I’ve found myself in Taichung quite a bit lately for business. I’ve usually only got Thursday nights open for carousing.
I’m not too impressed by the night spots, but I have found a few good restaurants. The best so far has been Smooth, which is the sister property of Fatty’s. Both are owned and operated by a nice fellow named Hendrik Frijling and his wife, who I spoke to but not long enough to learn her name. The address is No.1 Ching-Cheng Road, Lane 50, in Little Europe, which is directly across the street from the Evergreen Hotel. Phone number is 04-2319-4898.
I’ve not been to Fatty’s yet, but the food my party and I enjoyed at Smooth was fanfuckingtastic. Best Western food meal I’ve had in some time. I had the Hungarian style goulash and a tomato-mozzarella salad and was extremely pleased. The decor was very soothing, clean, ultra-comfortable. They had a couple of good beers on the drink list, Duvel among them. The service was impeccable. Highly recommend it. Didn’t notice prices much, but I’m not very price conscious to begin with.
I had a nice dinner at La Bodega once, and another at a little place called Aloha, both the in same area.
As for Tomas style nightlife, after speed-pubbing through a dozen or so places spread over three nights (I have no patience with boring pubs), the only places that kept me awake were the Pig Pen in Chi Chi, and a place called Coyote Ugly (original, I know) in the Tiger City Mall. I’ve also been to a cool live music joint called 99, and another one that was okay called Animal House, both on Hsiang Shang Road. Everything else was a flop.
Anyone got more they can share about good eats and where to hang out in Taichung on a weeknight without falling asleep?
I heard the a new place that opened called Seduce is now the most popular place in Taizhung. Dont know where its located. I think its a lounge bar type place. Could go work your magic there.
[quote=“Bu Lai En”]I thought Fingas, just around the corner from Smooth was really good. Italian food cooked by a Kiwi chef. I had a great vegetarian pizza.
Brian[/quote]
The place was okay. Very average, I thought, but I do have friends who love it. The chef/owner is a nice guy.
Tomas, you mentioned that Pig Pen was good. My wife and I were there on the weekend and the live music was a soft jazz that wouldn’t even appeal to my mother. Very odd. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
There was also not another single foreigner in the crowd and I got the impression that this place is becoming a local’s only scene. Can anyone confirm that?
What time were you there? When I used to go there, at around 2 a.m. DJs would come in and play dance music. Usually things would get kicked up then. Though admitedly I haven’t been there in a while so it may have turned. But even at that, I’ve never heard of them being a soft jazz club. Strange.
I went to a pretty cool little English pub last weekend, it’s called the Londoner and it’s on Kungyi Road a block west of Nova.
Food was decent, music pretty good and the service not bad.
I’d recomend it. I think that it is owned by the guy who owned Napoli.
I was there around 10 and was downstairs not in the club. I just got a bad feeling about the place when I walked in. It just felt very local to me. Local in a Taiwanese-only kind of way. I have heard that nothing much happens until midnight or later but I was so uninpressed I couldn’t stick around. Plus that music!
We went to the Londoner later and had a good time. For those who are interested the Londoner is going to be having live strip shows at the end of the month. How did they get a license for that?
Best restaurant in Taichung is probably FM (near the science museum) or La Terrasse (near the Ta Tun Carrefour). Chubby’s (near La Bodega) has got some pretty good food too.
The Pig Pen: About two months ago, a group of gangsters affiliated with (and probably sent by) the management of the Pig Pen delivered an unholy foreigner beating to anyone who was unlucky enough to be in Soundgarden across the street at the time. As a result, there is an informal boycott going on, not so much to protest the beating, but because the Pig Pen is just a little too dodgy these days.
For late night alcohol excursions, try Buddy’s Bar - 48 Jincheng 21st St.