Gay Taipei's a Foodie Paradise – Mic.com
December 12, 2018 by J. Scott Coatsworth
If your idea of vacation planning is obsessively researching every restaurant, bar, coffee shop and food stand, gay Taipei, Taiwan, belongs on your bucket list. Taiwan's sprawling capital city is home to 2.7 million residents and what feels like just as many must-visit spots for food and drink.
The island has a contentious history, with bouts of Dutch, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese presence or rule, and Taipei's rich culinary landscape includes nods to its diverse colonial past as well as the traditions of the indigenous population: fresh Japanese seafood at DOZO Izakaya Bar, superstar soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung, fine-dining French exports like L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, unbelievable street food like stinky tofu, innovative cocktails from the R&D Cocktail Lab, German beer halls like Buckskin Beerhouse, scenic tea houses atop Maokong mountain — and that barely scratches the surface.
There's never been a better time to visit. In the first Michelin Guide Taipei, the city had 20 restaurants receive stars, with restaurants ranging from the three-star Le Palais, famous for its expertly executed Cantonese fare, to the one-star Taiwanese-meets-Nordic hit Mume.
Thirty-six joints made Michelin's Bib Gourmand category, including 10 street food stalls scattered throughout the Taipei's famous night markets, where tourists, locals and everyone in between sample piping-hot black pepper buns and pearl milk tea. You'll also find plenty of excellent shops, hotels and tourist attractions — Taipei 101, once the world's tallest building, is definitely worth braving the crowds for — to fill time between meals.
By Meredith Heil – Full Story at Mic.com
Categories Asia, Gay Travel, Restaurants, Taipei, Taiwan Tags food, gay taipei, gay travel, restaurants, taipei, taiwan Leave a comment
Gay Taipei & Tainan
March 2, 2016 by J. Scott Coatsworth
Not so long ago, the label "Made in Taiwan" inferred mass-produced products that were made quickly, sold cheaply, and exported globally–typical fodder for our throwaway society. Then Taiwan made a seismic shift away from cheap, labor-intensive things like toys and textiles, to become the world's biggest manufacturer of notebook computers. A report in 2013 estimated that 89% of the world's notebooks and 46% of desktop PCs were manufactured by Taiwanese companies, with global brands like Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Lenovo utilizing Taiwan's technological and creative talents. Taiwanese brands such as Acer, ASUS, and smartphone manufacturer HTC have also become major players. This change isn't restricted to hi-tech industries. Taipei, the capital city, has been named World Design Capital for 2016 by the ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design), a great honor for Taiwan's growing design scene. Amid the gleaming architecture of Taipei's Xinyi financial district, a historic tobacco factory built in 1937 during the Japanese Imperial Era has become the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, its modernist-style warehouses now converted into exhibition spaces, cafes, and design studios. Here, you'll find the Taiwan Design Museum, whose galleries showcase the best of Taiwanese and international design, including recipients of the Golden Pin Design Award, a mark of innovative Taiwanese design that's been awarded to products including bikes, teapots, and computer disk drives.
]Full Story at Passport
Categories Asia, Gay Travel, Taipei, Taiwan Tags gay taipei, tainan, taipei, taiwan Leave a comment