The soup was very thick, as a result of hard boiling brown rice into its stock, using old hens. The fish maw was well flavored, signaling the chef’s skill with such a difficult ingredient to work with. The flavor of the soup blew me away, it had multiple layers of scent and flavor that is difficult to describe, an experience that is quite unforgettable.
The 4th dish followed the soup was a beautifully presented “winter melon hat”. The winter melon is meticulously shaped into a perfect circle, with a thick, rendered chicken and duck stock within the plate. Upon cutting it open, I found within a generous serving of crabs, scallops, and duck meat stuffed inside the melon. Although all courses from tonight were skillful kung-fu dishes, I found this particular dish a true testament of the chef’s amazing culinary skills. Needless to say, the aroma, and flavor of this dish is simple in its own class.
The next dish is the steamed dragon-tiger grouper. Simply put, this is the best fish dish I have ever enjoyed in my life. The balance of the unique soy sauce blend and the Sichuan peppercorn created a flavor symphony in my mouth, and was simply a delight to enjoy.
The second course of the prophet duck came on as the 6th course of the meal. It was prepared in the famous hongkong typhoon shelter style, a flavor style often used in crabs and lobsters, but it is a first for me to be done on a duck. Moreover, the way it is done is also unique, the fried batter was extremely thin, with a beautiful red coating. The savory flavor was just right, not overpowering the flavor of the duck. The prophet duck is a signature dish at the restaurant and I can see why that is.
Onto the 7th course as we reach closer to the end of the meal is a unique scallion cake. Differ from traditional scallion cake, the way it is done here is closer to a stuffed meat cake in Taiwan, where an abundant of yilan 3 star onion and shrimp is stuffed into a light, chewy yet crunchy crust, altering my understanding of what a scallion cake is capable of tasting like. This is the best scallion cake I have ever had in my life.
Finally, the dessert is a double cheese pastry shelled in a fluffy, powder sugar coated crust. This was the perfect way to end the meal, and was fantastic tasting in every possible way.
Le Palais lives up to the 3 star Michelin motto, that it is worth to plan a trip just to dine at this restaurant. Every dish was in its own class, and although it is extremely expensive, I would consider to return to the restaurant again simply because of its amazing meal.
if you’re still in taipei you should eat at yangming spring in shilin. one of the best meals i’ve had ever
I am headed there for the first time later this month, seeing this makes me even more excited!