Taipei was our biggest surprise of the year – we loved it! Full of unexpected surprises, great food, and an up-and-coming bar scene, Taipei has a lot to offer. Our favorite spots included a local seafood market and a hyper-modern bar. Our one mistake? We didn’t stay longer. We will return and update this so stay tuned.
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Top Restaurants
Overall: 100% Must Go
Service: 7.5/10 Atmosphere: 7/10 Food: 9/10 Beverage Program: 7/10
* * This is a long one * *
Tucked inside Addiction Acquatic seafood market is a restaurant with a small sign in the central courtyard- Tresors de la Mer. It offers the best crab we have ever had in our life (it was snow crab season), plus several options for the freshest seafood you can get. This is the #1 thing to do in Taipei for food lovers.
Here’s how you do it: First, have your concierge call and make a reservation for you! Once you arrive at the market, find the central outdoor courtyard. This restaurant is on the right, look for the crabs/seafood tanks. Someone will be there to check you in, and show you to those tanks. There, you pick what you want to eat that day! Live crab, lobster, clams, you name it. Plus, ask for veggies and they’ll hold up a bin of the freshest for you to choose from. Then you tell them how you want everything cooked – with garlic? steamed? seared? (they can also give recommendations, but English is limited). Afterwards, they lead you upstairs to an air-conditioned room where you can order sake, drinks, or some sushi hand rolls (the uni was obviously some of the freshest we’ve had). However, save a little room for the sushi place next to the indoor market next door (there is also a small wine bar)- which you might want to explore afterwards to see where they source their fish!
Addiction Acquatic gets a unique reputation as somewhat of a touristy seafood market. However, the only real reason people seem to call it “touristy” is because the prices could be considered higher than at most local fish markets. (That being said, these are still Taiwan prices- anything would be considered an outrageous deal for us at home in California.) The upside to the “touristy” element is that the seafood market was squeaky clean when we went. This isn’t “luxury fine dining”, but it is certainly an experience.
Overall: Highly Recommend
Service: 8/10 Atmosphere: 7.5/10 Food: 7.5/10 Beverage Program: NA (we had sake)
Yamasan is an innovative and trendy restaurant without the pretense – which is exactly what we were searching for when we booked this restaurant last minute. Also, we are not typically last minute restaurant bookers, but after seeing the younger up-and-coming bar scene, we wanted to give a younger restaurant a go, and they had kitchen bar seats, which is an obvious plus for us. Their menu seems like it changes, but if these are still on the menu… Must order: The chili dumplings (spicy), the octopus and mushrooms. There was a mashed potato with the octopus that was Michelin-Joel Robuchon level. You may love one thing and like another a little less (skip the eggplant parm), but that comes with the “experimental” vibe. The chef was very proud and curious about our opinions. This was some of the better service we had in Taipei.
Top Bars
Overall: Highly Recommend
Service: 9/10 Atmosphere: 7/10 Bar Program: 8.5/10
Our #1 bar in Taipei without a doubt. This is a little surprising, because they have no physical cocktail menu – which usually deters us from even trying out a bar in the first place. Fun fact: we even didn’t notice until after we left. And the cocktails were great (except, do not tell them you are ‘open to durian’ in your cocktail unless you really want durian in your drink). The actual location is a small, monochromatic room that is perfectly clean and well air-conditioned. The bar seats were well spaced out. This was, by far, the best service of any bar in Taipei (which has a unique… style *see note below*). They don’t take any reservations (so go at opening or a slow time).
*Not to be confused with ‘under Lab’, which is suprisingly not related and we did not visit.
Overall: Highly Recommend
Service: 8/10 Atmosphere: 8/10 Bar Program: 7/10
We were so very lucky that we went to the wine bar at Addiction Acquatic, because the sommelier there told us about Domaine Wine Cellars, which we visited every afternoon we were in Taipei. This is a great wine shop that feels more like a private members lounge, and is great for spending an afternoon relaxing at. They have quite a big selection of wines (especially French wines, we stuck with different Saint Aubins), and you can order a bottle to drink there. Plus a cheese plate. Plus enjoy the AC and plush couches. No one will rush you, everyone will help you, and the afternoons are perfectly slow. Tip: Afternoons in Asia in general, are… pretty dead. You’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere to chill out and have a glass of wine before 5PM, including some hotels (here’s looking at you, Seoul). This is partially why Domaine Wine Cellars was such a treat.
More Restaurants & Bars...
Overall: Worth A Visit (if nearby)
Service: 6/10 Atmosphere: 6/10 Beverage Program: 8/10
This bar at the Shangri La is on a high floor with a great view. Warning: It had pretty bad air conditioning/ventilation (we went during sunset time on a hot day so maybe it was partially the sun was hitting the windows?). And there are not actual bar seats. Sad. Maybe it was because we were hot, in a corner, and the bartender went on break right when they opened, but we weren’t expecting… such amazing cocktails! Really, the drinks were great. Excellent. Worth a visit for their cocktail program alone.
Overall: It’s only okay
Service: 7/10 Atmosphere: 6.5/10 Food: 7/10 Beverage Program: 4/10
As far as handroll bars go, Ossu is okay. They have an open kitchen u-shaped counter seating concept, which we love. The stool seats were a bit small though. We asked for a dry sake and they sold us a sweet one (out of their only three choices). But our complaints are about small things (like the stools). The handrolls weren’t bad, and the casual vibe might be nice if you were staying in Taipei for an extended trip. It’s a casual, young, hip place overall.
Overall: Recommend
Service: 7/10 Atmosphere: 7.5/10 Food: 7.5/10 Beverage Program: 6.5/10
Probably one of the more well known restaurants in Taipei, Saffron 46 is a higher-end Indian restaurant that sits on the 46th floor of the Breeze building. The food was good but not mind blowing, mostly standard Indian tastes. If you like Indian food, it’s an easy choice. Plus, it has excellent views.
Overall: Worth A Visit
Service: 7.5/10 Atmosphere: 8/10 Food: 7.5/10 Beverage Program: 6.5/10
After a mishap at ibuki (*see notable below), we went to the Shangri-La’s other spot… Shang Palace (which we love in Paris) for some comfort Chinese food. The best part was, they offered their full menu at the separate Shang Palace Bar, which was great. It was dark and cozy, and we ordered noodles and vegetables to the table. Worth the visit for sure, especially for a quick bite/drink.
Overall: Fun stop
Service: 7/10 Atmosphere: 7/10 Beverage Program: 7/10
This is a fun full bar with solid draft Guinness and limited bar seating. The bartenders and customers were friendly when we went. It’s an Irish bar!
Overall: Worth a Stop
Service: 8/10 Atmosphere: 7.5/10 Beverage Program: NA
We stopped for a quick drink on our last night (hence the NA rating), but we wish we knew how great this place was sooner! Located at the top of the W Hotel, YEN Bar has really good views, and is much better than the other bars in the hotel. The bartenders were very nice.
Hotels
We are glad we stayed at the W Taipei. It was chill, in a central location that both felt like a safe business district, while being conveniently located to bars and restaurants. The Marvelous Suite was spacious and comfortable. The pool was very cold but refreshing during our visit (during very hot typhoon season). The gym was pretty good and the breakfast (which we do normally skip) was solid.
Skip the Shangri La, which we went to for dinner one night and found very outdated. The Mandarin Oriental was our second choice, so it would be worth looking into that. The Kimpton Da’an is in a central/trendy location for bars and restaurants, but it should be noted that it doesn’t have a pool (which is nice to have in Taipei)!
Tourism & Travel Notes
Overall: 100% Must Go
This seafood market is clean, friendly to tourists, offers both indoor and outdoor experiences, plus it has some of the best seafood we have ever eaten (snow crab, anyone?) Additionally, it has a sushi bar and a wine bar. Plus, several restaurants just outside the central indoor market (namely, Tresors de la Mer). It’s worth the 30 minute drive from wherever you are probably staying (take this from people who usually won’t drive more than 15 min anywhere).
* *See the review of Tresors de la Mer in the ‘Top Restaurants’ section.* *
We loved Taipei’s fresh bar scene, but expectations on service should be tamed a little. Possibly because Taipei is not one of the huge tourism destinations for bar goers (like Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo…), they have a very unique style when it comes to ordering that we have only seen in Taipei. Plus, they don’t have a huge tipping culture which likely leads us to… the line problem.
If you are sitting at the bar and ordering a drink from the bartender, they will take your drink order and put it in line. Now, outside of Taipei- when a bartender takes your order when you are sitting at the bar- it typically means someone (probably them) will make your drink relatively quickly. That does not seem to happen in Taipei. There is a… line rule? And this rule applies to all drinks. This means that if a server for a table behind you puts in their order in their ‘system’ a second ahead of yours, and orders, say, 10000 ramos gin fizzes, the bartender that took your request for 1 beer will proceed to make those 10000 gin fizzes… then pour your beer. There are some exceptions to this (one bar made everyone’s first drink a priority, then went to the line rule… + the Irish bar managed to function as an Irish bar should). But the line rule creates quite awkward service. This seems to be a very minor thing, but when it first happens it can be confusing to deal with, plus it can take forever to get a drink depending on the crowd- so just be aware, and I guess, patient?
Taiwan’s airport was about an 45 min drive from the city, but other than the distance it was an incredibly easy airport to get through. As US Passport holders, we did not need a visa to enter. For departure, security: Quick and efficient. Cathay Pacific Lounge: Great dumplings (xiao long bao). If you have a long flight and are looking for snacks, buy some before you get to the airport – the airport has mostly hot food as options (aka no shops selling chips or shelf-stable items).
Notable Places Visited & Not Reviewed
ABV Caribbean: Nice spot for people searching for unique beers. Open in the afternoon. Bar Pine: Not bad, better than nearby Public House. Bar Way Home: Easy spot for pre-dinner drinks. Check it out if you’re nearby. ibuki: Avoid at all costs. Le Palais: This 3* Michelin Chinese spot sounds ideal, but don’t waste your time. Worst wine list of any 3* we have ever seen, plus very dark and some of the food was actually bad (scallion pancake, prawn with glass noodles). On a positive, service was very good. Linjiang Night Market: We went around 8PM and most things were closed, plus it smelled like something had died? (which in perspective even made durian smell good). Mushin Noshin: Skip if you’re going for cocktails. Go if you like sweetened tea and instagram photo ops. Posino: Gimmicky. Skip. Public House: AVOID. Apparently the ‘best bar in Taipei’, but it is one of our least favorite bars of all time. The service was not offensive at all, just wildly poor (ex. the couple next to us asked for their check multiple times, and eventually just left).
favorite moments
