ABV Bar & Kitchen — Restaurant in Da'an District

It was disappointing. The food did not taste fresh. Surprisingly, even then, some dishes were not that bad. However, when you go to a restaurant you expect fresh food. One good thing though, I had a chicken on skewers dish that was well cooked and well seasoned. The payagua Mascada was ok. One thing I've never seen before is that you have to order your beef for barbecue three days in advance. I found that to be ridiculous. Most dishes with beef I tried to order were not available or you had to order in advance. The dessert I ordered did not taste bad, but it was not how Brownies should taste. The consistency and moisture were more that of a cake than a Brownie. I ordered dish called Sopa Paraguaya, but what they served was not that. It was another similar dish called Chipa Guazu. They are both dishes of the same cuisine, however, if you're offering one dish in the menu you should serve that dish you are promoting and not something different. On a positive note, the staff was friendly and tried to be helpful. The beer selection was also good. Now something that is a very negative point, and much worst that the order three days in advance thing, was that we spotted a huge rat in the kitchen. From the outside, the kitchen did not look very clean to begin with, but even then you do not expect to have rats on a restaurant kitchen. That was very disappointing and an invitation to stay away from that place in the future. I wonder if after some inspection of the kitchen and the fridge one will be able to not only find another rat, but also some cockroaches....

Beef Skewers ($440): It’s served with a few loaves of olive oil bread, which are very crunchy and delicious. Most importantly, eating the skewers with the olives provided is the best method to enjoy the meal. The skewers themselves are already quite succulent and well-seasoned with great spices.

Saint Lucia’s Coconut Cake ($240): It is freshly baked, made in the shape of cube and sprinkled with lots of tiny coconut strips. The cake itself is quite sweet and soft in texture.

Sorrel Drink ($180): It’s a Jamaican Hibiscus drink and compared to Roselle drink, it tastes less sweet but the level of sourness is almost equally good.

The restaurant is of classic style, warm and cozy vibe like a pub. It’s located on the second lane behind the Ming Yao Department store and the most convenient MRT exit is No.3 (Zhongxiao Dunhua).

To top it all off, the prices are relatively high expected but the authenticity and great quality definitely worth a shot. Overall, I would give it a 9.5 out of 10!

FYI, the 10% service charge is included...

So, I’m possibly the only latina around and I wanted to enjoy a bit of my culture. When I showed up, the place was almost empty (see photo background), yet the admin made me wait while he looked where to place me. Then, for NT 780 (not cheap), I ordered a beer and a pastelon, which was not actually a real one since it was made of something like a pasta as a lasagna, not with ripe and sweet plantain as the original recipe requires. After a while, the admin decided that it was time for me to leave, brought me the bill and asked me to stand and pay, but I hadn’t even finished my beer and the place had MANY tables remaining!!! I could assume this was some kind of discrimination and don’t recommend this place at all. It doesn’t represent Latin hospitality...