Hello Year of the Monkey!

posted January 29, 2016 3:28 PM | |

Sat February 6 at 11:30 AM, Taipei 101

121 E Chatham St, Cary, NC, USA (Map & Directions)

Yay! I'm down for this. No particular preference on dates or place.
posted by aka burlap at 6:52 PM on January 29, 2016

Will the Taiwanese places be more crowded around lunch? On weekends I guess they might.

Also worth noting that hot pot is rarely if ever vegetarian (pork and/or seafood are used for broth) so this might not be the most vegetarian-friendly event.
posted by ardgedee at 4:40 AM on January 30, 2016

Taiwanese places that research monkey and I have tried and liked:
Taipei101
Taipei Cafe
posted by ardgedee at 5:03 AM on January 30, 2016

Ah, thanks for the warning re: vegetarians, I may have to pass. :(
posted by leesh at 7:15 AM on January 30, 2016

Gonna pass for the same reasons as Leesh.
posted by sazerac at 7:40 AM on January 30, 2016

Hmmm, Taipei 101 has dim sum on their menu, I can't remember if there was any hot pot.
I think Taipei Cafe was the place we went to where I stared longingly at the hot pot menu items?

Has anybody been to Dim Sum House in Morrisville recently? I remember them as being rather hit or miss, but it looks like they would have both hot pot and dim sum.

Or we could try hitting the cafeteria at Grand Asia right before Lunar New Year. Or maybe not. It's probably going to be even more of a madhouse than it is on regular weekends.
posted by research monkey at 7:44 AM on January 30, 2016

Hot pot or dim sum sounds wonderful, but I can't make it on Feb 8. Maybe if we go the weekend after, it will be less crowded?
posted by wens at 8:40 AM on January 30, 2016

I am an idiot when it comes to dim sum, and would be looking to youse as dim sum mentors, so keep that in mind.
posted by oceanjesse at 9:05 AM on January 30, 2016

Given the proposed attendance, I think Taipei Cafe will be tough, since it's quite small and had no large tables from what I recall.

I propose lunch at Taipei 101, Feb. 6. I will call them to see if it's possible to make a reservation for that date. I am a bit reluctant to move it to the weekend after, as I think it will be too close to the Durham trivia meetup.
posted by research monkey at 6:39 AM on January 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

Lunch dim sum is a great idea!
posted by oceanjesse at 9:52 AM on January 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

Reservation made at Taipei 101 - they have a "dim sum" menu, but to me it looks more like what some Taiwanese restaurants call a "snacks" menu, so don't expect Cantonese dim sum fare typically found in dim sum places.

And then afterwards we can try braving the crowds at Grand Asia Market for dessert! I'm thinking bubble tea or soybean pudding (soft tofu) with ginger syrup. They also have Hong Kong style pastries - cakes, buns - if that's more your style.
posted by research monkey at 2:46 PM on January 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

That was lots of fun! Thanks research monkey for organizing & everyone for coming!
posted by aka burlap at 11:29 AM on February 6, 2016

That was amazing!
posted by oceanjesse at 12:19 PM on February 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

We'll have to have another meetup here just to try the Peking Duck!

(Oh, and what I thought was sweet beans on my soy pudding from Grand Asia turned out to be boba! And we got both sweet and non-sweet plain ttuk from S-Mart. On the way home realized we should have stopped by Toyo Shokuhin to see if they had the cheap Japanese snacks featured in Dagashi Kashi. And that concludes your Grand East Asian tour of Cary.)
posted by research monkey at 12:33 PM on February 6, 2016 [2 favorites]

Great to see everybody! Thanks for organizing, research monkey!
posted by Maecenas at 4:11 PM on February 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Thanks for organizing and ordering, research monkey! I'd be up for Peking Duck! And more of those scallion beef pancakes - I should have thought to get an order of them to go.
posted by wens at 5:24 AM on February 7, 2016