Thomas Chien Restaurant

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

The Chef Behind the Name

In 2012, Thomas Chien — known in Mandarin as 簡天才 — opened a restaurant that bore his own name, a deliberate statement of personal culinary identity. The decision came after more than two decades moving through the kitchens of southern Taiwan: from the Caesar Park Hotel in Kenting and the Passadena dining group in Kaohsiung, to advanced study at École Lenôtre in France and collaborative dinners with chefs of the calibre of Alain Passard and Christian le Squer. "Opening a restaurant with my own style is every chef's dream," he has said. In 2013, he and his team hosted a celebrated dinner with three-Michelin-star chef Alain Passard — an event that announced Thomas Chien Restaurant as a serious address in southern Taiwan's dining landscape.

His cooking philosophy, in his own words, moves between "harmony and conflict, memory and adventure, the seasons of the land and personal emotion." That tension is what gives the food its character.

A French Kitchen Rooted in Taiwan

The restaurant describes itself as the leading French dining destination in southern Taiwan, known for a "light-style" nouvelle French cuisine that draws on both world-class and locally sourced Taiwanese ingredients. The menu reflects this balance precisely. Sakura shrimp and mullet roe — distinctly Taiwanese products — appear alongside truffle, Boston lobster, and Ibérico pork. A lunch course might move from crab with white asparagus and mullet roe to a daily fish with seaweed sauce, while the dinner set extends to abalone with artichoke and abalone liver sauce, duck breast with mulberry and kumquat, or lamb loin with spice butter. Yun-Chang ranch beef tenderloin, sourced from a named Taiwanese producer, anchors the à la carte section.

Chef Gary Wu, who leads the kitchen day to day, brings 18 years of French and Italian technique to the table. He has cooked alongside six international Michelin-starred visiting chefs and spent time working with three-star legend Sébastien Bras in France — experience that shows in the precision and restraint of each plate.

The Room and the Wine

The dining room seats 52, with two private rooms designed to evoke the imagery of a yacht harbour — an immersive space described as "inspired by nature," with the feel of sailing in port. Both rooms accommodate six to eight guests and are suited to private parties and business entertaining.

The wine programme earned Thomas Chien Restaurant the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2024, recognition that reflects the depth and curation of a list spanning grower Champagnes, Burgundy premiers crus, Rhône whites, and Bordeaux grands crus. Structured wine pairing options — three or five glasses — are offered alongside both the lunch and dinner sets, making the French cuisine and wine experience genuinely integrated rather than an afterthought.

Executive Director Pansy Li, a founding member of the team with nearly 20 years in hospitality, oversees service with the stated conviction that guests should be treated as friends, and that creativity is what transforms routine into something memorable.