15 years ago we had expat bars mainly in Tianmu. Now no more. Are there any left? Or clubs for English speaking expats only? Like in other countries. Where we can speak English and moan or rejoice.
none of those, only beer houses where you sit on children’s chairs and KTV.
glory days, yeah they all pass you by.
Boss had it sussed.
Taipei is friggin dead as far as good expat bars go. The beer is shit in Taiwan and it’s always the same places to go to - Carnegies, brass monkey or tavern.
citizen cane - closed
bliss - closed
malibu east - closed
taipei sports bar - closed
spaceman - closed
shannon fake irish pub - closed
there’s too many to mention…they come and go. a good thing starts to develop and then the place eventually goes under.
unlike Seoul, Tokyo or Bankgok, Taipei just doesn’t have many drinking spots for the expat. the choices are narrow. The Koreans and Japanese really know how to drink. The Taiwanese just don’t seem to into drinking.
Also, why is that Taiwan beer so bad? I put it right up there with Chang or Singha - absolutely horrid beer. I made the mistake a few times of drinking Taiwan beer and the body stone and nasty hang over the next day was tremendous. I think I was even hallucinating on Taiwan Beer. Nasty, nasty stuff. Why is beer so crap in Taiwan? Can’t they follow Japan and develop some interesting beers or beer according to the seasons? It’s always the same shit on the shelf in 7-11. I see they brought in some exports recently, though. Overall though, Taiwanese are just not interested in drinking beer. That may be a large part of it.
Question - is that because there are not really many expats here to warrant many good pubs or that those that are here are just not really into drinking?
[quote=“Shimokitazawa”]Taipei is friggin dead as far as good expat bars go. The beer is shit in Taiwan and it’s always the same places to go to - Carnegies, brass monkey or tavern.
citizen cane - closed
bliss - closed
malibu east - closed
taipei sports bar - closed
spaceman - closed
shannon fake irish pub - closed
there’s too many to mention…they come and go. a good thing starts to develop and then the place eventually goes under.
unlike Seoul, Tokyo or Bankgok, Taipei just doesn’t have many drinking spots for the expat. the choices are narrow. The Koreans and Japanese really know how to drink. The Taiwanese just don’t seem to into drinking.
Also, why is that Taiwan beer so bad? I put it right up there with Chang or Singha - absolutely horrid beer. I made the mistake a few times of drinking Taiwan beer and the body stone and nasty hang over the next day was tremendous. I think I was even hallucinating on Taiwan Beer. Nasty, nasty stuff. Why is beer so crap in Taiwan? Can’t they follow Japan and develop some interesting beers or beer according to the seasons? It’s always the same shit on the shelf in 7-11. I see they brought in some exports recently, though. Overall though, Taiwanese are just not interested in drinking beer. That may be a large part of it.
Question - is that because there are not really many expats here to warrant many good pubs or that those that are here are just not really into drinking?[/quote]
Ah! My favorite subject=drinking.
First of all, most of the places that have closed (with the exception of Citizen Cane) probably won’t be missed by many people, which explains why they went bust. I did have a soft spot for Malibu East, I must admit.
The Koreans and the Japanese know how to drink? Really? You mean sitting at a table with a bunch of other salarymen and pounding shot after shot after shot of rotgut until they vomit or pass out or vomit and pass out and have to be literally carried home by their friends, is how you’re supposed to drink? No offense but, fuck that. The Asian “ganbei” style is sub-fraternity hazing shit. However, I agree, the Taiwanese are not the biggest drinkers in this part of the world.
Next, Taiwan beer. If it’s super cold, it’s drinkable. From the moment you open it and the temp starts rise, you’re in a deathmatch to get the suds in your belly cuz once it gets near room temp, you’re absolutely right–it is horrid. One problem with TB is that it’s made from the cheapest type of rice you can get, the stuff they use for animal feed. Another problem is that it’s “made” by the gov’t (or TTL), so it is safe to assume that nobody cares if it’s awful, in fact, though it defies economic logic, perhaps the gov’t wants it to be revolting so people won’t drink as much. I dunno. That’s just daydreaming right there.
There are enough expats in TPE to support–IMHO–about half a dozen expat pubs. The Carnegie and Brass Monkey places are for newbies and/or tourists and are never going away. One good example of a thriving expat pub is On Tap. Go there on a Saturday night and you’ll quickly realize that people are interested in drinking. Generally speaking however, I think your question raises a point about Taiwanese culture and just the whole expat environment. A lot of expats have limited budgets from teaching salaries and drinking at pubs is expensive. NT150 for a bottle of TW swill. That adds up quick, therefore, a lot of my friends simply can’t afford to be out 5 nights a week, dropping NT1000 at the pub. Culturally, as stated, the Taiwanese aren’t extremely motivated to drink. Many people make even less than the expat teachers.
In closing, I’d like to say that pilam99 hit the nail on the head. It’s no problem finding a cool neighborhood jiuba where English is spoken. There are a bunch of places in the lanes and alleys off Anhe Road between Heping and Xinyi. You just gotta do some legwork. TPE isn’t the most exciting place in the world for drinkers, but it isn’t a wasteland, either, i.e. there are quality establishments to be found.
[quote=“the chief”]I thought this was some kind of newfangled Blackberry abbreviation for writing the Patent Attorney’s exam. :eh:
Actually we all know a bunch of really cool expat bars, we just aren’t telling you about them…
:p[/quote]
That is why you are the chief. 
Taiwan beer can be surprisingly good if shipped and stored properly. In my recollection, Cheers in Grand Hyatt and Marco Polo Lounge in Shangri-La have done just that. The catch, of course, is what they charge. By the way, my last experience was almost ten years ago, before my current wife enter the scene. 
On the other hand, I had pretty awful ones in those quick-fry seafood places, within two stamped manufacturing date.
Used to hang out at Malibu East quite often during the previous decade. The last time there, the owner and all workers had become Philipino ladies. Surprised that they are out of business, though.
Is that an expensive operation?
Plenty of Taiwan drink…but they do it at different venues. Quick fry seafood restaurants, which are a lot of fun and a really great aspect of Taiwan food/drink culture. There is a shitload of drinking that goes down in these places. I used to regularly go out with my colleagues to them, we’d have to stash the bottles in crates all around us so much was being drunk. They don’t go to bars much, probably for some of the reasons many foreigners here, including me, don’t go to bars much. Too expensive, not much soul, bad food,business travellers looking for a quick jolly, random boring ‘forced’ enjoyment of sports events…it’s not very convivial to me. They are also often too small or plain looking, no design or uniqueness. Look at the Brass Monkey, it’s just a big room! Where’s the outdoor veranda, the outdoor smoking area, the lounge and bar and dancing area etc. Nobody custom designs them (it’s hard to in such crowded and expensive cities I know and it tends to be restaurants that are custom built here, but only really outside Taipei, but then hardly any Westerners live outside Taipei, Taipei real estate is just too expensive!).
My colleagues liked to go the Shannon for some dancing etc. but it closed down, again it was expensive for locals and foreigners alike. I guess my main problem I have with bars in Taiwan is they don’t have an atmosphere, not enough patrons and buzz…chicken and egg I guess. Most of them are as dead as wet fish.
Then there are KTVs and Jiudians, not my kettle of fish but a lot of drinking occurs there. But Taiwanese also like to drink tea and do other exciting stuff like shrimp fishing with a can of Taiwan beer in hand and that’s a good thing in my opinion.
[quote=“LPeterC”]Taiwan beer can be surprisingly good if shipped and stored properly. In my recollection, Cheers in Grand Hyatt and Marco Polo Lounge in Shangri-La have done just that. The catch, of course, is what they charge. By the way, my last experience was almost ten years ago, before my current wife enter the scene.
On the other hand, I had pretty awful ones in those quick-fry seafood places, within two stamped manufacturing date.
Used to hang out at Malibu East quite often during the previous decade. The last time there, the owner and all workers had become Filipino ladies. Surprised that they are out of business, though.[/quote]
Wasn’t that place in the paper hosting the World Cup events for Dutch people…I think it’s still going.
TW beer does suck, but at least TW has a lot of choices when it comes to beer.
A typical 7/11 will have:
Heineken
Corona
Carlsberg
Asahi (more than one)
Sapporo
Kirin’s
Busch
Bud
Michelob Dark
Blue Ice
Bar Beer
TsingTao
and nowadays add:
Guinness
Sam Adams
Long Board
Erdinger
certainly a better selection than you will find in most Asian countries.
I have been here over a decade and have only drank TW beer, when it was the only beer available, and besides, the green shit, and the TW beer bar shit is decent anywho.
As for expat bars, there are plenty to choose from, granted there isn’t that one kick ass one that Taipei truly needs but there are a number of doable ones.
One reason things are as such is because a big part of Taipei night life is clubbing. A lot of expats want to go out and get laid. They want to have sex with hot ass locals who go to clubs, and not lament the latest news story with some sad sack at a whitey boozer. Taiwanese are a little more accommodating to foreigners here so there isn’t the need for the expat boozer that is common other places.
I have a question about the beer here and maybe some of the experts here can educate me.
Budwesiter - is it brewed in taiwan under license?
Asahi - is it brewed here in Taiwan under license?
I ask because the beer here seems to taste like shit compared to when I’m in Japan or back in the U.S. drinking beer.
Next to Thailand - Singha / Chang - Taiwanese beer is the worst in the region, with Japanese beer being the best.
Anyone know about this?
Asahi - Japan
Asahi Imported - Canada
Kirin - Taichung, Taiwan
Sapporo - China
Budweiser - China
I now know why the beer here tastes like shit. However, something just isn’t right with the beer brewed in Taiwan and China. Total crap. Is it the quality of the water or what? I have no idea but I can see why some people have said that when they were in Taiwan, they just stopped drinking beer all together.
Is that an expensive operation?[/quote]
You need to come to Tainan
WARNING …Approaching plug
Willys bar and grill, a great expat bar, cold draught, sports, and damn good food.and I am here to talk absolute bollocks with any day of the week.
I wish…
LPeterC had it right when he mentioned transportation and storage. There’s nothing wrong per-se with Taiwan beer but the usual ‘Chabudouism’ we are all familiar with causes a great disparity between the quality of the product from the time it leaves the factory to the time it gets into your hand.
Sometimes it’s loaded onto a an unrefrigerated truck on a hot day and the truck driver stops at a KTV or brothel for a couple of hours and the stuff gets to bake in the sun.
Even worse, sometimes it’s loaded into a refrigerated truck and gets nice and chill as it goes down the freeway for a couple of hours, then gets loaded into a little blue unrefrigerated truck and the driver stops at the Karaoke-brothel place for a few hours and the beer gets baked in the sun. After baking it is then re-refrigerated at the mom and pop store.
Variation in temperature is the main reason your beer tastes bad, the wine is foul, your violin is out of tune, and your cigar has a stale odor.
I should become a truck driver, sounds like a lot of fun! Anyway, you hit the nail squarely on it’s head. Taiwan beer is the best lager beer in Taiwan without any doubt as long as it gets from the brewery right to a storage room that is not too hot then onto a pump and the barrel is empty within two days.
That’s not exactly correct.
The only way a beer is going to go bad because of temperature change is if the change is extreme. Really, really extreme. Generally, so long as the fermentation is completed, and the beer is not exposed to really, really extreme temperature changes for long durations, the beer should be fine. I often bring several bottles of good ales with me back from my travels. In most cases, I buy the bottles from refrigeration units and leave them in my hotel for several days before packing them in my luggage for the return to Taiwan. I’ve never had a problem with beer going bad due to this.
Usually, when a good beer has gone bad, it is due to light. Beer is damaged by sunlight or fluorescent lighting when UV rays go through the glass bottle. The UV rays screw with the chemical composition of iso-alpha acids produced by the hops, and this causes the creation of a new compound called methyl mercaptan, one of the many components found in the defense mechanism of skunks.
Perhaps urodacus can confirm?
I agree with Tavern Captain. Shimokitazawa knows not of what he speaks. Taiwan beer is an excellent, reasonably priced beer for a mass-produced lager. Try it at the brewery in Taipei.
According to the Transport Information Service guidelines of the German Government for beer: tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/lebensmi/bier/bier.htm
[quote]Canned beer has the longest shelf-life, but it may take on a slightly metallic taste if stored for an extended period.
Bottled beer should be consumed within three months at the most, as its flavor and color may be impaired during storage by the action of oxygen.
Draft beers have the shortest storage life. They should be consumed within a maximum of one month.
It is also imperative that the goods be protected from moisture (rain, snow) during cargo handling and from excessively low and high temperatures. Moisture may result in detachment of labels and corrosion of crown caps and cans.
Unfavorable temperatures may cause quality degradation due to increased activity of microorganisms or haziness of the beer.
Beer requires particular temperature, humidity/moisture and possibly ventilation conditions (SC VI) (storage climate conditions).
A written cooling order must be obtained from the consignor before loading is begun. This order must always be complied with during the entire transport chain.
The following Table merely constitutes a rough estimate of appropriate temperature ranges. Temperatures may deviate from these values, depending on the particular transport conditions.
Designation Temperature range Source
Travel temperature (favorable temperature range) 3 - 8°C [1]
Freezing point approx. -3°C [1]
As the optimum temperature for beer is between approx. 3 and 8°C, it is best transported as refrigerated cargo, to inhibit the metabolic activity of the microorganisms.
Beer must additionally be protected from relatively large temperature fluctuations, so as to prevent precipitation or haze. Excessively severe solar radiation may cause light flavor tainting. CO2 solubility reduces, so protection from excessive temperatures and temperature fluctuations must be provided.
Excessive temperatures and temperature fluctuations cause CO2 solubility to reduce, resulting in quality degradation.
Beer is at considerable risk of theft; it must therefore be ensured as early as at the point of acceptance of a consignment that the cargo is complete. [/quote]
Obviously, such quality guidelines are not required, nor considered in Taiwan.