Akame

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Touted as the hardest restaurant to book in southern Taiwan, Akame replaces modern stoves with a traditional wood-fired kiln. Using indigenous spices, local ingredients, and ancient cooking methods, the restaurant embraces open-fire grilling to express a dialogue between indigenous heritage and contemporary cuisine.

Akame means "grilled" in the Rukai language. Chef Alex uses a wood-fired kiln instead of modern stoves, and incorporates a large number of traditional spices such as millet, ma gao, wild angelica, prickly onion, and five-needle pine, as well as local Taiwanese ingredients such as wild vegetables collected from the mountains, Taiwanese yellow cattle, and wild-caught seafood. He then uses ancient cooking techniques such as smoking, grilling, drying, fermenting, and pickling, and grilling entirely over direct fire, presenting the tradition and modernity of the indigenous people.

"Placing Akame in the mountains is the truest flavor." Chef Alex insisted on opening Akame in Haocha Village, Wutai Township, Pingtung County, hoping to introduce people to the tribe through his cuisine. After all, when you actually step into the mountains, your perspective on the tribe gradually changes. The team, comprised entirely of family and friends, warmly discusses the dishes and shares stories about the tribe. While allowing guests to experience the flavors of the mountains, they also hope to provide a unique and wonderful dining experience.