The price skyrockets with truffle eggs topped with premium white truffles — a single dish costs 2,500 NTD

▲Poached egg with green asparagus, Parmesan cheese sauce, and white truffle. 2,500 TWD. (Photo/text provided by Mandarin Oriental, the same below)

Travel Center / General Report

It’s white truffle season again! Mandarin Oriental Taipei’s Bencotto Italian Restaurant, led by Italian Chef Lorris Pistillo, has selected premium white truffles from Alba in northern Italy—known as the “diamonds of the dining table”—and crafted dishes that perfectly complement their flavor. Due to this year’s price increase for white truffles, the truffle-enhanced dishes have seen a significant price hike. Even something as simple as a poached egg with green asparagus and Parmesan cheese sauce now costs 2,500 TWD.

Alba, located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, has become synonymous with top-tier white truffles due to the exceptional quality produced there. The white truffle season runs from late October to January of the following year. According to suppliers, this year’s summer saw lower than usual rainfall and a dry climate, which affected truffle growth, causing prices to double compared to previous years. The premium white truffles used at Mandarin Oriental Taipei are sourced from renowned Italian truffle hunter Franco Canta.


▲Aged Italian rice with Parmesan cheese and white truffle. 2,800 TWD.

For these white truffle-inspired dishes, the chef draws on authentic Italian cuisine, emphasizing respect for the natural flavors of the ingredients. The offerings include Jerusalem artichoke soup with white truffle, poached egg with green asparagus, Parmesan cheese sauce, and white truffle, aged Italian rice with Parmesan cheese and white truffle, and pasta with Parmesan cheese and white truffle. Aside from the Italian risotto priced at 2,800 TWD, the others are all 2,500 TWD. The humble poached egg jumps in price to over 2,000 TWD once it’s elevated by white truffle.


▲Premium white truffle from Alba in northern Italy, known as the “diamond of the dining table.”