Yuma SouthWestern Grill

Ok, this was supposed to have gone up some time ago, but I’ve been so busy that we in fact have managed to eat a few at Yuma since our first time there. I guess that in itself is a good sign, as we don’t tend to go back to places we don’t like…

We’ve tried all sorts of things ranging from ribs and pasta to starters and Quesadillas. The Fajitas might not be as authentic as the stuff served up by Eddy’s Cantina, but it’s more to my taste. The tortillas seem to be freshly made by Yuma and are at least grilled before being served. I found the Peri-Peri ribs to be a bit on the sour side, but they were way better than the fatty stuff that TGI’s serve up.

The pasta was good too and the cheese Quesadillas are great. Just be aware that both the Quesadillas and Fajita’s come with a side of rice, so you get a pretty big meal, unlike what you get at TGI’s once again. The starters are also good, although a bit more dip sauce wouldn’t go amiss, as it’s not quite enough sauce to go with all of the starters on their sampler platter. Yuma also have a bunch of different sauces to go with your food which is also a bonus.

One oddity is the fact that the coleslaw comes with lingonberry jam, although I think they’ve mixed it up with cranberry sauce, but the two doesn’t taste anything remotely the same.

I suggest you head over to Yuma and have a try yourself, as the food is great. You can find their website here and the location is marked on on the FindIT map.

Update: Sadly this place has closed and On Tap, a UK style pub has taken over the location, although they’ve kept some of the menu items, or at least something fairly similar.

N.Y. Bagles Cafe

If you get a craving for bagles in Taipei, then N.Y. Bagles Cafe is one of the places where you can get some decent bagles. However, they serve a lot more than bagles and the good news is that they’re open 24h.

They have a fairly decent selection of bagles and you can get a helping of cream cheese with them. They also do a wide range of other types of filled bagles and sandwhiches, as well as burgers, all day breakfast, burgers, sallads and pasta. Some of the restaurants also serve steak, like the one near the 101 area.

They also have a good selection of drinks to chose from, including hot and cold stuff as well as some more exotic imported things and rather decent milkshakes. You can find a map here and their website is located here. It’s not a gourmet place, but it’s a good place to go to on a weekend after a late night (early morning?) out in Taipei, as they’re guaranteed to be open.

T.G.I. Friday's Taiwan

If you’re fed up with all the local stuff, generally the easiest western style restaurant to locate in Taiwan is a T.G.I. Friday’s. Taiwan’s version of T.G.I. Friday’s has a slightly limited selection of food compared to what you might be used to from other parts of the world. They also don’t tend to serve up a lot of mashed potatoes if you order a dish with mash, just so you’re aware of this.

The food is generally ok, I tend to order the Brooklyn Italian beef salad  (no longer available) or the Cajun chicken and shrimp pasta, although the last time I tried the Friday’s shrimp and they weren’t bad either. The burgers are also ok, not fantastic, but better than a lot of other western style eateries in Taiwan. Of course most of the food isn’t as good as the restaurants that have opened up here since I originally posted about TGI’s that are run by foreigners living here but it’s an alternative for those not living in the bigger cities at least.

You can find the T.G.I. Friday’s website here and they’ve got the menu with English descriptions, but you can’t really search for a local restaurant unless you can read Chinese.