Le Champagne 608, Da Ying Street (04) 2323-3333, 2323-3366 Hours：11:30 am-2 pm, 6-9 pm (closed Sundays)

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     French cuisine seems to be taking off in Taichung, thanks to new places like Le Champagne, which looks, feels and tastes like France. Ensuring that authenticity is the French owner, Phillippe Musial, and his Taiwanese/Korean wife, Claire, who has become a connoisseur of French cooking (and a fluent French speaker) after living well over 10 years in that country. Great detailing has gone into the exterior and interior decor of this nice-looking place, with its stone-finished entranceway, deep blue and cream interior, brick-and-wood highlights and open kitchen. The walls are graced with Western-style oil paintings, some by famous local artists, and the ambiance is completed with French music. Phillippe, who hails from Champagne, stresses that the cuisine here is reasonably-priced French family-style food. In the evenings, diners start by picking from a couple appetizers, like Assiette de Crudites (mixed vegetables) or Assiette de Charcuterie (assorted meats), followed by a handful of main courses like Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Bourguignon), prepared with a wine sauce and vegetables; or Poulet a la Provence (Chicken Provencal style), with a nice tomato sauce. Together with a dessert and coffee or tea, this is NT$500 (plus 10%). Lunch, minus the appetizers, is NT$380. The menu will continue to change and grow with other items, like quiche, being added. An equally-attractive and spacious basement hall provides an ideal area of group gatherings, seating up to about 35 people. To get there, take Dadun Road from Taichung Gang Road and turn right onto Da Yeh Road. Turn right again at the first lane (Dadun 17th St.) and its up about a block on the right.