Hi forumosans,
I just moved to Taiwan (with my wife arriving next week). We live around the Guting Station and I was wondering if anyone had any particular suggestions in that area for bars or places to hangout/meet people. We are late 20s/early 30s and don’t know many people on the island, any suggestions for cool places would be appreciated. I’d be especially interested in a decent bar walking distance from Guting. Thanks!
Etanial
Try the Wall. It’s a music venue and one of the busiest in Taipei. There is a bar where you can sit and drink without going to the area where bands play.
It’s not far from a movie theater. You’ll need to walk down a few stairs.
Revolver is just up the road near CKS Memorial MRT.
It’s not walking distance from Guting but only one MRT stop south on the yellow line is The Hammer, a small restaurant and bar. It’s 100 meters from Dingxi station, exit 2.
https://www.facebook.com/thehammertw
It’s really chill, run by an American/Canadian guy and his Taiwanese wife. Pastas, omelettes etc. They do a nice burger now. San Miguel on tap and a small but nice selection of bottled beers. Oh, and I feel compelled to say ‘including Moosehead’ because this seems to elicit a strong emotional reaction from North Americans for some reason. Just in case you are from that continent. The crowd is a healthy mix of Taiwanese and expats with a nice group of regular customers. It’s a pretty small joint. And because it’s so close to Dingxi you can be back in Guting in 5 minutes, as long as the MRT is still open. Otherwise it’s a 20 minute walk over the river, or a 5 minute cab ride.
Or the Green Hornet is just at the end of the line, 15 minutes or so on MRT. Nice expat run place at Bitan so you can stroll along the river before or after.
Actually there’s a cool rooftop bar just around the corner from Guting. I’ll try to get the name.
[quote=“Mucha Man”]
Actually there’s a cool rooftop bar just around the corner from Guting. I’ll try to get the name.[/quote]
Are you thinking of Upstairs Cafe off Roosevelt near Shida? Haven’t been there in a while, but yup, cool place.
Try the Drunken Monkey… it’s not exactly what you’re asking for but it’s worth checking out 
[quote=“Incubus”][quote=“Muzha Man”]
Actually there’s a cool rooftop bar just around the corner from Guting. I’ll try to get the name.[/quote]
Are you thinking of Upstairs Cafe off Roosevelt near Shi-Da? Haven’t been there in a while, but yup, cool place.[/quote]
Yep. I was there around March but it should still be open:
The closest bar to Guting station is probably 45 Pub located at 45 Heping E. Rd. We called it Colt 45 back in the day, and it used to be twice as big as the current place before half of it got chopped off and turned into a parking lot. Across from 45 was the original Roxy, a great place to hang out and chill, and that got turned into a parking lot as well. Those were the days.
How remiss of us to have come so far into this thread without mentioning 45. Walk straight out of Guting exit 5, straight across the first little street with the lights and then it’s the first staircase on your left. They usually have Taiwan Beer on tap, or Carlsberg, but I haven’t moseyed on in there for a while. Taiwanese management and ‘service’ (ie, don’t expect any of the staff to give the slightest shit that you have an empty mug in one hand and a fistfull of bills in the other. you’ll need to slam your empty pint on the bar and yell and wave your arms around to get it full again, and if that fails then release a few flares and set off your Emergency Position-Indicating Refill of Beer).
It is worth visiting 45 for the toilets alone. The men’s used to offer free haircuts via a somewhat dangerously positioned extraction fan. Then some arsehole put a nanny state-esque mesh cover over the blades, so you couldn’t stick your fingers in there even if you wanted to. But the last time I saw it there was a gaping hole in the mesh. So maybe the haircuts are back. And the women’s has an umbrella for a ceiling. Well, unlike Forumosa they don’t really have a women’s, it’s merely the sole sit-down jobby; I wasn’t doin any ‘smurfing’ to get in there, let’s put it that way. And the walls are covered in a really thick coat of shiny black paint. It’s all very laxative.
Oh, and usually the music’s alright too. The DJ is an arboreal hobbit.
I recommend the chili.