Blue Cave Restaurant 127, Hsiang Shang North Rd.,Taichung City (04)2302-6545 Hours: 10:00am~10:00pm

By Douglas Habecker

As Hsiao Hsiu-lan, co-owner of Blue Cave Restaurant tells it, she and her husband were vacationing on the Italian island of Capri and its famous blue caverns years ago when they were inspired to recreate the beauty they saw and experienced back home to Taichung.

As anyone who has ever dined at Blue Cave well knows, the couple succeeded in a tremendous way. Helped in small part by the fact that they were professional interior decorators, they created what is easily one of the most strikingly attractive establishments in the city, a place where one can truly pretend they are dining in a large Mediterranean villa.

The restaurant, which serves a variety of Western cuisine, has been in business since 1994 and continues to serve a popular dining spot, although it remains a pleasant secret still waiting to be discovered by many residents.Before, during or after one eats, it is worth simply exploring the two-floor building, which has tall arched windows and entrances, Mediterranean-style tree-shaded courtyards, white stucco-type walls, tiled roof tops and other beautiful touches, including tile floors, heavy wooden furniture, rough Italian farmhouse-type buffet tables, and attractive ironwork decorations.

All this has put Blue Cave into interior design magazines and, more importantly, provides an amazing place to eat, talk, relax and soak up the atmosphere, day or night. 

The menu has a wide range of filling dishes, which all come with soup, salad, coffee or tea and dessert. Salads are available at the buffet table, where there are also other appetizers, breads and similar items. A sampling of main courses includes the Grilled Chicken (NT$450), Roast Beef Spare Ribs (NT$580), US Fillet Steak (NT$680), Baked Fillet of Thai Prawn and Salmon (NT$580) and Baked Pig Knuckle with sauerkraut (NT$580).

Cheaper but just as good are several pastas, like Linguine with Bacon (NT$250), Beef Lasagna (NT$250), and Linguine with fresh clams and garlic (NT$280), plus pizzas and soups.There are also some higher-end specials, like the Blue Cavern Steak and Seafood (NT$888) and the NT$980 Chef's Special Lunch, which comes with pastry-covered soup, salad and bread, coffee or tea, dessert and a choice of either grilled lobster with cheese, grilled chicken, US fillet steak, or garlic lamb chop. From Monday to Friday, there are also lunch specials for NT$280.

Desserts, costing around NT$80, are good and lean towards the Italian side, with Panna Cotta, Tiramisu, Frutta Siciliano and others like cheese cake.  Coffees are NT$120 to NT$150 and beers are NT$100.  To complete any meal, there is a decent wine selection as well.

The restaurant is located on a quiet stretch of Hsiang Shang North Road, between Meitsun and Yingtsai roads, near the corner of Hsiang Shang North and Chung Mei Street (which runs down the side of Peoples Square). 

Blue Cavern's continued success after years of existence, shows that it is not one of the flash-in-the-pan beautiful eateries that spring up in Taichung and close soon after. Rather, decent cuisine combined with an unrivaled setting and atmosphere, makes it a place that should not be missed.

(Blue Cave Restaurant is located at 127, Hsiang Shang North Road and may be contacted at 2302-6545.It is open from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., with lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. and a tea time in between. There is a minimum charge of NT$100, plus 10 percent, per person.)