Taipei diners really do love restaurants with a whole personality these days.
Some pretend they are campsites.
Some go for that cool, restrained Korean look.
And then there is the kind that has simply given up trying to behave.
Yes, I mean “渣男.”
The name alone sounds like someone who would text at two in the morning:
“Are you asleep?”
And somehow it opened in Muzha.
The contrast is wild.
The entrance is wonderfully chaotic too.
Neon lights, plants, and Spring Festival couplets are all thrown together.
It looks like students from completely different departments insisting on being friends.
Yet somehow, it works.
Taiwanese Braised Platter.
The dried tofu and pork blood rice cake are braised until the flavor goes all the way through,
and with beer, they feel like collapsing onto the bed after work and scrolling on your phone.
You mean to do it for only a moment.
Then you simply cannot stop.
Adding chili makes the whole thing even more outrageous.
Soon you quietly start wondering:
“Ordering another plate should be fine, right?”
I was also surprised by how much I liked the Miso Udon Noodle Soup.
It arrives piping hot.
Deeply, satisfyingly savory.
Like the instant you wash your face with warm water after coming home in winter.
Suddenly, your whole body comes back to life.
Once the noodles soak up the broth, they really command attention.
It is not aiming for refinement.
But it is deeply comforting.
The Taiwanese Sausage Wrapped in Glutinous Rice Sausage delivers a full-force hit of Taiwanese flavor.
The sausage is intensely rich and fragrant.
The glutinous rice sausage has a proper springy chew.
Eating it feels like a friend shoving food into your hands at a night market:
“You absolutely have to try this place!”
And it turns out to be genuinely good.
The most charming thing about the restaurant is its atmosphere.
Everyone sits inside drinking and talking.
It feels as though every table has its own relationship story.
But nobody needs to take it too seriously.
Tonight, just raise a glass.
