Putting up old movie posters and vintage toy cars is a common trick restaurants employ to give their place a nostalgic feel. Pick up some antiquated trinkets from a flea market, hang them up and presto -- you have a so-called retro-restaurant. Old Theater, on the other hand, offers a far more authentic 1960s atmosphere. It piques the curiosity of young and old diners alike by placing a cartoon kiddies' toy car near the door, covering the tables with super-hero trading cards and plastering its red-brick walls with tacky beer advertisements featuring bikini-clad girls. There are cabinets with decades-old toys and even a reconstruction of a 1960s barber shop. Antique Mandarin pop fills the air.
Old Theater has a list of over 100 traditional Taiwanese dishes and grills, which are pretty good by most standards. Most first-time customers, however, come for the retro atmosphere.
Most of the collection was put together by an uncle of Hsu Shih-guo (
PHOTO: VICO LEE, TAIPEI TIMES
Old Theater's food is mostly Hakka homemade dishes. Rice with pork fat is rarely found in these fat-conscious times, but with shreds of spring onions blended in, it's nice and fragrant.
The menu is on the spicy side and Hsu said even the most daring palate will find some dishes challengingly hot. The spiciness can be toned down upon request.
Smoked pork with vegetables (NT$170) uses Hakka-style pork, which is a little sweet and half-lean, half-fat. Stir-fried with kale and a lot of ginger and garlic, the dish brings out the distinctive flavors of the main ingredients. The meat in stir-fried pork rib (NT$180) looks spicy but tastes smooth and slightly sweet. The homemade pork sauce, with a lot of onions, is pleasantly sharp, making it a nice dish to go with a few beers.
A dish you probably won't find anywhere else is "gimme whatever" (NT$120), an invention of Hsu's. A variation of stinky tofu is stewed in sweet and spicy sauce. Slices of Chinese preserved eggs are then scattered on the stew, with spring onions and other spices. The smoothness of the sliced egg goes surprisingly well with the tofu.
Several whiskies and beers are on offer. There is also Kinmen Kaoliang and sake. For soft drinks, the pinball soda, a 1960s children's favorite, completes the retro experience of dining at Old Theater.
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