With its antique-looking armchairs and slightly worn wooden armrests, crimson-colored walls set against black-and-golden carpeting, and original sculptures and other artworks in the dining room, a nostalgic sense of faded grandeur pervades Jimmy’s Kitchen, one of Taipei City’s oldest steak houses.
Hidden in a basement close to the roundabout on Renai Road (仁愛路), Jimmy’s Kitchen is said to have a history dating back to the foreign concessions in Shanghai. The owner fled to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after the Chinese civil war and restarted the business, which was taken over by the current management two decades ago.
Bearing such a history in mind, it is not surprising that the restaurant has retained a look reminiscent of bygone days when suits and gowns were de rigueur. The interior design cleverly turns the lack of natural lighting to work in its favor, with candles on each table exuding a look of old-school romanticism that is given an aural dimension by a resident pianist.
As for the food itself, it lives up to all the rave reviews Jimmy’s has accumulated over the years. On a recent Friday night the restaurant was packed (fortunately, we had made reservations a few days ahead). My dining partner and I ordered the tenderloin with fresh goose liver (NT$1,100) and filet mignon (NT$1,120), both of which were recommended by the gray-haired staff. The tenderloin was a savory fusion of steak and slightly fried foie gras, with the latter being a bit of crunchy on the outside and buttery on the inside. The filet mignon was one of the best I had ever tasted.
According to other recent reviews, the pig knuckles (NT$820) are also a must-try. The more premium seafood dishes have also received fair reviews, but these are said to pale in comparison to the steak menu.
Apart from its legendary past and lauded menu, Jimmy’s most famed asset is its seasoned wait staff, who seem to take pride in their trade rather than merely seeing it as a way to make a living. Impeccably dressed in suits, they attend to patrons with great care and respect, observing quietly what diners need and offering their services without being intrusive.
At Jimmy’s, salads and desserts are served buffet-style, and there are a decent range of choices. The advice is to stay away from the cakes and stick with the fruit. One of the very few weaknesses this restaurant suffers from is its mediocre selection of pastries and cakes.
Even by the standards of Ukraine’s International Legion, which comprises volunteers from over 55 countries, Han has an unusual backstory. Born in Taichung, he grew up in Costa Rica — then one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — where a relative worked for the embassy. After attending an American international high school in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, Han — who prefers to use only his given name for OPSEC (operations security) reasons — moved to the US in his teens. He attended Penn State University before returning to Taiwan to work in the semiconductor industry in Kaohsiung, where he
On May 2, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), at a meeting in support of Taipei city councilors at party headquarters, compared President William Lai (賴清德) to Hitler. Chu claimed that unlike any other democracy worldwide in history, no other leader was rooting out opposing parties like Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That his statements are wildly inaccurate was not the point. It was a rallying cry, not a history lesson. This was intentional to provoke the international diplomatic community into a response, which was promptly provided. Both the German and Israeli offices issued statements on Facebook
May 18 to May 24 Pastor Yang Hsu’s (楊煦) congregation was shocked upon seeing the land he chose to build his orphanage. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the only way to access it was to cross a river by foot. The soil was poor due to runoff, and large rocks strewn across the plot prevented much from growing. In addition, there was no running water or electricity. But it was all Yang could afford. He and his Indigenous Atayal wife Lin Feng-ying (林鳳英) had already been caring for 24 orphans in their home, and they were in
Australia’s ABC last week published a piece on the recall campaign. The article emphasized the divisions in Taiwanese society and blamed the recall for worsening them. It quotes a supporter of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) as saying “I’m 43 years old, born and raised here, and I’ve never seen the country this divided in my entire life.” Apparently, as an adult, she slept through the post-election violence in 2000 and 2004 by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the veiled coup threats by the military when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) became president, the 2006 Red Shirt protests against him ginned up by
RSS