Tucked away in the mountains just North of Tamsui town itself, Kooks 2 is the second shop in the Kooks restaurant chain. The original shop is down in Danshui town itself. I guess it has proved popular enough for them to open up a second branch.
If you’ve got transport then it’s a nice ride up here. However, if you haven’t then you’ll have to get the bus to TianYuan Temple – 天元宮 – and then walk around 15-20mins uphill.
The location is really quiet and perfect to sit outside and relax in the summer heat. Fortunately, when we went up it was a beautiful day!
There’s plenty of outside space to enjoy the outdoors at Kooks 2.
They sell some nice jams, pickles and general cooking ingredients next to the counter at the front.
I am not 100% sure whether they make the produce themselves, or not, but it definitely has that homemade feel to it.
The decor inside Kooks 2 is simple, but in relaxed way, for sure.
The menu is pretty big. It’s probably a little bigger than I would ideally like when I am sitting down to eat. I am a firm believer in a small menu and being able to execute the dishes perfectly each time. However, each to their own.
Blueberry and strawberry ice cream shake
$140
Sometimes you just have to enjoy a shake. This was pretty good. The ice cream gave it an almost yogurt-like sourness which went down a treat.
Pesto salmon pizza
$480
This pizza was huge. We definitely regretted ordering 2 main meals between the 2 of us – note to self for next time.
Whilst the salmon provided wasn’t in thick chunks, it was plentiful scattered over the pizza. The pesto base to the pizza worked very nicely and the cheese with the onions and tomato were a good way to top it all off.
Pesto is oil-based, so I couldn’t help but feel the pizza was a little greasier than normal, but the cheese was used sparingly to avoid complete grease overdose.
(I took 3 slices home and had them for my evening meal with some tomato cous cous salad – there’s a sign of just how big the portion was!).
Soft taco chilli and rice combo (beef)
$420
The 3 tacos were presented nicely with pickled onions and coriander (cilantro to the American readers out there) making the dish pop with colour. The tacos themselves were pretty good. There was plenty of beef and the salad cut through nicely. My only criticism is that the taco shells at Kooks were a little too thick and chewy.
The chilli had a BBQ flavour and a smokey bitterness almost like coffee. The cheese on top of the chilli wasn’t needed, and looks pretty weird, too.
The rice tasted as though it had been microwaved and wasn’t very pleasant. I’d order the tacos and the chilli again at Kooks, but not the rice.
Yum!
Tel:
02 2625 6610