Unlike certain other posters on this site I won’t hide the fact that I am connected with this place. Last year I found this place, only 6 km from the end of WuFu Lu, inside Sun YatSen (ZhongShan) university. I absolutely love the location, to the extent that I was crazy enough to spend almost all of my money (and some of a German friend who has also invested with me) on the place.
You can check out all the details on line www.escape41.com
Our prices are not high. It is a little harder to get to than most places because the road gets rather steep at the end (see map on the web site for location details) but I think most people will think it is very much worth it. Right on the beach, surrounded by trees. No need to go to Kending to enjoy the beach! The air here is literally cooler and cleaner than down town thanks to the combination of sea breezes and monkey mountain behind us. At the moment we are only open on weekends from lunch until midnight (or later if people come in before then) and on weekdays from about 3:30 till at least 11 or later if we still have customers then. If you can be here at sunset it can be really nice to watch the sunset over the sea.
Our food has a decidedly European bent to it reflecting the fact that the 2 owners are foreigners but not from North America. A number of things you can get here that I don’t think you can get elsewhere in Kaohsiung. For example a variaty of quiches, scones with real cream not long life rubbish etc. Also our pizzas are cooked in a specially imported oven that can reach 400 degrees celccius. They use a thin crust and real mozzarella rather than the cheap and nasty shredded stuff. The pizza dough is made by us and is not frozen unlike most places in South Taiwan.
Unlike a lot of dive restaurants and bars we are not afraid to show you what we offer so that you can compare easily with other places. Just check out our web site. It has many pics of the place and a menu on line. The breakfast items are not yet available but will be very soon. Same for ice cream.
We hope to gradually add a few more other items to to the menu in the next few months. We don’t have any service charge or other hidden costs but we do have a NT$100 per person minimum charge. Sorry we don’t yet have credit card machines here (also their are no ATMs near us) but likewise we hope to get credit card facilities in the future.
Good luck with the venture!
I don’t get down there often, well ever, but Taiwan can always use another Western joint.
Thanks for the encouragement Joufes.
One other thing I should mention that might appeal to a few foreigners. We are having a reggae/chill out party at our place this Sat afternoon/night. It is not a late party like most in Kaohsiung/GaoXiong. Later in the night we might up the tempo a bit with the music though and include some house, electro etc. Everyone can see details of the party on our web site www.escape41.com and then go into the section labled specials.
I went down all way to Gaoxiong just to check this place out, and I spent a lovely Saturday night there. It is as good as it sounds. In fact, even better. The balcony is really amazing, and sunsets there are beautiful. What is better than sipping your cocktail, sitting in this beach chair on the balcony, watching the ocean and enjoying the sunset! + the food is really good! I am very happy for my friend who is doing an amazing job on this place and is so excited about it, and i am even happier to see that his idea (which seemed to me quite crazy at start) is really working. Escape is a beautiful place, the owner is a great guy, and i will definitely go there again! (Not just because the owner is my friend - i never visited him in Gaoxiong before 
)
I must say that in looking at the photos of the deck area I was immediately reminded of Sundowners on the veranda at Rick’s in Negril, Jamaica.
TC wrote: [quote]I must say that in looking at the photos of the deck area I was immediately reminded of Sundowners on the veranda at Rick’s in Negril, Jamaica.[/quote]
Is that good or bad?
I must say I was left wondering if that was good or bad too. But googling it comes up with claims of it being one of the 10 best bars in the world. Perhaps rather wishful thinking but still I will take it as a compliment to be compared that way.
Anyway we have photos on line at our web site from last weekend and the reggae party. Just go into our web site www.escape41.com then go to the photos section and look to the July 2007 events.
AJ, Nau -
Yes indeed it was meant as a compliment. I started going to Ricks in the very early '80’s when it was not much more than a converted beach house with a bar on the deck. Negril and the Bluefields was a sleepy place in the day and a rather…“interesting” place at night. Now it, Ricks and Negril, has become a “destination” place. Big name resorts, Sandals, etc., have established there.
Dark Appleton rum half with Ting and a lime wedge, the music at playing as the sun goes down over the Carribean…dats livin’ large Mon…
Is it possible to get to your place for people without their own transport? Bus, short taxi ride etc? I don’t know Kaohsiung all that well, so I’m not sure exactly where you are.
It is definately possible. If you were to come by bus the number 99 comes here. You would need to get off at CaiShan primary school (in Chinese “CaiShan GuoXiao”). It is a 5 to 10 minute walk to or from there. On the weekends a bus operates from the high speed rail station to the university. I believe both buses are rather slow.
If you want to get a taxi that is of course definately possible too. To get here ask the driver to go to ZhongShan university (ZhongShan DaXue) and then follow the signs to CaiShan. When you come into the town get out and walk down when you see the signs to our place rather than getting the cab driver to drive down. Also I reccomend printing out the map on our web site ( www.escape41.com ). I guess the taxi from the main train station might cost about 250-300. If you need a cab to go back we can call one.
Cool, I know where the university is. Next time I’m down in Kaohsiung, I’ll come by.
I just want to let everyone know we are holding an “80’s party” on Sat. August 18. We will have DJs from 5 pm until very late. Entry is $250 but you get 2 beers. Of course we will have our normal low drinks prices and wide range of food. The party we did in July was quite successful so we have high hopes for this one. We should have a good mix of 80s music so their should be something for everyone old enough to remember the 80s. If you want more details you can see a poster for the part on line at haskellco.org/escape41/specials.htm
We are very sorry to have to do this but due to some damage to the building that can not be fixed in time because of the weather (we need some OK weather, then it will be done quickly!) we have had to reluctantly cancel the 80’s party we had planned for this weekend (Sat the 18th). We will probably still be open (unless the typhoon is really big then) as the damage only affects part of our place. We will still hold this party in the future as I know a number of people were interested in coming. Once again sorry that we have had to cancel or at least delay it for now.
Just want to let everyone know we will be having the 80s party on this weekend from 5 pm onwards this Sat Sept 15th. 4 DJs, NT$250 entry and 2 beers included. The music will be relatively slow, relaxed earlier but we will crank things up somewhat after 10 pm.
For more info see haskellco.org/escape41/specials.htm
A quick note to say sorry, for the moment we are closed. Thanks to the idiotic actions of our government here… I will post more to explain better soon.
Is this the same place that has the thread going about the worst nightmare after living in asia? I remember going to Escape 41 a year or two ago and the guy running the place seemed to be in a really bad mood. He didn’t do anything, but his expression was deeply unhappy. After reading that thread I can understand why. It must have been in the middle of all that. Nevertheless I had a good experience that night and I hope to go back again some day.
Have you reopened? I’m dying for another place to dig in. I heard you moved to the HanShin building- is this true?
Yes, it is the place that was on that worst nightmare thread. We have a solution for the outdoor area (see the Chinese language web site www.escape41.com and scroll down to see pics of the outdoor area now).
We have re-opened. But for only the 2nd time in more than 4 years I have closed for a couple of weeks. I have had to go to Australia as my mother is very ill and we don’t really have a competent kitchen without me there. I choose to have the remaining staff do a big clean up and get some equipment changed while I am away rather than the place operate badly. We should be back to normal after October 10. Sorry for any inconvenience but I had to travel at very short notice and it was difficult to arrange any better solution.