The manager of The Shannon Irish Pub rang the cowbell and the free liquor flowed.
Of course, it's not every day The Shannon holds a two-hour, all-you-can-drink, open bar. But since this pub, located in the Songshan district of Taipei, had just celebrated its second anniversary last weekend, the general manager from Australia, Darren Hassan thought it was only fitting.
PHOTO COURTESY OF YOGI HOUSE INTERNATIONAL
"Cheers mate!"he said, smoking a cigar and sipping a glass of red wine, while greeting customers earlier in the week.
The Shannon is more than just a place to drink, though. Besides beer taps with Guinness, Kilkenny and Carlsberg, as well as a fully-stacked liquor bar, customers also have dozens of dishes to choose from, including bar appetizers like fried calamari rings and chicken fingers, or more traditional Irish fare such as shepherd's pie and Irish stew.
The shepherd's pie, which substitutes lamb with beef, was a decent-sized portion enough for one person. Baked and served in a casserole dish, the filling was made with meat, tomatoes, peas and carrots, cooked into a thick stew. The obligatory mashed potatoes were then smeared on and browned. All in all a safe bet, costing NT$355.
The Irish stew, replete with tender chunks of lamb and vegetables, was more soupy than thick, as was pointed out in the menu. Despite its luke-warm temperature, the seasoning wasn't at all overpowering, allowing the natural flavors of the potatoes and carrots to mix nicely with the lamb. The stew was garnished with barley and served with two slices of rye bread. The cost: NT $375.
The Shannon's menu also features a variety of desserts like Bailey's Irish mousse, employing the velvety Irish cream liqueur as one of its ingredients, as well as warm chocolate walnut brownies, topped with a chocolate sauce made from Bushmills Irish Whiskey. And to follow that, a drink only an Irishman would think up: Irish coffee.
Hassan said The Shannon seeks to please expats with the food and spirits, while at the same exposing Taiwanese to a fresh, new cultural experience.
"It is a familiar setting that seems to work," he said of the pub's decor, which is heavy on the shamrocks and wood, and light on the pretense. "It definitely has a casual feel to it."
In that sense, The Shannon succeeds, evidenced by the diverse crowd it attracts. During the two-hour open bar, customers seemed especially happy after hearing news that a typhoon had caused the Taipei city government to cancel work the next day. "Might as well keep drinking," screamed one patron over the din of the cover band.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
RSS