Kooks 2 異嗑堂二店 (K2 Mountain Kitchen 山灶廚房)

So, so worth the trek up to Tamsui mountains! I got the veggie burger (tasted convincing!) With housemade onion rings, and my friend got the pesto chicken burger (also homemade pesto!) With a heap of French fries and ranch dressing sauce! (Both around 270 I believe). So, so good and accurately representative of damn good American food. Yes, more expensive prices than other joints but utterly worth it for the quality and very filling portions! English speaking staff and menus available, outdppr bathrooms and wide menu including breakfast, bar food, coffee and alcoholic drinks and vegan food. But the highlight- the cinnamon roll. Ridiculously absurdly massive and fantastic- gooey, warm, fluffy bread layered with cinnamon nut filling and smothered in ample frosting. For 90 ntd?? I was shocked! Absolutely amazing deal especially as you could easily serve it to three or four people! Owners are super nice and friendly, plenty of lovely and atmospheric seating, and today due to it being the Halloween weekend lots of adorable kids were running around in costumes which was lovely to see! The lemon tart slices look huge and amazing and so do the blondes with lemon icing and dried cranberries... yum!! Definitely dreaming about those cinnamon rolls- inarguably the best in all of Taiwan!! Absolutely coming here more often- I'm in love, and I almost never bother with American style eateries in Taiwan!

Where to start with this place, I used to consider this a nice restaurant but the quality has dropped so bad. First, when we arrived the place was empty and somehow the service was so bad that we had to go look for the waiters to give them our orders since none of them bothered to pay attention if we were ready to order. (They were like four waiters inside the kitchen just talking) Secondly, The place is dusty and full of bugs. It is clear that they couldn’t care less about the higiene of the outdoors area. Finally, the food is way too expensive for its quality. We ordered kooks’ classic burger and chili fries. the burger was bad, it was not tasty at all and the patty was stiff and chewy. The chili fried were even worst, they were completely tasty less and the chili seemed reheated like it was microwaved. Extremely Disappointing. The worst of it all is that all that cost a grand total of 880 ntds?‍♂️ We regretted not going for McDonald’s instead of this disaster place.

The only time to date that I've truly envied a vegetarian burger. It was immense. It had the density of a neutron star and tasted better than my real meat burger. I was glad my gf has a small stomach and could only eat 1/4. :)

Good international catering effort from the proprietors. They clearly have some passion for food, are trying to elevate the local food culture and know what’s worth paying for when you eat out. The price for the food is reasonable; the culinary skill is evident. We had the artichoke pizza, cake and coffee - all items were great. Taiwan’s jungle knocks at the door as the multifarious flying things emerge from the encroaching green vines - a kind waitress eliminated the discomfort with a smoking candle and a bottle of DEET. There appeared to be a staff problem. For the duration of the meal there was cutlery and food debris left on tables when there was a small legion of staff doing unknown tasks. If it wasn’t for the boss’s demands for recognition by the staff then I doubt we would have had any service at all. For her recognition, I’m grateful. I’m also very happy I could get a cooked meal outside of the usual kitchen hours. I will go again.

the food was surprisingly good and delicious!!! Tho, it was located far from the city but we would definitely pay a visit again soon!!

Conclusion first - it's totally not worth come a long way to here for all these pricy Taiwanese dishes with Mexican food name and outlook. The most tasty dish I got was the fries unfortunately. Fried chicken, hmmmm, dry and not seasoning enough, pizza, very interesting texture I have never had before, toppings were not outstanding as well. Salad performed not bad bit nothing special. Both tacos shocked us, not just put some slice meat, slice lettuce on the tortilla and wrap it called "Taco", and mayo in taco, seriously?

Great little American style restaurant tucked into the hills overlooking Tamshui. American fare, including all day breakfast choices plus burgers and other Tex-Mex options. Healthy American sized portions! Cheese cake was good. Worth the drive to get away from it all for a while. Outdoor seating available. Parking on the premises.

Western style Brunch spot in the hills of Tamsui. Food is great and diverse of various western style cuisines. Atmosphere is very cozy and indie DIY decorated. The food is slowly served so it’s relaxing to hang out with friends and enjoy mountain atmosphere. Portions are big so you might not want a set meal if you aren’t that hungry. Tex-Mexican dishes like the chili, nachos, and tacos were good. I would probably pick out their breakfast style dishes next time. Deserts like the cinnamon roll was super good (very unhealthy but very good)