The aptly named Taipei Sports Bar (TSB) opened a new front in the ongoing "sports bar wars" three weeks ago when it began serving up large portions of beer and food to the sports mad alpha male crowds.
Located a stone's throw away from trendy Anho Road, the joint may still be "a work in progress," as owner Ray Bundy refers to it on a popular local Internet chat site, but it has already begun to carve a niche and looks set to become a serious contender. At present, the joint has only a single 42-inch plasma screen television, but a satellite dish and more screens are on the way.
PHOTO: GAVIN PHIPPS, TAIPEI TIMES
Sparsely decorated, the joint offers patrons a no-frills place to chow down on reasonably priced food, enjoy a drop of beer, or more alcohol loaded thirst-quenchers, play pool, or ogle at the goggle box. Like the joint itself, the menu is also a work in progress and currently offers a small amount of healthy and high cholesterol grub that will please any barstool sports fan.
Appetizers include buffalo wings, nachos, mozzarella sticks and veggie and cheese quesadillas. All are reasonably priced at between NT$180 and NT$240 and if patrons are particularly hungry they can fork out NT$380 for the TS three appetizer combo.
For the healthier alpha male, the TSB offers salads for NT$180 and soup for NT$100. Pastas and burgers are currently the mainstay of TSB's main course menu, with the former costing NT$200 and the latter, which are served with fries, costing from NT$220 to NT$240.
The TSB bacon cheeseburger rates at least an eight on a Taipei burger scale of one to 10. The patty is juicy, the burger bun is the right size and doesn't taste like cardboard or overpower the meaty flavor. And the fries are, well, crispy, unhealthy and yummy.
A deal with a neighboring beer house means punters can also order a selection of Chinese/Taiwanese bar food, which costs from NT$100 to NT$300. The pizza oven, which, according to bar manager Charles Cheng (承明澄), should be installed this weekend, means that TSB pizzas will be good to go in the coming week.
While there is still work to be done, Bundy has both ample time and room to make adjustments before the summer's up coming Olympic and European football sporting bonanzas. Even in its current form, though, TS should not be dismissed as a lightweight and is still worth a visit if you fancy a down-to-earth beer, burger and game of pool.
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