I have been frequenting River in Chungli a fair bit recently, and I like the place, sort of.
That said, I am looking for alternative watering holes, and it would appear that Good Morning Vietnam is gone. Are there any others in Zhongli, which might be worth a visit?
saw a cool show at The H.O.P. in taoyuan last saturday. they have good prices for beer. itās the old pizza place (feebieās i think), but there is a new owner who did the place up quite well. i saw a bunch of people there from chungli who said the old owner was a nutter. it was very busy on saturday, but the owner said it is more laid back most days. only thing that bothered me was the no smoking, but if you arenāt afflicted with the nicotine bug, then it is worth checking out.
Cool, I would love to go there - whatās the address?
The old owner did create some enemies on the board.
have get some new Bars at Zhongli ??
The River is a good bar in Zhongli. Tons of expats.
I do not know if itās good. Itās more or less the only one. Back in my dark days of Taoyuan county, I went there a fair bit, however nowadays I rather go to the ones within walking distance of my home.
Perhaps. Too bad most of them are wankers.
It aināt what it used to be, thatās for damn sure.
Wandered into Rodeo in Taoyuan the other night, I wouldnāt say it was happening but the bartender assured us to come back on Friday and we would not be disappointed. Iām going to check it out this weekend and see.
If you are looking for a an ummmmmm interesting evening head to Thai Ok by the train station in Taoyuan. Went last weekend and itās a very expat centric place but not Yanks, think Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai. The night ended with a fight and one of the bouncers busting out a rusty machete and yelling in Chinese that āthis is Taiwan and weāll fuck you up if you think you can get away with that hereā Someone got kicked down the stairs and others were hit with padded baseball bats, someone lost a shoe and the alcohol is horrifically bad. Itās a definite SE Asian vibe with tons of people strung out on whatever their drug of choice is. Me and my roomie where the only 2 white boys in the this place but honestly I think Iām gonna go back this weekend, just not aloneā¦
[quote=ājust_chrisā]Wandered into Rodeo in Taoyuan the other night, I wouldnāt say it was happening but the bartender assured us to come back on Friday and we would not be disappointed. Iām going to check it out this weekend and see.
If you are looking for a an ummmmmm interesting evening head to Thai Ok by the train station in Taoyuan. Went last weekend and itās a very expat centric place but not Yanks, think Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai. The night ended with a fight and one of the bouncers busting out a rusty machete and yelling in Chinese that āthis is Taiwan and weāll fuck you up if you think you can get away with that hereā Someone got kicked down the stairs and others were hit with padded baseball bats, someone lost a shoe and the alcohol is horrifically bad. Itās a definite SE Asian vibe with tons of people strung out on whatever their drug of choice is. Me and my roomie where the only 2 white boys in the this place but honestly I think Iām gonna go back this weekend, just not aloneā¦[/quote]
That sounds like a curiously interesting place to check out, just for the adventure.
Yeah, sounds like it will be a right laugh. Clubs next to train stations are usually full of unsavoury characters.
[quote=āWacowā][quote=ājust_chrisā]Wandered into Rodeo in Taoyuan the other night, I wouldnāt say it was happening but the bartender assured us to come back on Friday and we would not be disappointed. Iām going to check it out this weekend and see.
If you are looking for a an ummmmmm interesting evening head to Thai Ok by the train station in Taoyuan. Went last weekend and itās a very expat centric place but not Yanks, think Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai. The night ended with a fight and one of the bouncers busting out a rusty machete and yelling in Chinese that āthis is Taiwan and weāll fuck you up if you think you can get away with that hereā Someone got kicked down the stairs and others were hit with padded baseball bats, someone lost a shoe and the alcohol is horrifically bad. Itās a definite SE Asian vibe with tons of people strung out on whatever their drug of choice is. Me and my roomie where the only 2 white boys in the this place but honestly I think Iām gonna go back this weekend, just not aloneā¦[/quote]
That sounds like a curiously interesting place to check out, just for the adventure.[/quote]
I spent some time living in Manila and this place made the Manila clubs look like Vegas. To be fair there are actually some pretty happening night clubs in Makati and BGC and the Filipino women love to dance but this place is definitely worth a stop even if just to see the drugged out factory workers passed out on tables and couches.
Just to chip in my twopence on the Zhongli front specifically:
River is pretty much the only place youāre gonna find in town, but landlady Kim is a good egg. Donāt be a dick and sheāll look after you and make sure you have a good time there. She also runs Ocean Cafe which is an alright hangout during the day. 2 or 3 other bars have also opened up on Datong Road, but Iām yet to go in or see anyone in them.
Hideout just over the road in the centre of Zhongli Park (next to the basketball courts) has an ok vibe, they try to pitch themselves as an upmarket cocktail bar (with prices to match). A few expats hang out there, but its basically more a stop gap if you want somewhere to hang out before everywhere else opens.
The Jalapeno run by Jack over by the Kuva Chateau hotel attracts a lot of westerners who are here on business, but not many expats. He spent a long time in LA, good English and his Mexican bar snacks arenāt so bad. For the same western crowd you can also hit the bar in Kuva Chateau itself.
After that youāre really scraping the barrel.
If you wanna get smashed off your face, dance and/or hookup go to the Search nightclub, normally a few expats in there looking to do just that.
I learnt the other night thereās a weekly bowling league with a few expats going on at Bowling Alley - you can rock up and play a friendly with some of the other guys there who wanna play occasionally but arenāt in a league team - Iāll edit the details in here when I can find them.
After that head to the neighbourhood around CYCU. Massive night market and a few student bars operating around there, you might find a western student or two, or at the very least some Taiwanese who speak ok English. Idea, The Voice and a bar that constantly changes names (roughly here on the map, currently known as Bar Hao) are your best places to try.
Hi Ryan,
Do you know of any expat cafes in or around Zhongli / PingZhen cities? Hshinchu County as well.
I know Iām dreaming but Iād like to find an old style breakfast place where people share tables and discuss things. 
Wait Iām dreaming of San Francisco decades ago. Slap. LOL.
Is the Kuva restaurant decent?
Not trying to offend but I thought the Mexican place down the street from Kuva was terrible last year. Way too smoky. Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
[quote=āmeyers66ā]Hi Ryan,
Do you know of any expat cafes in or around Zhongli / PingZhen cities? Hshinchu County as well.
I know Iām dreaming but Iād like to find an old style breakfast place where people share tables and discuss things. Wait Iām dreaming of San Francisco decades ago. Slap. LOL.
Is the Kuva restaurant decent?
Not trying to offend but I thought the Mexican place down the street from Kuva was terrible last year. Way too smoky. Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks in advance[/quote]
Expat cafeās arenāt my usual hangout spots so my knowledge on that one is somewhat limited. As mentioned in my previous post, Ocean Cafe is probably the most well-known one around. Lazy Bird in Zhongli downtown was highly rated when it first opened, but its not my kind of place.
As for Kuva, Iāve only dined in their Thai restaurant - food was average/overpriced, youād get better Thai food for the same price at Thai Town in Sogo. Of course if its Thai food youāre after Iām completed [strike]un[/strike]biasedly say that my families restaurant chain 7Yunnan (dotted around Taoyaun County, in Zhongli and Pingzhen) does the best Yunnan/Thai/Burmese food around at ridiculously good prices 
As for your opinion of the Jalapeno, perfectly valid! You gotta be in the right frame of mind when you go (ie. not giving a crap!)
It appears I can no longer edit my original reply, so for anyone interested, you can get all the details of the Zhongli Bowling League from their Facebook Group.
As of posting, they meet every Wednesday at 22:00 with the competitive league matches starting at 23:00 at č£åäæé½”ēé¤Ø close to Zhongzheng Park. (2F, No. 77, Section 2, Zhongmei Rd, Zhongli 320 / äø壢åøäøē¾č·Æäŗꮵ77čäŗęØ)
In California this year I had my first J&J with Cock and Bull Ginger Beer (with Jamesonās of course). That drink blew my mind. What a combo. Ever hear of Jamesonās and Cock and Bull Ginger Beer sold on the island?
Try it some time. It has the fire and ice thing along with a blend of taste.
Maybe someone can arrange a Zhongli bar hop because I canāt imagine any other reason to go over 'dare.
[quote=āmeyers66ā]Hi Ryan,
Do you know of any expat cafes in or around Zhongli / PingZhen cities? Hshinchu County as well.
I know Iām dreaming but Iād like to find an old style breakfast place where people share tables and discuss things. Wait Iām dreaming of San Francisco decades ago. Slap. LOL.
Is the Kuva restaurant decent?
Not trying to offend but I thought the Mexican place down the street from Kuva was terrible last year. Way too smoky. Any pointers would be appreciated. Thanks in advance[/quote]
I havenāt been there but between there and the night market is Pick and Eat, itās a Chipotle knock off but itās decent if you are a fan of Chipotle.
Thank you. Iāll check it out.