The Bistro
Address: 9, Alley 18, Ln 222, Dunhua N Rd, Taipei (台北市敦化北路222巷18弄9號)
Telephone: (02) 2546 3525
Open: Lunch 12pm to 2pm Dinner 6pm to 9:30pm
Average meal: NT$1,000
Details: Major credit cards accepted. English menu
With a track record that boasts some of Taipei's most popular and successful Californian-style Italian restaurants under his belt, executive chef, Caleb Jackson, has repeated this achievement once again with his latest innovation, Muma: The Bistro. Opened last November, The Bistro sees the celebrated chef veering away from his tried and tested bar/restaurant format, and instead has cooked up a recipe for success with what he describes as "Californian with a French accent."
Sate House
Address: 15 Leli Rd, Taipei (台北市樂利街15號)
Telephone: (02) 2732 5048
Open: Lunch 11:30am to 2pm, dinner 5pm to 9pm
Average meal: NT$750 for two
Details: No English menu. Credit cards not accepted
Opened 11 years ago by Yang Man-yun (
Sui Shin (醉心)
Address: B1, 171 Yanji St, Taipei (台北市延吉街171號B1)
Telephone: (02) 2741 1100
Open: 2pm to 2:30pm, 6pm to 10pm
Average meal: NT$900
Details: English menu, credit cards accepted
The restaurant has an authentic Japanese flavor: meticulously designed dishes, zen-style decor, simple but elegant pottery tableware and quality service. This is one of the few places in Taipei to cook up authentic Kansai style Japanese cuisine. The chef creates nine dishes a month, most of which emphasize the original tastes of the food.
La Terrasse
Address: 1-2, Ln 222, Dunhua N Rd, Taipei
(台北市敦化北路222巷1-2號)
Telephone: (02) 2717 2525
Open: 12pm to 2:30pm, 6pm to 10:30pm
Average meal: lunch NT$500, dinner NT$1,000
Details: English and French menu, credit cards accepted
One of a few restaurants in Taipei specializing in southwestern French delicacies. Duck leg confit with sauteed potatoes and duck breast with green pepper sauce are the items not to pass up. At this cozy restaurant, graced with a pleasant terrace filled with flowers and herbs, diners enjoy authentic French fare in a decor of Chinese antique furniture.
Yishang Garden
Address: 41, Tianmu E Rd, Taipei (台北市天母東路41號)
Telephone: (02) 2871 7755
Open: 11am to midnight
Average meal: NT$300
Details: English menu available. Credit cards accepted.
Yishang Garden has 22 years of history behind it and in its new Tianmu location it has taken on a new and sophisticated look. Fortunately this has not been done at the expense of the food, which, if anything, is better than ever. The addition of a number of dishes that are now hard to come by makes a visit even more of an adventure. The menu at Yishang Garden is very extensive, incorporating Shanghai-style dim sum, banquet dishes, delicacies such as pickled crab, stir-fries and traditional Chinese sweets.
ORME Gallery (惑我會館)
Address: 45 Shuangcheng St, Taipei (台北市雙城街45號)
Telephone: (02) 2597 3838
Open: 11:30am to 2:30pm, 5:30pm to 10pm
Average meal: NT$600
Details: Credit cards accepted. Chinese menu
Chang Huei-min (
Kan Pai Yakiniku Restaurant (乾杯)
Address: 2-1, Ln 25, Nanjing W Rd, Taipei (台北市南京西路25巷2-1號)
Telephone: (02) 2555 6110
Open: 11am to 12am
Average meal: NT$400 plus 10 percent service charge
Details: Menu in Chinese, English and Japanese; Credit cards accepted. Parties of four or more should make a reservation.
If the only thing you can think about after dining out is taking a nap, you likely had a good meal. Leave it to a Japanese barbeque joint named after a drinking toast to put you in just such a state. Walk in to Kan Pai and you're greeted with the most deafening irasshaimase! you'll ever care to hear. The staff are decked out like a formula one pit crew, the speakers jam J-pop and customers empty one glass after another while getting their arms tangled turning meat on the grill.
Les Amis (Nitti's Jr.)
Address: 22 Da'an Rd, Ln 84, Taipei (台北市大安路84巷22號)
Telephone: (02) 2752-8251
Open: Sunday to Thursday 11am to 11pm; Friday and Saturday until 1am; closed Mondays
Average meal: NT$600 per person, dinner; NT$300, brunch and lunch, plus 10 percent service charge
Details: Credit cards accepted. Menu in Chinese and English
Mention Western-style breakfast and the next sentence out of anyone's mouth will likely contain the name Grandma Nitti's. Les Amis, which was opened by the owners of this Taipei institution, maintains the same earthy charm as Grandma Nitti's, while being much smaller.
Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢)
Address: 126 Xinyi Rd, Sec 2, Taipei (台北市信義路2段126號)
Telephone: (02) 2351 1031
Open: 11:30am to 2pm; 5:30pm to 3am
Average meal: NT$500
Details: Credit cards accepted. Chinese menuv
Although Taipei has no lack of hot pot restaurants, Wang Yin-chang (王英章) believes there should be more alternatives to the ubiquitous all-you-can-eat version. Dream of the Red Chamber was designed to evoke the world of the famous Qing-dynasty novel. Waitresses in traditional Chinese attire usher customers in to an interior composed of imported wooden Chinese furniture and walls decorated with ink paintings that show major characters from the novel. Delicate red lanterns hung from the high ceilings and the double staircase add to the quaint atmosphere.
Bel Air
Address: 2F, 2 Songshou Rd, Taipei (台北市松壽路2號2F)
Telephone: (02) 2720 1200 x 3198/3199 or (02) 2720-1129/1130
Open: 11:30am to 2:30 pm, 6pm to 10pm, closed on Sundays
Average meal: Business lunch starts at NT$990, set dinner from NT$2,000
Details: English menu. Credit cards accepted
If it was an important night out and you wanted a safe bet for dinner then the Bel Air restaurant on the second floor of the Grand Hyatt is a wise choice. Tastefully decorated and featuring a skylight and fountain, a white linen-covered table by a large window is said to be the most popular dining table in town for a marriage proposal.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built
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