Last week, Taipei Times reported on rock-and-jock Carnegie's, where chrome bars in the windows attracted gawkers and cops hoping to catch a pole-dance show. They were disappointed and the poles were taken down. The Jailhouse Pub (搖滾看守所酒館) in Kungkuan, however, is one Taipei bar where pole dancing is alive and well.
But before eager heterosexual men get worked up, Jailhouse's owner, Sharon, says that clothes are never taken off during the pole dance and the bar is a lesbian bar, which means straight men (and women) won't be getting special attention from the dancers, nor from most of the bar's patrons for the matter. The dances are never as tawdry as on might perhaps expect, and some of the dancers are genuinely talented, which can be impressive, given that it's all done on a very narrow bar. On the rare Saturday when there's not a pole-dance show and on other evenings, the bar opens a small dance floor and hosts other theme evenings, like tomorrow's Lady in Red Night, when people wearing a piece of red clothing get in free. The minimum charge to weekdays is NT150 and on weekends in NT300.
Jailhouse is one of the most "pride-ful' of the few bars that cater mainly to Taipei's gay community, since most bars typically prefer to avoid attracting attention to patron's orientation. Rainbow stickers adorn Jailhouse's stairwell, as do newspaper clippings on women's organizations, public safety and upcoming community events. But once inside, the bar resembles most any student bar in the Shihta or NTU area - dark, loud and smoky with the usual line-up of drinks in the NT$100 to NT$150 range.
Sharon says Jailhouse is not an exclusively gay enclave and straight men and women are more than welcome, but she reserves the right to politely kick out "roving perverts" and "people who just look too straight." Jailhouse is located at 2F, 3, Alley 8, Ln. 316, Roosevelt Rd., Sec. 3, Taipei (臺北市羅斯福路三段316巷8弄3號2樓) and is closed on Mondays.
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