Dec 1

Dec 1 coast, taipei.

april 2023

my relationship to food in taiwan is so different from any other country. i spent my childhood summers here and we really didn’t eat fancy - it’s where my love of street food really comes from. which isn’t to say we ate at nice places growing up in the states either, but once i started working, my eating habits and explorations have dramatically changed. anyhow - all this to say that on the rare occasion that i make it back to taiwan these days, i usually just want to eat at all the places i’m nostalgic for from childhood and don’t have enough time to even think about booking something new or nice.

but for this trip, i made the effort! even if it was just for one meal i wanted to try fine dining in taipei, which as a city has received many accolades in recent years. i settled on coast because it is seafood-centric, and helmed by two thai chefs cooking with local taiwanese ingredients. the combination was too good and too intriguing to pass up.

the combination of thai and taiwanese with seafood as the focus was absolutely wonderful. the squid and abalone were standouts. our server was lovely and made us feel at ease and taken care of throughout the meal.

the only thing we didn’t love was the main - where we switched from an entirely seafood meal to beef. it was delicious and beautifully cooked, but it felt out of place. at the time, we both though we must just have gotten too full and were worried about how we would make it through the rest of the meal.. but then the lobster fried rice arrived and we devoured it. it was probably the most delicious dish of the night.