Behind the glitzy BMW motorbike showroom at the junction of Jenai and Chinshan South roads sits a rare slice of old Taipei. Situated in what was once a domestic residence, Ah Tsai's (
Filled with old tables and shelves piled high with an extraordinarily assortment of household goods and with its walls bedecked with posters and kitsch art dating from the 1950s, there's no modern swankiness about Ah Tsai's. Instead it looks more like the home of some eccentric hoarder than a restaurant.
According to owner Ah Hua (
PHOTO: GAVIN PHIPPS, TAIPEI TIMES
The food is equally as unpretentious. There are two distinct trends in Ah Tsai's food -- spicy hot and meaty rich. Dishes such as Ah Tsai's special tofu (
Being a Taiwanese restaurant every usable part of every animal appears somewhere on the menu and means carnivores will be in their element. The numerous beef and pork dishes range in price from NT$180 to NT$300, and the mouth-watering beef tendon with vegetables (NT$220) is highly recommended. For those looking for something a bit different, then Ah Tsai's wild boar (
While there is no English menu, the sight of foreigners staring forlornly at the menu is something the staff have become used to over the years and are always more than willing to help out.
An added bonus is the chance to drink a glass, or two, with the establishment's jovial owner. Ah Hua can be spotted coming a mile away, usually toting a bottle of Taiwan Beer. He will, without invitation, take a seat and raise a glass to the table's occupants.
It starts out as a heartwarming clip. A young girl, clearly delighted to be in Tokyo, beams as she makes a peace sign to the camera. Seconds later, she is shoved to the ground from behind by a woman wearing a surgical mask. The assailant doesn’t skip a beat, striding out of shot of the clip filmed by the girl’s mother. This was no accidental clash of shoulders in a crowded place, but one of the most visible examples of a spate of butsukari otoko — “bumping man” — shoving incidents in Japan that experts attribute to a combination of gender
The race for New Taipei City mayor is being keenly watched, and now with the nomination of former deputy mayor of Taipei Hammer Lee (李四川) as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate, the battle lines are drawn. All polling data on the tight race mentioned in this column is from the March 12 Formosa poll. On Christmas Day 2010, Taipei County merged into one mega-metropolis of four million people, making it the nation’s largest city. The same day, the winner of the mayoral race, Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), took office and insisted on the current
Last week the government announced that by year’s end Taiwan will have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world. Its inventory could exceed 1,400, or enough for the opening two hours of an invasion from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Snark aside, it sounds impressive. But an important piece is missing. Lost in all the “dialogues” and “debates” and “discussions” whose sole purpose is simply to dawdle and delay is what the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) alternative special defense budget proposal means for the defense of Taiwan. It is a betrayal of both Taiwan and the US. IT’S
March 16 to March 22 Hidden for decades behind junk-filled metal shacks, trees and overgrowth, a small domed structure bearing a Buddhist swastika resurfaced last June in a Taichung alley. It was soon identified as a remnant of the 122-year-old Gokokuzan Taichuu-ji (Taichung Temple, 護國山台中寺), which was thought to have been demolished in the 1980s. In addition, a stone stele dedicated to monk Hoshu Ono, who served as abbot from 1914 to 1930, was discovered in the detritus. The temple was established in 1903 as the local center for the Soto school
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