Finga's Fine Foods

        Finga's Italian Restaurant (17-1, Ching Cheng Rd.; tel. 327-5450) and Finga's Pizza and Pasta (B3-level, B Building, Chung Yo Dept. Store; tel. 226-1670) are providing a full Thanksgiving dinner on November 23 for NT$850 a person. Finga's Fine Foods (7, Ching Cheng Rd., tel. 327-7750) is offering take-away turkey dinners on the same day--call for price. Throughout November and Decembers, Finga's is offering full roasted turkeys (anywhere from about 12 to 18 pounds) for NT$200 per pound, including two pumpkin pies, stuffing and gravy, or a half-turkey with stuffing, gravy and one pie for NT$1,600.

11-18-13

      We went to Finga’s yesterday when we went to the Westside to look and see if we could get a kitten. When I got back from my bike ride, Leona made the suggestion to go. We got on her scooter and went. We went to the park where they had an anti-nuclear rally months ago. There, in a park were some stray animal advocates gifting pets, mostly dogs. There were very few cats and one of them, a three-month-old orange tabby with a white chest, almost became our new pet. We decided to think about it and took a walk to find Finga’s.

      Gilles had mentioned Finga’s a few weeks ago when we went for a ride up the mountain for a snack one Sunday afternoon. Leona and I were on the scooter heading to the Westside when I asked if we would be near Sogo, where Gilles mentioned we’d find Finga’s near. Leona said yes and I thought of going to Finga’s for the pickled beets he’d mentioned and the pumpkin pie I saw advertised on their Facebook for Thanksgiving. Gilles had said they were a restaurant/grocery and I was expecting to find a little supermarket. I called Gilles on my cell phone when we arrived on the Westside and he gave me directions. Amazingly, after a ten minute walk from the park, we found it, a little hole-in-the-wall with a faded round orange awning. Inside there were a few tables, not more than five or six, and a counter behind refrigerated showcases with some cheese and delicatessen items inside. To the left, there were baked goods where we found a delicious rye bread; real rye bread! On the shelf with a few random imported items, we found pickles but no pickled beets. There was Vegemite in case I wanted to sample the Australian favorite and even some boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. My attention went to a freezer case in the back left corner in which I spied Italian sausage and other sausages, homemade! I then spotted a can of Libby’s pumpkin that I plan on trying to make a pumpkin pie with. Leona spotted a tin of anchovies in oil. I felt like we had hit the jackpot, thanks to Gilles. It was the second time since our trip up the mountain that he’d steered me right, the first one being Palio’s Pizza just up Dong-Shan Road; the best pizza I’ve had since we moved to Taichung. Merci beaucoups Gilles, mon ami.

      For dinner, I made the sausages which were a little spicy, lean, and delicious. I also made an antipasto salad with baby lettuce and greens Leona had gotten along with some Genoa salami, prosciutto, and home style mozzarella, capers and anchovies. I also put some dry meat and cheese on thin slices of Italian bread and baked them with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, real olive oil, not the adulterated shit that’s been exposed in the Taiwan media recently. We also finished the bottle of Chilean red wine

Leona had gotten the day before with the bread. It was a fine dinner I made, and I let Leona know it was her I was making it for. She loved it!