The Pig & Whistle prides itself on being an authentic British pub, which is shorthand for saying there's a wood bar, cozy lighting, delightfully warm beer, TVs showing exciting European sports, but boring English food, with the possible exception of the fish `n' chips. After all, let's face it, England didn't conquer the world on the strength of its cuisine.
But the fish `n' chips always offers a glimmer of hope, or at the very least, the sensation of being sated in the wake of an exceptionally large hunger. And the menu at Pig & Whistle uses that catchphrase "authentic" to describe its fish `n' chips, so for a taste of the real thing it seemed an obvious choice. It was a fortuitous one too, because fish `n' chips is the one dish for which the restaurant can display the fruits of its 15 years in the business and a reason it can bandy about the word "authentic."
No two restaurants make the same fish `n' chips, so one's never quite sure what to expect. Here we get two juicy fillets of cod coated in a light, crispy batter that isn't a drop too oily and that crumbles under a fork. This is a delightful contrast to many variations of this dish, where the batter cracks open as if it were a shell. The cod melts in the mouth and is flavorful enough to make one reconsider dipping it in tartar sauce. As for the chips, these are the dish's Achilles heel. They would like to be thick-cut and robust taste-wise, but fall short in both respects. Overall, though, it's a stellar plate of fish `n' chips that should be the star of the
PHOTO: MAX WOODWORTH, TAIPEI TIMES
restaurant's enormous menu.
A random selection from the scores of other offerings was the fried mackerel with spring onions -- one of the current lunch specials. While not the most attractive slice of fish, buried as it is under a mound of chopped spring onions, the mackerel has delicious white inner meat that tastes neither too fishy nor oily and is hearty enough to fill the largest of empty bellies.
After the fish `n' chips, the most impressive aspect of the Pig & Whistle is the breadth of the menu, which would seem to complicate the pub's description as British. There are hefty, American-style steaks along with other continental meat dishes, Italian food, Mexican food, the full range of sandwiches and burgers and an impressively international beer and wine list.
The British element must be chalked up to the jovial atmosphere and the quirky, rustic decor, including a full line of donated neckties hanging at head level over the bar and the ubiquitous British beer paraphernalia. These add to the comfy atmosphere that the pub clearly thrives off and it's easy to see how one could linger after a meal to catch the end of the big game, or maybe even stick around until evening when the restaurant morphs into a lively night club and bar.
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50