Really good Chinese food in an elegant setting. Red Castle is an old Victorian building built in 1899, and opened as a restaurant in the year 2000, the interior completely renovated.

Entrance:

The first two floors of the building serve traditional Taiwanese food, the 2nd floor providing more private rooms/spaces for parties. The third floor, the top area with all the christmas lights, is a European style coffee/bar area with outdoor seating along the veranda. I went up there to take a look after dinner, and the modern, dark gray decor with jagged glass chandeliers and Jazz music playing in the background, really made me feel like I wasn’t in Taipei anymore! People up there were eating big ice cream sundaes, cakes, drinking coffee, and enjoying the pretty mountain and river view of Danshui. Looked like a good place to sit and relax, I definitely want to come back some time.

Left: the sign to go into an alley leading up to Red Castle.
Right: the 106 steps up to the restaurant. A tiring climb for unfit hungry chickens like me!


Interior:

Bright lighting and stone walls with windows, with dark wooden tables and comfy upholstered chairs. Kind of decorated like a home.

Stir-fried Bitter Squash with Salty Egg NT$180

This is one of my favorite Chinese dishes! Red Castle makes it good: soft and crispy strips of yummy bitter bitter melon stir-fried with slices of yummy salty salty preserved eggs into a thick gooey and creamy mix. Definitely an acquired taste, but I love it! Perfectly bitter and salty and creamy, great with a steaming bowl of plain rice.
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A good place to have a comfortable, casual meal of tapas with friends. Taller de Tapas is only a few years old, but is very popular. For groups of more than 2 people, you will usually have to wait atleast 30 minutes for a table. I would recommend making a reservation for larger groups, and also coming earlier, as the more popular dishes (like fried artichoke hearts and chickpeas with Iberican bacon) are usually sold out later in the night.

Entrance:

There is also outdoor seating in a little square facing the restaurant.

A table full of yummy tapas:

From top left corner clockwise: pan con tomate, fried cod fritters, patatas bravas, sauteed chickpeas, fried calamari, and garlic clams.

Close up of the pan con tomate (€2)

I’ve been wondering what the perfect pan con tomate is. Is it supposed to be soggy or crunchy? Taller de Tapas makes them tough, a little crunchy, a little soggy, soaked with olive oil and smeared with lots of wet tomato.
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My first curry in weeks, my first curry in Taiwan! A family friend brought us here, saying that this was the best Indian restaurant they’ve been too. We came on an empty Monday night, but supposedly, it is very full on weekends.

Entrance:

Very clean and bright.

Vegetarian Samosas NT$75

4 mini crunchy samosas filled with spicy potatoes and peas.

Bright green (first time I’ve seen it colored) spicy mint yogurt sauce and spicy raw onions.

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