I was really confused by the directions–and I’ve lived in the neighborhood for 15 years.
Sababa Gongguan across Xinhai Rd. on the Gongguan side. Lane 283 is the main lane running parallel to Wenzhou St. between Xinhai and Roosevelt. Taishun St. is on the other side of Xinhai. The reference to Taishun St. threw me off.
I can understand the confusion about how to order at Sababa. The pleasant decor-especially at the new Gongguan location–suggests more of a sit down and be served kind of place.
But hey, this is Taiwan. The surest way to misery in Taiwanese restaurants at any price level is sitting around passively waiting to be served. Screw that. If you need something, get up and politely but firmly make your wishes known to someone working there. Try it. It works. You’ll be much happier.
That said, the first time I found Sababa Gongguan, they ran out of pitas. The girl at the counter tried to make the best of it by joking that customers should have come earlier. A few looked pretty annoyed. But the food was great and very reasonably priced. We made do by substituting falafel and fries for pitas. Not the same but great anyway.
This is going to be a Gongguan institution–the place has the right mix of people (not too many Adogahs but enough), great food, and nice casual dining. A few kinks, but way to go!
I really think folks could be a bit more patient and flexible with new (and old) restaurants. I’m not saying that shit food and or service should be accepted… but, wonderful food and friendly service should be applauded… and supported.
I suspect that some of you folks complaining haven’t lived in Taiwan for a very long time. We used to have to trip over to Hong Kong to get anything decent in foreign food. Then we had to settle for Ponderosa and Pizza Hut for western food. Now, in contrast, there are numerous places that serve good foreign foods.
I think its a major, MAJOR, fucking hassle (one which most people will never come close to understanding) to run a good feed joint (especially a foreign feed joint in Taiwan), and I for one am absolutely delighted to have establishments such as Sababa, The Diner, Alleycats, the italian job, Carnegie’s, Bongos, JB’s, Jahmuna’s, the Tavern, and a host of other establishments providing good foods at reasonable prices and with typically good service.
Yes, I agree. When I first came to Taiwan, I used to lived on cabbagey buffets. Now I eat really nice Western food all the time, from curries at Carnegies to pizzas with excellent cheese at Alleycats.
Off topic, but had a super-fab ‘Mediterranean Platter’ at On Tap, last night(hummus, and some stuff, and bread) which I really appreciated being able to order.
If you spend your days moaning about service, then you’re probably eating out too much. Remember when you were a kid and you did some stupid boring service job and you really didn’t give a fuck whether the drunken moaning rich tossers on table 5 had enough bread or not?
Thanks for the kind words of support and understanding. There are always kinks to iron out when restaurants open. No matter how well prepared you think you are, staff need time to become comfortable, and systems (such as delivery) take time to run smoothly. It’s also important to know you can never make every customer happy.
That said, it is our goal to “make everyone’s day”, and provide healthy & delicious food to as many people as possible.
The Sababa Kitchen is a central kitchen (located at the Hoping branch), which makes all the food for both Sababa Pita Bars & Citizen Cain (which you should go check out if you haven’t been there since january). In addition, it provides selected items for a few restaurants around the island, including On Tap. So if you think the falafel or hummus taste familiar somewhere, you now know why. Pita, hummus, falafel and anything else found at Sababa are always available Wholesale, and catering is also available.
Finally, in response to the “self service problem”, a large wooden sign will be added at the front of the bar that says " PLEASE ORDER HERE" in both English and Chinese, in addition to the posters on every table (which apparently get overlooked quite often).
i was at this restaurant last week and i have to say food there was really good:
had a chicken pita, an egyptian and a maroccan cigar plus some hummus and everythign was really tasty.
while i am not really a big fan of middle eastern food i gave sababa a try out of curiousity for soemthing new here in taipei.
and i have to say i have not been disappointed.
will definitely come back.
:bravo:
Went to the Gungguan shop on Saturday but unfortunately couldn’t eat there because the whole interior was permeated with the stink of frying. Improved air extraction would be a godsend there, I think. I’ll try again later, but no matter how good the food is (and it IS really good) I won’t stay if means my clothes are going to stink afterward.
Afterwards? Dude, with this storm blowing in, I am getting a whiff of Haggis, Guinness and Liquid Bowl Chutney rising up from across the Dien. Is that you?
I’m almost addicted to Sababa these days. It’s a rare restaurant I will actually make up an excuse to go visit that neighborhood to go eat at. The thing that convinced me most that this is a worthwhile restaurant was when they let me substitute a nice salad for the fries in the set meal. Very nice.
I took a friend to the Gongguan Sababa this past weekend. She ordered the chicken plate, which was decent, but I ordered the beef and hummus plate, which I found to be almost inedibly greasy. I went back again today to try the hummus plate just to see if it was the ground beef that was messing it up and I still found the hummus to be a bit on the oily side.
On the other hand, I really liked the pitas, which were fresh and warm, and the prices are very reasonable.
I’m not quite sure how to respond to the comment regarding the moroccan beef being “almost inedibly greasy” and the hummus “a bit on the oily side”.
I can only assume that this valued customer is ‘olive oil-intolerant’, especially considering the hummus. I’ve had hummus from all over the world, and I can honestly say that Sababa’s is up there with the best.
Olive oil is an essential ingredient in many of our dishes, and I hope that if the Moroccan Hummus didn’t suit your taste, you can find something on our menu that will.
on a side note:
olive oil is extremely healthy and lowers your cholesterol and has many other benefits to you health.
(if its extra vergine olive oil that is)
On a serious note, though, I’ve never eaten anything from Sababa that I didn’t love, except for the “cigars” which I find a bit oily – unsurprising considering they’re deep fried – (and I’ve had most of the dishes on offer), but I do hope you can do something about extracting the kitchen smoke in the Gongguan branch.
Pitadude, I am convinced that your staff will soon be at the same level as your place behind Xin Hai.
Though, indeed, for both places a sign Order an pay in advance would be a + (for us, Western dudes who think wrongly that all seated restaurants wil be ordered and served at the table)