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TAICHUNG RESTAURANT FEATURE
COMPASS MAGAZINE, June 1999
Philippe Cafe et Restaurant

9, GuanQian Road
Moved to: 2, Lane 20, WuQuan W. 6th St, West Dist.
(04) 2376-8089
Hours: 11:30 am-2:30 pm, 5:30-9:30 pm

-- By Douglas Habecker

From both the inside and outside, Philippe Cafe and Restaurant oozes high-end luxury and class, resembling an exclusive club or dining establishment. Sit down with a menu, however, and you will be pleasantly surprised to find that prices are anything but high-end.

Since its opening in late 1997, this extremely attractive restaurant, located directly opposite Caves book store near Taichung Harbor Road, has drawn a steady crowd of Chinese and foreign diners, who can enjoy the fine ambiance without paying too much.

Inside, the restaurant has a very European feel to it, with warm lighting, beautifully-finished wood furniture and paneling, expensive-looking table cloths, marble and parquet floors. Although it is subtle enough to be almost-unnoticeable, the restaurant's western-style cuisine is actually vegetarian. Meat-lovers like myself should not be discouraged from dining there, though, as the food doesn't taste like stereotyped vegetarian fare. Owner Philippe Tsao prefers to refer to his cuisine as "healthy and all-natural."

Thanks to the creative approach of his kitchen, most diners (including yours truly) enjoying the savory, well-balanced and nicely-presented dishes never realize that there's no meat around.

The menu provides a couple good lunch options--the NT$298 lunch small menu and the NT$398 lunch set. The former provides a choice of soups, a main course and a herbal tea of coffee, while the latter provides the addition of an attractively-presented, very good salad/fruit/dessert bar. For dinner, there is the NT$498 "A" set, with salad bar and choices of one appetizer, one soup, one main course and coffee or tea. The "B" and "C" set dinners are similar with a few additions. Selections in each category can also be ordered separately--NT$160 pumpkin cream, mushroom cream or assorted vegetable soups; appetizers like roasted spinach and cheese pinwheels on pepper sauce (NT$180) and roasted truffle and potato pie (NT$220). Main courses include the Italian-style chef recommended noodles (NT$180), assorted vegetables with wild rice and curry (NT$180), roasted assorted vegetables with carrot sauce and roasted bean curd with mushroom sauce.

Afternoon tea times take place between 2 and 5 p.m. For NT$250, a coffee, herbal tea or juice can be chosen from a wide selection, with addition with a high tea-style multi-tiered tray containing cake, fruit and bread or cookies. If all goes well, Tsao hopes to open other differently-themed but similarly-good establishments in Taichung, Taipei and elsewhere. In the meantime, Philippe Cafe will no doubt continue to offer some of the best value and finest ambiance in town.

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