Nestled on quiet Pucheng Street (浦城街) near Standard Bookstore (水準書店), Zabu looks and feels a world away from the hustle and bustle of the nearby Shida night market and the area’s mushrooming youth-fashion shops. Deriving its name from two Japanese words zakka (many goods) and burokku (block), the cafe-cum-bistro has a definite zakka feel to it with each nook and cranny adorned with everyday objects, offering patrons a seemingly disorderly but snug haven where they can read, surf the Net or relax.
Zabu is home to two laid-back house cats, whose favorite resting spot seems to be on top of its large fish tank. Retaining much of the original structure of an old apartment house, the space is outfitted with vintage wooden tables, chairs and leather sofas. Christmas lights, pencil sketches, drawings, Polaroid photos, and posters and flyers for exhibitions, movies and performances decorate the walls.
The palette of light grays, olive greens and grayish blues is soothing. Yellowish, subdued lighting adds an almost fairy-tale-like aura to the cafe. A white wooden cabinet that stands on one corner sports handmade goods for sale. (Patrons interested in selling their own art and design items can contact the store directly.)
Zabu serves a decent selection of coffees, organic teas, fruit or milk teas, and drinks including cinnamon milk (NT$150) and black sesame milk (NT$150). Alcoholic beverages on offer include plum wine, sake and various Japanese, Belgian and Scottish beers.
The desserts are no disappointment, either. The banana cake (NT$100) is warm and moist and comes served with either whipped cream or syrup.
Unfortunately, Zabu’s savory food is not a strength. The menu consists of mostly simple Japanese-style meals and appetizers such as salmon ochatsuke (rice with tea) (鮭魚茶泡飯, NT$160), beef with sweet sauce and egg on rice (牛丼蛋飯, NT$170) and wasabi fried chicken (芥末唐揚雞, NT$220).
The Japanese fried eggs (玉子燒, NT$120), however, met expectations with a tasty fusion of egg, mayonnaise, dried kelp, katsuobushi (smoked skipjack tuna) shavings, mustard and honey sauce.
Another signature dish is Zabu’s handmade onigiri, or rice ball, a surprisingly filling item with a pleasantly crunchy texture on the outside that comes in several flavors, including miso (NT$130), cheese and katsuobushi (NT$140) and pomelo and salmon (NT$150).
Zabu offers free WiFi access but charges NT$50 to plug in your laptop to the electricity. Shelves and cabinets are lined with manga, novels and Japanese design books and magazines.
The ambient music is a touch louder than what you’d expect from a neighborhood cafe, but that’s no problem if you’re into the likes of Cat Power, The Cure, Radiohead, Joy Division, PJ Harvey and Arcade Fire.
Zabu closes tomorrow for the Lunar New Year and reopens on Feb. 21.
The Taipei Times last week reported that the rising share of seniors in the population is reshaping the nation’s housing markets. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, about 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident. H&B Realty chief researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨), quoted in the article, said that there is rising demand for elderly-friendly housing, including units with elevators, barrier-free layouts and proximity to healthcare services. Hsu and others cited in the article highlighted the changing family residential dynamics, as children no longer live with parents,
It is jarring how differently Taiwan’s politics is portrayed in the international press compared to the local Chinese-language press. Viewed from abroad, Taiwan is seen as a geopolitical hotspot, or “The Most Dangerous Place on Earth,” as the Economist once blazoned across their cover. Meanwhile, tasked with facing down those existential threats, Taiwan’s leaders are dying their hair pink. These include former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), among others. They are demonstrating what big fans they are of South Korean K-pop sensations Blackpink ahead of their concerts this weekend in Kaohsiung.
Taiwan is one of the world’s greatest per-capita consumers of seafood. Whereas the average human is thought to eat around 20kg of seafood per year, each Taiwanese gets through 27kg to 35kg of ocean delicacies annually, depending on which source you find most credible. Given the ubiquity of dishes like oyster omelet (蚵仔煎) and milkfish soup (虱目魚湯), the higher estimate may well be correct. By global standards, let alone local consumption patterns, I’m not much of a seafood fan. It’s not just a matter of taste, although that’s part of it. What I’ve read about the environmental impact of the
Oct 20 to Oct 26 After a day of fighting, the Japanese Army’s Second Division was resting when a curious delegation of two Scotsmen and 19 Taiwanese approached their camp. It was Oct. 20, 1895, and the troops had reached Taiye Village (太爺庄) in today’s Hunei District (湖內), Kaohsiung, just 10km away from their final target of Tainan. Led by Presbyterian missionaries Thomas Barclay and Duncan Ferguson, the group informed the Japanese that resistance leader Liu Yung-fu (劉永福) had fled to China the previous night, leaving his Black Flag Army fighters behind and the city in chaos. On behalf of the
RSS