Jay Chou’s (周杰倫) restaurant Deja Vu, I thought to myself as I entered it last weekend, will probably follow one of two trajectories, much the same way his career in the entertainment industry has. It will either be a resounding success like the pop music that has made him a household name, or it will be a dud like Pandamen (熊貓人), the television drama he directed that was universally panned by critics and audiences because of its goofy premise and trite plot.
Opened last summer in Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914), Deja Vu at first feels like a finely crafted work of art. With its vaulted arcades supported by stone columns and exposed cement walls adorned with framed paintings of landscapes and portraits of renowned composers, it is immediately appealing. As you move further in, however, it’s Pandamen all the way. The oil paintings are in fact posters and the sumptuous architectural flourishes are offset incongruously by Chou’s gigantic Batmobile, its black surface reflecting the interior’s kaleidoscope of crass disco lighting.
Sure, the Batmobile is sleek and cool and something you’ve probably never seen before, but a car doesn’t belong in the center of a dining room. During my visit, several amateur photographers went up to snap the auto (this reviewer included), bumping chairs and setting off flashbulbs in the process.
Photo: Noah Buchan, Taipei Times
Kitschy movie set production values aside, our party of nine was still prepared to give the service and food the benefit of the doubt. And like the design, the service started out well.
When our party ordered the seafood pizza (NT$480), our server, dressed in formal black, suggested another dish because we had already ordered the seafood risotto (NT$680 for two), which contains similar ingredients. For the first 15 minutes, or so, our water glasses remained full. But when asked if the pasta with clams contained white wine, our server said she didn’t know and she didn’t bother to check. After our main courses were served, our water glasses were not filled up. That was disappointing because the dishes were over-seasoned with salt. This was especially true of the potato and sausage pizza (NT$360) and spaghetti with garlic and clams (NT$420). Both were presented beautifully, but the thin-crust pizza was flavorless and soggy. The pasta, cooked to al dente perfection, contained too much garlic, which overpowered the subtler flavor of the clams.
For many of the dishes, we wondered what we were paying for. The portions of the tapas for two (NT$420), with its array of smoked salmon, foie gras, salami, seasoned octopus and pickled artichoke and garlic, were laughably small and it was obvious that much of it had come from a packet.
Whereas the pizza and pasta left us pining for water, the oven-baked lamb with herb and mustard wine sauce (NT$780) barely registered on the taste buds. The meat was baked to a rosy red hue and tastefully arranged on the plate, but the sauce was bland and the vegetable portions a miniscule and overcooked afterthought. The seafood risotto is the only dish I would consider ordering again. With its generous portions of scallops, shrimp, clams and crabmeat cooked in a buttery white wine sauce, it was a unanimous favorite.
Deja Vu seems to be playing off the fame of its owner. Go for the car, but not the food.
Cheng Ching-hsiang (鄭青祥) turned a small triangle of concrete jammed between two old shops into a cool little bar called 9dimension. In front of the shop, a steampunk-like structure was welded by himself to serve as a booth where he prepares cocktails. “Yancheng used to be just old people,” he says, “but now young people are coming and creating the New Yancheng.” Around the corner, Yu Hsiu-jao (饒毓琇), opened Tiny Cafe. True to its name, it is the size of a cupboard and serves cold-brewed coffee. “Small shops are so special and have personality,” she says, “people come to Yancheng to find such treasures.” She
Late last month Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro told the Philippine Senate that the nation has sufficient funds to evacuate the nearly 170,000 Filipino residents in Taiwan, 84 percent of whom are migrant workers, in the event of war. Agencies have been exploring evacuation scenarios since early this year, she said. She also observed that since the Philippines has only limited ships, the government is consulting security agencies for alternatives. Filipinos are a distant third in overall migrant worker population. Indonesia has over 248,000 workers, followed by roughly 240,000 Vietnamese. It should be noted that there are another 170,000
In July of 1995, a group of local DJs began posting an event flyer around Taipei. It was cheaply photocopied and nearly all in English, with a hand-drawn map on the back and, on the front, a big red hand print alongside one prominent line of text, “Finally… THE PARTY.” The map led to a remote floodplain in Taipei County (now New Taipei City) just across the Tamsui River from Taipei. The organizers got permission from no one. They just drove up in a blue Taiwanese pickup truck, set up a generator, two speakers, two turntables and a mixer. They
Hannah Liao (廖宸萱) recalls the harassment she experienced on dating apps, an experience that left her frightened and disgusted. “I’ve tried some voice-based dating apps,” the 30-year-old says. “Right away, some guys would say things like, ‘Wanna talk dirty?’ or ‘Wanna suck my d**k?’” she says. Liao’s story is not unique. Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics show a more than 50 percent rise in sexual assault cases related to online encounters over the past five years. In 2023 alone, women comprised 7,698 of the 9,413 reported victims. Faced with a dating landscape that can feel more predatory than promising, many in
RSS