Orchid Restaurant 蘭

Chef Sato’s tasting menu is a whimsical journey of flavor and artistry. The halibut sashimi with jalapeño and shaved pickled white cabbage was a true flavor discovery—layered, vibrant, and unforgettable. Local Taiwanese ingredients are infused with brilliance throughout the menu. Highly recommend the non-alcoholic pairing: the shiso with white grape and white asparagus was crisp and elegant, while the Earl Grey kombucha offered a soft, fuzzy finish. The shaved ice with truffle and lychee was earthy, refreshing, and the perfect finale. Orchid doesn’t just meet Michelin standards—it elevates the experience into something poetic.

We celebrated my birthday here, and the experience was just right. The service was solid, with friendly staff who spoke English, making communication easy. Each dish tasted great, even if the presentation was simple. The Snow Wagyu (+980/person) was a standout, and the Birthday Cake (+380) was a nice touch to end the meal. We also had water (+300) and a Wine Pairing (+2680/person) that complemented the food well. Overall, it was a lovely, uncomplicated birthday meal.

Great dining experience! For the quality and quantity of food I thought it was relatively good value. Wish the wine selection would be bigger but overall a great dining experience.

In this city, there seems to be a restaurant boasting one or more Michelin stars on every other block. As a foodie, I try to give each of them a shot but more often than not, I leave feeling disappointed. I tried Orchid for the first time last week and found myself pleasantly surprised! They have not been awarded a star but I really think they deserve one. Chef Sato’s cooking is a breath of fresh air in Taiwan. He celebrates the natural flavors of ingredients rather than drowning them in rich sauces. My favorites are the geoduck soba and langoustine. My least favorite was the Orchid signature pithivier, which I understand was a creation by the previous chef and I’m assuming it was probably a management decision to keep on the menu. It was gamey and overly heavy, a drastic departure from Chef Sato’s delicate and balanced style. I would have preferred to see more cohesiveness throughout the menu. Another thing that impressed me was the wine selection. Like the chef, their sommelier is super talented. She recommended a few unusual wines that I’ve never heard of but were exactly the flavor profiles I loved! If I were to nitpick, I would say that Orchid is a restaurant with so much potential but I sense disconnection between the ownership and the talent. For starters, the space is definitely in need of rebranding and redecoration. The black and gold theme may have worked back in the early 2010s but in 2024, I find the decor dated and tacky. Still, I’ll be back for more of Chef Sato’s cooking!

This wasn't our first visit to Orchid, but the first time since Chef Sato Kiyoshi took over. Pleasingly, it was even better than before. The service, as expected was excellent from the moment we arrived. Seated in the reception area we enjoyed a couple of glasses of giggles before being lead to our table. The staff were knowledgeable about every aspect of the menu, but it would have been nice if they had introduced some of the dishes in Chinese as well as English as it would have saved me trying to translate for my wife. Now, let's get down to the important part, the food. It was nigh on perfect. Even some concepts that seem dated (foams) were elevated to become exciting in a way they haven't for well over a decade. Prior to the hassun (amuse bouche) we were given an introduction to some of the ingredients we would be enjoying. The hassun was a good start, but the meal just kept on getting better. I mean, I tears of joy better. We both opted to have uni added to the chawanmushi, and despite the price definitely recommend you do the same. I opted for the lamb, while my wife went for the snow wagyu. Both were excellent. If you opt to have truffle added to either of these dishes, they are kind enough to give you a choice of white or black, although the chef, who sliced it tableside recommended having a mixture of both. Listen to him. He knows more about his food than you do and his recommendation was spot on. The wine pairings were excellent, and we particularly enjoyed the sake which is not something we are very knowledgeable about. The 5 glass pairing was not enough for our thirst, but the sommelier did a fantastic job introducing additional wines and sakes. The selection of digestifs on the list is limited, but she was kind enough to take me to their cellar so that I could select something else. If you want to try some of the best food in Taipei, go to Orchid.

Atmosphere is great with light shining on the table which creates enough privacy around the restaurant. Service was impeccable and dishes were exquisite. Highly recommended!

I recently celebrated my first wedding anniversary here and we were both incredibly impressed. From the moment we walked in, the service was exceptional and the food was up there as some of the most delicious food I have ever eaten. The beef and iberico pork were absolutely sensational. Highly recommend if you are looking for somewhere special with beautiful and delicious dishes.

My favorite fine dining spot in town. The service was on point, we were served by an English speaking server who really speaks the language while providing thorough introduction on every dish, in addition to the great job of the sommelier on the wine pairing. (Despite some on-training employee dropped our food while serving...) They also let you enter the kitchen to try the small bites as a kickoff, bring you various flavors of butter to go with the bread. (Only I wish they would serve the bread after the kitchen tour so the bread could be warm when we got to it. ) All the courses were delicate in forms and flavors, here they are being creative yet remaining its French elegance.

Came here for dinner with my family. They have a Gold or Black menu for dinner. They are the same but Gold has more items. The tasting menu of 11 courses, most of them solid. Kiwi by the Sea, Ostrich Tartar, In the Shell, Lobster Bonfire, Jelly Uni, Josper, Le Camembert, Cucumber, Mushroom Variation, Heart of Normandie, Last Bites was the tasting menu. Before we started though, we had hors d'oeuvres inside the kitchen which was pretty cool and tasty. My favorite dishes were the In the Shell, Josper, Le Camembert and the Mushroom Variation. I think the place is a little pricey but the food is solid. Service though was meh and a little awkward.

Excellent food and great service! I would totally recommend this place for a Michelin star. My husband says he can't wait to come back again. My favorite dishes are the beef wellington, foie gras, and te mana lamb tartar and oyster. These are amazing French dishes to die for. I love that the waitress serving us at our table described every fine indregrent in the dish, and she has explained to us how it was cooked, where they've bought the ingredients, and the special techniques to eat the dish, and pair up with their delicious bread and sauce. This gives it a very professional feel, it's definitely fine dining at it's best. The food was phenomenon, and the artistic creativity of it's food presentation were very aesthetically pleasing. The beef wellington and foie gras were cooked to perfection, and they all have very sharp and refined flavors, the combination of savory on the bread and steak, paired with the sweet and sourness of the duck liver was like a beautiful symphony playing in your mouth.

My fiancé and I had a wonderful dinner here and even had the chef give us and everyone there special attention. It was surprising how full we were after with such elegantly crafted dishes which had a filling but gastrique sense to them. My favorites were the kingfish, the scallop mousse in a dashi broth, the venison tartare which just amazing with its touch of chocolate ganache which i didn't expect to work but did and lastly the beef Wellington which is a nice portion unlike traditional ones that can feel quite heavy but had an Asian twist on it that reminded me of a French Pate Chaud.

Three+ year since I moved back to Asia, sadly, I've became so jaded that my attitude towards Western cuisine here in Asia is guilty until proven innocent. I voluntarily goes to a Western cuisine restaurant here in Asia maybe once a quarter at the most, and today's lunch was not an exception. A fellow wino I had met earlier this year, messaged me about another wino visiting Taipei from Singapore and wonders if I can meet up. Why not, I can do lunch on Sunday, so the destination is Orchid, a newly opened restaurant where the visiting wino's friend works as the head pastry chef. The restaurant had it's grand opening just three days ago on September 9th, and until the 12th, they are doing guest chef event with Angelo Rosso from Pollen in Singapore. I have not a clue about this restaurant until the visiting wino suggested last night we can go meet here for lunch today. Honestly, after looking up the details, my expectation was low. As I arrived, I was shown to the table for two close to the door where the visiting wino already sat down. We quickly decided it would be more casual and perhaps more interesting if we were to sit at the bar in the middle of dining room. Tasting menu were presented to us promptly, where adjustments were made for visiting wino, switching out meat items, vegetables and seafood only. I took the menu as is, and certainly reads entertaining. Took out a bottle of 1947 Giacomo Borgogno Barolo Riserva I brought, passed it on to the "sommelier", and this is where the only mis-step happened during our visit. As I mentioned to the sommelier about the age of the wine, and letting her know we would like to open it to see if it's still alive, she handled the bottle at an tilted angle, which for an almost 60 years old wine could stir up some sediments. The corkage fee here is NT $1,000, so on the high side even by US standards, I would expect a bit more professionalism. Further, perhaps partly due to the restaurant was just opened, the wine list is only a single page long with just around 20 wines on the list. Not what one would expect with a higher than standard corkage fee in Taiwan. Back to the food experience. Every course was properly executed with good intrigue that doesn't seem over the top. In particular, the salmon course was very interesting, as the visiting wino and I both figured it's prepped via sous vide, which as it turned out after verification, it was in fact done by tea poaching, a positive in my book. If I had to find one fault with the different courses, it would be the main meat course of suckling pig. Flavor and seasoning was proper, but the meat lacked a bit of moisture and is slightly on the dry side. I won't go into the details of each course, as after all, this is sort of a guest chef event, except for one special note, the Bonito infused butter that came as the spread of the baguette was truly amazing, made possibly by the head pastry chef Cathy. I would like to come back to have their regular tasting menu and see how it compares to the grand opening festivities, hoping that it's even better with time. With that said, guest chef or not, opened just three days ago, what they served at this lunch was truly impressive. This is one of the top three Western cuisine dining experience I've had since I moved to Asia 3+ years ago. It would be great if Orchid can keep this up and also making improvement on the wine service side, their only visible weak point at the moment. Last but not least, I am very much against special treatments at any restaurants I go to, as I sincerely believes that all patrons should be treated equal. To my surprise, head pastry chef Cathy took care of our lunch today, wasn't aware until we were ready for our check. My wino friend mentioned this was what he was afraid of, as Cathay does this all the time. In the end, this was a beautiful lunch where I met two new friends in visiting wino and Cathy. Wonderful things happen when you are around good food and good wine.

I've dined there twice now. First time on a regular week day, second time on Valentines day. Would have probably given them 5 stars based on the first visit, but the second visit dragged it down to 4, bordering 3 due to service and quality of ingredients. Decor is gorgeous. Very elegant. Elevated ceiling, dimmed lighting. Table layout could be better... they have rectangular tables where you sit opposite each other. Then have the tables in a row - kinda feels like speed dating but without switching seats. You can also hear most thing the table next to you are saying... That being said, they have a dock under the table for charging phones though, complete with a USB port, and they can give you a cord if you didn't bring one with you. Now, the service. First time - superb! Opened the door for you, have all the reservation names ready, showed you to your table, explained the menu etc. Only thing they screwed up with the dessert ordered - there was choice of 2 but they never asked us, just served us the same thing. Pretty sure the manage noticed though and has a word with the waiters. Would've been nice if they had apologised to us but I think they were hoping we didn't realize... Second time - think they must have gotten new wait staff or something -there was a mix of standards. The one we saw from previous time were still professional and knowledgeable. However, a few staff have lots of room for improvement. Most notably, they mumbled when they explained each dish and you couldn't understand what they were saying. Can't remember the other details but just remember thinking that they were rather incompetent. The food. First time - delicious!! Reminded me of fine dining in NY. Was surprised there was a restaurant of such high quality in Taipei. Chef came out and had a chat - about half of their ingredients are sourced locally which is I think is pretty neat. Second time - most dishes still tasted pretty good. However, one massive disappointment - menu said wagyu marble score 9+ - it was unlikely wagyu, let alone 9+ - not happy!! I mean, for the price, I wouldn't expect fancy steak, but they shouldn't lie about it!!! So yeh, that detail kinda ruined it for me... Otherwise, overall, the food is pretty delicious. Their service is a working progress. I'd prob recommend staying away from the special occasions and go on a regular day...