📍 Daan District, Taipei City
A restaurant and tavern in the Dadaocheng shopping district | The experience at checkout was very poor, and the service was not in sync with me at all 😢

Below I mainly write about my dissatisfaction with this store, especially the fourth point, concerning the food.

Background:

• On December 20, I booked a table for New Year's Eve at 7:30 PM via inline, where the online menu indicated a minimum spending of 400 on weekdays and 500 on holidays.
• On December 30, I received a confirmation message from inline, and I double-checked the inline's details, the Google Maps listing, and Instagram for any special minimum spending requirements for New Year's Eve.

After arriving on December 31:
From seating, ordering, to checkout, I interacted with the same waiter, and there were several dissatisfied moments.

1. On that day, only bar seating was available; the high stools were very uncomfortable, and the seat cushions were even detached from the stool legs.

2. When ordering, I showed a promotional blog article that stated I could redeem truffle fries for free. When I told the waiter I wanted to redeem this, she seemed surprised and said, "Oh! Do you want to order this?"
   (I thought, if I wasn’t redeeming, why would I show this page? 😂 I confirmed with her whether it was indeed a free redemption.)

3. The food and drinks arrived and were almost finished, and I realized over an hour had passed! The "truffle fries" had not yet arrived. I thought since it was a free redemption, it was fine to wait a little longer.
   But I really wanted to eat soon 🤣 I asked the same waiter twice and received no confirmation that it was being prepared immediately.

The first three points were somewhat acceptable; however, what really made my dissatisfaction explode was the fourth point.

4. At checkout, the waiter was shocked to discover, "Your spending did not reach the minimum!"
   I thought, I ordered a total of $1,914 for two people, how could it not meet the minimum?

The waiter responded, "Oh, our minimum today is $1,000 per person not including service charge, but I only noticed this during checkout, and the next group of guests is also about to arrive, so let’s leave it at that for today! Next time, please pay more attention to the minimum!”

After paying, I took a picture of the receipt, thinking it would be useful for writing a review 🤪 (The waiter didn’t offer me the receipt and was about to take it away.)

Fortunately, I took a picture, and upon reflection, I found out the truffle fries I waited over an hour for were actually charged 😤

I went back to the waiter and asked why they charged for the truffle fries. The waiter started giving me the runaround: "Today's minimum is $1,000, and since you were already below that, we can't refund you! We informed you over the phone and explained when you were seated; there’s nothing we can do!"

I repeated that I made the reservation and confirmed via SMS and had received no information about the $1,000 minimum at seating, where she was the one who seated us.

Throughout the conversation, the staff kept echoing, "Today's minimum is $1,000; you should pay more attention to this!"

What surprised me the most was her final handling of the situation; she kept asking me to pull up the invoice I had scanned earlier. I looked for a bit and told her it should not be amended from my end; you should cancel the LinePay payment.

In the end, she didn’t go to cancel the LinePay payment and said in a heavy tone: "Forget it! Just let it be!" Then, she forcefully shoved $230 cash into my hand, having held it for quite some time, and turned to leave😳😳😳

It was a very absurd way to handle it, and she didn’t even refund the 10% service charge for the fries 😢

🥘 Food
🥟 Mildly Tipsy Signature Fried Dumplings ($300):
Excluding the service aspect, honestly, I felt the food quality was below par, at most 2.5-3 stars.

The dumpling skins at the seam were not fully cooked; my boyfriend kept mentioning how hard and unpleasant the texture was while eating 🤪

🍚 Scallop Truffle Risotto ($430):
The waiter emphasized that the rice core was quite hard; be cautious if you haven’t had it before.
I took a bite and exchanged looks with my boyfriend, thinking, where is it hard? 🤨 Also, they heavily seasoned it with finely chopped garlic, which interfered with the risotto's texture.

🍟 Truffle Sauce Fries ($230 - includes service charge):
The fries were fried well, but I didn’t like the truffle sauce which also contained pickled cucumber seasoning.

🍑 Peach Blossom Source ($400):
Compared to the food, the drink was quite good, with a rare tea base.
The combination of oolong tea and white peach was thick and had a very alcoholic feel.

🍋 Honey Salty Lemonade ($380):
It was a large cup! It really had the taste of that beverage from Hong Kong.

Overall Review: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘
Dixon's Fooday update is here! #198
This time I want to share a bistro that I personally really like and highly recommend for dates!

This bistro is located in Dadaocheng, near Dihua Street.
The interior is on the second floor, so you won’t miss it!

The space is beautifully decorated and elegant.
The floral decorations make it feel like stepping into a jungle.
The ambiance really matches the restaurant’s name—it has a garden-like atmosphere. 👍

The interior is spacious,
with just the right distance between tables,
making it feel comfortable rather than oppressive.

The bartenders are very enthusiastic,
actively introducing various cocktails and the drink menu.

Inside, there's a projection screen playing music videos.
As the night deepens, the lights slowly dim,
making it a perfect place for eating, drinking, and a little tipsy date. 😆😆

Food: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Drinks: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘
Atmosphere: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Service: 🌕🌕🌕🌖🌑
Price: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Location: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

The food is delicious and impressive! 👍

On that day, I ordered:
👉 Scallop Truffle Risotto
This truffle risotto has a fantastic flavor—definitely recommended.

👉 Pork Chop Plum Wine Spicy Noodles
This dish was quite unique in flavor.
I can't say it has a strong sour or spicy feeling, but it's certainly different from typical pasta. 🌝

As for the drinks, they were noteworthy too.
While not top-notch, they were still high-quality and enjoyable. 👍

Moreover, the overall expense is a bit lower compared to the East District in Taipei.

On that day, we just happened to encounter a tarot card reader providing services,
so we could enjoy a little tarot reading along with the restaurant's activities!

Speaking of bistros in Taipei,
besides the East District and Xinyi area,
Ximen and Dadaocheng can be considered a distinct area on their own.

Compared to the East District and Xinyi area, which already has quite a concentration of bistros and bars,
it remains quite hard to find a place on weekends.

The bistros in Dadaocheng can be said to have their own charm,
with spacious settings and good ambiance.
And the prices are not as expensive as those in the East District.

It’s very suitable for gatherings with friends or couples looking for a place to hang out.
No matter if you've just walked around Dihua Street,
prayed at the Xiahai City God Temple,
or watched the sunset at Dadaocheng Wharf,
you can easily find a cozy little spot nearby
to eat and drink together.

You can have a lovely experience in this area!

🤪🤪 Dixon's Rant 🤪🤪

I believe everyone is already tired of the East District and Xinyi area in Taipei, right?

It’s always the same few streets and shops,
so this time, of course, I want to take my date to a different place!

Dadaocheng isn’t just for buying New Year goods!
There are really many delicious and interesting places here!

Whether it’s day or night,
Dadaocheng Wharf is a great spot for a date.
You can walk along the riverbank endlessly.

The two of us can take a leisurely stroll, chatting,
watching the sun gradually set.
Isn’t that romantic?~~~~

As night falls, Dadaocheng's container market opens up!
It’s nighttttttt!
At this time, whether you want to stroll around and eat,
or, as previously mentioned, enjoy a slightly tipsy garden atmosphere,
spending a pleasant weekend night together is a great choice!

Even after eating and drinking,
you can return to Dadaocheng Wharf
and see the scenery that's different from daytime,
and find out how bad the drinks in the container market are (?

Unlike the dating vibe in the East District and Xinyi area,
the West District and Dadaocheng offer a slower and more flavorful atmosphere!

🤪 Dixon's Rant Zone 🤪 See you next time~~

After being introduced by a friend, this is my favorite restaurant recently (⁎⁍̴̛ᴗ⁍̴̛⁎)
The creativity of the meals and the richness of the flavors are great

Recommendations for recent menus that combine Chinese and Western cuisine
I really like the garlic white meat cold noodles and the stinky tofu
The sauce in the former makes the pasta taste very refreshing.
I also think the latter salmon roe with stinky tofu is great
The one who was shocked was the onion rings🤣They were really huge
The grilled corn and oysters that the boss shared with us were also very good🦪
Also, Aisu always orders truffle fries wherever she goes 😍 Theirs is delicious
Extra cocktails will be provided for birthday parties 😚

They also have branches ٩(˃̶͈̀௰˂̶͈́)و
Yesterday I specially went to Dadaocheng Container Market
I wanted to take out their truffle fries 🤣 but after waiting in line, I bought the wrong one from the store next door 🥹 When I got the details, I found that the name of the store was wrong... I was really heartbroken (I cried because of my stupidity)

🔖 Stir-fried dumplings 250
🔖 French fries with truffle sauce 240
🔖 Beep, Beep, Stinky Tofu 300
🔖 Genuine onion rings 240
🔖 Garlic pepper roasted vegetables 260
🔖 Scallop and truffle risotto 400
🔖 Golden Kimchi Matsusaka Pork Stew Rice 380
🔖 Shrimp and Shrimp Roll Pasta with Pink Sauce 360
🔖 Classic ancient breakfast platter 420
🔖 Fried wontons 230
🔖 Garlic white meat cold pasta 320
🔖 Grilled Chicken Wings with Bourbon Sauce 280
🔖 Taohuayuan 380
🔖 Clary Sage 380
🔖 Tipsy ice tea 180

It is a very mysterious restaurant and bar located near Dadaocheng. Going up the stairs will give you a psychedelic feeling, but the atmosphere in the bar is very relaxing!

-Debut Gin tone-This is the first time I have used it (Debut). I just won the gold medal and Taiwan championship in the "Best Spiced Gin" at the 2024 World Gin Competition this year!
This is a small-batch craft gin that took three years to develop and produce, using local ingredients in Taiwan and carefully distilled and extracted. So the existing amount will be gone after drinking it!

If you drink the shot pure first, the flavor will not be as strong as the herbal flavor that was the impression of gin in the past. It combines citrus and fruit flavors as the main axis, and the rest is the flavor of juniper berries and spices, so it tastes relatively good. It's smooth and not too irritating, I really like it!

Paired with tonic water, it has more refreshing bubbles and a rich taste, and I finish the glass quickly!

The snacks served today are super delicious! French bread is paired with smoked salmon and foie gras, and pickled guava is the finishing touch. It’s a combination I’ve never tried before! tasty!

I would also like to try their other cocktails and food if I have the chance!