The opening of the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant is something that beer lovers should applaud, as it features a new range of beers to be freshly made at a new brewery in Sindian, Taipei County. These beers will be naturally fermented and will contain only natural ingredients, in full accord with Germany’s “beer purity law” of 1516, which stands as the cornerstone of boutique brewing to this day.
“This is the first time we haven’t had a brewery right in the restaurant,” said Dan Gordon, who was in Taipei to oversee the opening of his first outlet outside the US. The beers tend to be on the light side. The Hefeweizen, a refreshing beer with a hint of yeast, and the Marzen, a dark amber larger with hints of burnt caramel, contrast nicely with what is generally available on the market. The dark Scharzbier may leave Guinness drinkers a tad underwhelmed, but is an excellent stepping-stone to the dark side for those who find stouts a little overpowering. A new seasonal beer will be brewed every quarter, providing variety to the lineup. “It also makes things interesting for the brewers,” said Gordon.
As to the food, Gordon described it as “anything that goes well with beer.” It’s a little more than that, with some good variations on diner favorites. The BBQ ribs (NT$830 for a rack; NT$490 for a half rack) are as good as you’ll get elsewhere, especially as they come with the joint’s signature garlic fries and a Thai-style salad. Not everything is as successful: the pulled pork sandwich (NT$350) is a bit of a disappointment for the price, even if you can handle the over-refined American fast-food style bun. But the warm apple bread pudding (NT$250) is gloriously stodgy, the perfect comfort food for late evenings when the munchies hit.
PHOTO COURTESY OF GORDON BIERSCH BREWERY RESTAURANT
Despite the beer, beef and fries atmosphere, there are plenty of dishes on the menu to tempt more delicate palates. The hummus and goat cheese salad (NT$360, and an extra NT$90 if you want it topped with char-grilled salmon) was highly praised by a vegetarian diner.
The food, while it has its own twist with hints of Asia and the American South West, is too similar to locations such as Dan Ryan’s, Outback Steakhouse or TGI Fridays to really get anyone too excited. Gordon Biersch will live or die by how well its beer is received. At NT$210 for a standard glass, it is reasonably priced, and if you are worried about finding yourself under the table before the end of the evening, a beer sampler (NT$230) is available to get you through the whole range of draft beers without ill effects.
March 24 to March 30 When Yang Bing-yi (楊秉彝) needed a name for his new cooking oil shop in 1958, he first thought of honoring his previous employer, Heng Tai Fung (恆泰豐). The owner, Wang Yi-fu (王伊夫), had taken care of him over the previous 10 years, shortly after the native of Shanxi Province arrived in Taiwan in 1948 as a penniless 21 year old. His oil supplier was called Din Mei (鼎美), so he simply combined the names. Over the next decade, Yang and his wife Lai Pen-mei (賴盆妹) built up a booming business delivering oil to shops and
Indigenous Truku doctor Yuci (Bokeh Kosang), who resents his father for forcing him to learn their traditional way of life, clashes head to head in this film with his younger brother Siring (Umin Boya), who just wants to live off the land like his ancestors did. Hunter Brothers (獵人兄弟) opens with Yuci as the man of the hour as the village celebrates him getting into medical school, but then his father (Nolay Piho) wakes the brothers up in the middle of the night to go hunting. Siring is eager, but Yuci isn’t. Their mother (Ibix Buyang) begs her husband to let
The Taipei Times last week reported that the Control Yuan said it had been “left with no choice” but to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of the central government budget, which left it without a budget. Lost in the outrage over the cuts to defense and to the Constitutional Court were the cuts to the Control Yuan, whose operating budget was slashed by 96 percent. It is unable even to pay its utility bills, and in the press conference it convened on the issue, said that its department directors were paying out of pocket for gasoline
For the past century, Changhua has existed in Taichung’s shadow. These days, Changhua City has a population of 223,000, compared to well over two million for the urban core of Taichung. For most of the 1684-1895 period, when Taiwan belonged to the Qing Empire, the position was reversed. Changhua County covered much of what’s now Taichung and even part of modern-day Miaoli County. This prominence is why the county seat has one of Taiwan’s most impressive Confucius temples (founded in 1726) and appeals strongly to history enthusiasts. This article looks at a trio of shrines in Changhua City that few sightseers visit.
RSS