Chienkuo Beer Brewery (建國啤酒廠) was built in 1919 as the country’s first producer of the amber nectar and designated a city heritage landmark in 2000. Located at the junction of Bade Road (八德路) and Jianguo North Road (建國北路), the factory has now become a bustling historical site, visited by evening diners and drinkers who come for freshly brewed Taiwan beer and Taiwanese fare at its warehouse-turned-restaurant.
Beer cases stacked up on the roadside greet patrons as they walk in. Signs reading “346” point the way to the Taiwanese-style bistro at the end of the plant.
Outside, there are several seats. Inside, the interior’s spaciousness is accentuated by a high ceiling and sparse decoration, which lend the place an unpolished, casual charm. The neon-lit stage comes to life on weekends when live bands perform starting from 8pm.
On a recent Sunday night, the restaurant was relatively quiet, though a few tables of intoxicated diners defined the atmosphere with their echoing laughter and horseplay.
The menu offers a wide range of grilled, deep-fried and appetizing items commonly served at roadside seafood eateries. We ordered several of the bistro’s specialties that feature the country’s most celebrated brew: Taiwan beer shrimps (台啤醉仙蝦, NT$180); roast chicken with miso and red yeast rice (烤紅麴味噌雞腿肉, NT$250); and sausages with Taiwan beer and red yeast rice (台啤紅麴香腸, NT$150). All failed to live up to expectations. The chicken and sausages were passable, but the shrimp did not pair well with the beer’s bitter taste.
The only dish that won unanimous approval was the black-boned chicken and clam hot pot with beer (啤酒烏骨雞蛤蜊鍋, NT$850); its complement of fresh-tasting broth and abundant use of vegetables makes it a healthy choice.
However, the food was hardly the center of attention since, like others, we came for the freshly brewed Taiwan beer.
As the brewery resumed production in May after a year’s hiatus, bottles of beer that have been brewed on site are available the very same day they are made.
Bottles and half-liter glasses of beer cost between NT$70 and NT$90. For larger parties, the popular choice is to share a 3.8-liter barrel. The price is a friendly NT$600 each, but unlike the beer that comes in bottles and glasses, the barrels are not freshly brewed.
A couple of barrels into the evening, it was easy to forget about the mediocre food and join in the merriment of the surrounding tables.
Taiwan Beer 346 Warehouse Restaurant’s weekend band lineup can be found at www.nv.com.tw/346beer. For diners and drinkers who are keen to learn more about the brewery’s history, a guided tour can be arranged by calling (02) 2771-9131 X431.
Address: 85, Bade Rd Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市八德路二段85號)
Telephone: (02) 2509-8346
Open: Daily from 5:30pm to 12am
Average meal: NT$600, including drinks
Details: Chinese menu; credit cards accepted
On the Net: www.nv.com.tw/346beer
The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association’s 2021 road safety guidelines pretty much says it all. “Taiwan’s drivers are inclined to prioritize vehicles over pedestrians. Be aware that their driving manners are often not as good. Even when it’s a green light, watch carefully for cars at all times when crossing the crosswalk. Be alert of cars that try to quickly turn right in front of pedestrians. Even if you’re on the sidewalk, you must still watch for scooters.” Japanese student Shun Komatsu referenced these advisories last month in a widely shared post on the News Lens, where he praised everything here besides the
Chris Findler says that the introduction of neural machine translation software has reduced the demand for human translators. “I am pessimistic about the future of traditional translation jobs,” says Findler, a lecturer of translation and interpretation at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU). Online translators such as DeepL Translator, Yandex and Babylon offer accurate translations in dozens of languages, which means that a human translator may no longer be necessary for some jobs. Machine translation software’s growing influence is irreversible. Translation software can utilize artificial neural networks and large databases in order to accurately predict sequences of words and provide nuanced expressions
Among the Amis people around Chenggong Township (成功) in Taitung County there is a story of a place called Malaulau, ma being a prefix and laulau, meaning “withered.” In fact, that is the old name for Chenggong in Hoklo (more commonly known as Taiwanese): “Malaulau” (麻荖漏) is taken from the Amis word. What does that name refer to? In Amis oral histories, it is the place where a massive wave struck Chenggong, killing many people. The wave was quite localized and Amis communities to the north have no legends of that event. The east coast south of Yilan has good protection
More than two decades after journalist Craig Addison coined the term “Silicon Shield,” the concept remains as relevant as ever, if not even more. The idea that global — including Chinese — reliance on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry has been a major deterrent of war between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is still frequently espoused today, especially as tensions continue to soar. On Monday, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) declared during in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would render the company’s factories “non-operable” and would create “great
RSS