For spring dining ambiance, it's hard to match InterContinental Taichung Hotel's IL Limone, with its fashionable, relaxing premises warmly illuminated by glass walls offering expansive views of the Calligraphy Greenway outside. Thanks to Executive Chef David Chauveau's new Essenza Di Primavera ('Essence of spring') themed menu, the Italian restaurant's cuisine also provides a refreshingly delicious welcome to the season.
I've always loved semi-buffet dining—combining a main-course selection with a buffet—and IL Limone is undoubtedly one of the best such restaurants in Taichung. Three semi-buffet choices (lunch NT$1,088-1,688; dinner NT$1,388-2,288) start with the three-course option of Italian Appetizer Buffet and The Grand Dessert Buffet, soup of the day, and coffee/tea; the four and five course options respectively add a main course and gourmet appetizer. The appetizer buffet provides various salad choices, cold starters, cured meats,
cheeses, marinated vegetables, soup and fruit, while the dessert buffet includes various cakes, tarts and four gelato flavors. There's also tableside service for Caesar Salad, Signature Tiramisu and a zesty, refreshing new offering, Signature Lemon Crown ring cake, made with lemon-basil mascarpone and candied lemon peel.
With this cornucopia, don't forget to leave room for Chef Chauveau's excellent Italian main courses. The Loire Valley native puts four-plus decades of culinary experience to good use in his spring menu, changing just over half of the previous season's selections, keeping dishes like the well-loved mixed-seafood Spaghetti Ai Frutti Di Mare, and Filetto Di Manzo Angus, an Australian Angus Beef Tenderloin served with herbed gnocchi, local white mushrooms, parsnip puree, truffle oil, and Chianti sauce. Other items have been updated, including the best-selling Petto D'Anatra Di Yilan Sciolato seared Yilan cherry duck breast (now with a honey lemon sauce) and Pan-Fried Norwegian Salmon and Crispy Red Amadai fish dishes. Four pizzas range from the classic Margherita to Gamberi All'Aglio, topped with garlic shrimp, marscapone, toasted almonds, arugula, pesto and pickled Spanish white anchovies for some extra tanginess.
Another new, non-Italian dish not on the menu but available at IL Limone and the hotel's neighboring Leaves & Vines establishment is the chef's east-west InterContinental Black Label Signature Burger (NT$788), showcasing a richly savory blended US beef and Yilan duck patty, served in a brioche bun with Emmental cheese.
若要尋找充滿春日氣圍的用餐環境，位於臺中勤美洲際酒店的 IL Limone 沐檬義式餐廳，絕對是首選。餐廳空間時尚又放鬆，大片玻璃帷幕引入溫暖光線，同時將戶外草悟道的開闊景致盡收眼底，營造出讓人的春季用餐氣圍。隨著行政主廚 David Chauveau，推出全新「Essenza Di Primavera（春之本味）」主題菜單，餐廳料理也為這個季節帶來清新而細緻的義式風味體驗。
我一直很喜歡半自助式（semi-buffet）用餐形式—結合主菜與自助吧的彈性選擇，而沐檬無疑是台中此類型餐廳中的佼佼者。餐廳提供3種半自助選擇（午餐1,088~1,688元；晚餐1,388~2,288元），其中最基本的3道式套餐，包含「義式開
cheeses、醃漬蔬菜、湯品和水果，甜點自助吧則提供各式蛋糕、塔派與四款冰淇淋。此外還提供桌邊服務，如「凱撒沙拉」。招牌提拉米蘇與一道全新推出、酸香清爽的「檸香皇冠蛋糕」。
面對如此豐富的自助選擇，也別忘了為主廚的主菜保留一些胃口。來自法國羅亞爾河谷的主廚，擁有超過40年的料理經驗，在本季菜單中調整了超過一半的品項，同時保留人氣經典，如：「海鮮義大利麵」與「澳洲安格斯菲力牛排」，搭配香草義式麵疙瘩、本土洋菇、歐洲防風根泥、松露油與奇揚地紅酒醬。
其他菜色也有所更新，包括人氣熱銷的「脆皮宜蘭櫻桶鴨」，搭起蜂蜜檸檬醬，以及「炭烤挪威鮭魚」與「酥脆馬頭魚」也都換上了新版本，帶來不同以往的風味饗宴。披薩選擇共有4款，從經典馬格麗特到炭烤蝦披薩，搭配馬斯卡彭起司、烤杏仁、芝麻菜、青醬與西班牙白鯷魚，多了幾分鮮明酸香，讓整體滋味更有層次。
此外，餐廳亦提供一道未列於正式菜單上的創意料理──「洲際黑標漢堡（788元）」，於沐檹與飯店內的Leaves & Vines皆可點用。此漢堡融合美國牛肉與宜蘭鴨肉製成肉排，搭配布里歐麵包與艾曼塔起司，展現東西合璧的創新風味。