Keelung

I had dinner there on Thursday night with a friend, I left the ordering to the manager, Andrew as I didnt want to miss out on the house specialities, to start with we had drunken chicken whick was served cold and on the bone so a lot of chwing round the bones but the flavour was intense yet not overpowering, we then were then served some dumplings, swimming in sauce but having been told to make a hole in them when they are in the spoon no spurting!! feeling fullish already we then had some of the best Sea Bass I have ever had in my life this was served with their special rice which indeed it was as it had all sorts of hidden seafood which went so well with our final dish of prawns with garlic and chilli. Keelung is now my restaurant of choice in Chinatown everyone should at least try it. IT'S THAT GOOD.
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Jamie
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 23, 2009

It all comes to the matter of HONESTY. I agree with everything you all mentioned, the taste is good, environment comfortable and waiter/waitress friendly. However when I received the bill I found two items were listed wrong, the price of soy bean milk and lychee drink are different from the prices we originally saw from the menu and there's a 38% difference.

I called the waitress for some explanation and was told the menu we saw might be an old one. Since the difference was only £1 I paid the price they asked for but nevertheless was left wondering, first of all it's their mistake and they didn't even bother to say we should pay for what was shown to us, secondly, although the food lived up to my expectation, I think they lost a score here for honesty and I am not unreasonable to believe that they could have hidden some other things. Therefore I would hesitate to go there again.
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5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Saturday, August 01, 2009

Second visit to Keelung; this time on a friday evening with a party of 6. We booked for 6.45 to avoid the big crowds and the restaurant was pleasantly busy but not too noisy. Service was most attentive and charming but the food was not as good as on our first visit. Assorted seafood noodles were soaked in too much sauce and not as crispy as they should be. Even more disappointing were the two dishes with prawns, including Sichuan pepper prawns. They lost their heads when touched and were not as firm as we remembered them from our first visit. Freshness is a must in a seafood restaurant and Keelung should not let standards drop. On the positive side, cuttlefish and spicy beef dishes were most interesting; fresh and well prepared. Desserts are fantastic, I love the bubbly dumpling with egg yolk inside.

I really hope that Keelung will not end up being a mediocre Chinatown venue but the interesting place it seemed to initially aim to.
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Susana - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Sunday, July 26, 2009

I went to lunch here today. I had Eel Fried Noodles and Chinese Tea. I had heard eels were becoming scarce.

I now know they are. One slice had been cut into eighths (!) and dissipated into greasy brown noodles, which also had a few slices of fried onion, eight beanshoots and six deep fried salted shrimps. That was it. £7.80, plus £1.50 for the tea, plus 10% for at first cool, then later missing, service, came to £10.20.

I have to go back many years for poorer value from a Chinese meal
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Bill
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Thursday, July 23, 2009

We really enjoyed our dinner at Keelung on a thursday night. Place was full and at times quite noisy, with some lively groups of fashionable Oriental people.

Food was very good. I cannot comment on how athentic it is, as this was my first taiwanese experience, but I liked everything we tried; in particular the seafood noddles and, uncommon for most Asian places, the excellent desserts. Service was friendly and informative but slow at the end of the meal.

I am looking forward to go back.
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Susana - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Saturday, June 20, 2009

My friend and I popped into Keelung after work having read the review on this site's blog. We love fish and seafood so seeing it all fresh and appetising was a great start to the meal. It is quite hard to choose what to have as there are quite a few menus and a lengthy seafood list with different ways you can have your favourites prepared.

We enjoyed the Sichuan prawns and steamed sea bass with chilli. It's good that the chef is not afraid to be authentic with the spicing! Great to see congee on the menu too. We thought the skins of the Siu Loung Bao could have been more delicate but the filling was lovely. If you are brave (or maybe from Taiwan) try the pigs trotters, they are boneless and delicious!

Restaurant decor and service were both miles better than your average Chinatown eatery. Hope they can maintain the standard. We will be going back to try out more dishes!
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Laura M
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, June 09, 2009