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Whiple House

Address: No. 34, Lane 252, DunHua S. Rd, Sec. 1 / 台北市大安區敦化南路一段252巷34號
Tel: (02) 2775-1627
Hours: 12:00pm~9:00pm
Website: www.whiplehouse.com
Price: 150~200 NTD/drink, 180 NTD/dessert, 320~480 NTD/pasta

Whiple House is my preferred type of gathering place. Located on a quiet lane behind Sogo, this hidden gem is part apparel shop/part home decor retail space/part cafe. It has the combination of a chic, stylish decor and light, comforting food. The best part? It’s empty even though I visited on a Sunday afternoon.

Whiple House

Whiple House

The 1st floor is a retail space for Whiple, a Taiwanese apparel brand.

1st floor

The 2nd floor is surprisingly spacious. 2/3 of the area is used as an exhibition/retail space for random knickknacks collected by the owner over the years (more pictures on this later), and the rest consists of an open kitchen and dining tables.

2nd floor

Dining area

Dining area

Menu

We started with a cup of hot milk tea (150 NTD), which had an alluring aroma from the extra sprig of mint that was used in the brewing. What a brilliant idea that can be easily done at home! The milk tea itself wasn’t especially memorable, but the mint made all the difference.

Milk tea, 150 NTD

We then tried a plate of truffle pasta (380 NTD), cooked perfectly al dente and smelling heavenly with sauteed garlic and mixed mushrooms.

Truffle pasta, 380 NTD

Truffle pasta, 380 NTD

More interesting was the less commonly seen sea urchin & crabmeat pasta (480 NTD). Each strand was covered in sea urchin creaminess, the flavor so definite I can still taste it at the tip of my tongue. For those who like sea urchins, this would be a good choice.

Sea urchin & crabmeat pasta, 480 NTD

Sea urchin & crabmeat pasta

We were intrigued by the tulip seafood risotto (380 NTD) on the menu and decided to give it a try. It turns out that they don’t use real tulip flowers, but instead tulip flower powder to give the risotto a golden color. Great flavor though a bit undercooked.

Tulip seafood risotto, 380 NTD

The salmon tart (280 NTD) was rather pedestrian. Nothing to sing about.

The only dessert available for the day was an apple cake (180 NTD), a mousse/jam dessert sitting on top of a thin graham cracker crust. Not especially memorable, but a sweet and very light ending to our late afternoon meal. FYI, the branch in ATT 4 Fun (B1) apparently has a much larger dessert selection.

Apple cake, 180 NTD

Fully satisfied, we went around exploring the many quirky gadgets on the 2nd floor. Some things are useful, many are useless, everything is stylish, and everything is expensive. A small pack of iron nails for 800 NTD? Whew!

The reason why this place is empty even on weekends is probably because the food is overpriced, but I’m not complaining – I really do hope it stays quiet.