Although it opened only a month ago, Taipei's Chill House has already come to the attention of many of the city's style conscience movers and shakers who can be found propping-up the bar most Friday and Saturday evenings.
Part restaurant part lounge bar, the Chill House has been designed with two purposes. While offering punters a relaxing and tasteful environment in which to enjoy a sit-down meal, the joint also caters to those who wish to partake in the downing of alcoholic libations in a very unbar-like atmosphere. The interior is sparsely yet tastefully styled in cream and little decor adorns the walls. By using sofas as well as regular dining tables and chairs, the restaurant gives punters the option of dining in style or sip on fine wines in very laid-back comfort.
Because of its emphasis on lounge style, Chill House's menu is somewhat limited. There are, however, enough mouthwatering appetizers and main courses available to satisfy anyone with a hankering for high quality haut cuisine.
While Chill House's interior design follows one particular theme, the menu certainly doesn't and contains a hodgepodge of dishes from Thailand, Italy and Germany. For the lunchtime crowd, Chill House offers a choice of dishes including risotto, pastas and salads which range in price from NT$240 through NT$320 and come served with soup, bread and a choice of coffee or tea.
It's the a la carte menu, however, where the joint's more interesting dishes can be found. A couple of dishes worth trying are the tasty quesadillas (NT$250), which come stuffed with green papaya and Thai style shrimp and the linguine, which is topped with spicy chicken and hot chili sauce (NT$280).
One of the joint's more arty creations is the roasted lamb chops with mustard and mashed potato (NT$500), is a dish that sees the chefs getting very creative and stuffing the mashed spuds inside a fried slice of taro root and topping it all off with punchy garlic sauce. For the evening crowds who don't fancy dining on a set meal, Chill House has a special midnight menu. Here punters can order Caesar salad (NT$300), nachos (NT$150), smoked salmon tartar (NT$300) and French fries (NT$150).
While the food menu is somewhat limited, the drinks and cocktail menus are brimming with reasonably priced liquors, spirits, coffees, wines and soft drinks. One of the nicest ways to enjoy an evening out at Chill House, however, is to make use of the joint's sun deck, which is located at the rear of the restaurant. Although not a dance venue, the Chill House's resident DJ spins lounge tunes from 10pm nightly.
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