Karuizawa 686, DaDun Road (04) 2327-4747 Hours: 11 am-2 pm Credit cards accepted. Parking available.

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By Jay Wang Translated by Cara Steenstra

The concept behind Karuizawa originated with a small hot pot restaurant in Japan. There are only 22 seats here but it is always packed with diners. Owner Mr. Wang went all the way to Japan several times to get permission from the original 70-something-year-old restaurant owner to sell his secret recipe soup base in Taiwan. This soup base is air-freighted all the way from Japan. Various fresh ingredients can be mixed and matched to your own liking for different prices, from NT$188 (a choice of the basic pork, beef, mutton or chicken) to NT$520 (a seafood combination with over 11 different kinds of seafood). The vegetable choices are great, too, so you can create up to 26 different combinations of hot pot. The soup base comes in six flavors: Konbu, Japanese Style, Spicy, Kimchi, Vegetarian, and Tomato. The light Japanese soy sauce also helps bring out the food's flavors. The interior decor is entirely Japanese-style, with the visual imagery adding to the wholesome Japanese flavors on the menu.