Outstanding Modern European Cuisine at POPINA

We’ve recently been making an effort to explore the area around Zhongshan MRT Station, an area saturated with little boutiques, great food, and (randomly) hair salons. We’ve come to rely on this neighbourhood — home to the infamous Linsen North Road — for Japanese food, but one thing we hadn’t seen much of was western food. Luckily for us, after a bit of research on Google Maps, we stumbled upon an absolute gem of a place: POPINA. Just around the corner from the Regent Hotel, this restaurant offers some really delicious modern European cuisine in a tavern-like setting. Their head chef, we discovered, lived in Italy, France and Australia, and this mix of cultures and cuisines is apparent in their creative menu. This restaurant is by no means cheap, but if you’re willing to spend a little extra for some phenomenal food, we can’t recommend it enough.

As we sat down to consult the menu, our waitress brought over a bowl of truffle popcorn. Our group had a mixed reaction to this — some of us loved the way they took a simple snack and elevated it with the distinctive earthy flavour of the truffle, making for a light, fun snack that was playfully ridiculous. The rest of our group couldn’t understand why you’d bother putting truffle on popcorn. In any case, it was free.

The first thing we ordered was the sautéed squid with spicy pomelo and salmon roe ($320). From the first bite, we knew we were onto a winner — these baby squids were ridiculously tender and seasoned to perfection with a slightly spicy citrus sauce from Japan. The roe added another layer to the texture and flavour both, and we just couldn’t get enough. We’d order this again for sure.

Next, we went for the mushroom escargot pastry with black truffle ($420). This was also incredible. The pastry was soft and flaky and the filling was divine. The combination of truffle and escargot and mushroom was perfect. Don’t be scared to try this if it’s on the menu again — the escargot was juicy but mellow in flavour, so even if you aren’t sure snails are your things we’re confident you’d enjoy them.

The third starter we ordered was by far our favourite, which we don’t say lightly since we loved the others: the stewed lank shank and gorgonzola cheese croquette ($450). This was as meaty and cheesy as could be without losing any of the refinement that we’d come to expect from the other dishes we’d tried. Sharp gorgonzola cheese paired beautifully with lamb in an oozing ball of goodness, drizzled with a gorgeous tomato sauce.

The first entree we tried was the roasted spring chicken with apple chestnut butter sauce ($750). This blew us away. The chicken was perfectly cooked until it practically melted in your mouth, and the sweet sauce was so delicious that we immediately ordered some bread to soak it up with. The chefs kindly offered to cut it since we were sharing, saving us from the awkwardness of trying to divvy it up for ourselves. If you ever see this on the menu again, we strongly recommend giving it a try.

Our next main was the pan-fried veal tenderloin in Morel sauce ($900), which also didn’t disappoint. The veal was cooked so well that it was almost creamy, and the seasonal vegetables it came with were tender, and just packed with flavour. We particularly loved the two kinds of mushrooms, which we enjoyed almost as much as the meat itself.

Our last entree was the crispy confit duck leg with chestnut gnocchi and seasonal vegetables ($700), which was served with a little dollop of Dijon mustard. Of everything we had tried so far, this was the most underwhelming, though it was still really really good. The duck was delicious, but unless you ate it with the mustard it could be a tad bland. The chestnut gnocchi were nice, but overall the dish felt a little less inspired than the others. Looking back now, we realize that we may have felt differently if this were the first dish we tried, but it had a hard time comparing with the first two mains, which were just incredible. Still, we enjoyed it.

We were quite full at this stage and definitely should have called it a night, but we couldn’t resist ordering dessert. The first thing we chose was the almond meringue chestnut mont blanc with chestnut ice cream ($240). To be honest, this didn’t impress us as much as the savoury courses. It was absolutely fantastic in its own right but lacked creativity we had come to expect. It could also have done more with flavour and texture, which were basically the same: soft, and creamy, and chestnutty. If that’s your thing, we’re sure this will be far up your street, but otherwise, you could go without ordering this.

Ironically, the next dessert we got — the truffle chocolate lava cake with truffle ice cream ($260) — was a little too creative for us. Pairing truffle and chocolate together was an ambitious move (and who are we kidding, chocolate lava cake and ice cream are always amazing) but we couldn’t really see how they complimented each other. The truffle flavour wasn’t overpowering per se but didn’t really do anything to improve the dessert in any way. In a way, it was worth trying for the novelty factor, but we wouldn’t get it again.

Do bear in mind that POPINA’s menu changes seasonally, but check out some of their past menus to get an idea of what they serve:

Overall, we highly recommend the food at POPINA. It may look like some pricey, wannabe European bistro, but the food was incredible, so much so that we were raving about it for weeks. In a way we’re devastated that the menu changes seasonally because it means we may not get to eat any of the delicious food we tried ever again, but we’re very much looking forward to going back and trying something new. This place definitely isn’t cheap, and we wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for a casual weeknight dinner but it’s a fantastic option for a date or special occasion.

What’s the vibe?

Cozy restaurant that goes for a European tavern vibe. Customers were mostly Taiwanese, with many coming from the nearby Regent Hotel.

Worth it?

Yes. It’s not cheap at all, but we loved the food. If you’re trying to cut corners money-wise, skip the dessert.

Would you go back?

Definitely. Gotta try that new menu!

Last updated March 2020

POPINA

Hours: 12pm–2:30pm, 5:45pm–10:30pm Closed Wednesdays

Phone: 02 2567 6623

English Address: No. 1, Alley 6, Lane 13, Section 1, Nanjing East Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City

Chinese Address: 台北市中山區南京東路一段13巷6弄1號