Shukuo Qimu Tower — Restaurant in New Taipei

First ever review dedicated to a hidden gem in Jiufen worth writing about! We drove an hour from Taipei via taxi to Jiufen; expecting to experience the magical streets of Jiufen as seen in Miyazaki’s movies. When we got there, the place is overcrowded, we couldn’t walk without pushing and shoving through the crowd. We finally got out from the bustle and wandered on our own around the town until we came about this tea shop. We weren’t expecting much- having already felt disappointed to drive almost an hour and spending 300tdr to an overhyped city. But this place made our trip worthwhile. The place was homey and old school. When we arrived, there was a family playing board games on the first floor and only one other couple seated on the second floor. We chose to sit on the second floor balcony where we could see the view of the city. Ordered some beers. Try to go to the bathroom; it’s quite interesting. Fortunately that night was Christmas Eve & we had the pleasure to be greeted by fireworks later in the night. The ambience of this place is truly...

I was looking forward to visiting this place after reading the reviews and seeing the photos but I was very disappointed. I walked up to the topmost floor, waited for awhile but no one appeared so walked back down to the 1st level. Found the 'front desk', and saw a man & an elderly woman preparing food. I called out that I would like to order some food but the man stared at me blankly. After prompting by the elderly woman, the man stepped forward and handed me the menu without saying a single word. I decided to leave without ordering. I may not be a native speaker but my Mandarin is decent and I received warmer welcome from other places that I visited. By the way, when I was there, I noticed that there was a thick plastic sheet around the balcony so the view is not clear as seen...

The most authentic place I've been to yet in taiwan. I was greeted by a grandma with a smile and no English skills, but that just adds to the charm. She politely escorted us through the tight clearly homemade stairs up to a beautiful view of the town. Through a bit of Google Translate we got some orders through and ate the best fried rice of my trip thus far. I regret going to other tea houses since I watched others have a kettle brought out to them onto a fire on their table. The server politely explained what to do and how to serve the tea. Super homely and authentic feel to this place, can't recommend it enough. People in the reviews said food was a bit slow to come, but I didn't think so....