It’s a mad house at the Aquatic Addiction Development Japanese Restaurant (上引水产) in Taipei. Waiters are almost always walking on a small jog and patrons are always standing whether they are queuing up for a table, or eating. Yes, eating. We stood and ate gourmet Japanese food in an atmospheric set-up. The enormous restaurant is located in the Taipei Fish Market, featuring live seafood as key ingredients, drawing foodies to dine at this one of a kind restaurant. The restaurant is so huge that it is segregated by specialization. If you want to eat nigiri, go to the nigiri section, if you want to eat yakimono (grill items), there’s a whole section for it and so on. You pay the bills at every section. Try to be there earlier so you don’t have to wait.
We went to the nigiri / sashimi section (立吞美食) first to get a number on the waiting list as this section was extremely popular. Since the waiting time was about 40 minutes, we moved to the cooked food section (熟食美食)。 The crabs, prawns and oysters looked superb ! You’d be lucky if you could get a place at this counter because that’s where everyone wants to sit stand.
If you can’t get a place at the counter, just stand at a plainer counter next to it. There are some set meals and a la carte on the menu. Forget about the set meals and just order the seafood platter which will wow you to the moon and back.
The sashimi salad was an indicative prelude that kicked off our fabulous night with glorious food.
When the seafood platter arrived, it had us in awe. Priced at NTD 1408 (roughly RM 165), it was mind-blowing and the most stunning plate of seafood ever, dazzling from all angles. Everything was fresh, fresh, fresh with bursting levels of umami. If this seafood platter was to be served in KL, it would be easily 4 times the price. But then again, we did stand while we ate so perhaps the price was so affordable. The restaurant is actually quite innovative to make you stand so they can speed up the turnover time.
Every piece of element on this plate was luxurious, consisting of one slice of mullet roe, half a lobster, half a hairy crab with absolutely luscious roes, half of another crab that I don’t know the name of that was full of mustard, one king crab leg,
one piece of uni, two pieces of tuna, two raw oysters, one and a half piece of abalone,
and one small plate of unknown raw, crunchy seafood.
We ordered two more pieces of raw oysters because the texture was extraordinary; silken, delicate yet lightly crisp, and truly astounding.
By the time we finished the seafood platter, it was just about time for us to go to the sashimi section. This time, we got to sit stand in front of the sushi counter, watching the chefs dishing out sushi and sashimi with skill and precision.
This is yet another plate of umami overdose with two kinds of scallops, peony prawns and chef’s selection of sashimi.
The peony prawns were incredibly sweet, even more so at the prawns brains. Now you see another two pieces of prawns at the back of the plate, I thought they were the same prawns but it was of a different breed with a fancy name similar to “Japanese Imperial Peony Prawns”. These prawns were unforgettable with sweetness and umami upped yet another notch. The most amazing part was, that brainy flavor was just not in the brain but infused throughout the prawn. I was floored and could not believe such intricacy in flavor.
The two pieces of toro sushi was fatty though it could have been better had it been melt-in-your-mouth.
Here is a list of things we ordered, about NT 1870 (RM 220). And by the way, the menu is all in Chinese, so you might need a bit of pointing here and there to order your things if you don’t understand Chinese.
The restaurant is massive it took us a while to orientate around the place. Every section has a reception counter where you get your number or wait for your turn.
This is the yakimono section where all the grilling action occurs. Were totally drooling over other people’s food.
Then there’s the ready-cooked section, the bento section, the soup section which we just had no more stomach to try.
There’s a supermarket in there too with jaw-dropping prices. This whole packet of crab legs is only NTD 200 !
Nigiri sushi at NTD 150.
Half a dozen of oysters at NTD 660.
and plenty of amazing seafood.
You could also buy the items right away and eat it right there and then. There’s a whole section for you to stand and eat. Just bring your own chopsticks an condiments.
If you don’t fancy any of the above, buy a live one and you could either bring it home and cook it yourself or have the restaurant to cook it with additional fees. It’s about as good as fishing from the sea and bringing it home with you.
More Info
Aquatic Addiction Official Website
Address : 台北市民族東路410巷2弄18號
No. 18, Mingzhu East Road, Lane 410, Taipei. No MTR stations near the restaurant so you’ll have to get a cab. Tell the cab drive “Taipei Fish Market”; he should know the place.
ps: If you need wifi in Taiwan, check out i-Wifii Mobile Router. Rental is only NTD 100 per day and can be shared among 10 people. Renting it is really easy : book it online –> pay online –> use it –> return it at 7- 11 (which is literally everywhere).
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