Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 3:01 pm Post subject: Nightlife in Taipei, Taiwan guide (Clubs, Bars, Pubs...)
Nightlife in Taipei, Taiwan guide (Clubs, Bars, Pubs...)
Taipei is as busy in the night as it is in the morning. There are abundant night activities to keep you entertained till the break of dawn. The common nightspots found everywhere are discotheques, piano bars, music lounges, and pubs.
Food and drinks go concurrently in Chinese society. Drinks, namely beer, wine and spirits, usually accompany meals. After a tiring work day, drinks are a form of 'letting loose' and revealing the inner-person.
Bottle Clubs
Currently, bottle clubs have become a quintessential form of nightlife. Customers buy bottled liquor and store them in racks for future consumption. Clubs like these are posh and exclusive. Live entertainment is provided and dancing is allowed. It is the businessmen who usually frequent these clubs as it is a suitable place for entertaining clients and associates on corporate expense accounts.
KTVs
KTVs are karaoke bars. Popular in Japan, it is now also a favorite entertainment for the Taiwanese people. KTVs are elegantly decorated to attract their customers. Customers can choose to have their own private karaoke sessions in a room or, if audacious enough, they can enjoy the company of others at the main lounge. In the room, food and drinks can be ordered, followed by the paging of selected music from a list of songs available. Do not be afraid if you do not know how to sing Chinese songs, as English music is also available.
Pubs, Bars, and Wine Houses
If you enjoy pubs and bars, Sugar Daddy Row around Shuang Cheng Street is the place to visit. A fundamental favorite of Chinese men are the wine houses ('jiou-jia'), often referred to as 'girlie restaurants' by foreigners. Food is served and guests are required to order several dishes, although the main meal is normally taken elsewhere. Guests will begin to throng the wine houses at 9 p.m.
A ritual wine house party would include four persons, with at least one Chinese man being familiar with the custom. To the Chinese, the more participants to the party, the merrier; hence, more people are always welcomed in a party. Some indulge in a game of 'Rock, paper and scissors' (finger game) to stimulate the party and get participants drinking.
Some of our recommended spots :
45 Pub
2nd Floor, 45, Hoping East Road
Section 1, Taipei City
Tel: +886-2 2321-2140
Getting dangerously close to the student hang-outs around the Taiwan National University, this pub attracts a large and diverse crowd. Some students get in, but it is not a student bar. Cheap drinks and nightly happy hours, 45 has no dress code, no cover charge, no behavior code. Popular hangout for all types of people where you can usually strike up a good conversation on just about any topic—except business.
Brown Sugar
1st Floor, 218 Chin Shan South Road
Section 2, Taipei City
Tel:+886-2 2322-4677
Jazz! The venue for listening to good jazz in Taipei. Strange in that it is located right across the street from the Taiwan National Normal University, but does not attract a university crowd. What it does attract is an eclectic mix of people, lots of foreigners and music lovers. A restaurant during the day, Brown Sugar is set in an office building with one large plate glass window on one side that gives the place an open, roomy feel—even when it is cramped inside. Click here to see the map.
Hard Rock Café
Basement 100, Tun Hua North Road, Taipei City
No phone as it is located in the basement of the Asiaworld Hotel.
A member of the world-famous Hard Rocks, this is one of the few places in Taipei with lots of room. Enjoy the decent food before 10 p.m., after which you won't be able to eat because the live band kicks in and you'll want to dance. If you don't dance, plenty of space at the bar. Hard Rock is unusual in Taipei in that it is big and airy and you don't feel cramped. Click here to see the map.
Malibu Café & Bar
5, Lane 91, Jen Ai Road
Section 4, Taipei City
Tel: +886-2 2776-4963
The first Malibu in Taiwan (a second one opened in the infamous "Combat Zone" on Shuang Sheng Street). This Malibu, however, is not located close to anything the foreign businessman might frequent during the daylight hours, but can be reached with a NT$75 cab fare from most major hotels in the city. Good food and one of the few pool tables in Taipei. Relaxed atmosphere conducive to good conversation and unwinding after work.
My Place
3-1 Lane 32, Shuang Cheng Street, Taipei City
Tel: +886-2 2591-4269
Probably one of the two or three best hang-outs in the "Combat Zone" located right behind the Imperial Hotel. Although the "Zone" is now a shadow of its former perverse self, My Place is still homey, not expensive, and good for a drink. It's also a starting point for visiting the other bars within crawling distance. Click here to see the map.
Opium Den
Basement, 32 Jen Ai Road
Section 3, Taipei City
Tel: +886-2 2705-8922
The watering hole for sophisticated business people. Crowded to the seams, especially on weekends. Frequented by thirty-somethings. Refined. Opium Den is the place to be seen in Taipei.
The Pig
1st Floor, 78 Tien Mu East Road
Shih Lin District, Taipei City
Tel: +886-2 2874-0631
One of the favorite watering holes in Tien Mu, the housing area for expatriates. The Pig used to have good live bands, although the quality has dwindled some in recent years. It's still a good pub though, with lots of room, good pub grub. The expatriate businessman might feel more at home here, where the wait staff all speak English and the crowd is more foreign.
Planet Hollywood
2nd Floor, 16 Sung Sho Road
Hsin Yi District, Taipei City
Tel: +886-2 2723-3304
So Planet Hollywood is having problems in the States, but it's worth noting that this branch located near the city government buildings, expected to be the next boomtown in Taipei. Construction is going on like mad, with the city government recently locating near the Planet, and with the Grand Hyatt so near. (There are also several bars worth visiting in this area, Ruby Tuesdays being foremost among them.) The executive staying at the Hyatt or doing business in a nearby government building does not have to go across town to enjoy a drink and listen to music. Click here to see the map.
TU
Basement 249 Fushing North Road
Section 1, Taipei City
Tel: +886-2 2704-7290
Business hours: Opens at about 8 p.m., but really gets going after midnight.
Small, smoky, close quarters, but really hectic, especially on weekends when live bands play good jazz covers. Not the place for patrons over fifties, but is for everybody else who is looking for a crowd acting crazy without rave or techno-pop music, this is the essential bar. Across the street from the Howard Plaza Hotel. Click here to see the map.
Ziga Zaga
2nd Floor, Grand Hyatt Hotel
2, Sung Sho Road, Taipei City
Tel: +886-2 2720-1200 ext. 3288
Another of the good bars located near the new construction around the city government. When a disc jockey takes over at 10 p.m., the place rocks. Forty-somethings can still feel comfortable here, as the crowd is mixed. Expensive, but for the traveler staying in the Hyatt, why go anywhere else?
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 6:18 pm Post subject: bars on weekends
I have seen many of the afformentioned bars in Taipei most of which are great BUT very expensive . Does anyone know of a place where the beer is cheap on a weekend (not wedsnday/thursday etc) , i know likes of WAX do a 500nt all you can drink BUT lets be fair it smells of sick and it takes four years to get served. Any bars/clubs that are cheap and nice and not to rammed to the hilt.
hi,
i just got here last february.i work and live in chung ho city. are there any pubs within the district?
where is the closest place where i can have a night cap?
one more thing. how is the scene here. the people, the music, food and drinks, etc.
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. Does anyone know of a place where the beer is cheap on a weekend (not wedsnday/thursday etc) , i know likes of WAX do a 500nt all you can drink BUT lets be fair it smells of sick and it takes four years to get served. Any bars/clubs that are cheap and nice and not to rammed to the hilt.
