Ding Xian 101: Towering Taiwanese Restaurant in Taipei

Taiwan has remained lush and green, even in Taipei City, but the island nation also has a clear commitment to technology and the landscape showcases modern architectural flourishes like Taipei 101, a 101-story office tower that rises 1671 feet. Any world class building deserves good culinary residents. To point, they’ve got a food court in the basement with a branch of Din Tai Fung, and Ding Xian anchors the 86th floor, effective 2011. With a name that translates to English as “top fresh,” the food better be good.

F&B Dining owns a branch of Ding Xian in Shanghai, operates Tainan Noodle at a nearby night market, and downstairs, they run two more restaurants: Taiwanese and Italian.

Restaurant Taipei
We passed by impressive seafood tanks with King crab and geoduck.

Restaurant Taipei
We ate in a private room with a wall of peacock feathers. Talk about luxury.

View Taipei
A bench by the window delivered dazzling panoramic views of Taipei City below.

Beer Taiwan
Taiwan Beer produces three flavors of lager, including original, which we tried at Ji Yuan Pu Restaurant/a>. They also flavor their lager with 5% fruit – pineapple or mango – which at only 2.8% alcohol, reminded me of ginger ale. Ding Xian 101 also served pitchers of kiwi juice, which separates into seedy pulp.

Chef Taipei
Chef Bing-Zhan Lin is from central Taiwan and traveled to Japan to study the ways of Michelin, but his core vision for Ding Xian 101 is still Taiwanese, only elevated.

Taiwanese Food Taipei
My group’s tasting menu began with rosy, fat rimmed smoked duck salad, twigs of popping seaweed, a slab of sweet aloe, crunchy cabbage, iceberg lettuce and bell peppers.

Taiwanese Food Taipei
My soup touted floppy wood ear mushrooms, rice, corn, and the delicate inner lining of a bamboo plant, all submerged in a chicken broth.

Taiwanese Food Taipei
My favorite plate all meal featured steamed triangle fish, prepared simply with garlic and soy. I ate the juicy meat, tender cheeks and chewy eyes. Apparently the DHA in fish eyes is good for the brain and eyes. Many ingredients in Taiwan correlate to specific health benefits.

Taiwanese Food Taipei
A hearty porridge of butternut squash contained big chunks of sea snail, cubes of ham and carrot, onion, fusilli, and a big, solitary chunk of squash.

Taiwanese Food Taipei
Chef Lin delivered two fried seafood preparations, including the Japanese inspired takoyaki, a fried squid ball loaded with chewy bits. The sweet shrimp roll, studded with garlic and scallions, came with a sweet and sour dipping sauce and originated in Tainan.

Taiwanese Food Taipei
Noodle soup with ground pork and garlic, a single shrimp, cilantro and bean sprouts, was nice and comforting. We later found out was another Tainan specialty, danzai noodles.

Fruit Taipei
Fresh fruit is popular for dessert in Taiwan, and Ding Xian 101 served iced lychee with ripe papaya and a squeeze of lime, which would have been a refreshing end.

Taiwanese Food Taipei
However, Ding Xian 101 brought one more dish, a sweet soup featuring sheets of crunchy white mushroom lotus seed, red date and pitted longan.