[quote=“41783”]One factor on-topic posters have yet to mention: a few years back in Hsinchu (Xinzhu) the pub owners got together and said, “This is what we will charge for beer.” No one asked what would happen if they didn’t charge that price.
Strange isn’t it that pricing is fairly uniform despite differences in rent, staffing, service & other overhead variables.[/quote]
That sounds like a cartel.
When you read about Hsinchu here it always sounds like some sort of gangsterville compared to Taipei. Is that really true, that Taiwan is more dominated by organised crime down south, or am I just lucky in Taipei?
[quote=“KingZog”]
When you read about Hsinchu (Xinzhu) here it always sounds like some sort of gangsterville compared to Taipei. Is that really true, that Taiwan is more dominated by organised crime down south, or am I just lucky in Taipei?[/quote]
Briefly off topic, but the links of CKS & the KMT to the Green Gang and the Bamboo Union are well documented. In Taipei, some people say that organized crime is called the Legislative Yuan, not that I personally would ever demean any of our fine elected officials (but you might want to note which ones are ‘independent’ of party affiliation).
In the Godfather, Michael Corleone says, “We’re going to move from protection to distribution.” Why should I go from pub to pub with my hand out asking for protection money, when I can control the beer distribution channel? Much more efficient & lucrative. Note the tattoos on all delivery guys.
But my original point was directed at Taipei: why – considering differences in location, rents and staffing levels – are prices so uniform? Carnegie’s & Brass Monkey should have similar rents per ping, but My Place in the Combat Zone should have much cheaper rent – their greatest expense. The (Western?) business model of costs + overhead + profit should result in different pricing, but doesn’t.
Gin (Beefeater) $350 or something per 750mls. I find decent French, Spanish, and Australian wine for $200-300 a bottle. My latest find is a very refreshing german pilsner called Eichbaum that goes for a little over $600 a case.
Supermarket in the Breeze Center has got a bottle of whiskey for a cool $700,000. Another for the mere pittance of 300,000 or so. Briefly contemplated buying a couple of bottles before moving on to scavenge chunks of ham etc.
Yes, drinking is actually very cheap here, as long as you drink in the right places. Sit down to a meal at one of those open-air beer bars and order a big 600ml bottle of Taiwan/Heineken/Asahi/whatever’s your poison for a mere 100 NT.
Having visited a fair number of bars in my short time here, I think drinks are pricier to balance out non-existent customers or 1 drink only buyers. Or is the other way customers don’t come to bars or buy only drink because the drinks are so expensive ?
Success of bars and clubs largely depend on location, naturally, good locations are expensive. Margins are low. And bars and clubs are dead besides Friday and Saturday here. The heavy weekday drinkers in Taiwan are white collar workers, they don’t go to bars and clubs for business. I’ve worked with owners of these establishments, they depend heavily on 2 days of each week to generate revenue.
There are plenty of cheap bars and all you can drink clubs. It really depends on what you are looking for.
and are those good ? would like to hear a few names maybe might check some out.
last bar I went on a Friday was empty it was in Beitou - pretty nice place. and Have gone to bars in Zhongshan on fridays empty too.
The reason, I go out to drink is for a chance to socialize, look at some beautiful girls. If it’s just drinking alone I want I can easily do that at home with much better liqour and cheaper.
You see in my old city - Austin for the days bars were likely to be empty that’s when you hit the BYOB strip clubs
No, IMO. It’s mostly college kids and young people. Not my crowd. The issue is Taipei clubs have gone to shit IMO. Yes, they’re nicer in every way, but far less fun and the price of entry is bottle service now if you want to have fun. Back in the days, you could enjoy a club on your own, now they’ve all gone with a different model. Even the club layout is mostly for bottle service.
The women have become far less friendly. They’ve been spoiled with bottle service at clubs, they don’t want to chat with guys walking around the club.
I have no issues with any of this, I can get bottle service and I know many of the owners of clubs as I’ve worked with them. It can be fun. But it’s just not as fun anymore. It’s all about flexing. I still would like to just enjoy it without bottle service.
Blame Puff Daddy for this shit. In the states, I stopped going to hip hop clubs for that sole reason. If I wanna have a good night out at a club it’s a either a club that plays house or dancehall music. But yeah going to western bottle type service clubs is a waste of time.
Never been to a KTV, maybe time to check it out. But with all the singing can you chat up with the person next to you, like in bar or pub ? That’s the fun thing about bars i.e with bar seating just randomly meeting people
There are two kinds, the one with hostesses that are also potentially a brothel, and there are ones you go with friends. It’s not really a solo thing.
I’ve never been to the hostess ones myself, I don’t like KTVs in general. I’ve only been to the regular KTVs with some friends, I didn’t really like it. But you get a suite and there’s a lot of food as well. It’s not a bad time with friends.
I would just continue to popular bars and clubs. It really only takes 1 new friend to get into a friend circle. That’s how I started when I came back to Taiwan. I started with 1 friend and those friends introduced me to other friends and so on. I basically did this enough to where I was getting job offers from people and could walk into any of them.
In all seriousness though, I did expect beer/alcohol to be cheaper at bars over here… I paid 350 for some craft beer 330ml bottle because I was out with friends, probably should have just got a cocktail for an extra 100!
I was going to clubs back in the day when you could still smoke in them! That was a shit show! All you saw was a cloud of smoke in every direciton. I just stopped going all in all as previously mentioned, it’s just as expensive as any club in the states for a cocktail.
In terms of bars, there’s a lot of specialty bars/lounges were they have some award winning bar tender behind the bar mixing some interesting cocktails.
My personal favorite is Origin Bar by Taipei Arena. THey recently opened another location in East District.
I know that Origin Bar is usually pretty busy on weekdays as it’s right next to a bunch of office buildings. On Friday and weekends, don’t even think about walking in and being able to find a seat.
Personally, I frequent the izakayas with some import Japanese beer and skewers. Not a great place to meet people, but I prefer good company/food/drink/a lot of banter instead of cocktails and very loud music.
I do wish more of these sorts of places were open in the afternoon. OK, I guess I’m weird, but my main interest in bars is as, well, coffee shops - I want a nice drink while reading or chatting.
This is the main reason Gordon Biersch gets so much business from me. Do I think it’s a great place, no. Is it one of the few comfortable places to sit with a drink or two in the afternoon, yes.
