western/event: i still strongly recommend CHILI's

CHILI's
Neo 19 Building (near Xinyi Vieshow/101)
No. 22, Song Shou Rd, 2 FL
(02) 2345-8838

MRT: Taipei City Hall

Hours: Sun- Thurs: 11 AM - 10 PM; Fri/Sat 11 AM - 11 PM

website: chilis.com.tw English and Chinese versions

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs and kids menu & crayons available, sometimes balloons. room for strollers and large groups.

Visit reviewed: 5/9/2011

Previous visit reviewed: 7/2005

Happy July 4th! I've been to Chili's more times than I probably should admit since I first reviewed it almost six (!) years ago- (back when I was committing food blogging taboos such as using flash for pictures). Chili's has a familiar menu, lots of room for large groups (make advance reservations if possible!) and a Southwestern Tex Mex menu that has guacamole and all the fixings for the fajitas I often order (my usual is steak fajitas and quesadilla explosion salad, sometimes triple dipper appetizers or molten chocolate cake dessert).

But in all my visits there I've never tried their popular signature honey chipotle crispers, so I was pretty excited to be invited to see their cooking demo and try it out (for free!) along with a margarita.

I rarely get invited to media/press events so I was quite antsy when it started over an hour after the invitation time, but soon Chef Mike Winkelmann, Chili's culinary consultant, got cooking. He showed how the honey chipotle sauce was made from scratch, as well as how he prepared the chicken crispers for frying.

The chicken crispers undressed...

The chipotle peppers are smoke dried peppers and have a distinctive flavor that is complemented by the honey in the sauce.

Then the secret to coating the chicken crispers with the honey chipotle sauce? Putting it in a sealed container and shaking it! 

The result is a sweet, tangy, spicy and sticky coating to the crispy texture on the outside and tender meat inside. With corn on the cob and fries, one portion is enough to share. 

It was cool to take a peek at what goes on in the kitchen at Chili's as part of their culinary roadshow in Asia, where Chef Mike also prepared demos in Guam, Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia. Thanks to Chili's for the take home goodies and I look forward to checking out the new Chili's location that opened recently on Minsheng East Road in the Song Shan District.

OTHER LOCATIONS

Minsheng
Building A 1st Floor
No.134, Minsheng E. Rd., Sec. 3
Songshan District
(02)2545-8838

Tian Mu
No. 200, Zhong Cheng Rd, Sec. 2
(02)2875-4838

Taichung
No. 120, He S. Rd, Sec. 3
(04)3602-8838

dessert/german: i recommend WENDEL'S GERMAN BAKERY AND BISTRO

WENDEL'S GERMAN BAKERY AND BISTRO
No. 28, Lane 260, GuangFu S. Rd.
(02) 2711-8919

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall

website: wendels-bakery.com English, Chinese and German

hours: 9AM - 10PM

$-$$

visits reviewed: 12/7/2010 and 5/5/2011

The first time I tried anything of Wendel's was at one of the TAS Food Fairs, where I devoured a small plate of sauteed mushrooms after waiting in a long line. So when I saw the familiar looking logo in the DaAn district, I was pleasantly surprised and excited to get to try out more from Taipei's famous German bakery.

I've never been to Wendel's bistro and bakery location in Tienmu, but Wendel's location in DaAn (newly opened last November) is a very enticing space with one side dedicated to freshly baked goods to eat there or take away and the other to seating which fills up very quickly these days. We were hoping to grab a table to sit on a weekday afternoon, but the place was packed.

So of course, I ended up browsing. A great place to browse for gifts or desserts to bring over to a friend or relatives house, including chocolates...

fruit tarts and cookies....

huge slices of Vienna apple cake, berry almond pudding, blueberry crumb cake or banana cake...

house specialty bretzels (aka pretzels)...

or an array of breads,  buns, danishes or almond kringles...

Even though I was full from lunch elsewhere, I still ended up with a bag full of goodies. Wendel's banana bread was marked a best seller and for good reason, the sweetness comes from mashed bananas and was moist and cake-like. I didn't like the olive focaccia, as much as the olive bread from Maison Keyser or Original Bakery, as I found it a tad dry, but I found myself addicted to the bretzel which was chewy and salty.

I definitely want to check out the dine in menu sometime, either for breakfast or lunch. Wendel's also offers seasonal specials, such as christmas cookies, turkey baskets and gingerbread house activities for Christmas, or special cakes for Mother's Day.

OTHER LOCATIONS:

No.5, Dexing West Rd.
Tienmu, Taipei
(02) 2831-4592 - deli
(02) 2831-4415 - bistro
MRT: Zhishan

Takashimaya branch, B1
No. 55, Sec. 2, Zhong Cheng Rd.,
Shilin
(02) 2834-5447

Lolli Gelato Q-square branch, B3
No. 1, Sec. 1, Cheng de Rd.,
(02) 2552-7926