Anyone been there, how is it, how much ?
If you are with a ācrewā itās merely overpriced and pretentious. I mean - really - who goes to a 5 Star hotel club for a night out? If you are with just a few friendsā¦ keep an eye on your men-folk. Ziga Zaga is notorious for having some of the most aggressive prostitutes in the city.
you can easily hitch an office lady or a businessman on the prowl for non-paid sex, and group dance to a cruise ship band.
Iām curious about this place, I always see it advertised everywhere. Aside from the aggressive prostitutes, what is the atmosphere like there? Is it a dance place? Is it ok for social gatherings with friends just to have a drink and chat? And what is the cover charge? Or if you get there before 9pm is there even a cover charge? Iām just wonderingā¦
Thanks
I just went there with some friends this past friday night. You are probably right about some prostitutes, but nothingās happened to me so far. I have to say, though, that they have nice live music there. I really like this band playing dance music. The cover is five hundred but I think thatās because itās in a five star hotel.
What hotel is it actually in?
At the Grand Hyatt,
Grand Hyatt Taipei
No. 2, Songshou Road
Taipei
Tel: 2720-1234
website: www.hyatt.com.tw
Again, cover is 500 and includes a drink. For normal beers, (Bud, Corona, Heineken) itās strange because they cost $200 but they add some strange service charge to the price which makes it like $217. Expect a large hotel-like receipt, even if you order 1 beer. What a hassle.
If I go itās usually on Thursdays (ladies night) or Fridayās. The crowd is roughly 30 years old and older, about even male/female ratio, and lots of foreign businessmen. As mentioned in earlier posts, there are prostitutes but itās not perceived as much of a problem as there are not many compared to how many people are actually in the club. From what I noticed, they usually hang out at the bar trying to chat up foreigners, but this is DEFINITELY not the rule as there are many other female patrons around the bar. The biggest mistake you can make is going in with the mentality that every women in there is a prositite, which is not the case.
The band is actually pretty cool, not because of the songs they play but the fact that they can keep the dance floor packed by creating atmosphere. In my opinion, Ziga Zaga is by far not the hippest place in town, but okay if youāre in the mood to hang out at a 5-star hotel night club.
Included in Forumosa.com Knowledge Base
Where is the hippest place in town?
OK, thanks for the replies, I will see how it is, its expensive it seems, can we go early and eat and stay for free?
Depends what youāre into. Please see my earlier post in forum: āWhere did Vibe go?ā
Can we go early and eat and stay for free?
Yes, before 10 pm. I went on the weekend (was invited), lousy place. Average band, high prices and the waiters couldnāt get our order sorted out - must be difficult to make a Bacardi Coke and Vodka Lemon I guess. Ended up with some horrible tasting āliquidā. Had a Barcadi Coke on the entrance ticket and though the glass was quite big it tasted like stale water. Yuk!
Left after about 30 minutes and went to Carnegiesās (Anhe Road) - much better!
There is no where to dance, because the locals like to form a big circle and do āgroup danceā.
Iāve been there a couple of times in the past month and all I have to say is that if you are going to charge outrageous prices for whiskey, I want to know that the guy can free pour a couple of ounces rather than take a full minute to slowly fill up a shot glass to the brim, then pour it into the glass. I can only describe that place as lacking āsoul.ā
Just ate there Monday. Much improved. Used to be Hotel Italian and its most mediocre but now the food has improved substantially. I used to avoid the place like the plague but someone dragged me along and I am glad they did. Bit on the expensive side but the food was very good. It also makes a good option for tapas style dining. I give it two thumbs up. Again, though, it is on the expensive sideā¦ but what are the options if you want to go out to a dance club in Taipei? Carnegieās? Not really the same league.
Food again is much improved since the makeover.
Fred, are you writing PR for Ziga Zaga, or something?
You are always talking about service. Do you think itās good service when the bartender canāt free pour a double shot and instead has to take ages to fill a shot glass (all while bent down and squinting at it?) And takes several minutes to notice a customer in the first place and then after finally getting the drinks takes even more time to figure out the bill? Not good and especially not at those prices.
Another time I was at the bar to get a glass a wine and again, after the bar staff stopped chatting and finally noticed me, one of them made such a big show of having me ātestā the wine that I felt like theyād just finished reading āthe dummies guide to bartending.ā Anyway, Iām not basing my observations on one visit, but several, and the people I was with werenāt very impressed either. I canāt say that I wonāt go back, but Iād like better value for my money.
I wouldnāt pay to get in that place. Just tell them a room number. (Didnāt you teach me that, Fred?) If you get busted, go on to Carnegieās. I think part of the reason for their aggressive advertising is that Carnegieās and other bars have taken a bite out of their clientele.
Very true. They have the same core clientele, they both appeal to people with expense accounts or money to burn. The added appeal of Carnegieās to many is that it is wilder and offers a lot of nearby alternatives (Saints and Sinners, etc).
I am talking about the dinner (menu) not going for drinks. I think that the staff is still quite slow about getting drinks and change at the bar but for sit down dining, the restaurant is MUCH improved. I had my heels dug in hard about returning to that restaurant after the intensely mediocre food that they used to serve there. Much much much better now. Also we were having wine at the table so that is much easier to get and serve then back and forth trips to the bar. Foodwise I was VERY impressed. I think that four of us with four bottles of wine went through around NT$10,000 but I think that is pretty normal for what we had.
Well, someone took me for dinner ther the other night and to be honest, it was awful. I could have gathered tastier leaves off the street in early fall than the spinach they served up. The Parma ham had been incinerated to the point where the bloody scab on my knee had more appeal. The (I think) Parmesan Cheese, both tiny little slithers had no taste at all and as for the main courseā¦well having spent nearly a grand on the food (for one)ā¦I was left feeling hungry and empty. I have never eaten such fatty chicken. It was more like a bloody duck. The wine was OK but the service was glum. The waitresses are pretty but smiling wouldnāt do any harm. Just to make life more irritating a band piped in making it difficult to converse and anyway there was no one there to listen. Must have been about a dozen people there at the most. Expensive, overrated and frankly dull. It was much better years ago when it was full of hookers.