168. Taiwan Day 3: Traditional British Food at Amy's Brit Shake / Amy姐的英國奶奶 (New Taipei: Tamsui / 新北市: 淡水區)

My family and I watch a television program called WTO Sisterhoods (WTO 姐妹會), a very entertaining talk show that features expats and spouses of Taiwanese nationals that share, very candidly at time, their experiences living in Taiwan as recent immigrants.  The guests range from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, from nearby Asian neighbors to a surprising number of Latin American and African countries.  One of the guests on the show is Amy Rattigan, a British national who fell in love with a Taiwanese man while on a backpacking trip in China and eventually moved to Taiwan after their marriage.  Because she missed the food from home, Amy opened Brit Shake (英國奶奶) with her husband where she happily serves traditional British fare and milkshakes.

We ordered the obligatory fish 'n chips made with a Boddingtons beer batter and served with mushy green peas and tartar sauce.  The batter on the fish was so crisp, and the fish itself was ridiculously tender.  After squeezing the wedge of lime over the golden brown exterior actually made my mouth water.  The chips were served golden brown as well, but importantly, they were seasoned well and served piping hot.  Steam escaped out of the soft, fluffy potato when I broke it in two.  The portion sizes are made for the local Taiwanese, which is a bit disappointing for my American born appetite.  I wished there was more.

Fortunately, my aunt and I also ordered the cottage pie.  It also arrives in a portion size that I am not quite used to, but what the cottage pie lacks in quantity it makes up for in flavor.  I loved the strong cheddar cheese flavor and smell... it isn't something that the locals usually opt for, but that just affirms the authenticity of the ingredients at Brit Shake.  I noticed that the shelled peas really do taste different from the typical frozen green vegetable.  These peas are actually good.  As with the fish 'n chips, I only wished there was more to chow down on.

My aunt and I did not try any of the milkshakes on this occasion, but we saw many high school and college students walking out of the shop with the icy dairy beverage.  Perhaps on my next trip here.  It was so great to meet Amy (she is actually cooking in the back), and I wish her and Brit Shake all the best.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Brit Shake (英國奶奶)
新北市淡水區英專路65-1號
No. 65-1, Yinzhuang Rd., Tamsui District, New Taipei City

ML - 20130702

Post 29: Yummy Yummy Is Yummy Yummy (SF: Inner Sunset)

When I told Janet about my plans to visit the Bay Area, she wanted to take me to her favorite Vietnamese restaurant in town.  Scratch that.  She wanted to take me to her favorite restaurant in town.  It just happens to be Vietnamese.  She messaged me and said that I HAD TO try it.  And yes, it was in ALL CAPS.

So as the last meal before I left (my heart in) San Francisco, we stopped by Yummy Yummy in the Sunset District, where the Asian food is still authentic and hasn't yet been toursited out like it has been in other parts of town (namely, Chinatown).



Janet took charge of the menu and showed us some of her favorites:


Raw beef salad.  The paper-thin slices of beef (from which part I have no idea) looked just a bit like hot pot beef from the yellow styrofoam tray at 99 Ranch.  But the basil, onions (both fried and raw), and peanuts helped disguise it. 

Rare steak? Not a problem.  Raw beef? Eeek.  I squeezed a good amount of lemon on the beef hoping that the acid would cook the beef fast enough so it didn't look so red.  But as the second hand on my watch ticked away and as Janet, Grace and Alex ate away, I decided to suck it up and just inhale it.  Look, I'm still here.  Blogging, no less.  Ergo, the raw beef salad is safe.  Oh, and I forgot to mention... it was bomb diggity delicious.  A punch from the peanuts, a bite frm the basil, and a kick from the onions made the raw beef salad somethin' spectacular.  I was ready for another roll of beef.


Fish sauce marinated butter fried chicken wings.  Like whoa.  These little deep-fried wings and drumettes come out with fish sauce, strands of raw onions and carrots, and pieces of raw garlic poured over the top.  This item is not on the menu (just yet) and was suggested (more like pushed) to us by the boss.  (Janet, Grace and others on Yelp think that it's Yummy Yummy's counter to the amazing-delicious chicken wings from San Tung next door.)

The sauce over the top makes for the kind of crispy batter that begins to soften as time goes on, so eating quickly is a necessity.  The only problem is that the chicken wings are fried to a point so hot that my fingers felt a bit smoldered just from the steaming heat.  Damn.  Catch 22.  It's like trying to eat the most delicious ice cream cone outdoors in the hot summer heat.  It's panic trying to get through the entire cone before it melts, but it's pleasure with every successful bite.


Crab with spicy onion seasoning.  What it really should be called is crab with spicy onion, garlic, pepper, green onion, ginger, everything seasoning.  That's what it is, and that's what it tastes like.  It's a fresh whole crab in all its glory.  Although I'm a little sad that this crab had to die for this meal, I'm glad knowing that the crab died to make four hungry people happy. 

Everyone gets their own shell cracking tool, which is great because otherwise, we'd never be able to get inside to experience the pillow-soft sinews of the martyred crustacean.  And I'm not joking about the crab meat being pillow-soft.  If seafood stink and sanitation weren't such major factors, I'd take the sinews of the crab and stuff me a pillow! What a wonderful night's sleep I'd get... but seafood stink and sanitation are major factors, so... crab pillow I shall not make.


Spicy beef pho.  This pho wasn't your typical pho from ordinary Vietnamese restaurants.  The beef was sliced thicker... the soup had a spicy kick... and if you couldn't tell already, the color was a boiling red.  Oooh.  But the additions were the same as any: bean sprouts, basil leaves, citrus squeeze (lemon instead of lime here), and green chili peppers.

We ordered the pho with thicker, white flour noodles as opposed to the traditional thinner, clear rice noodles.  They were just as springy and elastic as expected from the typical pho noodle.  The best part? The soup, of course.  I didn't feel like I was slurping up an MSG-infested, sinkwater-colored bowl of denatured enzymatic proteins.  This... was just simply Vietnamese beef noodle soup.  I like.



Hear that Janet? I like.  Thanks, Janetabulous for introducing me to this Yummy Yummy-ness.  Next door to San Tung next time?

Until then, let's get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 20100817/20100725