TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Singaporean chef Nick Sor (蘇濟恒) opened the barbecue restaurant FirePlay in Tianmu in 2019.
In this refined yet rugged fine dining establishment, the industrial-chic ambiance matches the chef's persona, bold on the outside but delicate within.
After joining the Michelin-starred RAW team in 2014, chef Nick's culinary journey has taken him to renowned open-flame restaurants like Firedoor in Sydney, where he trained under master chef Lennox Hastie, and further honed his craft in Japan and Hong Kong.
Leveraging his vast experience, Nick has reinterpreted "barbecue cuisine" through a unique lens, pioneering a "Modern BBQ" culinary style. At FirePlay, this 12-seat restaurant operates on a full reservation basis, and the menu is regularly updated.
Acclaimed as the “Prince of Sauces,” Nick draws on his French culinary background to craft layered, flavor-packed sauces and thoughtful ingredient pairings.
Each dish showcases the chef's talent, from New Zealand venison to Spanish Iberico pork and from Australian wild kangaroo to premium French Sassafras chicken.
A recent menu highlight is the shrimp tomato rice, featuring Spanish Bomba rice simmered in a shrimp-tomato broth topped with Keelung red shrimp, crab meat, and Hokkaido sea urchin. The concentrated shrimp essence and the tangy-sweet tomato create a perfect balance.
Another standout is the wild Taiwan amberjack, grilled and served with roasted white mushrooms and black olives, dressed in a French-style Barigoule sauce made with white wine, mushrooms, coriander seeds, and fennel seeds.
The Changhua duck breast, paired with grilled kale and pumpkin puree, is further elevated by the chef's homemade five-spice walnut sugar, delivering an unexpectedly sweet delight.
Its main dishes, such as the French Sassafras Chicken, were flown and meticulously raised in Yunlin County, then aged for days before being charcoal-grilled and served with a French mustard seed sauce, Japanese leeks, and Cubano bread.
The Australian wild kangaroo loin, with its firm and chewy texture, is dressed in a coffee sauce and hazelnut miso, topped with charred sticky rice peppers and a Balsamic-macerated purple cabbage.
FirePlay highly recommends pairing the meals with non-alcoholic beverages crafted by Bar Naddarach, including the "Liukuei Mountain tea & sweet potato" - a lingering, subtly sweet concoction, and the "apple, roasted tea, bitter melon & lime leaf" - a refreshing palate cleanser blending Japanese roasted tea and charred white cauliflower.
FirePlay's new menu features Australian wild kangaroo. (Taiwan News, Lyla Liu video)
