I had food there once. Fish and chips were not bad but less than memorable. I think the raw sliced beef was pretty good.
Had an appalling “breakfast” there Sunday. Cold food, no butter (only some sweet fetid marge) for the toast, and very weak coffee. And very expensive. More fool me.
I had an all-day breakfast there a couple of weeks ago. Wasn’t too bad, although pricy compared to say, Dan Ryan’s. I was annoyed about the cold food though. Why is it that even upmarket restaurants in Taiwan don’t heat the plates to serve hot food? 
Went there for the rugby the other day. NT$80 Boddingtons, and an excellent burger and chips. Bob says he’s going to do something about the breakfasts.
(It’s quite nice during the day.)
I’ve talked to three people who’ve had good food there in the last week (two had burgers et al., one had lamb kebab). But I always make sure to get out before the dancing-on-the-bar part starts. You can feel the level of hormones rising, the agression of the bouncers growing, the level of stickiness on your shoe soles growing…
Just had a lunch, a coke and some very tasty quesidillas, at Carnegies. The tomato sauce that came with the dish was quite tasty. It’s got my recomendation.
I know Tpebob posts here and I know he’s not the kitchen guy, but I really must vent about the positively foul lunch I had there on Friday (well, the Guinness was good). Fish, chips and mushy peas.
I could tell that the fish was a nice piece of something at one time but by the time the kitchen had got through with it, it had been reduced to a grease-soaked mess encased in almost-burnt batter. The mushy peas were dried out with little hard lumps in them, and the chips were an absolute disgrace, having obviously been dumped into fat that was much too hot – again, dark brown, almost burned on the outside, absolutely swimming in grease and virtually raw on the inside. I should have just sent it back, but being lunchtime and in a hurry and all, it just wasn’t worth it. Not very impressive at all.
OK, rant over, and the Guinness was good.
Sandman: Firstly, a profound apology. They are now making 3 portions of Fish and Chips without knowing why. If they come out anything remotely resembling your description I shall hit the bloody roof. I take comments such as yours seriously and will address this issue. That notwithstanding, I regret that your lunch was so unsatisfactory and to this end please contact me via PM and I will try and make it up to you in the form of beer, food etc.
I am very sorry that this happened. It is not usual, I can assure you that.
Regards,
Bob
Well one area where no one will be able to find fault with Carnegie’s is the excellent house wine: Wolf’s Blass. I know because I got drowned in it last night. Not bad TPEBOB! You probably have to have what is the best housewine of any bar/restaurant in town. Even Mary (you know who) was impressed and she is a total wine snob.
As to the hamburgers, not bad. Not the BEST in town but certainly up near the top. Very moist, I didn’t have to explain to the staff what fried onions were and the garlic you stick in those burgers is a very nice powerful kick. The french fries though…
But next time, I am going to have what everyone else did (minus the chicken Briyani). I will leave that to pub-crawling Brits like you know who, but that chicken, pork and lamb that you were serving up looks awfully good. When can I come back and test it out? AND will you have a new house wine by then or have the other one restocked? haha
Take care and see you soon. We all had a fantastic time last night though I certainly am a bit worse for the wear today.
Breakfasted there on Sunday. Thumbs up all round for the food (except the Shepherd’s Pie…must have been a small shepherd), but thumbs down for the service…too slow even for a Sunday.
Glad you liked the food. I’ll have the shepherds’s pie increased in size and apologies for the service; I shall investigate. Feedback such as this is useful and I appreciate it.
Bob Marshall
General Manager
I personally think the food is generally excellent - and not really that expensive. What’s four hundred NT for a feed ? By the time you’ve drunk yourself silly on the patio of a Sunday afternoon the food portion of the bill is tiny by comparison…
Where else with a patio can you get decent pies, curries, veal, fry-ups, omlettes (proper ones) and decent booze, without requiring a second mortgage ? I’m working my way through the menu and it’s been all good so far - BUT - I will say one thing: gotta get some decent mustard. Bit of Colman’s English on the sausages last Sunday breakfast would have been perfection. If it were any closer to my office I’d be having my lunch there every day (and I’d be about 20 stone). Top marks on the real butter - never succumb to margarine.
I had brunch with Gus and a few friends on Sunday. I ordered the “big one” and was very impressed. Three eggs, lots of bacon, two very large sausages, fresh orange juice, bottomless coffee, complete with little pitchers of heated milk, great toast (all you can eat) with butter and jam, baked beans, fried tomatoes and mushrooms, and some french fries. I couldn’t finish it all, and ended up bringing a sausage and some bacon home for a refry later that day.
The service was fast and professional, and the prices are reasonable. I’ll be going back often.
After my binge on Sunday I can now heartily recommend whatever it was I ate. Oh yes, the pork medallions on a bed of red cabbage, followed several hours later by a sort of chicken cordon bleu with new potatoes and three bottles of house red, a bottle of 1960 cognac, a Cohiba, several pints, and a bottle of 2002 Chimay. Tremendous. Christ ! Nearly forgot the steak tartare ! Sterling effort !
I had nice brunch food today, until I took a sip of my soda and took in tiny shards of glass. They gave me a new soda, but usually when restaurants accidentally serve their customers shards of glass they do a little more than just replace the drink.
Chips are improving. I deserve a bleeding medal for getting out of bed this morning after the enormous feed of drink that was taken last night. I had something nice to eat to but damned if I can remember what it was. Er, veal cordon bleu, that was it. Jolly good show. My head hurts. Somebody used the word “gastropub” last night. A very apt description, if a bit twee. Food up to the usual high standard. There’s some wine in there called Cape Mental or something - jolly nice. And Yellow Shoes says the Tiramisu was nice. And enormous.
Flicka: I take the issue of glass shards very seriously. I should be grateful and interested to know more details about this incident; what time it happened and how exactly it was dealt with. I suspect that the glass shard(s) in question originated not from the glass prior to pouring but from the ice well. Despite being covered, it is not without the bounds of possibility that some may find themselves where they shouldn’t be. I have ordered a much more thorough checking of the ice wells and how they are drained and cleaned.
In the interim, please accept our sincere apologies and I would like to extend an offer of a complimentary brunch for yourself and one friend at a time that is convenient to you. Just PM me first and I will arrange it.
Cheers,
Bob Marshall
General Manager
Carnegie’s Taipei
So for all of you who thought liver & onions was punishment food created by your Mum, think again. Carnegies’ liver & onion with lashings of bacon, red wine gravy and mashed potatoes will change your mind, specially if its accompanied by a nice cool glass of draught Guinness.
Top marks.
snack menu / Brit food…
have tried chicken curry w rice , really tasty !
bowl of french fries, nice and crispy !
potato skins, very filling !
and the Best pie in town “steak and kidney” topped off with mashed spuds and gravy. magic !
service was quick and friendly with a smile!
have a brew to wash it all down on the front porch, whilst sitting enjoying the outdoors, just great. And one last point ! happy hour goes on forever!!!
I had an absolute ball in Carnage last night, and I can’t for the life of me imagine what fault any man could find in the place. It reminds me of Spin in '92 (or Top with its mad mix of reggee, fit birds, and well I don’t remember much else… except you could get filled in for looking sideways at someone’s pint!) Although in 1992 Spin played the Stone Roses - Bob are you listening? Hip Hop and Stone Roses - lovely. Liked, no sorry, LOVED the AC/DC last night!
It’s what you make of it. But where else can you get a waiter to bring you and your mates a Cohiba cigar (no need to repeat yourself - the staff know what they are) a glass of shampers, a nice wine, food, and mad, silly, and gorgeous totty leaving their inhibitions at the door. Is there more to life than this? I haven’t seen a place like it since I was a wide-eyed 19-year old shuttling between Spin, Top, and KISS, with 1500 NT in loose change in my pocket.
They also serve champagne by the glass. At three o’clock in the morning. (And they don’t make a big deal of opening a fresh bottle just to give you two glasses… Bob’ll be reaching for his calculator working out his gross margin on two glasses of shampoo ha ha ha!)
Tonight I will be watching the madness from a seat (yes - a seat!) in the gods, sipping fine fine wine and smoking a fat Cohiba and loving life. I’ll be the one with the big grin it would take major surgery to remove.
The Saturday Boy
(name the artist for a free beer on me at Carnage tonight)