Taiwan Cafe

This was our second last meal in Melbourne from memory. It was almost six months ago at the time of writing! I had another day left of the conference and we were just doing a quick tour of the CBD during its night time shopping hours. I think I just picked this place because it was very full of people and the menu seemed decent. I would've avoided it like the plague if I had been aware of what the reviews were like on Urbanspoon! 57% youch!

This shiny place

The tables are very small and wooden. Every table has a copy of the food and drinks menu, red chopsticks, soy sauce, chilli powder and a steel pot of chilli and garlic oil.

Classic

The place is also ridiculously narrow and they pack tables on both sides of the room which make things extra cramped. So Taiwan authentic to be packed in like sardines!

Ugh

Yeah that gap just fits my legs

I got this massive drink and I can't remember what it was for the life of me. I just remember it was super fruity, super artificially sweet and full of random chunks of fruit. This is what I get for blogging six months after I've gone to a place. I have a vague recollection it was a blackberry and lemon drink but that's all I got going for me.

Mystery drink

I got this Taiwanese fried chicken bento box, it consisted of a serve of Taiwanese fried chicken, poached egg, pea and corn, some lettuce and a serve of rice topped with a black bean and mince sauce. Aki helpfully adds that the Taiwanese fried chicken tasted like fried cardboard. It was crunchy and very little seasoning.

Bento?

These were chilli oil prawn and pork wontons, they were coated in an odd sauce consisting of soy sauce, hoisin perhaps, ground sesame and a mild chilli. It was surprisingly tasty although quite different to what I was expecting. The wontons themselves were good, nice thin skin and meaty, well seasoned insides.

What is going on in this dish?

Aki ordered for herself just some plain wontons in broth since her braces were still aching. They tasted exactly the same as the wontons above except the broth tasted like hot water.

?_?

Taiwan Cafe
Atmosphere: 6, your typical super cramped, super busy Asian cafe!
Service: 5, pretty average. When we were there, a couple dressed up in the Gothic Lolita style stormed out saying they had been waiting over an hour for food.
Food: 4, yeah pretty terrible. I regret choosing this place when there were so many better options around it.