Lu Si An Can Ting

Lu Si An Can Ting (麓司岸餐廳)
No. 108
Culture Street (文化街)
Yuchi Township
Nantou County 555
Taiwan

https://lusihan.com.tw/

Meal Flat Lay

Rustic Taiwanese Aboriginal Meal

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 8
Value for Money: 8
Spent about NTD $330 / SGD $15 per person.


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An award-winning, popular Chinese Taiwanese restaurant, Lu Si An Can Ting (麓司岸餐廳) specialises in rustic Taiwanese aboriginal dishes, making them accessible, presentable, and tasty. Located beside the famous Sun Moon Lake in Nantou, Taiwan, Lu Si An Can Ting is among the few restaurants in this landlocked county that has fish and seafood on the menu, though this comes at a price.

Ambience at Lu Si An Can Ting is functional casual. The brightly lit seating area is neatly lined with metal and plastic furniture, offering decent comfort. The walls are adorned with simple oriental decor, as well as the many awards the place has won. Advance reservations are a must, they only have sufficient stock for 1 sitting at lunch or dinner, and the place gets booked out early.

Service at Lu Si An Can Ting is good. The friendly lady boss is humourous and engaging, and will engage in light-hearted banter with diners. Dishes are served course by course, being introduced when served, displaying the staff's good product knowledge. Staff also make an effort to keep the place clean, clearing tables when diners leave fairly efficiently. Rather memorable standards.

Food at Lu Si An Can Ting is Chinese Taiwanese aboriginal cuisine, made with recipes that are centuries old, but presented in modern, appealing fashion. Dishes are tasty and of good quality, made with fresh ingredients. Having sufficient stock for each meal also results in daily seasonal dishes. Portions are sized for communal group dining. Prices are affordable, budget about NTD $330 / SGD $15 per person for a meal here. I had a good dining experience at Lu Si An Can Ting (麓司岸餐廳).


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Lu Si An Can Ting (麓司岸餐廳) Exterior

Lu Si An Can Ting (麓司岸餐廳) Interior

Lu Si An Can Ting (麓司岸餐廳) Menu

Lu Si An Can Ting (麓司岸餐廳) Menu

The Crispy Fried Sharpbelly Fish (NTD $180 / SGD $8.10) was a daily seasonal dish on our visit; the catch had just come in. The lady boss shared that it's a local aboriginal dish, something that is rarely eaten anywhere else, as the fish is bony with little meat. Served fried, the entire thing is edible and crunchy, super tasty with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper. Have to be slightly careful when eating though, as the bones can be rather pointy. We enjoyed this. Good!

Crispy Fried Sharpbelly Fish (NTD $180 / SGD $8.10)

Crispy Fried Sharpbelly Fish

Crispy Fried Sharpbelly Fish

The Miso Soup With Clams And Mixed Mushrooms (NTD $280 / SGD $12.60) is hearty and comforting. The recipe hails from the time of the Japanese occupation, when miso paste was introduced. Here, it's put to good use, creating an earthy sweet savoury soup / broth along with the natural flavour of the local clams and the trio of mushrooms (straw, king trumpet, shiitake). The ingredients are tender, and the soup / broth gets more tasty towards the end of the meal.

Miso Soup With Clams And Mixed Mushrooms (NTD $280 / SGD $12.60)

Miso Soup With Clams And Mixed Mushrooms

The Guo Mao Vegetable Fern (NTD $120 / SGD $5.40) is a local aboriginal dish, made with fresh guo mao vegetable ferns, stir-fried with Chinese wolfberries / goji berries. The vegetables are crunchy and vegetal sweet, but the unique part is the gradual tingling sensation they induce in the mouth. It does numb your sense of taste slightly, though this is only temporary. Interesting.

Guo Mao Vegetable Fern (NTD $120 / SGD $5.40)

Guo Mao Vegetable Fern

The Baked Young Water Bamboo Shoot With Cheese (NTD $200 / SGD $9) is an award-winning dish, but I have to put this in context. No other restaurant in the area does fusion food of any kind, so adding gooey mozzarella cheese to tender young bamboo shoots are a novelty, particularly in this largely agricultural area. The flavours are cheesy sweet salty, but light on the palate. Overall well executed dish, but I think it's underwhelming in taste.

Baked Young Water Bamboo Shoot With Cheese (NTD $200 / SGD $9)

Baked Young Water Bamboo Shoot With Cheese

The Steamed Sun Moon Lake Grouper Fish (NTD $400 / SGD $18) was freshly caught in the morning, and served simply steamed in a gravy of light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, spring onions, and carrots. The fish has tender meat, coming easily off the large bones, with a delicate sweet savoury salty flavour. The fish skin is a little thick, making it slightly chewy. Straightforward but enjoyable dish. Good!

Steamed Sun Moon Lake Grouper Fish (NTD $400 / SGD $18)

Steamed Sun Moon Lake Grouper Fish

Steamed Sun Moon Lake Grouper Fish

The Wild Boar With Black Pepper (NTD $250 / SGD $11.30) is a local aboriginal dish, featuring chunks of wild boar dressed with black pepper, served on a hot plate with white onions and spring onions. The vegetables are tender, and aid to remove some of the gamey flavour from the savoury salty spicy wild boar meat. The texture of the wild boar still remains more chewy and firm as compared to pork. A novel experience, decent enough.

Wild Boar With Black Pepper (NTD $250 / SGD $11.30)

Wild Boar With Black Pepper

The Fried Banana (NTD $150 / SGD $6.80) is an enjoyable dessert here. Features chunks of banana, coated in rice cracker, then deep-fried. This makes the coat super crisp, while the banana within becomes soft and slightly caramelised. Bite in, and you get the satisfiying loud crunch, followed by the soft, fruity sweet flavours. Dressed with rainbow sprinkles and chocolate sauce, I couldn't get enough of these. Good!

Fried Banana (NTD $150 / SGD $6.80)

Fried Banana

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