M'LOMA

「Traditional tribal cuisines with delicate flavors」

M’LOMA is an abbreviation of Ma'ilol To loma, which means “homesickness” in Amis language. The chef Yue came from Xinshe tribal village at Fengbin of Hualien county and cooking is the way for him to share traditional food of his tribe and his life experience. When the restaurant starts to serve food at 18:30, Yue would come to the tables of his guests and explain what gives him the inspiration of menu design and his use of seasonal ingredients as well as the connection between his culinary techniques and traditional tribal food culture. In spring, he makes three types of dressing for his salad and serves 7 kinds of cooked vegetables and three kinds of raw vegetables, none of which are common ingredients for salad. His guests would admire vegetable collection and preparation tradition in Amis food culture and get to know a variety of delicious plants in the wild after a meal here, even though they may not remember their names. According to Yue, creeks and rivers provide abundant food for Amis people and he honors the tribal tradition of fishing at estuaries with a dish of clams and whitebait in gray-colored, creamy sauce seasoned with sichuan pepper. In the past, Amis hunters used to cut and smoke their prey they caught in the mountain in order to easily carry and preserve them. As an Amis chef, Yue is good at preparing smoked food. One of the restaurant’s signature dishes is smoked pork ribs prepared with lengthy, painstaking process, including oil-soaking, smoking of raw meat, sous vide cooking and re-smoking. It’s an elaborate cuisine with which the Amis chef pays tribute to hunters of his tribe. As a tribal restaurant, it’s not a surprise that M’LOMA serves its food with vintage liquors of different indigenous tribes, including glutinous rice wine of Amis tribe, red quinoa and millet wine of Rukai tribe, and roselle wine of Paiwan tribe. A meal at M’LOMA includes three glasses of wine, one glass of beverage, eight dishes and one dessert. Like the storyteller in The Arabian Nights, Yue tells the stories about the sea, rivers, and fields of east Taiwan with the delightful food he prepares. The delicious smell of smoked food on your body as you leave the restaurant is a pleasant reminder that you just attended a delicious tribal feast.