Taiwan Village – Fulham, Wednesday 13th January, 2010

Taiwanese cuisine is something that you don’t really consider when you think of Asian food. Most people will think of Chinese, Thai, Japanese and then possibly Korean. And usually in that order. Malaysian, Singaporean and Taiwanese usually come later, and with this in mind, I was interested to see what the fairly acclaimed Taiwan Village was going to present us with.

It turned out to be a disappointment for a few reasons. Firstly (as I mentioned), it was highly lauded, having garnered praise in various journals, so I’d hoped it was going to be great. Secondly, it should’ve done more to hone its style to a truer representation of Taiwanese cookery. As it was, it tasted like second-rate Chinese food.

The high point was a decent-tasting spring roll, which was crispy and chock-full of seasoned pork and other filler. Unfortunately, the sizzling beef, chicken with rice and noodles we ordered smacked more of an average takeaway than anything else.

You might find that Taiwan Village floats your boat, but to me it was a restaurant that appears to be getting by through virtue of being the only notable Taiwanese restaurant in west London.

Taiwan Village