Regulars to On Tap, which changed ownership early last month, will recognize its rustic wooden tables and the comfy cushioned banquette upstairs. What has changed at the pub near the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國父紀念館) MRT Station, however, is the wall decor — the second floor’s red brick wall is now adorned with three brand-new, shiny 42-inch plasma screens.
The televisions are part of the new management team’s plan to turn On Tap into a go-to hangout for sports fans. Dan Calvert and fellow owners Matt Wharton, Max Swift, Russell Curtis and Jason Lowe, were regular patrons who seized the opportunity to purchase the pub when original owners Niall Clinton and Bill Allen decided to move on to a space (Center Stage) that would allow them to focus on live music performances.
Calvert and the other owners hope to preserve the laid-back atmosphere that drew them to On Tap in the first place while at the same time putting their own stamp on the pub.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL BROOKHART
“All of us are avid football [soccer] fans. Our social circle revolves around football in Taiwan,” explains Calvert, who is English. Indeed, Calvert is a founder and a club captain of Taipei City FC, which in March became the first expat team to top the Businessmen’s Soccer League (BML) in 16 years.
The new televisions will broadcast live sports games, with an emphasis on the English Premier League, of course. Fans of North American sports need not fret — the National Football League (NFL) and National Hockey League (NHL) will also feature in the rotation.
Patrons can test their sports acumen at a monthly soccer quiz, and plans are afoot to form a darts league. Other activities will include a themed night every month where patrons are encouraged to dress up — the nights will kick off at the end of this month with a Seventies Night, with the Sixties and Eighties to follow.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL BROOKHART
The old On Tap’s policy of serving food well into the night, which endeared it to buxiban teachers working the late shift, will be maintained. Hearty pub fare, including grilled pork ribs in XO barbeque sauce with mashed potatoes and gravy (NT$300) and the On Tap gourmet burger (NT$200), is available from 6pm to midnight.
Drinks include Corona (NT$150), Hoegaarden on tap (NT$200) and a variety of cocktails (NT$200). Guinness is no longer NT$200 (supposedly the cheapest in town), but at NT$220 is still pretty reasonable.
While the new On Tap is already open for business, patrons old and new are invited to celebrate at a grand opening party on July 12 with free beer between 7pm and 8pm.
On Tap is located at 49, Ln 308, Guangfu S Rd, Taipei City (台北市光復南路308巷49號). Current opening hours are 6pm to “whenever people leave,” but plans are underway to extend opening hours to brunch on weekends. Call (02) 2741-5365 for more information.
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
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
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located