Soyun Ryugin is the third Ryugin Branch in the world. After the sister restaurant of Ryugin Roppongi, Tenku Ryugin, made a great success in Hong Kong. Yamamoto decided to pin his flag in Taipei as well.
Soyun Ryugin was opened in November 2014 and I was lucky enough to get a seat after the third week of its opening. Located at a rather new building in the north of Taipei, the restaurant greeted you with an entrance that is like a miniature of Japanese garden. The setting is more thoughtful than Tenku Ryugin. Yet, Soyun Ryugin doesn’t have a magnificent view.
The restaurant was half seated only when I visited. I think they purposely control the party size to ensure things could run smoothly at the beginning of the business. But the restaurants attracted ac crowd of Taiwanese.
Soyun Ryugin uses a lot of local products from Taiwan. This includes their famous tea selection – using local Oolong tea, Bijintea etc. Most of their ingredients are locally sourced and is mostly inspired by local cuisines.
I was particularly amazed by their local ika sashimi. Their signature dishes remains to be my favorite. The Roasted pigeon, pigeon burger and soup (小鳩のわら焼土佐仕立 て 一ロの鳩シャンタンスープと共に) was very amazing, and so was the Dongfang Meiren Tea pudding. Both were prepared by the same method as Ryugin’s signature winter roasted duck dish and the egg pudding, but just with Taiwan ingredients.
Personally, I enjoy Tenku Ryugin more than Syoun Ryugin. Tenku Ryugin has more thoughtful presentations and of course, a breath-taking view from the 101th floor.
Syoun Ryugin (祥雲龍吟)
Tel:+886 02-8501-5808
Address: #301, 5F, LeChun 3rd Road, Taipei (台北市中山區樂群三路301號5樓)
Visited on: 22th Nov, 2014
Chef:稗田良平（Ryohei Heida）
K's Luxe Dining Table 