It was my dad's non-biological brother's* birthday, so we all went for lunch together at Salt & Stone in 101, a restaurant that they frequent.
I didn't originally have high hopes because I don't have much confidence in food in 101. I ate at the food court a few times when I attended conferences there. My dad's friend also treated us to dinner once at the restaurant on the 36th floor. My overall impression of 101 is that the food is expensive, greasy, and bad. I had to eat a lot of unsatisfying calories that made me too full for food that I actually liked. They are really depressing, but I got a pleasant surprise this time.
Taipei Xinyi Italian Restaurant: Salt & Stone 101–Menu and Pricing
The menu at Salt & Stone, like many others, have been digitalized. We viewed the menu by scanning the QR code on the table. But their menu isn't put on a website or an online ordering system. The link leads to a Google Drive folder with a few PDFs and Google Docs. Once we were done, we ordered with the server. This isn't really the point but this wasn't really user-friendly. Some of our menus wouldn't load or kept disappearing after switching pages. Finally, my brother-in-law sent screenshots to the family group chat for everyone to view in our galleries. The menu comes in both English and Chinese without special request though, which makes it really convenient since it could be hard to order Italian food reading Chinese descriptions.
Salt & Stone is in 101 after all, so it obviously is on the mid to pricey side. Not counting Uncle's grand-daughter, we spent an average of NTD$1,000 each. The minimum charge is actually NTD$400 per person. How much you spend really depends on what you order. If you are coming with just a few friends, I'm pretty sure lunch could be covered in about NTD$500–NTD$800 each. Don't run away from here because of the price! Please keep reading and decide later. My entire family was pretty impressed by the quality and character of each dish.
Taipei Xinyi Italian Restaurant: Salt & Stone 101–Starters
The Burrata 'Panzanella'(NTD$480) was recommended by Auntie. I've previously mentioned that I don't like truffle. Though you can see the dish apparently covered in truffle sauce, there wasn't a strong truffle scent nor taste. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a good or bad thing but it's great for me. The rich burrata is complemented by the light cherry tomatoes. The bread on the bottom is completely soaked in olive oil and balsamic, making it super soft. But the crust is still crispy like croutons. The combination of various texture tasted amazing. But if you are ordering this for the truffle you might be disappointed.
Their salad is honestly the definition of fusion. They are all based on lettuce and colorful cherry tomatoes that you would traditionally find in Italian salads but they each have their own special features. It wasn't my cheat day the day we went for lunch, so I behaved and ordered the 'Thai' Steak Salad and my mom ordered a Chipotle Chicken Salad for everyone to share. The salad is actually pretty big and perfectly enough to serve as a main course.
The 'Thai' Steak Salad (NTD$450) is mainly kale with lime and cilantro. It was horrifying when I spotted it, I absolutely hate cilantro! I immediately removed them and gave them to my brother-in-law. The black dots you can see on top are quinoa. The red strips are red chili peppers. The seeds have been removed so I honestly didn't think it was spicy at all. But I love spicy food, so I'm not sure how other people would feel about it. The more you get to the bottom, the more you could taste the fragrant basil and sweet spiciness of the raw red onions. The steak is about medium to medium-well, which is slightly more cooked than my usually preference of medium-rare. But the steak is still very tender with a smokey aroma.
Chipotle Chicken Salad(NTD$360元) I originally thought that this might be similar to a burrito bowl. But this was also based on traditional salad ingredients including lettuce and cherry tomatoes, with additional celery and cilantro lime corn, topped off with tortilla chips which are obviously essential to Mexican dishes. Cilantro often shows up in Mexican food but since the other spices are so strong, they usually aren't overpowering. I was very worried that the cilantro lime corn would have a strong cilantro taste that takes over the entire dish but it didn't! Which is great. The grilled chicken was cut into really tiny pieces but tender nonetheless. The chipotle dressing on top was not spicy at all but very smokey and aromatic.
Taipei Xinyi Italian Restaurant: Salt & Stone 101–Pasta
Uncle's daughter said that every pasta dish at Salt & Stone is great. My sister and my dad respectively ordered the Sausage Malloreddus and Squid Tagliolini but I didn't try either of them. Because I am allergic to seafood and JOEY DOESN'T SHARE FOOD. Joey as in my sister.
Sausage Malloreddus(NTD$380) Please don't mistake "sausage" as meaning you would see actual sausages in this dish, like my friend who complained that he saw no anchovies in his spaghetti with anchovies. Italian sausages are like breakfast sausages, the kind where you are can see that it's actually made from minced meat, unlike regular sausages and hot dogs that (are also delicious but) basically just look like play dough. When Italian sausages are added to pasta, the casing is removed and the minced meat is crushed to form the sauce. When the dish is served, it would simply look like minced pork. They simple use sausages instead for the flavor. This dish is made with malloreddus while there's another dish on the menu made with cavetelli. While they are similar in shape, malloreddus is made with ridges on the outside, which makes them look a bit like caterpillars. Cavetelli is smooth on the outside. Malloreddus is perfect for this dish because of how the sauce would be hugged in every ridge, crack, and opening. My mom had the honor of tasting a bite and said that the malloreddus was perfectly al dente and not powdery in the center at all, perfectly retaining the sauce with rich flavor.
Squid Tagliolini(NTD$360)Tagliolini is like a combination of spaghetti and tagliatelle. From the side it is almost shaped as a rectangle with rounded corners, which makes them slightly flatter but thicker than spaghetti. It is perfect for a light and smooth sauce. My parents order squid pasta very often and said that a lot of them seem as if they simply used black pasta. But the squid pasta at Salt & Stone was very special and aromatic. It wasn't too greasy but was full of flavor and not fishy at all. The white stuff you see on top of the pasta is actually squid that has been sliced into small thin pieces! My mom said that when she eats squid pasta, it often felt like she was eating squid and pasta separately. Because squid has thicker and harder fibers, she would bite into the relatively softer pasta and spend much more time chewing on the squid. And it would sometimes even get stuck in her teeth. But with such thin slices of squid, it was tender and felt like it was part of the pasta. When I asked her to describe it, she just stared at the picture and kept saying "that looks so goooood. It was so gooooood."
Taipei Xinyi Italian Restaurant: Salt & Stone 101–Pizza
The pizzas at Salt & Stone are thin crust, my favorite. The dough was perfectly chewy. My dad also happily munched on all the pizza crust but I'm not sure if it was because he loved it or her just loves carbs. He would always eat all the crust off our plates when we leave them behind. No, not because he's trying not to waste food when we are too full or too carb-conscious, he honestly loves them.
Killa Bees Pizza(NTD$420元) this was also one of Uncle's family's orders. It's basically a pepperoni pizza. Even though this isn't exactly a traditional Italian pizza flavor, it is one of the classics and we had to try. This seems to be my brother-in-law's favorite. It's a very people-pleasing flavor that I don't think anyone would take issue with. It was also the first pizza to go. I think it tasted a bit on the sweet side and my sister thought it was a bit spicy. Now that I look closely at the menu I guess that was the hot honey. And now that I look at the name of the pizza, it makes a lot of sense. But we were only told that it was a pepperoni pizza at the time. Basically, we tasted and reviewed everything without really paying much attention to the menu, but our tongues did not fail us. I personally think that there are much more special and great choices you can order from at Slat & Stone and this is a bit of a waste of stomach space. But overall, it tasted good. So if you liked the description of this pizza, it's still worth a try.
Farmer's Pizza(NTD$420元) Auntie ordered this one and I think it was the best and most special out of all the pizzas we ordered today. The pizza is covered with a creamy layer of undercooked eggs. You could see the eggs drip off the surface as you pick up a slice. As soon as you bite into it the taste permeates through your mouth like a rich, smooth cream sauce that isn't too heavy. The bacon was probably placed under the eggs forming a thin layer. I didn't see or feel the texture of bacon but one of the most distinct taste was the smokey flavor of bacon when I bit into it. When I said this my mom said that I was imagining things because it was an egg pizza but I checked the menu when I got home and saw that there really was bacon listed on the menu! Never doubt my taste buds. I didn't detect any potatoes though. I'm guessing they mashed the potatoes and mixed with the fontina, which is a cheese with a high percentage of fat, and that is what makes the pizza so rich and creamy. By the way, I take no issue with real, fresh cheese that is high in fat. Eating animal fat is very important for keeping smooth and young-looking skin. I only have a problem with regular cooking oil and seed oil.
My mom ordered a Sweet Pig Pizza (NTD$420) which really is a Hawaiian Pizza. She said she read online that this one should not be overlooked. I cannot believe that they are serving pineapple on pizza at an Italian restaurant. If Gordon Ramsay knew would he rush over to burn it to the ground? The pizza was special for a Hawaiian and it looks really pretty, there also wasn't much pineapple. Instead of ham, they used serrano for the pizza. Serrano plus cheese made the entire pizza very salty and it just tasted like serrano and nothing else. Cold cuts would be much better. Even my mom admitted that it wasn't a great choice on her behalf. It's not terrible but I think this something I'd avoid.
Taipei Xinyi Italian Restaurant: Salt & Stone 101–Mains
Taking the portions and price into consideration, the mains are really quite expensive. But their beef and steak was honestly delicious. Uncle's daughter kept saying "they aren't known for their beef, but their beef really is great." Both our families are beef lovers. Though I usually only eat grass-fed beef, which would mainly be from Australia or Paraguay, I cannot deny that good quality US beef is delicious.
Our side of the table ordered a 'Pastrami' Beef Short Ribs (NTD$980元) to share. Even though there are only three slices, everyone else ordered main courses, my mom doesn't eat undercooked beef, and I am a food monster, I had the luck of hogging and entire piece for myself. The short ribs were about medium-rare to medium, which is close to how I usually like my steak. The fat is evenly distributed across the steak, as short ribs should, which made the steak so tender that it felt as if it melted in my mouth. The surface was perfectly pan-seared till it's crispy, almost as if it has been fried. The contrast of the texture complemented each other so well. It was scrumptious. The purple sauce on the side is red cabbage catsup. It's slightly sour and sweet, which was very special and surprising worked perfectly with the short ribs. The yellow sauce is rye bread sauce, which just tasted salty to me, there wasn't anything too special about that part.
Finally, we arrive at the last dish. My brother-in-law's 最後來到了雪莉姐夫的S+S Burger (CAB Prime) (NNTD$480). Sorry, I'm not saving the best for the last. It just happened to be the last dish in this post and it was the last to arrive. It took really long and my sister and I kind of forgot we even ordered this when it arrived. Anyway, I personally think that this is something that you can skip. Salt & Stone has a well-known bakery section. My brother-in-law and I both agree that the whole point of this burger was the buns. They tasted like they have been freshly grilled with butter and are soft, fluffy, and slightly sweet. I won't dispute that the buns were great but the patty was way too dry. You can literally see how dry it is with your eyes. When you pick up the burger, there is no meat juice, just water from the tomato and lettuce dripping.
In conclusion we had an amazing time today and enjoyed the food a lot. Which doesn't happen very often at these large gatherings. I guess it's always better to eat with people that you are closer to because you probably have similar taste.
Taipei Xinyi Italian Restaurant: Salt & Stone 101–Store Info
Name: Salt & Stone
Address: 4F, No. 45, City Hall Road, Xinyi District (4F of Taipei 101)
Phone number: (02)8101-8177
Facebook fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/saltandstone.taiwan/
Online reservation: https://cutt.ly/SS_reservation
*By the way, if you are not familiar with the concept of non-biological siblings, it is very popular in Chinese culture. People that grow up together or/and are so close that they virtually treat each other like siblings would make the relationship official as 'non-biological' siblings. Similar to the idea of godmothers and godfathers in Western culture, except it's with siblings. So basically, it was my uncles birthday. I feel obligated to explain this because Ares always rolls his eyes when I mention this. I have a non-biological brother of my own and Ares always snaps at me and insists that "you don't have a brother" when I mention him.
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