Songs of a Vagabond is noteworthy for two reasons, it takes its name from
the literal re-translation of the Chinese title of Herman Hesse's novel
Siddhartha, and it serves an extremely good cheese fondue
(NT$500). The cafe-bar-restaurant opened a little over two weeks ago in a
remote corner of the Shihta neighborhood, a backwater lane called Taishun
St. Location-wise, the unlikely blessing of distance from the fetid,
student-infested night-market of Lungchuan St. will likely save the
establishment from being confused with Shihta's snowballing mass of
look-alike coffee shops and their million sorry variations on the fried
chicken steak with rice. And if anything, Songs of a Vagabond should be
happy for the distinction it rightly deserves.
Much of the shop's character comes from the proprietress, Bibi Deng
(鄧韻倫), whose circle of friends meaningfully overlaps with that of the
nearby rock pub, Underworld. Not that there's going to be any competition
between them or anything. Underworld is a dank, subterranean rock den, and
Songs is an airy, colorfully lit and arts-and-crafts styled cafe. In the
end, it's more like an expansion of the scene than a division within it.
Songs also provides a few things Underworld does not, like good food. The
menu, which is limited but satisfying, was designed by a Swiss cook, which
accounts for the Taipei oddity of well-prepared dishes using European
cheese, including the aforementioned fondue (there's also a chocolate fondue
for NT$450) and pasta with blue cheese sauce (NT$150) On the drinks side,
imported beers and cocktails go for NT$150, and a cup of American coffee
runs NT$100, including refills.
Songs of a Vagabond is located at 46-4 Taishun St. (泰順街46之4號), phone:
(02) 2362-7458. Open 4pm to 2am (later on weekends). Closed Mondays.
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