Chiou Hwa Chun Place Dazhi Branch

Founded in 1987, Chiou Hwa is a restaurant which serves classic Cantonese dishes across its 2 outlets in Taipei. I visited the Chun Place outlet, which has gorgeous aesthetics from the entrance onwards

The interior of the restaurant is designed in the Japanese “Wabi Sabi” style, featuring arcs that connect different spaces and present asymmetrical yet pleasing aesthetics to the eye. The selected lightings also create a tranquil and sophisticated atmosphere for diners as an escape from the buzz of the city

With the signature dish as the Peking Duck, it is no wonder we needed to call them in advance to make the reservation for the staff to keep 1 duck for us. The secret to this delicacy is the selection of fat ducks that weigh around 3.5kg, mainly raised in Yilan. For the colder weather, it renders the ducks fat and their meat tender. You can enjoy the duck in a few different ways: flour wrap with duck skin, lettuce wrap with duck skin, and something exclusive to this restaurant is the flour wrap with duck skin and popping candy. The duck was sliced perfectly with the crispy skin pairing well with the wrap and condiments. The special one with popping candy adds a surprise to the mouth as well as a sweetness, which makes the bite savoury and sweet

Another limited edition dish was the woodfire honey-roasted char siu, which has a limited number of orders available daily, and each serving only had 6 precious pieces. As I like a sweeter version of char siu with burnt ends, this dish did not really charm me. I found the meat also too lean, so it was slightly tough to eat. An interesting dish which we ordered was the shrimp lettuce wrap with water chestnut, which was a refreshing dish with the natural sweetness of the shrimps and the crunchiness from the lettuce and chestnuts. Another typical Cantonese dish was the Shaoxing claypot chicken pot, which was done pretty well. As a Cantonese, I do think they captured the elements of the dish well, where the roasted chestnuts added an earthy, nutty flavour to the tender chicken pieces

The stir-fried squid with seasonal vegetables was also a limited supply dish, and it was nicely done with the right amount of crispiness of the squid, but tender enough to chew on. The dish was lightly seasoned, so the natural sweetness of the squid and vegetables was the main highlight. The next dish was the fried king oyster with salted egg yolk, which was delicious but nothing too different from what I expected the taste. The batter was light and not greasy, and the mushroom was still soft and juicy. The stuffed fritters were also fried till golden brown with a slight grease, but were still acceptable since the prawn filling was light and bouncy. A surprising dish was the Stewed baby cabbage with shrimp and mushrooms, which is light, sweet and extremely delicious

Last but not least was another popular dessert, which we ordered the moment we sat down: the handmade duck egg pudding, which was limited in supply daily. It is like the Japanese caramel egg pudding, which is my favourite dessert, so this definitely hit my palate in the right way. The pudding was smooth and creamy, while the brown sugar was just sweetened enough for good, balanced flavours. The sago added a nice bounce to the pudding

Overall, I do recommend Chiou Hwa if you like authentic Cantonese dishes. Although some dishes are a miss in my opinion, most of the dishes are quite on point and delicious. The environment is also great for a chill dinner with family and friends

Address: 104, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongshan District, Lequn 3rd Rd, 303號3樓, CHUN PLACE Dazhi

Opening hours: 11.45 am to 2.30 pm and 5.30 pm to 9.30 pm ( Mon to Fri ), 11.15 am to 1 pm, 1.15 pm to 2.45 pm, 5.15 pm to 7 pm and 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm ( Sat and Sun)