The last time we reviewed Papa Giovanni's was in April of 2000 when there were rumors that Papa and family had opened a bakery adjacent the restaurant.
We returned this time on rumors that the bakery has closed and on more troubling reports of disgruntled patrons.
Because the Taipei Times has praised Papa and staff in past reviews, the news of unhappy clientele was ? well, news. Forumosa.com, an Internet site popular with Taiwan's expatriate community, has dozens of postings regarding Papa Giovanni's under its "restaurants, bars and clubs" forum.
PHOTO: DAVID MOMPHARD, TAIPEI TIMES
The postings almost unanimously decry the restaurant's poor service, high prices and Papa's "attitude." One post said he left the restaurant with "the distinct impression that it could only have been due to direst economic necessity that the owner stooped to allow me into his establishment."
But on my visit there Tuesday night I watched members of the Giovanni family walk most every patron to the door to say goodnight. I saw the wait staff attentively filling water glasses and clearing plates. Papa himself took my order and ended every sentence with "sir."
As far as I could determine during this single visit -- which was unannounced -- the rumors of Papa's despise are greatly exaggerated. Of the complaints I've read or been told, I share only one: the prices are too high. My order of a small caesar salad, king prawns in bourbon sauce, a glass of house white wine and tiramisu cost over NT$1,500. The small caesar alone -- which I ordered on Papa's suggestion -- cost NT$320. It had no romaine lettuce, no croutons, very little parmesan and not the slightest hint of anchovy.
The king prawns were indeed kingly and the bourbon sauce was delicious, but at NT$680 for four you'd have to be a king to order them a second time. You can find equally large and fresh prawns in most of Taipei's night markets for half the price -- with the caveat being that they're covered in mayonnaise, not bourbon sauce. No whines regarding the house white wine (NT$180); I should have had a second glass instead of the tiramisu (NT$180).
Talking with Papa on my way out, I asked what became of the bakery. He explained that he closed it because, as everything was baked after hours, he couldn't control the quality. He also hinted that there may not have been a market for his European-styled products. "Chinese people, they like soft breads," he said.
As for the complaints about him and his restaurant, he said he was unaware of the online postings and didn't seem overly concerned. "People sometimes don't like something."
Behind a car repair business on a nondescript Thai street are the cherished pets of a rising TikTok animal influencer: two lions and a 200-kilogram lion-tiger hybrid called “Big George.” Lion ownership is legal in Thailand, and Tharnuwarht Plengkemratch is an enthusiastic advocate, posting updates on his feline companions to nearly three million followers. “They’re playful and affectionate, just like dogs or cats,” he said from inside their cage complex at his home in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Thailand’s captive lion population has exploded in recent years, with nearly 500 registered in zoos, breeding farms, petting cafes and homes. Experts warn the
No one saw it coming. Everyone — including the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — expected at least some of the recall campaigns against 24 of its lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) to succeed. Underground gamblers reportedly expected between five and eight lawmakers to lose their jobs. All of this analysis made sense, but contained a fatal flaw. The record of the recall campaigns, the collapse of the KMT-led recalls, and polling data all pointed to enthusiastic high turnout in support of the recall campaigns, and that those against the recalls were unenthusiastic and far less likely to vote. That
A couple of weeks ago the parties aligned with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), voted in the legislature to eliminate the subsidy that enables Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) to keep up with its burgeoning debt, and instead pay for universal cash handouts worth NT$10,000. The subsidy would have been NT$100 billion, while the cash handout had a budget of NT$235 billion. The bill mandates that the cash payments must be completed by Oct. 31 of this year. The changes were part of the overall NT$545 billion budget approved
The unexpected collapse of the recall campaigns is being viewed through many lenses, most of them skewed and self-absorbed. The international media unsurprisingly focuses on what they perceive as the message that Taiwanese voters were sending in the failure of the mass recall, especially to China, the US and to friendly Western nations. This made some sense prior to early last month. One of the main arguments used by recall campaigners for recalling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers was that they were too pro-China, and by extension not to be trusted with defending the nation. Also by extension, that argument could be
RSS