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| Interior of Bellavita that is home to many luxury fashion brands and restaurants |
It's only our first day in Taipei and we are eating very well here!
Not only did we dine at Silks Palace at the National Palace Museum, but also at a Japanese shabu shabu place in an upscale shopping mall called
Bellavita.
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| The sleek table setting at Shabu complete with induction heat |
It describes itself as "one of the most fantastic bespoke Luxury (sic) mall in Taipei, Taiwan".
The developer apparently bought the land over 20 years ago and at the time it was very expensive. And then the story goes that his daughter wanted to open a coffee shop and it sprouted into this luxury mall...
Joel Robuchon has a restaurant there, and Van Cleef & Arpels have set up shop there too. On the fourth floor is Shabu and it's a sleek modern restaurant where guests sit in semi private booths. The hot pot is heated by induction while the fresh ingredients are artfully placed on the plate, particularly the vegetables like a bouquet.
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| The beautifully presented plate of vegetables |
We got to choose a starter, such as uni, tomato or smoked duck salad, and then we launched into cooking our dinner. The beef was sliced a bit thicker than most places and highly marbled, while it was interesting to add items like pumpkin, snow fungus and cubes of taro in the broth.
At the end we didn't drink the broth but a bowl of rice was added instead to make congee. It simmered in there for a while as we digested the meal and when it was almost done, the waiter added a beaten egg, scallions and thin strips of seaweed. It was delicious.
