TheAugBunnies

The Emperor Restaurant established itself with a focus on serving delectable and fresh seafood. It is popular among foreigners especially those who follow the hallyu wave with popular program "Running men" dining here when they filmed in Taiwan. If it was fit for Korean celebrities, we definitely have to  check it out ourselves.

Our day was spend exploring Taipei and we just returned from Shifen and sending sky lanterns with our wishes into the air. Our cab ride took more than 1.5h and we were famished among arriving at the restaurant.


We arrived slightly earlier from our reservation timing and sat at the waiting area in the first floor for 5 minutes as our friendly server set up our tables.



The restaurant is upscale and service quality is top notched. The ambiance is however quite relax and Mr Lobster was kind enough to pose for pictures with us while we wait for our meals.


 The menu was in A3 format and we had to break it into 2 pictures to keep the words in focus. We ordered the Lobster Banko-yaki Set meal which cost about 2680twd/SGD$120 without top ups. From this set, we are then given options to choose from each course with some requiring top ups. English and Chinese menu is available so there is no problem of working out the complex traditional Chinese characters. Check out their latest menu here
 



The friendly server show us the victim of our dinner and explained that they only use live lobsters for our meals. Sorry Mr Lobster!


For our set, we got to choose 2 starters and we kick off with Oysters with garlic sauce. The minced garlic overpowered the dish and I will rather them served the oyster raw to get the most out of it.



Our 2nd starter was the grilled yam wipe that was nicely plated. This tasted like raw water chestnut and had a crunchy texture. Some spice was added to enhance the flavours not that it did it any wonders.



The main draw was presented to us nicely clean up and ready to be smoldered by the hot volcanic stone heated to 500deg celsius. Rice wine is added as the lobster is cooking and the chef kept seasoning to a minimum to present the fresh and natural sweetness of the lobster.


Check out the cooking process!



End result below with the friendly waitress explaining that the green parts are the lobster eggs and can only be found in live lobsters. I have my reservations about this comment although this was the only time i got to sample lobster eggs.



The freshness of the lobster shown in this cooking method and the crunchy chunks left us craving for more.


 The meat fell of its protective shell easily and the heavenly taste was simply amazing. The lobster eggs did not felt too special and tasted like prawn brains.




We continued with your culinary experience with 2 selection from the BBQ menu. First up was the Succulent chicken thigh. This was served skewered style and the skewer seems to be like of the weapons used by the prawn and crab soldiers in the folklore Journey to the West. The meat is very tender and well marinated. Extra seasoning from the provided pink salt not required!



The next BBQ item was the Taiwan Neritic Squid which require a 180twd/SGD$8.15 top up. The squid was beautifully grilled and had a nice smoky flavour. The lime juices had to bring out the sweet juices and the texture was bouncy but not overly chewy.



Our fantastic meal did not end there and our 6th dish was a hotpot where we had to select meat or the seafood option. Fresh greens with shrimp and squid paste were also included in this item. This was the perfect dish to warm our bellies as the weather was really cold and we top up 680twd/SGD$30.75 for the Tottori King crab, scallops and oysters option.

The seafood items were presented nicely in a bowl filled with crushed ice to keep them fresh.



The greens were really fresh and included some tofu and mushrooms which are perfect hotpot items.



We had fun making our own seafood balls from the shrimp and squid paste.


The friendly waitress instructed us not to overcook the seafood items to retain their juices and were always on hand to help with our queries. I was very pleased with their service. The broth tasted amazing and we cannot help it but had to finish every single drop of the rich seafood flavoured broth.




At this time, our tummies were already full to the brim but our next course continued with the Lobster congee which came at a topup of 120tws/SGD$5.40. Despite its name, there was no lobster in it. all you get was the essence of the lobster juice, rice, egg, seaweed, ginger slices and spring onions.


This dish is prepared in front of you and the waitress will simmer and cooked the rice into a congee like consistency. The congee had a rich lobster taste and was not too bad. It will be nice to have some meat or seafood to go with the otherwise plain congee.


Luckily, our exploding tummies still had the room for some dessert and we had the mochi which marked its entrance with a show of vapour from the dry ice. The mochi was not too sweet and we appreciated the dramatic presentation



We choose the mango flavoured ice sorbet which gain brownies points for its lovey dovey presentation. Taste wise, we definitely had better dessert.


We had one of the best seafood experience in Taiwan and we could see why it is popular with the running men members. The service is excellent with the waitress providing us with new plates and napkins and always checking if the taste of the food was acceptable to us. Mark this restaurant as one of the go to places when visiting Taipei, especially for couples that are going for wedding photoshoots. On a side note, we were really impressed with the wash room which provided mouthwash!