TAIPEI: L'idiot 里帝歐餐廳

台北市民生東路3段156號1樓
No. 156, Sec. 3, Minsheng East Road (next to Starbucks)
Hours: 11:30- 2:30PM / 5:30-10:30PM (midnight on Fridays & Saturdays)
(02) 25456966

PRICE: $$$ (approx. NT$1,500/person ~US$50/person)
RATING: YYYY (I strongly recommend this place!)
DIRECTIONS: Hail a cab
RESERVATIONS: Recommended
MENU: English & Chinese!
MUST GET: Cheese stuffed meatballs, strawberry tart

I first heard about this restaurant on TV while I was home in LA with my mom. The name, of course, made me curious. Who names their restaurant the idiot? For those of you interested, according to the Taipei Times it's named after a scene in Steve Martin's LA Story and according to the waitress I asked it's because the owner (Fudy) really enjoys French tv and it was a phrase that he heard often. Whatever it is, who cares? The food is good and that's really all that matters.



When you first sit down, they hand you a huge menu but it's no food menu. Here, they give you their drink menu before you can even look at a food menu. Their drink menu is much more extensive than their food menu. I ordered their Red (Strawberry) Mojito while Joe got their Jamaican mule. Both drinks could have been better, but I was really disappointed with mine. For a mojito, the mint flavor was really lacking. Oh well, so cocktails aren't their forte.



First, they hailed over some amuse bouches for us to sample. The first was ricotta cheese on a toasted baguette which was really tasty. I'm usually not a big fan of cheese, but it simply melted in my mouth.



Then came their ahi tuna tartare. Joe quickly devoured his thus the empty spoon in the background. I actually wish a larger helping of this was on their menu, it was much better than the other piece of tuna which you'll see below.



We ordered their roots salad with ricotta cheese. The salad was a good choice since we had so many heavy foods coming up. It was light with a vinaigrette dressing, but nothing special.



Then came the cheese stuffed meatballs which were by far the best thing I ate that night. The meat itself was tender and juicy. The cheese stuffing inside wasn't overpowering nor was the cheese melted on top. After taking a bite into one of these, I was wishing I had ordered spaghetti and meatballs.

Joe and I also split their lentil and chorizo soup which is not pictured because he started to devour it before I even had the chance to take out my camera! The soup as a whole was just alright, but I enjoyed the hefty portion of chorizo in it. (Good chorizo is hard to find in Taiwan it seems.) But in all honestly, I wouldn't order this again.



So after the meatballs, soup, and salad, I was feeling quite full and our entrees hadn't even arrived yet. We ordered their lasagna and veal ravioli with a side of rosemary potatoes. I've never been a huge fan of lasagna and their lasagna has not changed my mind. It's was just too heavy, but not even as cheesey as I was hoping! Joe, however, loved it and he is a big fan of lasagna; so order one for yourself and let me know what you think.



The veal ravioli was great, but the skin was just too much for me. There wasn't enough filling even though they were good sized raviolis. The seared tuna on top of the ravioli overpowered the taste of the veal ravioli. I think they could have and should have been two separate dishes on their own.



While the rosemary potatoes were good, I was really hoping for some mashed potatoes and I was a bit too full at this point to enjoy them. I think I had only one or two. The skin was crisp and the inside soft, but they could have done with more rosemary.



Luckily, Joe's souffle took twenty minutes to prepare so we had a chance to give our stomachs a short rest. Joe loved his souffle and said it was the best thing he ate all night. I am not a big fan of orange flavored things, so I didn't enjoy nearly as much as he did. However, for souffles it was a good souffle. I recommend this if you like orange zest.



Looking at this picture makes me really want one. The strawberries were covered in sauce which was a bit too sweet for me, although the pistachios on top did take away from some of the sweetness. I ended up scraping off some of the strawberries so I could just pick at the tart itself. The crust was delicious. It reminded me of days my cousins and I would fight over the strawberry crust from Marie Calendar's during the holidays.



And as parting favors, we received homemade lollipops! We got passion fruit and raspberry; once I try it, I'll let you know how it is.



Being in Taiwan, good food that's not Taiwanese, Thai, Japanese, and Italian is hard to come by; so I strongly recommend you come here at least once. The price may be a bit high compared to other restaurants in Taiwan, but it all just depends on what you order.