A380

Profile

Address:    台北市信義區松高路12號4樓(新光A8館)

                   No. 12, SōngGāo Rd, Sinyi District, Taipei
Phone #:   02-2722-6380
Website: http://www.a-380.htm.tw/

Price Range:   $$$

Accepts Credit Cards: yes

Attire: casual

Good for kids: yes

Take out: yes
Waiter Service: yes
Outdoor seating:  no
Alcohol: yes

Rating

Food Quality: 3 out of 5
Decor:  4.5 out of 5
Service: 3 out of 5
Overall: 3.5 out of 5
Recommendation: Airplane Themed Restaurant serving "Airplane Food"

Review

Upon my sauntering around Gong Guan I happend to spot a Airplane themed restaurant called A380. I thought it was pretty cool, but I was informed that the Shing Kong Mitsukoshi store was a lot cooler. Indeed the space looked like it was designed more like you are in an Airplane. The store is stuck on the 4th floor of the A one buliding in the spoiled brat department (Burberry and Dior for toddlers?). They serve the typical Taiwanese "western meals" like pasta and steak set meals that come with bread, soup, and a drink. The food here is only a tad better that real airplane food. In fact, airplane bread tasted better than their bread. I would only suggest that you check out the restaurant's exterior, but don't actually dine in.

Yes, the airplane theme is very endearing, the waiters are very prompt, friendly, and courteous. Even the chairs carry that familiar uncomfortable feeling. This is a great place for kids, and that is why it is also in the children's department in this Mitsukoshi. I feel like this restaurant thrives on its gimmickiness, and can't imagine who would like to return based on the quality of food provided.

You kind of feel like you are in a cabin of an airplane when you are eating, except for the very unairplane like seating arrangement. However, they have the attendee switch so that you can signal wether or not you need service to the wait staff. Besides that, the small details like bathroom availability and no smoking signs and air vents were all designed into the faux Airbus 380.

I got the basic steak set meal. It starts out with a plate of bread, with a side of ketchup/mayonaisse/shrimp egg dip. The bread is quite hard and stale-like, but is softened by the dip. The bread was not served hot, which is quite a disappointment.

The soup was the dish in the set that I actually did enjoy. They did not screw up the basic tomato-based vegetable soup. It had all the necessary vegetables to give it that sweet broth, and the mix of vegetables gave it some substance to each spoonful.

Major steak fail. The meat did not have that right roughness, juicyness, and right seasoning to make it a hearty steak. It was warm, dry, and loose. I did nt taste the juices on top or within this cut. The mash potatoes had a wierd aftertaste as with the single brocolli. The corn was dipped in this butter water, not creamy as it sould be. I was very displeased with this steak, and I should have been wary of steaks made by local establishments. However, I was adventurous, thus I fell down the waterfall in my makeshift-log raft. You would think that they could at least serve a refreshing glass of apple juice like you requested in the end, but no, they had to surprise me even more that they can even dissapoint in the drink department. The final glass of apple juice tasted like a glass of flat Apple Sidra mixed with too much high fructose corn syrup.
Just take look at the A380 and amuse from afar, since the answer is yes: they even keep to the airplane theme in terms of food quality as well....no surprise.