Soho opened late last month in the space that formerly housed the swanky Belle Fusion. Whereas Belle used the fifth floor and rooftop space as dining areas, Soho has transformed the space into Urban 9 Bar, a lounge bar that opens at 9pm.
Ceiling-to-floor windows bathe Soho in natural light during the day and lend the place a romantic atmosphere at night. The walls on the first floor, painted granite gray and punctuated by girders and supporting gray brick pillars keep the vibe downtown. The second floor has more of a country feel, with wooden seats at widely spaced tables.
Belle Fusion was known much for its food as its ambience, and the high-end crowd that frequented the space paid a hefty price for their victuals. Soho goes in the opposite direction with a simple menu of salads, soups, burgers, hot dogs, baked rice dishes and Italian pastas — in other words, pub food in a fashionable environment.
This could have ended up a disappointment — especially for those expecting a healthy lunch or dinner. But where Soho is short on menu refinement, the food it offers is solid and the portions appropriate for the price.
I started off with the garden salad (NT$80) and the homemade Mexican white bean stew (NT$80). The salad was an uncreative mix of iceberg lettuce, cucumbers and sprouts. The mound of greenery was sprinkled with raisins and came swimming (some might say drowning) in an Italian dressing. Thankfully, the dressing was a zesty combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, spices and chopped onions. Yet a leaf or two of radicchio or even some romaine would have uplifted this unexceptional salad.
The Mexican white bean stew was an improvement on the starter. Actually, it wasn’t so much of a stew as it was a thick soup. The white beans had been blended with onions and squash before being added to the creamy and un-oily broth that contained dried spices. The flavor was light and the white beans lent the soup a subtle and delicious smoky flavor.
The main course mushroom cheeseburger (NT$190) served with potato wedges won’t win any “burger of the year” awards but it was served with a generous selection of veggies.
The food at Soho might not captivate the palate, but the atmosphere — particularly on the second floor — is ideal for whiling away a few hours with friends. The fifth floor and enclosed glass rooftop space are sure to gain accolades from late-night nibblers.
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