Friday, April 04, 2014

Carton King (紙箱王) near Cingjing Farm (next to Little Swiss Garden) 清境小瑞士店 @ Taiwan

The title "Carton King" would probably refer to the best karang guni man in Singapore who has managed to consistently hit a record high for cardboard collection.

In Taiwan, the same title takes a vastly different role; it is actually a restaurant that built its reputation around a theme that focuses strongly (almost entirely in fact) on cartons. 

You assumed right; it's not just the tables and chairs that were made of the materials generally thought to be disposable. The use of it was more than just that. 

Cup holders were just one of many examples even though the paper cup would have been easier to hold without it. Increasing the center of gravity would have made the cup extremely vulnerable to toppling over. Not exactly a happy scenario should your phone be right next to it. 

Cardboard light was one of the cooler fixtures and provided colours other than the brownish tinge typical of carton materials. I would have bought one if i was younger; the now mature me knows this would collect dust and it would not be easy cleaning them off.

On second thought, i could have gone with the non-lighted version which could be hooked up to the window outside my room! 

By the way, the curtains were made from carton too! 

Visitors, however, were more keen with the large-sized carton statues and it's quite common to see them hovering around the cashier area for photo-taking sessions. 

Steamboat Set
海景火鍋套餐
Finally on food! The cool weather in Cingjing definitely played a part in my decision to have hotpot at Carton King even though Western cuisine was readily available. 

You can choose from three types of broth; Japanese style fish soup, Hokkaido concentrated milk soup and tomato kimchi soup. One meat out of the following choices; boneless beef short rib meat slice, sirloin beef slice and Taiwan snowflake pork slice. Beverage (choose from honey tea, honey green tea and hot oolong tea) was also included.

Wait, there's more! A bowl rice mixed with sesame seeds, seaweed and Katsuobushi shavings, a small cup of vinegar honey and a serving of milk pudding!

Basic ingredients in the soup consisted of cabbage, mushroom, baby corn, dried beancurd, brocooli, prawns, sausage (which tasted very different with a sweeter flavour), fishball generously filled with cheese and noodles. 

Rice wasn't impressive; flavour was too subtle for one that had a lot of things mixed in! 

The six slices of sirloin beef were a bit too tough in my opinion and i could not help but compare they were not as good as the free flow beef slices i had at Sukiya!

My selection of Japanese style fish soup was frankly quite salty and i didn't even manage to clean up the pot despite the almost freezing weather. Nevertheless, i did enjoy digging into the salt-infused ingredients and finishing the meal with the milk pudding which was flavoured just right with its sweetness coming from the red beans!

Many reviewers would attach a picture of this carton box and i thought i should do the same too! No lah, i topped up my drink for a hot latte and this was given although there was a separate cup inside; damn the novelty for this eco-unfriendliness. 

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Location
南投縣546仁愛鄉定遠新村28號.
To make it easier for my readers who don't understand Chinese, it is located within the area known famously as Cingjing (or Qingjing). The exact location is next to the Swiss Garden, another popular tourist spot. p.s. picture taken from within the restaurant's premise. 

Website

Price
Steamboat Set - NT$430
Topped Up to Latte - NT$40
[Subject to Service Charge]


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