Print

Mail

wiki links

Restaurant: Saints and Sinners

Saints & Sinners' chicken sandwich with fries. PHOTO COURTESY OF SAINTS AND SINNERS

Nearing its fifth year in business, Saints and Sinners has become something of an institution, which is no surprise. Far from being a run-of-the-mill pub with grub, the place could better be

described as a restaurant that happens to have a full bar and a party going on most nights of the week.

Of course, Saints and Sinners felt a bit like an institution the day it opened its doors, a fact that can be attributed to the experience its owners garnered from their other establishments: Malibu West and My Place in Taipei's Combat Zone, My Other Place on Fuxing North Road and the original Malibu. But Saints and Sinners offers an even larger menu than its sister

establishments, focuses on both Western and "oriental"

specialties, and manages to do both of them well.

The "oriental" section starts out the menu and ostensibly gets its title from the fact that it's more than just Chinese dishes that are listed under it. The cilantro you see listed with the stir-fried beef can also be found in a range of Thai dishes that dot the page. In fact, when it first opened, Saints and Sinners was a more straightforward Chinese-Thai establishment. Nowadays, though, it's as much the Western fare that brings people in -- and keeps them coming back. The benchmark of a Western menu is its burger, and here Saints and Sinners more than satisfies. Foregoing the measly strip of bacon you might find on a cheeseburger elsewhere, the saints in the kitchen have instead added a slice of ham to the equation. The result is a sinfully succulent burger.

Saints and Sinners Address: 114-116, Anhe Rd, Sec 2, Taipei (北市安和路二段114-116號ㄧ樓) Telephone: (02) 2739 9001 Open: Kitchen open from 11:30 am to 1am Average meal: NT$300 Details: Credit cards accepted. English and Chinese menu

Saints and Sinners also performs what could be considered a community service as the first -- or last -- stop in Taipei's liveliest bar-hopping circuit. Punters can fill up on one of the mains from the menu while taking advantage of some of the better happy hour prices in town, then start their romp down Anhe Road to Carnegies, Taipei Sports Bar, Organo or a dozen other watering holes. Coming the other way, late-nighters will be happy to find Saints and Sinners' kitchen still open at 1am, with still some of the better-priced drinks in the neighborhood.

While Wednesday nights are given over to drink specials for ladies, Saints and Sinners doesn't play favorites. They're one of the very few establishment in town to offer a boys' night, with buy-one-get-one-free bottles of selected beers, including Coors, Tiger and San Miguel, which are all priced at just NT$100 a bottle. A selection of red and white wines are also available for NT$200 per glass.
This story has been viewed 2746 times.