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COMPASS MAGAZINE December 2007
　

Indian, Thai and other multinational delights at IN Restaurant By Douglas Habecker　Translated by Yeow Boon-Kiat 532, YingCai Rd, 28F (Hotel One); (04) 2303-1234 Hours: buffet breakfast 7-10 am (to 10:30 holidays), lunch 11 am-2:30 pm, dinner 5:30-10 pm Credit cards accepted. 10% service charge. Parking lot. IN Restaurant can be counted among a newer breed of dining establishment that elude any clear-cut label. Although listed in this magazine with Indian restaurants, its menu quickly reveals that dishes also include Chinese, Thai, Burmese, Italian, Japanese and other influences. To use an overused word, IN is a "fusion" restaurant of sorts. Despite lacking a neat category for its cuisine, what is unambiguous among diners is the high-end quality of IN's food, not to mention a great ambiance that includes good views of the city from 28 floors up. Since opening with Hotel ONE a little over a year ago, the restaurant has done well, offering access to five-star food and facilities for surprisingly reasonable prices. Starting in December, diners will get even better value, thanks to the launch of a semi-buffet lunch and dinner menu, costing only NT$600 and NT$900, respectively. For the unfamiliar, "semi-buffet" means that a main course (from six choices) comes with an excellent buffet of fresh fruit, salad, international cold platters, soups, desserts, carved turkey (at dinner) and a "Dan Dan Mian Station" serving Tainan-style "danzai" noodles. For lunch, Senior Sous Chef Eric Lee highlights the Pork Knuckle Vindaloo, featuring stronger, spicier southern Indian flavors that come from stewing with 10 spices and tomatoes. This is served with long Indian rice, and a bowl of refreshing, sweet potato cubes covered in yogurt. For more of an Indonesia flavor, there's the Steamed Sea Bass with Salted Mustard Green and Bamboo Shoot. The steamed fish is prepared with sea salt and served with "abalone" mushrooms, an XO sauce, pickled bamboo shoots and a cylindrical tower of saffron-infused fried rice. For dinner another great option noted by Lee is the Beef Massaman Curry, prepared with two different cuts of chewy, tender beef, cooked in a sweeter, less-spicy, peanut-flavored Massaman paste. It's served with Indian Nan bread or rice and the yogurt sweet potatoes. Other dinner main entrees include Seared Duck Breast with Pumpkin Puree and Tamarind Sauce, and Roasted Pork Rib with Apple BBQ. Lee--whose kitchen team includes two Indian chefs--stresses IN's flexibility as it also offers set meals, a la carte orders and a wide variety of traditional and fusion cuisine. The common factor is an emphasis on healthy, balanced fare made with fresh ingredients and less oil. For now, the tasty new semi-buffet will be offered through December, with the restaurant taking a wait-and-see approach about any possible continuation into the new year. Which makes it all the more important to stop by IN Restaurant this month for a try.

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