Where “A Meal with a View” Is Taken to th
TEXT | HAN CHEUNG
PHOTOS | CHEN CHENG-KUO
(Photos of Zhi Yun, courtesy of Zhi Yun)
With relatively few very tall buildings in the city, Taipei’s skyscrapers particularly stand out, some of them housing fine restaurants with sweeping vistas that reach all the way to the surrounding mountains. Taipei 101 is an obvious choice, but other high-rises also offer unique views and cuisines that make them worth checking out.
INPARADISE
While the panoramic vistas from this 46th-floor buffet restaurant are impressive, one window adorned with a love heart is particularly popular as it provides a direct view of Taipei 101, Taiwan’s iconic tallest skyscraper. The table in front of it is perfect for romantic confessions and marriage proposals.
Located in the ritzy Breeze Xin Yi, INPARADISE is popular with younger diners and tourists due to its affordability and sheer variety of international gourmet fare. Opened in 2017, this place pioneered the “one food station, one famous shop” concept, treating each of its eight sections as independent eateries.
Each section is named after a geographic feature. The culinary journey begins at the Abundant Great Ocean, which, as its name suggests, is all about seafood, from snow crab legs and abalone to sushi items such as broiled salmon and grilled flounder.
Hop ashore in the Seasonal Plains (Appetizer) section, which offers chilled salads and appetizers such as cuttlefish with pineapple salsa and oyster in yuzu tosazu sauce. Move on to the Grain Cooking Lake (Soup and Porridge), where the abalone congee soup reigns as one of the restaurant’s superstar items. Watch the chef concoct the mouth-watering bowl, and add in whitebait, XO hot sauce, scallion, and other morsels to taste.
The next land section is the Big Fast Land (European Cuisine), where tender ribeye, lamb chops, juicy scallops, and other meat items delight. The steamed egg, which is contained inside an eggshell with caviar or salmon roe, is worth a try.
Scale Imperial Mountain to reach the capital, where rewards await such as Peking duck, which can be enjoyed in numerous ways, whether it be in slices, wrapped with scallion and sweet sauce, on sushi, or in congee. Cantonese-style dim sum and other regional Chinese and Asian dishes can also be sampled.
The Flaming Hills (Yakitori) section is laden with Japanese deep-fried, grilled, and steamed delectables, including fried shrimp tempura, crispy sweetfish, and oysters from Hokkaido’s Lake Saroma.
Quench your thirst at Long Drink River (Beverage Bar), which offers Taiwanese-style cocktails by Perry’s Palate Plan, sparkling red wine and white wine, draft beer as well as juices, coffee, and tea. The final stop is Sweet Fields (Dessert), where you can have a freshly made souffle or café au lait parfait, enjoy the mini-chocolates and French-style desserts, and top it off with gelato.
In 2022, a second INPARADISE restaurant was opened on the 39th floor of the Hongwell i-tower, in New Taipei City’s Xinzhuang District, providing a different elevated experience on the opposite side of Taipei City.
Note: The available dishes can change from season to season.
INPARADISE (Xinyi) | 饗饗 (信義)
Add: F46, No. 68, Sec. 5, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City
(台北市信義區忠孝東路五段68號46樓)
Tel: (02) 8780-9988
Website: inparadise.com.tw
INPARADISE (Xinzhuang) | 饗饗 (新莊)
Add: F39, No. 555, Siyuan Rd., Xinzhuang Dist., New Taipei City
(新北市新莊區思源路555號39樓)
Tel: (02) 8522-9232
A Joy
Located on the 86th floor of Taipei 101, A Joy is a self-proclaimed “love letter to Taiwan,” infusing the island’s unique flavors and ingredients into its sumptuous buffet for the senses. Opened in July 2023, the restaurant deconstructs traditional dishes from the collective Taiwanese memory and reinterprets them using different culinary techniques. For example, Tainan’s famous eel noodles use pasta instead, topped with “flavor pearls” filled with black vinegar from the century-old Gao Ji Wu Yin Vinegar brand.
This creative undertaking goes beyond the food, from the decor incorporating Taiwanese mountain plants to staff uniforms that reflect the island’s natural imagery and incorporate traditional indigo dyeing and banana fiber techniques.
The space is divided into four areas representing the island’s geography: mountain, sea, plains, and city, and is adorned with Taiwanese artworks and appliances crafted by notable artisans. With just 282 seats in the 1,835-square-meter space, there’s plenty of elbow space and diners don’t have to queue too long for the popular items. Take the time to read the labels to see where the ingredients come from, listen to the enthusiastic servers and chefs explain the essence of the dishes, and savor the complex flavors while indulging your other senses.
The Mountain section features an artistic landscape and the windows beyond provide sweeping views of the actual mountains encircling the sprawling metropolis nestled in the Taipei Basin.
Favorites from the Ocean section include the tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet) cooked with broth, as well as the hand-rolled sushi crafted on the spot, coming in three varieties: scallop and crab roe paste, bluefin tuna and shiso miso, and uni and sweet shrimp.
The Plains area turns up the heat – the grilled sweetfish packed with eggs and Taiwanese fried chicken are hits, as well as other curious fusion dishes.
The City stalls offer classic street snacks and simple-eatery dishes such as fried rice and vermicelli, all with a creative twist. Highlights include a Buddha jumps over the wall dish served French-style in a puff pastry, and Peking duck flame-roasted with aged wine.
Save room for dessert, which changes by season. The chocolates contain improbable Taiwanese ingredients such as fermented bean curd, fried shallot as well as parsley and peanut. The Drinks section goes full local, with only classic Taiwanese sodas and beers, and Taiwan-themed cocktails by Perry’s Palate Plan. Also, don’t miss the selected teas from Zen Zen Thé and coffee by the world-class coffee brewer Simple Kaffa.
A Joy | 饗A Joy
Add: 86F, No. 7, Sec. 5, Xinyi Rd., Taipei City
(台北市信義路五段7號86樓)
Tel: (02) 8101-0111
Website: www.ajoy.com.tw
Zhi Yun
Visitors step through a fiery red brick and stone corridor to reach this wide-open, elegant dining room kept warm by the decor’s flowing orange, maroon, and blue hues, accentuated with subtle greenery.
Opening in May 2024 on the 38th floor of Xinzhuang District’s HongWell i-Tower (one floor below the !NPARADISE Xinzhuang branch), this luxurious teppanyaki restaurant offers just 62 seats around six grilling stations, with three of them in cozy private rooms. Located just west of central Taipei City, the windows here offer a unique perspective of the sprawling cityscape on the other side of the Tamsui River, surrounded by majestic mountains and highlands that encircle the Taipei basin. As the sun sets, the restaurant’s mood shifts, with sultry lighting accentuating the glowing lights of the metropolis.
The chefs put on a show at each iron griddle, recontextualizing French-style dishes to the often-spectacular Japanese cooking style that’s popular across the world. The seasonal surf-and-turf set feast, made with the finest ingredients, contains 14 courses, with professional sommeliers and tea masters suggesting pairings to further enrich the palate. After the main meal, diners are led to a spacious, cozy lounge to enjoy dessert, unwind, and fully take in the vistas.
The main party kicks off with an ice-cream cone topped with truffle cream egg, flower crab meat, and roe, followed by a “burger” with seared scallop as the bun, filled with sea urchin, caviar and wrapped in dried seaweed.
One favorite is the “tipsy rib-eye roll,” featuring prime ribeye wrapped around fresh grapes that are soaked in red and white wine for 12 hours, enhanced with subtle hints of creamy cheese. The sweet and tangy notes of the grapes balance out the astringent tannins in the wine, resulting in a smoother alternative to traditional red wine sauce.
Another star features A5 beef and ribeye aged for four days, dried for 24 hours then grilled and seared to crispy-tender perfection, accompanied with magao (Taiwanese mountain pepper) salty egg yolk and slow-baked kale chips. The meat is best enjoyed with Zhi Yun’s signature raw garlic and egg white sauce, topped with a slice of slow-baked garlic.
Zhi Yun | 旨醞
Add: 38F, No. 555, Siyuan Rd., Xinzhuang Dist, New Taipei City
(新北市新莊區思源路555號38樓)
Tel: (02) 2278-6688
Website: www.zhi-yun.com.tw
