At Xiao Liu’s Cafeteria, the “à la carte” seafood course actually includes top-grade tuna belly.

Text & photos byMazi Little Rabbit

To those who often see posts about Xiao Liu’s Dining Hall on Little Rabbit’s fan page, here’s a heads-up: if you want to order the omakase set meal (600 TWD per person), currently only those who make a phone reservation can do so, to help the restaurant prepare ingredients. Walk-in customers can’t order the omakase. Also, please note that the contents of the omakase at Xiao Liu’s Dining Hall mainly consist of fresh seafood available from the current season and daily fish market/fishing port—so it may vary each day. Please don’t complain about not getting what you saw other bloggers eat online—Little Rabbit and I also pay for our meals just like everyone else, and we eat whatever is available. The owner really can’t specially cook exclusive dishes just for us.

Just like today, Little Rabbit knew it was tuna season and specifically asked the owner if they had any tuna. Luckily, they did, so we got to eat it. If you’re reading this article and go the next day, you might not get the same dishes, because the last premium red throat tuna was eaten by me that day—the seafood changes daily. So please understand the charm of Xiao Liu’s Dining Hall: everything is fresh and delicious, and you can ask the owner for recommendations.

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Woke up in the morning and suddenly really craved Xiao Liu’s Dining Hall for some reason. Maybe it was seeing my colleague’s photos from eating there yesterday, or remembering how the owner mentioned it’s tuna season. So after work, I rushed over to put my name down and successfully got to taste the delicious tuna belly—and so many other amazing dishes. Can only say luck was really on my side. Once again, my gut feeling is spot on—you’ve got to act when you want to eat!

Today I didn’t go for the omakase set, but picked available ingredients à la carte. Couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed it—today there were so many great dishes, I ate to my heart’s content and felt super satisfied and happy. The most fun part today was the chef’s signature à la carte [N<], and even when I was full at the end, I still really wanted the N< rice. The owner said he could whip up a bowl for me if I wanted, but only one because he said my friend and I would be fine with one, and he wouldn’t let me order two. It’s a friend-only special, and normally this dish isn’t even on the menu!

Because the markets were closed during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the owner couldn’t get regular seafood, so he stocked up on many high-end, rare, and special seafood items as well as imported seafood. And being the food lover that I am, wanting this and that, the owner gave me an ultra-luxurious à la carte seafood platter, which is what the owner calls it—a mix of whatever fresh ingredients he had that day all thrown into one bowl. But wow, this bowl… it’s seriously over-the-top casual!

This bowl of à la carte seafood platter includes: black tuna otoro belly, Yilan Guishan Island golden-shell shrimp, Hokkaido horse dung sea urchin, red something, white something, salmon, flounder fin meat (seasonal). The “golden-shell shrimp” had just arrived in Taiwan that afternoon around 3 PM and reached Xiao Liu’s by 6 PM—they were so sweet and bouncy it was crazy; the “Hokkaido horse dung sea urchin” had just arrived in Taiwan that afternoon as well, so it was super sweet; and insanely, there were also two slices of “black tuna otoro belly”—owner, are you even trying to stay in business?!

The à la carte seafood platter really gives insane value for money, although just the regular seafood platter at Xiao Liu’s is already incredibly generous—you don’t need this one unless you want to be too full to enjoy anything else.

Xiao Liu’s Dining Hall has many gourmet customers who love tuna belly, and even though it’s not cheap and this year the supply is lower and the price higher, the chef still stocked up to satisfy the regulars.The price is reasonable, with great cost-performance—it’s definitely more worthwhile than going to a regular Japanese restaurant or taking a high-speed train to Donggang. Friends who love tuna belly, be sure to catch the tuna season while it lasts—the quantity is really limited. If you miss out, don’t say we didn’t give you the heads-up.

% grade Toro tuna belly. Look at that beautiful marbling, the melt-in-your-mouth texture—it’s simply mesmerizing~

% The... texture is delicate yet firm, each bite incredibly rich and flavorful, leaving a deep impression. It’s truly delightful, and once you try it, you won’t forget it.

% As mentioned in the Japanese review. When you lift the lid, you can barely tell what’s inside, but the texture is fresh and bouncy, really delicious.

% This is one of our favorite dishes... When we asked Chef Xiaoshu why he imported Japanese squid, he said because the markets were closed during the holiday and regular seafood wasn’t available, so he imported very sweet Japanese squid, which has a great bounce to it and is super sweet.

% And... the highlight of the day. Today we also had a giant blackthroat, previously I’d had one over a kilo at Xiao Liu’s which was already quite rare, but today’s was about three kilos—huge, astonishingly big. By the time I got there, half was already gone, but you can imagine how big the whole fish was. Chef Xiaoshu said something this size is extremely rare, truly top-grade.

% This dish is also really satisfying. There was a lot of it, and the texture was great too, truly a treat.

% Also had scallops and white scallops. Today we had both red and white ones—they look pretty similar, but the flesh is fresh and bouncy, really yummy.

% Mixed review. Today’s other highlight was the redthroat portion. The chef said the redthroat section is richer in fat, and the one we had was about 9 liang (around 3-4 oz), already top-grade. At a high-end Japanese restaurant it would probably cost around a thousand TWD, and it’s usually quite rare because it’s rich in oil, making the fish super tender. This one was especially fatty, the flesh meltingly tender and delicious—we two finished it in no time, super satisfied.

% And the grilled dish. I always ask for the most juicy one possible. The chef said that nowadays the most juicy ones are these, which suit summer and are refreshing.

% Also had clams. When I was younger, my family would steam clams when I got home, and I found them really tasty. These are also really good—fresh and full of flavor.

% Another highlight today. This was the first dish I chose today. I saw on the internet that people who went to the free food group I missed out on were eating this “scallop and sea urchin burger,” and I was in agony just looking at the photos—I really wanted to eat it. Scallops paired with fresh Hokkaido horse dung sea urchin, the taste is fragrant and tender, truly heavenly. This dish is amazing, breaking all the rules of indulgence!! If I hadn’t eaten so much today, I could’ve easily polished off several of these burgers~

Haha, today I sat right in front of the tuna belly, and just looking at that beautiful marbling made me imagine how delicious it must be~

Xiao Liu’s Dining Hall
No. 8, Lane 259, Songjiang Road, Taipei City
(Exit 3 of Xingtian Temple MRT Station, turn left into the lane next to Chang Hwa Bank)
Phone: 02-2506-0065 (best to call around 10:30 AM to reserve)

Reflections:
It’s been over a year since I first visited Xiao Liu’s Dining Hall in early April last year.Chef Xiaoshu is one of the most sincere, dedicated, and passionate Japanese chefs I’ve met. Even though Xiao Liu’s has become a super-popular restaurant over the year, Xiaoshu remains just as humble and down-to-earth as when I first met him. Even when occasionally criticized by customers—which can be a bit hurtful—he still stays true to his genuine self, serving quality food with sincerity. Some restaurants change drastically once they become famous—prices go up, attitudes become arrogant, and they start picking their customers—but the true value is always judged by the customers. Especially in Taipei, so many self-proclaimed “unique” restaurants create a huge distance between themselves and diners—you feel like you have to beg for good service, and end up paying just to suffer. I still prefer the relaxed, affordable Xiao Liu’s Dining Hall—at least you eat happily without having to deal with attitude.

%Jialuo Chun returned to the scene of yesterday’s landing[Casual Seafood N<]

%After reviewing the itinerary again, ×? trips have been made, and each time the experience has been different. I hope everyone can enjoy it this way.〖/p>

Maji Little Rabbit’s Flying Map
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