“It really came as a surprise. I’m really happy and the award really means a lot to me. For a moment, I felt like my soul got separated from my body. And it was my spirit that went on stage to receive the award while my body was still in the seat.” Jay Chou
For those who are not familiar with Jay Chou 周杰倫, he is an accomplished Taiwanese musician, singer, music and film producer, actor and director who as won the World Music Award four times. Chou’s compositions are loosely categorized as pop music. He regularly fuses traditional Chinese instruments and styles with R&B or rock to form a new genre called “Zhongguo feng”. Jay Chou will be making an appearance in America on January 14 2011 in the film, The Green Hornet.
Jay Chou’s restaurant revolves around his movie Secret that has received the 44th Golden Horse Award for Best Visual Effects, The Outstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year and Best Original Film Song. The design of the restaurant is a combination of elegance and modern with the decoration of Jay Chou pictures on the walls and the infamous piano from Secret. The cuisine is a combination of East and West, and eclectic “Italian” fused with Chinese, Japanese and other Asian influences. The menu also includes Jay Chou’s own favorites such as three cup chicken which he has transformed into a pizza.
Mr. J 義法廚房.
The menu is more like a book with heavy cover with descriptions of the dishes that are available and information about Jay Chou and the movie Secret.
The front of menu says 不能说的 秘密 and
“Follow the notes upon the journey.
At first sight marks one’s destiny.
Upon life voyage come to an end.
Return lies within hasty keys.”
It’s an line from the movie.
Toasted garlic bread.
The meal starts off with complimentary big hearty slabs of toasted garlic bread.
Potato chowder. *
Creamy potato chowder with a toasted crouton.The chowder had a funny taste, in my opinion. It was more on the sweet side rather than savory. The restaurant features a different soup every day. Other selections include mushroom soup, tomato soup, and pumpkin soup.
Side salad. *
Lettuce, red lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes tossed with your choice of dressing. I got the Japanese vinaigrette.
Three cup chicken pizza.
Three cup chicken 三杯鸡 is a a Taiwanese dish where chicken is cooked with a cup of soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil until the sauce evaporates thus leaving the chicken crispy. Both the chicken, sauce, and basil leaves are incorporated in the thin crust pizza and then topped with tortilla chip strips.
Smoked Duck Breast with Spaghetti.
Smoked duck breast sliced into bite size portions with spaghetti and spinach cream sauce. They put actual orange peel too.
Cheese baked pasta.
Seafood and penne smothered with cheese and baked to a gooey goodness.
Salmon.
Seared salmon plank topped with two asparagus spears, baby corn spear, and thinly sliced red pepper.
Seafood risotto.
Rice cooked in a seafood broth til creamy with shrimp, mussels, clams, and calamari.
Chocolate cake. *
Light and airy chocolate sponge cake and chocolate mousse, sprinkled with cocoa powder. Comes with a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
So like everyone else who comes to the restaurant, we did a little role playing…
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| Jeff Cherng and me |
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| Jay Chou and Alice Tzeng |
I was overall pleasantly pleased with my experience at Mr. J’s. The food, other than the potato chowder, is delicious at a reasonable price. For an extra US $3 you can add a soup, salad, dessert, and drink to your meal (see pictures with *). The atmosphere is very relaxing, perfect if you want to stop by for a cup of coffee. And if you’re lucky, you might just run into Jay Chou himself. He did stop by once when I was working at the University.
Most diners come for the experience of experiencing the movie Secret and Jay Chou rather than the food so don’t be surprised if there’s a lot of photo taking around the restaurant, which includes anything from the servers who work there to the iconic piano. You can play the piano but it does have a sign that says “Don’t touch the piano if you don’t want to return to 20 years back”, which is based on the movie.
Mr. J
250 WuXing St.
Taipei Medical University
Taipei, Taiwan
02-2377-9090
www.mrj-tw.com
Transportion: Take MRT to Taipei City Hall stop. Then either take a taxi directly to Taipei Medical University or you can take the little bus 7.
