When picturing Tainan, what typically comes to mind is charming alleyways, Japanese architecture and world-class cuisine. But look beyond the fray, through stained glass windows and sliding bookcases, and there exists a thriving speakeasy subculture, where innovative mixologists ply their trade, serving exquisite concoctions and unique flavor profiles to rival any city in Taiwan.
Speakeasies hail from the prohibition era of 1920s America. When alcohol was outlawed, people took their business to hidden establishments; requiring patrons to use hushed tones — speak easy — to conceal their illegal activities.
Nowadays legal, speakeasy bars are simply hidden bars, often found behind bookcases or secret doors that retain that old-school cool, bluesy jazz vibes of the roaring 20s. Consider the modern speakeasy as a game of hide-and-seek, an “insider secret” that needs to be discovered. Expect to pay a little extra for premium ingredients and service but the experience drinking in a clandestine waterhole is worth a few extra dollars.
Photo courtesy of Hollie Younger
CRAWLING TAINAN
Hordes of tourists pouring into Chikan Temple every day remain unawares that just opposite, tucked down a conspicuous side alley, lies Chikan Pharmacy (赤崁中藥行).
Opened in 2020, its owner took inspiration from the speakeasies of New York and Hong Kong and added a Taiwanese twist, showcasing the lost art of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Their cocktail menu leans towards the medicinal, herbal and even slightly bitter, with a strong focus on gin.
Photo courtesy of Hollie Younger Warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health.
On the sweeter side, we recommend Straw (NT$400) a complex blend of gin, tea and spices topped with whipped cream, or test your palette with The Jerry Springer Show (NT$400). The combination of curry spices, rum and Earl Grey packs a punch as strong as its namesake’s TV guests. This venue is jam-packed until the early hours, so reservations are recommended in advance.
Once our appetite is sufficiently wet, we head to our second location, Speakeasy Bar (民生大戲院), arguably the best of Tainan’s speakeasies. Fantastic drinks, Instagram-worthy presentations and a quirky, classically speakeasy entrance. If you visit just one bar, make it this one. The facade looks like an old-school movie theatre, with billboards and posters. We approach and, seeing no other entrances, push the elevator button. Steeping out to check which floor we’re heading to we find the opposite panel of the elevator slides away to reveal the low lighting of a lively cocktail bar. Bingo!
A vintage cinema theme is retained throughout, with a cult film classics playing via a projector at the back of the bar. The has no menu so there can be no recommendations: staff will simply ask if you prefer sweet, sour, bitter — or, you can point to one of the fanciful creations being enjoyed by your fellow patrons with a casual “I’ll take what they’re having.”
Photos courtesy of Hollie Younger Warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health.
Genie lamps, ornate vases, hip flasks hidden in bibles — the experience is reminiscent of an antique store that ran out of glasses. Smoke cascades from the nostrils of the black clay dragon which dispenses a cocktail into the awaiting teapot below. Everything bubbles and steams; these guys love dry ice and they’re not afraid to use it.
Expect to pay around NT$400 per cocktail.
GREAT NIGHTCAP
Photo courtesy of Hollie Younger Warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health.
To wrap up the night, we head to our final and most unassuming speakeasy, Eureka (發現酒吧). Wall walking around a parking lot on a residential street, we begin to question the location provided by Google Maps. But on an otherwise bare wall to our right is a stand-alone bookshelf, mysteriously lit from above. Slide it to the side and “Eureka!” the bar is revealed.
This spot features a masterfully crafted menu and a more relaxed vibe: jazz music plays, and the bartenders have time to stop and socialize with customers.
Saving the best for last, our favorite cocktail of the night was the Thatch Under Tree (NT$350). Made from rum shaken with coconut water, passionfruit, marigold and the star ingredient, lemongrass it was subtle, herbaceous and easy to drink.
Word on the street is, speakeasies are popping up all over Tainan, so keep your eyes peeled but your lips sealed — one could be right under your nose.
On Facebook a friend posted a dashcam video of a vehicle driving through the ash-colored wasteland of what was once Taroko Gorge. A crane appears in the video, and suddenly it becomes clear: the video is in color, not black and white. The magnitude 7.2 earthquake’s destruction on April 3 around and above Taroko and its reverberations across an area heavily dependent on tourism have largely vanished from the international press discussions as the news cycle moves on, but local residents still live with its consequences every day. For example, with the damage to the road corridors between Yilan and
May 13 to May 19 While Taiwanese were eligible to take the Qing Dynasty imperial exams starting from 1686, it took more than a century for a locally-registered scholar to pass the highest levels and become a jinshi (進士). In 1823, Hsinchu City resident Cheng Yung-hsi (鄭用錫) traveled to Beijing and accomplished the feat, returning home in great glory. There were technically three Taiwan residents who did it before Cheng, but two were born in China and remained registered in their birthplaces, while historians generally discount the third as he changed his residency back to Fujian Province right after the exams.
With William Lai’s (賴清德) presidential inauguration coming up on May 20, both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been signaling each other, possibly about re-opening lines of communication. For that to happen, there are two ways this could happen, one very difficult to achieve and the other dangerous. During his presidential campaign and since Lai has repeatedly expressed his hope to re-establish communication based on equality and mutual respect, and even said he hoped to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) over beef noodles and bubble tea. More dramatically, as explored in the May 2 edition of this column,
Tiffany Chang (張芳瑜) is a force to be reckoned with. Crowned Miss Taiwanese American in 2022, she made history last year as the first Taiwanese winner of Miss Asia USA. She’s also a STEM student at Stanford and an aspiring philanthropist — the kind of impressive accolades that has earned her the moniker “light of Taiwan.” At the end of March, Chang returned to Taipei, to “see the people that support me because ultimately that’s what made me win.” She says her Taiwanese supporters shower her with praise: “you inspire us, and you make us feel proud of our Taiwanese heritage,”