Kenting has boomed as a tourist town, but until recently restaurants had nothing to do with this. Even three years ago, the town proper only had one or two places that didn't serve either ridiculously overpriced seafood or Taiwan's oiliest, day-old lunchbox meals. And of those, it would have been pointless to review the best, a Thai restaurant called Didi's Warung, because it was almost impossible to get a table. You need a reservation to dine there even on weekdays in the off season, so to dine there on the busiest weekend of the year -- the Kenting Spring weekend -- is something of a pipe dream. But try your luck. Their number is (08) 886-1835.
New places have opened in the last two or three years, some of them by people who even know how to cook. Most of these -- The Cactus, Amy's Cucina, Oyster Blue -- are either well known or obvious fixtures on the town's main strip, so they'll also be packed next weekend. So instead, here are a couple of places you might actually be able to get a table at.
The Bossa Nova Cafe serves curries, sandwiches and simple meals and, greatly to its credit, is one of the few restaurants in the area that knows how to take advantage of overlooking a beach. It's located in Nanwan (南灣), which from Kenting is about two kilometers back up the main highway towards Kaohsiung.
PHOTO: DAVID FRAZIER, TAIPEI TIMES
The Nanwan hamlet consists of a string of houses and businesses facing a free, public, yellow sand beach, something its neighbors in Kenting proper haven't had since the National Park rented the beach there to a steel company. Removed from Kenting's corruption, Bossa Nova was able to put in a front patio with shaded tables and, for those who want to sit inside, big windows.
The menu consists of a few western standards that are good but come off like snack food: chips and salsa (NT$150), chicken burrito (NT$120), spaghetti with tomato sauce (NT$180) and sub sandwich (NT$120). Its real strengths are its Chinese and Thai dishes, which are simple, tasty and reasonably priced. Specialties include hot and spicy Thai chicken (NT$180), beef and peppers (NT$150) and squid with cabbage (NT$150). The curries are also good.
The restaurant uses a flavorful red curry that's fairly spicy, and set meals come with a choice of chicken, beef or pork, along with rice and vegetables. Bossa Nova is a good choice for lunch by the beach or a light dinner with cocktails under a pink evening sky. What's surprising is that in a beach resort area like Kenting, there are so few restaurants offering the same.
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,
The classic warmth of a good old-fashioned izakaya beckons you in, all cozy nooks and dark wood finishes, as tables order a third round and waiters sling tapas-sized bites and assorted — sometimes unidentifiable — skewered meats. But there’s a romantic hush about this Ximending (西門町) hotspot, with cocktails savored, plating elegant and never rushed and daters and diners lit by candlelight and chandelier. Each chair is mismatched and the assorted tables appear to be the fanciest picks from a nearby flea market. A naked sewing mannequin stands in a dimly lit corner, adorned with antique mirrors and draped foliage
The election of Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) as chair of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) marked a triumphant return of pride in the “Chinese” in the party name. Cheng wants Taiwanese to be proud to call themselves Chinese again. The unambiguous winner was a return to the KMT ideology that formed in the early 2000s under then chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) put into practice as far as he could, until ultimately thwarted by hundreds of thousands of protestors thronging the streets in what became known as the Sunflower movement in 2014. Cheng is an unambiguous Chinese ethnonationalist,
I was 10 when I read an article in the local paper about the Air Guitar World Championships, which take place every year in my home town of Oulu, Finland. My parents had helped out at the very first contest back in 1996 — my mum gave out fliers, my dad sorted the music. Since then, national championships have been held all across the world, with the winners assembling in Oulu every summer. At the time, I asked my parents if I could compete. At first they were hesitant; the event was in a bar, and there would be a lot
RSS