Taipei restaurant - Toria Japanese style BBQ 鳥家

Updated, September 2022
Prices and opening hours updated

Value for money: 8/10

Cleanliness: 7/10

Service: 9/10

Quality of food: 9/10

Overall: 8/10

Toria

Solid shout for a Japanese BBQ evening when you’re wanting meat on a stick washed down with beer, or Sake!

Tucked away on a side road between Civic Boulevard and ZhongXiao East Road, Toria 鳥家 (Bird house) is usually pretty busy, so you may either want to book in advance or arrive earlier and be prepared to line up.

Inside Toria, there’s a ‘bar’ area where you can see the food being prepared.

Or a few bigger tables to accommodate the groups of people.

Fried chicken

和風雞塊

hé fēng jī kuài

$180

These were top-drawer. A little greasy (to be expected with deep-fried chicken, I guess), but the chicken was deliciously juicy and the flavour beats KFC hands down. The addition of grease-proof paper underneath helps to wick away any excessive amounts of oil, too.

(Right two)

Miso pork skewer

豚五花味增串

tún wǔ huā wèi zēng chuàn

$100

AND

(Left two)

Pork skewer

松阪豬肉串

Sōngbǎn zhūròu chuàn

$130

The thing that Toria did that I liked the most, was that the sauce they used is slightly sweetened and sticky. It keeps the meat juicy and brings in lots of flavour. I would quite happily just eat these again and again, without anything else (beer excluded).

Chicken skewer

雞肉串

jīròu chuàn

$100

This was essentially chicken skin. Hugely unhealthy and blah blah blah, but damn tasty!

Pork and onion skewer

豚五花蔥串

Tún wǔ huā cōng chuàn

$100

AND

Tomato wrapped with bacon

番茄培根串

fānqié péigēn chuàn

$100

As most of you know, it is difficult to find good bacon in Taipei. I would recommend Sedors Farm as a place to source actually decent bacon. Jason is working wonders over there smoking his own meat and producing top-quality ingredients.

The bacon here is, expectedly, of poor quality. I wouldn’t order it again at Toria, but I like the idea of tomatoes wrapped in bacon. Maybe something to do at my next BBQ in summer.

The pork, however, goes nicely with the onion and is right on the money – silver linings!

Baby corn

帶皮玉米筍

dài pí yùmǐ sǔn

$90

Once you get over the fact that you feel like a giant holding a piece of miniature corn in your hand, make sure to dip this into the pepper before knocking it back – great flavours!

Special Tofu

胡麻豆腐

húmá dòufu

$140

I called this ‘special’ tofu, because I really think it’s special. In a good way, don’t worry! There’s like a soggy deep-fried skin on top and a salty-sweet soy sauce underneath. Cut into the tofu and it’s silky smooth and popping with genuine tofu flavour. Really interesting and definitely worth a try at Toria.

BBQ salmon rice roll

烤鮭魚飯糰

kǎo guīyú fàntuán

$60

I wouldn’t order this again at Toria. The salmon was dry and the rice roll itself was just fine. If you’re on the drinks and want to soak up the alcohol with some carbohydrates, then ok. But, if not, then I’d avoid this and order a few more meat skewers, instead. However, at $60 it is cheap!

Potato stew

馬鈴薯燉肉

mǎ líng shǔ dùn ròu

$160

“Why order stew at a BBQ joint?”, I hear you ask.

Because everything about this dish will surprise you and make you come back for more. The carrots are wonderfully soft, as is the potato. The flavours are so homemade that I felt like my grandma was there (although she isn’t Japanese, granted).

Special GuanDong stew

關東煮

guān dōng zhǔ

$180

This sounded too interesting to not order at Toria, too. And, we didn’t regret it. The soup was great and the ingredients inside all had their own unique flavours that shone through. Not bad! But, I would suggest avoiding the weird jelly-like cube inside, as it lacked flavour and had a texture I didn’t care for in the slightest.

Scallops

西芽干貝

Xi yá gānbèi

$180

When I saw ‘scallops’ on the menu, I impulsively ticked away like a madman. However, what arrived made me sad. I wanted some BBQ scallops on a skewer that would melt in my mouth. What I got, however, was slightly chewy scallops with possibly my least favourite vegetable – celery.

It was fine, it was healthy, and it was tasty enough. But, its scallop skewers for me next time!

Chicken and onion skewer

雞肉蔥串

jīròu cōng chuàn

$120