Papa Mia Italian 412-1, Tung Hsing Rd., sec. 3 Tel: 04-2328-6034 http://www.papamia.com.tw Hours: 11:30am-2pm; 5:30pm-10pm (Closed Mondays)

The Real Thing: Papa Mia Italian
By Carol Wang Translated by Sharon Yang

When you step into Papa Mia, you are greeted by the very essence of this Italian restaurant. The kitchen's delectable aroma of simmering sauces and the friendly smiles of welcoming chefs are the first things that tantalize your senses, giving you a hint of the delightful dining experience that awaits you upstairs.

After being seated, my friend and I were presented with extensive menus of appetizers, pastas, pizzas, entrees, desserts and drinks. After much debate, we decided on the Pollo Con Erbe e Crema (chicken and vegetables in sage cream sauce) and the Alfredo with mushrooms, butter, cream and parmesan. An extra NT$80 added soup and coffee/tea to complement our pasta dishes.

Other pasta choices included Bolognese (NT$120) and the NT$180 Nero di Seppia (Squid-Ink), while margherita, gorgonzola and verdura were some of the choices for pizza, which cost from NT$180 to NT$250.

Ada Yen is the head chef behind these masterpieces, and her expertise is a result of a lengthy apprenticeship at a restaurant called Al Borgo in the small Italian town of Rovereto. In that beautiful lakeside setting, Yen learned more than just the Italian cuisine staples of pastas and pizzas. She also learned to prepare entrees such as Roasted Salmon with Lemon, as well as desserts like caramel custard and tiramisu.

"It is different if you learn to cook first-hand than if you learn from books or recipes. I enjoyed being in Italy and learning at Al Borgo," says Yen of her overseas experience.

At Papa Mia, you can taste Italy in each twirl of fettucine and every morsel of
custard. Using authentic Italan methods to prepare food gives Papa Mia its unique flavors, but Yen must also adjust her ingredients according to availability and tastes here in Taichung. She explains that in Rovereto, the restaurant serves several dishes featuring freshwater fish from the
nearby lake. In the same way, Yen now uses local Taiwanese produce to concoct savory Italian dishes.

One original Papa Mia idea is to allow customers to pair their own sauces and pastas. Each day, Yen offers approximately 10 pastas and 20 sauces in menu items and
daily specials. Sauces average around NT$160, with NT$70 to NT$80 added for the pasta of your choice.

Another way that Yen has transported a bit of Italy is through her restaurant's decor. Homey with its dark wooden tables and colorful vegetable prints decorating the walls, Papa Mia is cozy and relaxing. Hanging chrome lamps cast a warm glow over blue tables covered with white paper table cloths, with tables spaced so that there is sufficient privacy for each party. Sitting there in comfortable surroundings, with my pre-dinner minestrone and bruschetta di aglio (garlic bread), it was easy to imagine that I was not actually in Taichung, but at a lovely little eatery in Europe.

Like the owner and head chef, the rest of the staff is friendly and helpful. Our complimentary bread was promptly refilled and my water glass was always full. Smiles accompanied the service, and all of the servers seemed to be conversant in both Chinese and English. The menu is also in both languages, since Papa Mia has its share of foreign customers. As a result of its close proximity to both Evergreen and The Landis hotels, this restaurant offers a 10 percent discount to any guest of those hotels. They only need to show proof of their stay--a room key will suffice.

Having been around for half a decade, Yen's restaurant has many loyal customers who pass the word along to their friends. It looks small from the outside, but the coziness only adds to its appeal. What's more, it not only looks like a real Italian eatery, but tastes that way as well. When you come to Papa Mia, you know that you are getting the real thing.