Andrew Lunman had a dream. Like many long-term foreign residents who have grown tired of teaching, he wanted to open his own restaurant. So he started Bongos, a low-key North American-style place in Gonguan. That did pretty well, so last year he opened Coda, a slightly more upscale Italian-American restaurant in the same neighborhood. Business there hasn't been bad either. So now Lunman has taken on a new project and is helping Joe Hodgson with Hodgson's new gourmet burger restaurant, Forker's, which opened last month in an alley behind the California Fitness Center on Zhongxiao East Road.
The concept at Forkers is simple. Lure customers with a basic burger that, at NT$190 with a drink and two sides, doesn't seem much more expensive than a combo meal at a fast food restaurant. Then present said customer with a very long list of optional upgrades. How about a burger with mushrooms and cheese for NT$60 more, and Tex-Mex fajita fries for NT$40? Sounds reasonable. Only NT$30 extra for endless drink refills? Seems like a good deal. And why not drop another NT$80 on a deluxe patty made from imported Kobe beef? (The latter option will be available at the beginning of next year, Lunman says.)
It's hard to resist so many temptations. A few NT dollars here, a few NT dollars there, and soon you're spending a lot more than you originally intended. Not that you'll mind. Though the core products more than hold their own against the competition - the patties are well-seasoned and beefy, the fries are cut from unpeeled russets, not frozen potatoes - the upgrades are phenomenal.
PHOTO: RON BROWNLOW, TAIPEI TIMES
Take the monster burger (NT$270), for example. Served with red hot sauce, blue cheese, fried onions, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes and ranch dressing, it is the kind of Dagwood sandwich you probably dreamed of making one day when you were really, really hungry. In the wrong hands, it would be a mess, but Forkers gets the combination just right. Each bite delivers a burst of distinct flavors - tangy blue cheese, spicy hot sauce, creamy ranch dressing - and the burger holds itself together neatly until the end. The bun doesn't break, the patty doesn't separate itself from the toppings, and the sauce don't ooze out and get all over your hands.
The menu lists more than 30 souped-up burgers like this one. And then there's the restaurant's signature dishes, which are called, of course, the forkers. These are open-faced hamburgers topped with things like poutine or spaghetti.
On Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008, everything at Forkers will be priced 25 percent off.
Late last month Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro told the Philippine Senate that the nation has sufficient funds to evacuate the nearly 170,000 Filipino residents in Taiwan, 84 percent of whom are migrant workers, in the event of war. Agencies have been exploring evacuation scenarios since early this year, she said. She also observed that since the Philippines has only limited ships, the government is consulting security agencies for alternatives. Filipinos are a distant third in overall migrant worker population. Indonesia has over 248,000 workers, followed by roughly 240,000 Vietnamese. It should be noted that there are another 170,000
Hannah Liao (廖宸萱) recalls the harassment she experienced on dating apps, an experience that left her frightened and disgusted. “I’ve tried some voice-based dating apps,” the 30-year-old says. “Right away, some guys would say things like, ‘Wanna talk dirty?’ or ‘Wanna suck my d**k?’” she says. Liao’s story is not unique. Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics show a more than 50 percent rise in sexual assault cases related to online encounters over the past five years. In 2023 alone, women comprised 7,698 of the 9,413 reported victims. Faced with a dating landscape that can feel more predatory than promising, many in
“This is one of those rare bits of TikTok fitness advice with a lot of truth behind it,” says Bethan Crouse, performance nutritionist at Loughborough University. “Sometimes it’s taken a bit too literally, though! You see people chugging protein drinks as they’re scanning out of their gym.” Crouse recommends the athletes she works with consume 20-30g of protein within 30-60 minutes of finishing a resistance training session. “The act of exercising our muscles increases the breakdown of muscle proteins,” she says. “In order to restore, or hopefully improve them — and get gains such as increased muscle mass or strength —
“Far from being a rock or island … it turns out that the best metaphor to describe the human body is ‘sponge.’ We’re permeable,” write Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie in their book Slow Death By Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things. While the permeability of our cells is key to being alive, it also means we absorb more potentially harmful substances than we realize. Studies have found a number of chemical residues in human breast milk, urine and water systems. Many of them are endocrine disruptors, which can interfere with the body’s natural hormones. “They can mimic, block
RSS