Best. Barbershop. Ever

Taiwan Where Can I Find...?
1

just had to share a fantastic barbershop I just discovered.

location - about 5-10 minute walk from The Brass Monkey. Turn west onto Chang Chun Rd if you are coming from Fuxing North. It’s just about on the corner of Chang Chun Rd (Zhangchun) and Longjiang Rd. It’s on the north side of the street.

The place is about two doors east of the 7/11; it has blue signage, and 2 or 3 rainbow colored barber’s poles. looking inside, it’s a long rectangular room with about 17 chairs… It seems like a kind of impersonal, assembly-line type of set-up, but in fact the service I got was the opposite of that initial impression.

I should say, I’m pretty sure this place is almost entirely for men. Didn’t see any women getting a cut there, and it just has that feel of being a men’s salon.

I speak very little Chinese, and she spoke no English, but I was able to make clear what I wanted nevertheless.

So most importantly, the haircut was Awesome! By far the best I’ve had in Taiwan to date. The girl really took her time, and put a lot of care and attention into every detail. My haircut isn’t complex, but I really hate how so many barbers don’t pay attention around the ears, sideburns, and edges, and leave a lot of stray hairs that haven’t been cut. She took ages on that stuff, spending lots of time to make sure it was perfect.

They served tea, and I got several hot towels throughout to clean my face and neck. Then I got a nice thorough shampoo with massage. After the rinse, she sat me back down and gave me another massage with a hot towel.

Then, she got out the razor and shaved my neck and around the ears. I don’t remember any of the other barbers I’ve visited in Taiwan doing this, so it was great!

The entire thing took about 45-50 minutes.

COST = 400$ !!!

So cheap! I asked beforehand about the cost, and at that price I really, really did not expect the shampoo, massage, and overall great treatment I got.

As far as I’m concerned, my Taiwan barbershop issues are over. :smiley:

2

Thanks for the tip. Does anyone know how to say “tapered” or “skin fade” in Chinese? I doubt the google translate result and I don’t think I can mime that. Do they have a picture book for “wo yao zhege”-age?

3

Oro,

Is this the place you’re talking about?

Address and phone number here:

tp.store.tnn.tw/store.html?sid=237634

4

^ Yes it is, and the service was top-notch like OP said. If you are looking for a place with thumping music and young hotties running around cutting hair into the latest pop cultural stylee. Sorry, this is not your place.

This is oldschool, with classical music / classical oriental music played, older crowd. Great service for $400 NT. Reminded me of my old italian neighborhood barber when the lady busted out the razor and sharped up all my hair edges expertly. Might go back for a razor shave, definitely go back for a haircut. They also offer men’s facial service and ear cleaning.

5

You can get the same type of cut, hot towels, shampoo, head massage etc. at NCCU’s barbershop for 120NT.

6

[quote=“Oro”]just had to share a fantastic barbershop I just discovered.

location - about 5-10 minute walk from The Brass Monkey. Turn west onto Chang Chun Rd if you are coming from Fuxing North. It’s just about on the corner of Chang Chun Rd (Zhangchun) and Longjiang Rd. It’s on the north side of the street.

The place is about two doors east of the 7/11; it has blue signage, and 2 or 3 rainbow colored barber’s poles. looking inside, it’s a long rectangular room with about 17 chairs… It seems like a kind of impersonal, assembly-line type of set-up, but in fact the service I got was the opposite of that initial impression.

I should say, I’m pretty sure this place is almost entirely for men. Didn’t see any women getting a cut there, and it just has that feel of being a men’s salon.

I speak very little Chinese, and she spoke no English, but I was able to make clear what I wanted nevertheless.

So most importantly, the haircut was Awesome! By far the best I’ve had in Taiwan to date. The girl really took her time, and put a lot of care and attention into every detail. My haircut isn’t complex, but I really hate how so many barbers don’t pay attention around the ears, sideburns, and edges, and leave a lot of stray hairs that haven’t been cut. She took ages on that stuff, spending lots of time to make sure it was perfect.

They served tea, and I got several hot towels throughout to clean my face and neck. Then I got a nice thorough shampoo with massage. After the rinse, she sat me back down and gave me another massage with a hot towel.

Then, she got out the razor and shaved my neck and around the ears. I don’t remember any of the other barbers I’ve visited in Taiwan doing this, so it was great!

The entire thing took about 45-50 minutes.

COST = 400$ !!!

So cheap! I asked beforehand about the cost, and at that price I really, really did not expect the shampoo, massage, and overall great treatment I got.

As far as I’m concerned, my Taiwan barbershop issues are over. :smiley:[/quote]

that sounds so nice, thanks for sharing! will give it a shot the next time I need a haircut. was anxious about the barber situation here so before I left home I squeezed some time in to drive half an hour to pasadena and waited nearly an hour to get a last haircut from my barber and even asked him to chop off a little more than what I’d normally want.

does anyone know how to get there taking the metro?

NCCU?

7

NCCU = nccu.edu.tw/english/

8

Yes! How would you tell the barber “tapered” or “skin fade”? Or how about “close on the edges”?

9

:2cents: Update:
Some of the MRT stops have a barbershop, for $100NT ( that you pay before you even enter the place) I received a haircut… or shall we say “trim”… and I received more compliments than this $400NT haircut did.

So if you have a no-frills, business style generic haircut, or very low maint. type of cut… I would give them a try. Not to mention they do have the machines that kill lice, etc. in their equipment
( though not sure if they really use it.)

I also believe that since they are hired by the MRT that they probably went through some kind of hiring process to show they have some skills - not a person cutting hair that just yesterday was picking up trash in the bathrooms of the MRT.

10

Some of the best barber shops don’t even cut hair.

11

[quote=“downtownandrew”]:2cents: Update:
Some of the MRT stops have a barbershop, for $100NT ( that you pay before you even enter the place) I received a haircut… or shall we say “trim”… and I received more compliments than this $400NT haircut did.

So if you have a no-frills, business style generic haircut, or very low maint. type of cut… I would give them a try. Not to mention they do have the machines that kill lice, etc. in their equipment
( though not sure if they really use it.)

I also believe that since they are hired by the MRT that they probably went through some kind of hiring process to show they have some skills - not a person cutting hair that just yesterday was picking up trash in the bathrooms of the MRT.[/quote]

… and it takes 5 minutes. I hate wasting 2 hours for a hair cut.

12

Well my last haircut from the MRT was pure shit. Going back to the place originally mentioned. The MRT haircuts are strictly for trims, dont ever consider it for styling ( i.e getting allot of hair cut - when you have no pictures or good directions to give the servicer to understand.) . Unless ofcourse your styling only requires 90% electric razor.

13

Yes, Nanjing E Rd station on the brown line. Changchun is one block north of Nanjing.

14

I have no idea if there’s a specific word for “tapered” in Chinese, but it isn’t a hard concept to explain. I’d say something like 從這邊下去要漸漸變短，最後短到消失 (cong2 zhe4bian1 xia4qu4 yao4 jian4jian4 [gradually; you could also say man4man4] bian4duan3, zui4hou4 duan3dao4 xiao1shi1). You can point at where you want the tapering to start when you say the first part, and then point at where you want the edge of the skin fade to be when you say the second part. My haircut is tapered as well, and this sort of explanation has always worked for me.

Of course, now that I have a regular stylist, I don’t need to explain anything. She knows exactly what to do. If you live near Yonghe and speak Chinese, you can ask for Coinie at 想髮 (Ideas, it’s called in English) on Yongyuan Lu (永元路). The service is just as good as the OP described. It’s NT$480 for a cut and a wash/massage.

15

[quote=“downtownandrew”]
I also believe that since they are hired by the MRT that they probably went through some kind of hiring process to show they have some skills - not a person cutting hair that just yesterday was picking up trash in the bathrooms of the MRT.[/quote]

They’re not hired by the MRT :roflmao: Maybe if the business owner can afford a shop in the MRT, they can afford to employ trained staff… no pun intended.

The quality of the cut you get from these $100 barber shops varies from place to place and even from employee to employee in the same place. You can find them in a few MRT stations, Banciao Train Station, shopping malls and other places. Quick and cheap. There’s not much difference between the $100 place and the mid-range priced places. I’ve found both sometimes have un-trained staff with blunt scissors, but I don’t need to pay $400 for washing my already washed hair, a head massage, a slowly executed mediocre hair cut, then another wash. I’m just not that metro-sexual :laughing:

16

TY for this info, I’ve had some crappy experiences since I’ve been here with lack of attention to detail.

17

hahahaha for a second i thought it was a “BarberShop” hahahaha

18

Here’s the address on Google Maps:
Union Bank of Taiwan, No. 328號, Zhǎngchūn Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, 104
It’s directly across from Union Bank and for whatever reason if you type in the address without typing in Union Bank of Taiwan it gives you an incorrect location.
Cheers!

19

[quote=“downtownandrew”]:2cents: Update:
Some of the MRT stops have a barbershop, for $100NT ( that you pay before you even enter the place) I received a haircut… or shall we say “trim”… and I received more compliments than this $400NT haircut did. [/quote]
Unfortunately the “QB” (or maybe it’s “QC”, I forget) barber shops in the MRT malls have raised prices and are now NT$300 for a cut. I don’t get one often enough to worry about such outrageous prices, but it was still a surprise.

20

I tried this and it was not that good compared to my old stomping ground in Manila - Titan 22 - which is the best shave/cut/skin care/massage you can get for just 250 peso (+100 tip). If you are in Manila try it out - it’s so worth the time/money. The best is the one close to High Street in The Fort/BGC.

I found an old barber guy in Renai ($300 for shave/trim - https://maps.google.com/maps?q=taipei&hl=en&ll=25.037513,121.558673&spn=0.002078,0.004128&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=58.598104,135.263672&hnear=Taipei+City,+Taiwan&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=25.037513,121.558673&panoid=mDhqEAVie3rUlac3QRqg1Q&cbp=12,198.38,1,5.99 - white/blue sign) that also uses hot towels but the cut in both places just aren’t good enough to be a real barbershop - I have a beard also so I go for trimming as well as the clean shave but so far I’m looking for that very good place, English understanding would be a welcome bonus.

If anyone has had better luck in finding a real barbershop anywhere in Taipei please let me know.