week 89_Dinner at Marco Polo

For my birthday this year, the hubby and I enjoyed a romantic evening at Shangri-La's Far Eastern Plaza Hotel Taipei.  The hotel has multiple restaurants and we made reservations at Marco Polo, located on the 38th floor. The restaurant is an "Italian" restaurant, also specializing in steaks - and we could certainly see the Italian spices and flavors, but I felt that the menu was very well rounded with offerings for anyone, including a vegetarian set. Marco Polo has received multiple awards over the past three years, and also has some pretty rave reviews online, so it seemed like a good choice for a special occasion... We weren't disappointed!

NOTE ~ You get what you pay for, and you are certainly paying for it here... but the food and the service were both excellent! The seasonal menu includes set meals or a la carte entrees and dishes. We both decided to choose from the set, assuming it would offer the chef's highest recommendations and dishes that pair well together.

Our seven course meal included:

(forgive me, the menu on the website has already been updated so these are terrible descriptions of very delicious and well planned foods... You will just have to take my word for it that they were much more amazing than my meager photos & descriptions)

MP Welcome Bite

Smoked salmon with cream & caviar

Assorted freshly baked breads, crackers,

with olive & anchovy topenade, oil & vinegar dipping sauce

Vegetable Soup (not pictured)

Salad with Prosciutto and freshly grated Parmesan (not pictured)

Homemade pasta with meat sauce

Entree

Husband: Ribeye

Entree

Me: Roast Duck with dipping sauce and sides

Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse (below), 

Assorted candies & cookies (not pictured)

You know the restaurant is fancy when the food comes out in such small portions on such large dishes! ;) We had fun sampling each other's selections, and sorting the bite sized desserts from good to best. The portions were small to moderately sized, but with the 7 course set, I could not have eaten another bite more! You probably cannot tell in the photos, but the view of Taipei 101 at night is stunning, and the restaurant seated us at a table with a perfect view of Taipei 101 and the downtown skyline.

It was a fantastic choice for a special occasion ~ now how on earth will we top that for our anniversary? :)