Hana Sei @ Ta Lee Star Place, Kaohsiung

If theres one thing i am still not good at, it would be keeping receipts and directions to the places i eat at. Usually i depend on google and get away with it most of the times. However, i thought it would be easy with Kaohsiung but it took me half an hour of googling around before i finally identified the place. Its the Ta Lee Star Place! One of the grandiest shopping malls ever seen with branded boutiques all over, it reminds me of Starhill to the ambience and layout.

If you wanted to be safe and find good food in Kaohsiung, this would be the place to go.

From the MRT Central Park stop, you would be able to see the amazing architecture.

Taiwan is meant to be famous for seafood since its relatively near to Japan, so whats the best way but to eat japanese. We were initially shocked while waiting for a table, a group of 3 pax paid a bill close to NT10,000 which is close to a RM1,000, wondering if we were too daring to try the place here. However we soldiered on.

Glad we made the march. The sushi platter for NT500 (RM50) is value for money! Generous slices of fresh sashimi on top of rice, all handmade, no signs of using a machine. I must add that premium seafood was also being used such as ema ebi, salmon roe, huge scallops and sea urchin! I wonder how much it would cost to order the above plate in Malaysia?

The first date i went with The Wife, when she was still known as the Girlfriend, infact not even Girlfriend but during the "Can you be my Girlfriend" stage was at a japanese restaurant eating sukiyaki. Sweet broth with thinly sliced beef dipped in egg and assorted vegetables. Seeing that the whole trip was generally in a good mood, we rekindled that experience. Service was immaculate as the girl grilled some of the beef as a demonstration and left us to finish the show.

I can really have no complaints about this place except that i didn't have enough money to splurge on more premium items. The dinner didn't really leave us with a big hole as the bill came to around NT1700 (roughly RM180).

Address:

Ta Lee Star Place, Kaohsiung
Somewhere on the top floors where the restaurants are

Verdict: 4 stars out of 5 stars. Simply no complaints for a well done japanese meal. Nom Nom.