Woolloomooloo means "bountiful harvest," or, as Jimmy Yang (楊啟鉉), the laid back proprietor and chef of the cafe bearing the Aboriginal name, says, "Dude, there is a lot of fish here." It's also the name of a recently gentrified area of Sydney, Australia, that features European-style cafes and is the inspiration for the architect's labor of love.
"All architects dream of opening a cafe," said Yang, who lived in Melbourne for 20 years.
Opened six months ago, the cafe is situated on a quiet street close to Taipei Songshan Airport, and a 10-minute walk from the Zhongshan Junior High School (中山國中) MRT station.
PHOTO: NOAH BUCHAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Woolloomooloo has a modern, chic decor. The exposed cement floors and whitewashed walls and wooden tables and shelves are complimented by soft track lighting. Two-thirds of the eating area is given over to two large tables - one square, the other rectangular. Yang has spaced the chairs far enough apart that different parties can dine at the same table without fear of disturbance. On weekends, however, the two tables are often packed with larger parties sipping wine and eating cheese and salami (NT$150 for two up to NT$450 for six).
The other third consists of five two-seater tables and is separated by a standup bar with stools. Large picture windows provide soft natural lighting during the day and glimpses of the tree-lined street.
Apart from the atmosphere, regulars come to sample the limited but mouth-watering menu of drinks and food. There is an emphasis on coffee (NT$100 to NT$150) - the beans are flown in weekly by Tobys Estate, an Australian coffee company - as Yang thinks it's difficult to find a good cup of coffee in Taipei.
"Too often restaurants serve coffee that isn't fresh because it's shipped rather than flown to Taiwan," he said.
Yang stocks a wide range of Australian bottled beers including the popular Crown (NT$200) and a selection of ales by Coopers (NT$150). The wine list is Australian and ranges from NT$1,300 to NT$3,400 per bottle. Glasses of house wine are a bit pricey at NT$230 for the white and NT$250 for the red.
Where he can, Yang makes all his dishes from scratch. The dough used in the pizza is made the day before and is rolled and topped at the time of ordering. His pasta dishes (NT$180 to NT$260) are all made using fresh pasta ordered from a local company, who makes all their pasta using organic semolina flour imported from Australia.
As for the food, the pizza with salami (NT$450) is one of the best in town. It came loaded with mozzarella, fresh slivers of green peppers and onions, whole olives (with the pits) and generous portions of salami. The sauce was rich with tomatoes and spices and the thin crust was cooked so that it was crispy outside.
By global standards, the traffic congestion that afflicts Taiwan’s urban areas isn’t horrific. But nor is it something the country can be proud of. According to TomTom, a Dutch developer of location and navigation technologies, last year Taiwan was the sixth most congested country in Asia. Of the 492 towns and cities included in its rankings last year, Taipei was the 74th most congested. Taoyuan ranked 105th, while Hsinchu County (121st), Taichung (142nd), Tainan (173rd), New Taipei City (227th), Kaohsiung (241st) and Keelung (302nd) also featured on the list. Four Japanese cities have slower traffic than Taipei. (Seoul, which has some
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry consumes electricity at rates that would strain most national grids. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) alone accounted for more than 9 percent, or 2,590 megawatts (MW), of the nation’s power demand last year. The factories that produce chips for the world’s phones and servers run around the clock. They cannot tolerate blackouts. Yet Taiwan imports 97 percent of its energy, with liquefied natural gas reserves measured in days. Underground, Taiwan has options. Studies from National Taiwan University estimate recoverable geothermal resources at more than 33,000 MW. Current installed capacity stands below 10 MW. OBSTACLES Despite Taiwan’s significant geothermal potential, the
In our discussions of tourism in Taiwan we often criticize the government’s addiction to promoting food and shopping, while ignoring Taiwan’s underdeveloped trekking and adventure travel opportunities. This discussion, however, is decidedly land-focused. When was the last time a port entered into it? Last week I encountered journalist and travel writer Cameron Dueck, who had sailed to Taiwan in 2023-24, and was full of tales. Like everyone who visits, he and his partner Fiona Ching loved our island nation and had nothing but wonderful experiences on land. But he had little positive to say about the way Taiwan has organized its
The entire Li Zhenxiu (李貞秀) saga has been an ugly, complicated mess. Born in China’s Hunan Province, she moved to work in Shenzhen, where she met her future Taiwanese husband. Most accounts have her arriving in Taiwan and marrying somewhere between 1993 and 1999. She built a successful career in Taiwan in the tech industry before founding her own company. She also served in high-ranking positions on various environmentally-focused tech associations. She says she was inspired by the founding of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in 2019 by Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), and began volunteering for the party soon after. Ko
RSS