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Mume

Taipei

• The Best Restaurant in Taiwan 2023

Stunning Taiwanese ingredients fashioned into edible art

On the Pass

Richie Lin

Who’s behind it? Set up in 2014 by chef trio Richie Lin, Long Xiong and Kai Ward, Mume has been run solely by Lin for the last few years. Born in Hong Kong, the chef moved to Sydney to work alongside Peter Gilmore at Quay, then spent some time at Noma in Copenhagen before deciding to move to Taiwan permanently. At Mume, he combines his international outlook, propension for minimalist Nordic-inspired plating and passion for Taiwanese produce all into one.

What’s in a name? The restaurant is named for Taiwan’s most famous flower, the plum blossom, and its cuisine pays tribute to the diversity of the island’s terroir. ‘Mume’ also shares the same characters as Lin’s mother’s name.

The cuisine: The chef’s philosophy is all about exploring underrated local ingredients and applying modern European techniques to create stunning, colourful dishes. Recent menus have featured mahi mahi fish with salted kombu and crème fraîche; cuttlefish with nduja sausage and bell pepper; prawn with kumquat and lemon balm; and abalone with Brazilian mushroom and vin jaune.

Bonus point: Mume earned the Sustainable Restaurant Award in 2022 for its uncompromising ethos working closely and fairly with local farmers and championing their ingredients as part of its concept.

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