TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Amaze Restaurant (心宴), a reservation-only, high-end private dining restaurant in Taipei's Neihu District, has launched its new summer menu, “Concerto," by Michelin-starred Chef Jim Yang (楊光宗).
As a celebrated culinary figure with nearly 30 years of experience and a five-time Michelin-star recipient during his 27-year tenure at The Landis Taipei Hotel's Tien Hsiang Lo (天香樓), Yang offers a fresh take on contemporary Chinese cuisine at Amaze Restaurant.
Best-known for his expertise in Jiangsu-Zhejiang dishes, Yang seamlessly blends Western cooking techniques and presentation. He collaborates with a creative young team to redefine modern Chinese dining, showcasing private and elaborate kung fu dishes in a fine dining format.
The new menu draws inspiration from orchestral music, mirroring the restaurant's striking large-scale abstract artwork by Taiwanese artist Paul Chiang (江賢二).
The culinary journey begins with elegant appetizers. The mussels, sourced fresh daily from Matsu, are delicately prepared to retain their tender texture and pristine oceanic flavor.
Taiwan's representative summer ingredient, green bamboo shoots, is presented in a duet: Huadiao bamboo shoots infused with the aroma of Huadiao wine bring out the refreshing essence of wild vegetables.
The smoked fish offers a creative fusion of Japanese tempura and Zhejiang-style smoked fish, deep-fried then braised for a captivating aroma. A revitalized smoked egg harmonizes with four different preparations of tomato and smoked silky cheese, delivering a delicate balance of sweet and sour notes.
The lion's head meatball broth showcases Yang’s meticulous craftsmanship, featuring hand-chopped pork meatballs in a clear, rich broth slow-simmered for eight hours with aged chicken, Jinhua ham, and fresh vegetables.
The honeycomb "gai juan" (chicken roll) and foie gras is a delightful East-meets-West creation inspired by Cantonese dim sum, with a crispy exterior encasing a savory blend of fish paste, fresh prawns, foie gras, and black pork.
One of the main courses reimagines traditional fish balls, transforming them into two types of Italian-style dumplings made from spotted grouper and sashimi-grade scallops, served over delicate strands of winter melon resembling a bird's nest.
The Wuxi Duroc pork and chrysanthemum charcoal features rare Taoyuan Duroc pork belly, braised and fried, then smoked with chrysanthemum charcoal for an aromatic, melt-in-your-mouth experience, balanced by candied lemon slices.
The king prawn and asparagus serve as the concluding main course, featuring rich prawn roe and lard stir-fried with handmade noodles and pan-fried king prawns, then finished with a flavorful prawn head broth.
The feast concludes with a contemporary interpretation of Hong Kong’s signature dessert "Yang Zhi Gan Lu," featuring seasonal mango, orange and coconut milk spheres, and grapefruit granita.
The final taro and sweet potato draws inspiration from Taiwan's history during the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945), transforming the memory of taro as a staple food into a refined dessert with candied taro and sweet potato, matcha ice cream, salted cream, and nutty toffee crisps, offering a delightful blend of textures and a taste of local heritage.
(Taiwan News, Lyla Liu)
