Guest House clinched the Two Michelin Star award in the inaugural Taipei Michelin Guide in 2018. Guest House located on level 17 of Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel serve an eclectic range of Chinese cuisines from spicy Szechuan to savoury-sweet Suzhou and Hangzhou. Many classic dishes are given a contemporary twist by 30 year veteran head chef Lin Chiu Wei 林菊偉. Innovative cuisine, lovingly prepared, served in elegant (not opulent) ambiance make Guest House a preferred choice of government and business dignitaries for hosting guests.
Guest House head chef Lin Chiu Wei 林菊偉 born in Taiwan, started as a kitchen apprentice when he was 15 years old. It had been a long journey and hard toil of over 30 years for the dedicated, creative chef.
From his solid grounding in Szechuan, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Taiwan, etc culinary traditions, chef Lin created unique interpretations of Chinese classics. Chef Lin surprises by blending traditions but his creations are always delightful to the palate.
Guest House has a wide range of over 100 different traditional Chinese appetisers and small plates with modern twists. One of their signatures is 泡椒皮蛋 which is pickled chili pepper wrapping a wedge of century egg. The pepper wrapped century egg wedges are served dressed with a blend of aromatic oil and savoury soy sauce.
Guest House's top seller known as 悄悄话 is pork tongue wrapped into a roll with pork ear. The roll is tied tightly together and stewed. The roll is served sliced like thick salami - the gelatinous ear has a cartilage crunch while the tongue feels tenderly spongy to the bite. The popular dish is cleverly named "Whisper" alluding to ears and tongue.
Popular main courses include 鱼子烧豆腐 which is a variation of the iconic spicy ma bo tofu dish with carp fish roe. To make the sauce, chef stir fries spices till the aromas and flavours are released. Next, he adds chicken stock and tofu cubes, allowing the whole concoction to simmer in the wok. In Guest House's rendition of ma bo tofu, chef adds raw as well as cooked carp roe (in 50-50 ratio). The dish tastes mildly spicy with mix of different tender and soft textures from the tofu, raw and cooked roe.
In 花椒油封櫻桃鴨, the meaty duck thigh is marinated and massaged with ginger, scallion and oil. It is first cooked by steaming. The steamed duck thigh is finished by bathing in 160°C oil infused with hot chili spices. The served duck is golden brown and crisp outside. Inside, the meat is tender and juicy. The duck skin and meat are eaten as a filling wedged between hinged soft steamed buns.
百页豆腐丝 a Guest House signature is simply a slab of tofu hand cut into hundreds of thin strands. The tofu strands are steamed, slathered with a blend of chicken oil and light soy sauce dressing, and served. The tofu strands are infused with savoury flavours from the dressing which balanced the soy bean sweetness of tofu. The delicate flavour infused soft threads of tofu is a delight in the mouth and on the palate.
Besides traditional Chinese mainland cuisine, Guest House also feature Taiwanese staples and comfort dishes.
麻油雞飯 is a traditional Taiwan comfort dish of chicken and rice cooked with sesame seed oil served in a claypot. It's a large serving, sufficient for four persons.
Noodle Soup with Pomfret Fish. The soup is made by boiling pig head and leg bones in the stock like the way it is done in rural Taiwan. The flavour is richer than soup made with leg bones alone. In the rich soup are slurpy noodles and tender sweet pieces of fresh pomfret fish meat.
There are many more delightful dishes you can try at Guest House.
Translated by Tony Boey on 1 Mar 2021
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