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Restaurant: The Bed

By Steve Price
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Dec 09, 2005, Page 15

Getting in bed with Jacky Wu. PHOTO: STEVE PRICE, TAIPEI TIMES

Eating in bed is usually the preserve of the supine or the incapacitated, but a new establishment opened by five partners -- including Taiwan funny man Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) and Telly Liu (劉悟) -- aims to give the activity a more sophisticated slant. The bar/restaurant, open some three months, is not to be confused with a different establishment of the same name that is located behind the main shopping drag of Zhongxiao East Road.

Bed's decoration lies somewhere between opulent and exorbitant. Over three floors there are several seating arrangements decked out in a melange of Eastern styles and there is a lot of faux fur: VIP rooms with either sunken or raised seating, for which there is a minimum charge of NT$6,000 to NT$8,000, traditional dining tables and chairs and a small dining room that looks like an Indian safari camp.

On the first floor is a large sofa that is shaped like a plume of feathers and which wouldn't look out of place in an Ali Baba pantomime. Behind the stairs leading up to the second floor there is a selection of hookahs imported from Egypt. A range of aromatic tobacco is on offer ranging from the "special" at NT$1,500 to various fruit flavors, including strawberry at NT$500.

The mix-and-match decoration reflects the menu, which features dishes from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. This is a fusion restaurant so many of the recipes have been augmented. The shrimp green curry was served with a thicker sauce than the Thai staple -- and the heat had been turned down considerably. Other Thai options include green papaya salad and tom yum soup. The Thai-style raw shrimp comes highly recommended. "Like angels dancing on my tongue," commented one diner.

Fusion cuisine has come in for some bad press over the last few years for being over the top and too contrived, but The Bed doesn't tinker too much with the formula. Seafood features on the menu, with steamed lemon fish, crab vermicelli pot and spicy stir-fried squid. The three-flavor fish served with a sweet and sour chilli sauce is deep fried until the flesh becomes slightly chewy.

As it serves food until 2am The Bed is a good option for combining dining with imbibing and late night revelry. There is a DJ booth and the manager plans to change the layout on the first floor to make space for a small dance floor.

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