Pro Restaurant (普羅美食坊)
64, Lane 233, Tunhua S. Rd., Sec. 1, Taipei (台北市敦化南路一段233巷64號); Tel: 8773-9889. Average meal: NT$150 (lunch); NT$400 (dinner). 11am to 9pm. English Menu. Credit cards not accepted.
This newly opened French restaurant is more elegant and romantic than others in the same price range, which makes it a top choice for a rendezvous in the area. Decorated with stylish lamps and with soft music from the 50s flowing, the place is owned by Dong Ma Ma (董媽媽). She opened the restaurant in April, and hired Tony Chu, an experienced cook who has also worked at the Grand Hyatt and Trader Vic's.
The spaghetti is extremely popular, having rich texture and a savory taste. Try the bacon and ham spaghetti (燻肉蛋義大利麵) which mixes parsley, onion, green, mushroom, and pepper into the sauce. Other recommended entrees include: grilled lamb chop and prawns, and steak with fish and white wine. For desert, try Gui-ning-gau (龜苓膏), a homemade cream pudding that's a Chinese favorite. Made with 28 kinds of herbal medicine, this desert is good for your respiratory organs and metabolism. A variety of coffees and teas are also available, with vanilla coffee, chocolate coffee, fruit and sun flower tea being among the best choices.
Herb Market St Cafe Shop (香草市場街)
20, Alley 32, Lane 216, Chunghsiao E. Rd Sec. 4, Taipei
(台北市忠孝東路四段216巷32弄20號1樓); Tel: 2772-1717. 11:30am to 2am. Average cost: NT$ 200. English menu. Credit cards not accepted.
The atmosphere here is cozy and warm, attracting mostly young people who linger around the commercial district for fun. Loud, solid colors are the hallmark of the interior design, with peach red, deep sea blue, lemon green and dark wooden floors forming the basis of the decor, coupled with Walasse Ting's bright paintings of floral bouquets.
The food is coastal Chinese food and you can choose a set meal or a la carte. The chefs create their own dishes, and half of the dishes are new for the summer. Recommended entrees include: beef casserole (鍋粑牛肉) sweet and sour fish filet (糖醋薏仁魚片), and tender chicken with butter (芥菜奶油) Half of the young people who frequent this place come to drink as well. There is some alcohol, but tea and coffee are the mainstay. The top choice is the house specialty — fruit tea — based on kiwi added to seasonal fruit. Royal Belgium coffee is another attraction. While you're sipping away, don't be surprised if a celebrity drifts by, such as Fang Chih-fei (方季韋). They seem to be attracted to the good food, too.
Ben Chang Liu (本場流麵食店)
14, Alley 11, Lane 216, Chunghsiao E. Rd, Sec. 4, Taipei
(北市忠孝東路四段216巷11弄14號); Tel: 2778-3020. Open: 11am to 10pm. Average cost: NT$100.
This shop claims it's the cheapest la-mien (拉麵) place in the district. But do not be fooled by the claim. An affiliate to Nan Chow Company (南僑公司), the outlet is ll-supported by the noodle chain and its recipes are developed in cooperation with a Japanese partner. The design combines a traditional Japanese noodle shop of low stools and petite square tables with a modern, tasteful wooden decor. Adding a bit more taste to the atmosphere is an open kitchen, which allows customers to watch the noodle-making process.
There are 11 types of la-mien served here. All of them have creative names, such as Korean pickled cabbage white meat la-mien
(韓式泡菜白片切肉拉麵) and fried tender pork la-mien (炸嫩豬柳拉麵). You can also get Japanese-style fried dumplings (日式煎餃) that you cannot get elsewhere, tasting as good as they look. The noodles, of authentic Japanese flavor, are rich and not greasy.
The year was 1991. A Toyota Land Cruiser set out on a 67km journey up the Junda Forest Road (郡大林道) toward an old loggers’ camp, at which point the hikers inside would get out and begin their ascent of Jade Mountain (玉山). Little did they know, they would be the last group of hikers to ever enjoy this shortcut into the mountains. An approaching typhoon soon wiped out the road behind them, trapping the vehicle on the mountain and forever changing the approach to Jade Mountain. THE CONTEMPORARY ROUTE Nowadays, the approach to Jade Mountain from the north side takes an
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and