Next to Chinese New Year, New Year’s Eve is easily the most festive time to be in Taiwan, and if you’ve come all this way for the holiday, you might as well stick as closely as possible to Taipei 101 for the annual fireworks show. Taiwan Scene has custom selected five great restaurants chosen for their great food, awesome holiday ambiance and proximity to Taipei 101, all of which can be reserved online using the super-handy FunNow App.
1. Thai J：A Garden Restaurant in Downtown Taipei
Thai J restaurant has created a space to allow guests to enjoy dinner amidst a jungle ambiance that, while common outside of the city, is a somewhat unique feature inside the city itself. So while you’re enjoying the scenery outside the window, including the bustling Xinyi District and Taipei 101, you can also be surrounded by vegetation inside the restaurant.
This makes Thai J a rather unique venue to ring in the New Year while enjoying the fireworks over Taipei 101. Naturally, Thai J is offering various New Year’s Eve packages designed to allow revelers to feast on finger foods amidst interior jungle splendor while watching the fireworks happen outside. (Read also:Eight Amazing Ways to Celebrate New Years in Taiwan)
Address: 10F, No.12, Songshou Road, Xinyi District
2.Fun Bar Station：An Impressive Take on Modern Chinese Cuisine
Known for serving modern Chinese cuisine, Fun Bar overturns our assumption with its innovative styles. Their pork slices with garlic sauce is served on a miniature swing with cucumber slices as swing mates.
Fun Bar gives the traditional dessert tofu pudding with red beans and milk soup an upgrade by serving it in a glass goblet which lets you admire the mixture of colors before eating.
For Westerner diners looking to expand their palette, we recommend highly the Chicken soaked in Shaoxing rice wine and deep-fried tofu with bonito sauce. Both are packed with flavor. Want to impress your Taiwanese friends? Try the classic wok seared large intestine and dried chili or dong po pork served oriental beauty tea.
And lovers of spicy food shouldn’t miss Fun Bar’s wok seared leek flower with black beans.
4F, No. 68, Section 5, Zhongxiao East Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City
3.Lobster Foods: Seafood fit for a King
Looking to ring in the New Year with flair? Lobster Foods may be the place for you. Located in the Xinyi Vieshow Cinema plaza, Lobster Foods serves up wild-caught lobsters flown in from the cold waters of Canada.
You’ll see a variety of lobster dishes on the menu, from traditional steamed whole lobster to lobster spaghetti, lobster chowders, lobster stews, lobster pizza and way more.
For those who aren’t fans of eating the noble crustacean, Lobster Food offers pork ribs and tomahawk steaks. What makes the place a prime spot for the New Year’s countdown is its location on the plaza across from Taipei 101, allowing diners to eat lobster while watching the annual firework display.
No.18, Songshou Road, Xinyi District
4.Chang Ju：Huge Portions, Great Food, Stellar View
Want to impress your New Year’s date? Take them to Chang Ju and order their Dinner For Two. This packages will spoil both of you with multiple courses overstuffed both in size and flavor. Medicinal herbal soup makes an excellent light starter dish with pork so tender it melts in the mouth. Pickled white radish provides a crunchy texture with a tart orange zest. Even if you skip lunch you may not have room for the seemingly endless dishes the wait staff brings – shrimp rolls with tofu skin, grilled pork chops, steamed vegetables and more. Their crispy sweet pork tastes like candy and could be considered dessert were it not for the last dish of fresh local fruit. Chang Ju is located just across the street from Taipei 101, making it an excellent spot to watch the fireworks!
No. 16, Section 5, Xinyi Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City
5.Cuisine de Mars: Creative Cuisine without Borders
With large green plants, and warm lighting, Cuisine de Mars is an excellent spot to ring in the new years, CdM’s cuisine combines European styles and Taiwanese flavors to create a wonderful fusion that’ll leave you wanting more. Their grilled veal is creamy and tender, made all the more delectable with the addition of local beetroot.
Another unique dish is Rosemary Chicken Roulade with Ice Cream, a dish reminiscent of the traditional Taiwanese drunken chicken with the addition of carrot mixed garlic sauce and ice cream. It sounds unusual, but it’s quite good. All dishes can be paired with complimenting wines. Just ask your waiter what goes best with each dish. Deserts are excellent as well. Cuisine de Mars’ Tiramisu is made from imported fresh cheese sprinkled with top-grade cocoa powder, making for a perfect ending of the meal.
No.34, Lane 260, Guang Fu South Road, Daan District
No matter which of these five restaurants you choose, you’ll be a few minutes away from Taipei 101. Why not join the Taipei 101 New Year’s Eve Countdown Party & 2019 First Dawn Flight Experience? (Read also:First Dawn Flight, Tribal Rites and Beautiful Taitung: A Unique Way to Spend New Years in Taiwan)
The Taipei 101 Fireworks Show has drawn huge crowds for years, but this time party goers have the opportunity to ring in the new year in a unique way. The 101 building will be open to the public during the festivities, allowing visitors to witness the fireworks from a never before seen vantage point. This is going to be a New Year’s Eve countdown party like no other. This experience will welcome guests from around the globe with a six-hour party featuring all-you-can-drink alcohol, snacks and a live jazz performance to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new.
As one party winds down, the next adventure begins as guests hop a private chartered flight from Taipei to Taitung to catch the first sunrise of the new year from high above the Pacific Ocean. The chartered flight will cruise at an altitude of 25,000 feet, allowing revelers to witness the sunrise high above the clouds. Once the sun has risen, guests will land in Taitung for an early morning breakfast feast before jetting back to Taipei.
Wave goodbye to 2018 and kick off 2019 in style with this once-in-a-lifetime twelve-hour experience!
Click here to learn more about the 2019 First Dawn Flight Experience!
