Restaurants that offer set menus have been the rage in Taipei for the past few years, serving up fare which takes diners through an entire dining experience. At the high-end of the spectrum are the many hotels that import chefs from around the world to put on lavish spreads. At the lower end are eateries that operate like they own a stake in an oil refinery or canning plant. Post Cafe Restaurant positions itself somewhere in between.
The tastefully designed interior, with dark wood finishing and ambient lighting, contrasts the hustle and bustle of Zhongxiao East Road's main shopping drag nearby. The elaborately laid tables, however, are arranged like an obstacle course with one at the front entrance practically blocking the door.
Billing itself as an Italian-style restaurant, the lunch set includes soup, bread, a main course, beverage and dessert. The dinner set is the same but with the addition of a salad for an extra NT$80.
Photo: Noah Buchan, Taipei Times
The bread was a disappointing 30cm stick similar in taste to what can be found at convenience stores. It was served with a small dish containing antipasto that bore a striking resemblance to canned tomatoes. One of the many attentive servers told me that only one stick is allowed per customer, so even if one were inclined, ordering a second to dip in the pasta sauce is out of the question.
The salads, on the other hand, were more impressive. The Caesar salad was made with fresh romaine lettuce, generous amounts of real bacon, capers and crispy croutons and topped with a tangy dressing. I ordered the tomato and mushroom soup, which was seasoned with oregano and was light on the palate.
Main courses include rice dishes and pasta bakes (NT$400 to NT$440), lasagna and pastas (NT$280 to NT$400), with a few meat and seafood dishes thrown in (NT$560 to NT$760). All prices are for dinner. I opted for pesto spaghetti with clams (NT$380). The pasta was cooked al dente and served with a generous portion of clams, though the sauce was overpowered by thick slices of roast garlic.
Dessert consisted of a light tiramisu sprinkled with cocoa powder, which went well with the coffee, served in individual percolators.
For those looking for an all-in-one dining experience, Post Cafe is fair value for your money.
Post Cafe Restaurant
Address: 22, Ln 161, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei
(台北市敦化南路一段161巷22號)
Telephone: (02) 2776-1310
Open: Daily from 11:30am to 11pm (kitchen closes at 10pm)
Average meal: Lunch is NT$320 and dinner is NT$400
Details: Menu in Chinese and English. Major credit cards accepted; 10 percent service charge added to all meals
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby