Artsy & Indie Bars in Taipei
26 artsy and indie bars in Taipei with unique character.
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Taipei Jinan Rd. JYS French Wine $$
I ducked into this shop on Jinan Road to escape the rain at night. I asked the female manager if they had wine by the glass, or I could open a bottle. Unexpectedly, she said they had just held a tasting on Saturday and had a lot of leftover wine. She invited me to sit down and finish them without charging me. I was truly surprised, but since I was already there, I shamelessly and naturally took a seat. Faced with a dazzling array of 13 Bordeaux reds and 3 whites, I slowly worked my way from left to right, tasting 25-50ml of each, and managed to drink all 16 wines...
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Taipei, Cang Jiu Lun Tan $$
In the afternoon, I visited Otto, a Taiwanese wine expert and founder of the '藏酒論壇', with artist Teacher Cai and his wealthy second-generation friend, Xiao Lai. Otto treated us to 12 different kinds of drinks: 1 wine, 1 sake, 3 sherries, and 7 whiskies. Afterwards, the three of them headed to Tamsui for a whisky museum opening, while I went alone to Neihu.
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Bar igloo — Songshan, Taipei $$
This week, quite a few friends from the art circle invited me out. Brother Hong from Dahe Art introduced me to his daughter Ella, several Korean collectors, and artists from Hong Kong and Canada. We all drank soju and sang karaoke together—thanks for the invitation, Brother Hong. Also tonight, Brother Shihong, an artist I met previously at a Pernod Ricard tasting, invited me to a newly opened bar he helped design...
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Taipei Da'an Liu Xia Wine Bar $$$
After a week of six different themed meetings, I ended with a discussion on traditional and blockchain finance with a senior industry veteran. Dinner was hosted, then I headed to Liushui Street for Kay's wine bar, open only Thu-Fri-Sat. Tried a Burgundy Premier Cru (top 2% on Vivino), Bordeaux, and South African reds—not cheap, but definitely worth it.
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Taipei Huashan Creative Park Black Vinyl Coffee $$
In the evening, I visited a company with Jeff, whose clients include Far Eastern Bank and Chung Tai Chan Monastery. Afterwards, we had soup dumplings at Jinan Fresh and then I headed to a spot opened by Cory's friend to spend some quiet time alone. It's a very special secret base filled with vinyl records. Listening to live band music while enjoying a few glasses of wine created a super relaxing vibe, especially on this drizzly night. Enjoy the moment!
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Taipei Yongji Rd. Ji Rui Wine Collection | FortuneCellar $$
Taipei Yongji Road FortuneCellar. After dinner, I passed by this shop while taking a walk. It was drizzling lightly, so I went in and opened a bottle of Italian sparkling wine to relax with a drink. The shop owner treated me to a small glass of Macallan Classic Cut whisky that had been aged in a sherry cask. Suddenly remembering that T also lives nearby, I called her out to join me for a drink. The two of us then opened another bottle of South African Shiraz red wine. Cheers!
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Taipei Minsheng Community Fu Pairing INN. Chuang Chao Fujin Store $$
Fu Pairing INN. at MinSheng Community. Went to a brokerage on Ren'ai Road in the morning to handle some US stock transfer business. After a simple unagi don lunch nearby, visited the Tree Hole Paper Museum on Chang'an East Road, which I hadn't been to before. Then came to this little wine shop in the community to sit quietly alone and handle some things on my phone. Overheard two gentlemen at the next table chatting about travel, food, and motorcycles—quite interesting. Around 5 PM, as they were leaving, one of them made eye contact at the door and said I looked familiar...
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Taipei Dingzhou Rd. Yan Zi Ai Hong Jiu $$
Visited a friend in Xinzhuang, strolled around Fu Jen University, then headed to Swallow Loves Red Wine on Dingzhou Road in Taipei. After 10 gatherings in 8 days in China and another 10 in 7 days back in Taiwan, today I met Xiao Cheng, whom I once mentored at Taipei 101. We chatted about algorithmic trading over cocktails at his new place in Xinzhuang—my first time there—when Gong called...
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Taipei Zhongxiao Fuxing Yuppie Bookstore $$
Back in Taipei from Taichung, came to this interesting spot with great vibes for a drink. Surrounded by melodious tango music, they have different performances or talks here every day.
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Taipei Howard Plaza Hotel Qi Xian Bar $$
Had brunch first with two girls, including Anne whom I met for the first time. In the afternoon, introduced Sam from the bank to a friend in need. Thanks for the treat! In the evening, came with Brother Paul, Brother Leon, and Fred to the new brand opened by Brother Sheng, owner of Ma Shen Spicy Hot Pot: Sheng Yan. Chaozhou-style raw marinate mainly features seafood like fish, shrimp, and crab, marinated with liquor, ginger, garlic, etc., then refrigerated or frozen. Since it's raw, they always use...
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Taipei Zhongshan District BeApe French Restaurant $$$
Met up with my good friend Sam for lunch in Taipei's Zhongshan District. I remembered KC mentioning this French restaurant, BeApe, where the chef previously worked at a Michelin-starred restaurant. The renovated old house interior was a pleasant surprise upon entering. For the main course, I had the grilled beef bone marrow with amber sauce filet mignon, while Sam ordered the finger-licking fried quail.
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Taipei, Datong District, USE Sake Garden $$
In the afternoon, I met Joey and Andrew at USE Sake Garden in Datong District to discuss some matters. Andrew just flew back from Thailand, where his Hangzhou media company's livestream hosts were helping sell products. Joey's friend runs a Shanghai media company with over 200,000 MCN bloggers, netting about 50 million RMB annually. We explored potential synergies between their networks while I listened in.
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Technology Building Station Jdan's Wine Cellars (formerly Tiancang Dijiu) $$$
In the afternoon, I visited Jdan's wine cellars (formerly known as Tian Cang Di Jiu) near Technology Building Station. I went with Tiger and Steven from the Tsai family, a century-old aquaculture family from Yunlin. Both studied in the US, and Steven even lived near Zhongshan Park Station in Shanghai's Changning District before.
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Taipei INDULGE Taipei Drinking & Eatery $$
Over the weekend, I studied LayerZero V2, dubbed the TCP/IP of blockchain, as its whitepaper recently came out. After two remote meetings this morning, I got a message from junior Rebecca about a seminar she's hosting next week near the Far Eastern Plaza Hotel. Though I can't attend, I connected her with some potential clients. In the evening, thanks to Palm Drive Capital for...
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Zhou Clos & Cru Wine Bar — Taipei $$
Met up with Wayne at Clos & Cru Wine Bar after a long Zomma meeting—our first time having a drink alone together. Taiwan is such a small place; we discovered he was in the same dance club at NTHU as my younger brother back in the day, so we even video-called my brother in the Netherlands to let them catch up. Thanks for the treat, Wayne! Later moved to AW Wine with Paul, Daniel who hosts art fairs, and audio equipment boss Lin. Cheers!
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Taipei AW Wine (4th Visit) $$
In the morning, went up to Yangmingshan with Tiffany to consult Master Hong about next year's fortune. In the afternoon, had a Zomma Option meeting at Taipei Ark. In the evening, met up with senior Telder for a glass of red wine and to give him a book. We chose a hidden basement wine cellar on B1 – very quiet and relaxing.
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Taipei Dadaocheng Vin Nature 45 Zi Ran Cheng $$
Taipei Dadaocheng Vin Nature 45 Natural Ting. 'Last night's stars, last night's breeze, west of the painted tower, east of the cassia hall.' But tonight is just beginning. After dinner, strolling through Taipei's old streets, moonlight spills onto the Dihua Street Ten-Unit Building. Walking to Liangzhou Street, this shop was also closed the other day when I came. Luckily, it wasn't supposed to be open today either, but the owner Christophe happened to be at the neighboring shop. Seeing me standing outside, he opened the door and let me in to sit down, first offering me a glass of Slovenian white wine. Then he even sat down and chatted with me for a bit... Christophe, who studied in the UK...
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Domaine Wine Cellars (5th visit) $$$
Had lunch with Pat, Sam (who's flying to the US today), and Andrew at Wei Fu Lou in Xinyi District. We had sour cabbage and pork hot pot plus two-way duck – not bad! Thanks, Pat, for treating us. Afterward, we talked about an art exhibition I visited yesterday, and Pat was interested, so I took him there.
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PURE WINE Cave — Taipei $$
Met Mr. Lin, who's lived in Guangzhou for over 20 years in solar energy, for coffee at Ximending. He started explaining a trading system, and I immediately recognized it as Chan Theory. After that, communication became much smoother. We later visited the Railway Department Park and Huaxi Street Night Market.
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Libido Wine Gallery Wine Bar — Da'an, Taipei $$
Had lunch with Jerry, a senior from my NCKU CS grad days, and his family—haven't seen him in over five years since he was teaching at Harbin Institute of Technology's Shenzhen campus. He's now at a university in Norway. Later, ended the evening at Libido Wine Gallery in Da'an for some wine.
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DOMANI Italian Restaurant — Da'an, Taipei $$$
Another busy day. In the morning, I listened to Jack, Pan, and Vincent explain their strategies using A.I. in stocks, futures, and options, along with their impressive live trading performance over the past two years. Taiwan is small—they happened to visit He Ding Venture Capital and meet with Cheng Wei yesterday. For lunch, I had a meal with Brother Gong at this upscale Italian restaurant. The lobster pasta was pretty good, paired with Italian sparkling wine. In the afternoon, I visited the Jut Art Museum and the Changliu Art Museum in the basement of the Ren'ai Hongxi Building.
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Taipei Dazhi Hotel Indigo Xiao Hou Yuan $$$
A bunch of people were looking for Nancy in the evening, and what started as a simple dinner gathering ended up with almost ten people. Taiwan is such a small world—Brother Fan, whom I met in Taichung a few days ago, also knows Boheng's father and is classmates with Grace. Jenny, the former CFO of KKDay now at FineDay, was there too. Thanks to Aaron Chengbin, a Tsinghua graduate, for picking up the entire tab. His girlfriend Monica is also in the art circle, so she's familiar with the 333 Gallery. Later, we all headed to Coco's luxury apartment in Xinyi District for another round...
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Taipei Guangfu S. Rd. Lane Wine Butler $$
Had a morning conference call with Mike, a director of an IoT company planning an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in April. We discussed potential support from various angles with Cindy, Tiffany, Pat, and Sam from Richwell. After the call, I briefly caught up with my student Ramo before heading to Pat's office area for lunch.
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Taipei Nanjing E. Rd. King Car Kavalan Whisky Bar $$$
After the Lunar New Year, things got unusually busy—working late for several days straight. Last night, I finally made time for dinner with senior Lman. Besides discussing Zomma's Liquidity Provider Pool, Lman—founder of Dreamland BBS—suddenly had an idea for Dreamland's upcoming 30th anniversary: issuing NFTs by engaging the vast BBS user community. Then this morning, I talked with Sam in the US and the designer who previously helped iPlanet...
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Taipei Wuchang St. Astoria Cafe $$
Astoria Cafe on Wuchang Street in Taipei is a nostalgic Russian restaurant with over 70 years of history since 1949. They even offer a commemorative Moldovan red wine—Moldova is a country I'd never heard of before, but it turns out it's a historic wine-producing nation near Odessa in southern Ukraine. Paired with beef short ribs and roasted pork knuckle, this Moldovan red wine really packs a punch.
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Taipei Toutouan Japanese Kaiseki Cuisine $$$$
Toutouan is a kaiseki restaurant from Tokyo, and this branch in a Dunhua South Road alley is its only overseas location. Beyond delicious food, Toutouan combines flower art, pottery, and tea ceremony—it's about culture and art. The entire meal feels like a visual and culinary feast, from raw dishes to grilled items, fish to seafood to beef to wagashi. The presentation and garnishes create a unique dining experience, starting with a light prelude, building intensity, and ending with a warm bowl of soup.
FAQ
Best indie bars in Taipei?
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