Taipei Restaurant Guide
Update:
Hello, Jaysun here. I took almost two years off from food blogging and teaching English to write a novel, The Beasts of Success. The novel is now finished and published under my pen name: Jasun Ether. It's only in English at this point. Even though it was a fictional novel (a comedic satire), apparently it contained too much truth, so it was, and still is being shadow-banned. Anyway, I'm not going to get into that here; you can read about it on my author website if you wish.
I have now reacquired Jaysun Eats Taipei from my good friend, Brian, but I won't be reviewing a place every week like I did before. Maybe I'll review a place every two months — I can't say at this time. I'm currently writing a second novel and wish to devote most of my free time to that endeavor while I'm not teaching English. I wish to say "Hi" to all those that are still finding this website useful for their culinary adventures, despite many reviews being outdated and some of the reviewed places no longer even existing. As I've stated before, the Taipei food scene is highly fickle. Only less than two years have gone by, but even for such a short period of time, a lot of the information on this site is now outdated. Unlike being an author and creating a book that lasts forever, food bloggers have to come to the realization that their information and hard work might expire, like food, in a period of time, and in Taipei that period of time is very short.
Besides saying "Hi", I want to inform you that I'll be writing a very serious and important article on this site that will be posted in a few weeks' time. It's a very serious issue in Taiwan, especially for keeping one's immune system high to avoid getting and spreading a virus, yet, very few people — Taiwanese and foreigners (we can just say humans) — know about it. Although the issue I'll be speaking about is a global issue, it very much is important in Taiwan in particular. And the issue regards food, so posting it on this site is relevant. I love Taiwan (that's why I made it my home) and I won't stand by silently when I possess the information that will help everyone in Taiwan live healthier and happier. The article will also be sent to the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration.
Taipei offers a smorgasbord of delicious cuisine. Taipei has collected its food scene from its indigenous tribes, traditional and modern Taiwanese influences, Chinese history, and a growing international population. I'm known as being a picky eater, which is a natural trait for someone who can recognize and appreciate quality food. It doesn't hurt that I can also make excellent homemade meals, if I do say so myself.
I never sellout with bribes or friend connections when it comes to my ratings, unlike other food bloggers. Incognito is my reviewing style because it's the most effective way of creating a genuine review. One of the drawbacks of reviewing a restaurant this way is that I'll not capture professional photos of restaurants' decor, but my photos still convey enough of the surroundings in order to grasp the atmosphere, and the trade-off is definitely worth it in order to get a truthful review, which of course is much more important. Also, I make my food photos look just like the food I ate in real life on purpose: I don't deceptively edit them to market a falsity.
I'm also different from other food bloggers in that I usually make several dining visits before reviewing a place. I've found this to be very important because sometimes the rating I would've given on my first experience turned out to be much different on my second, third, or fourth visit. That also ties into the reason why there aren't too many restaurants that I don't recommend on my website: if the food is bad but I don't have enough information to make a proper assessment, I will not bother returning and reviewing that restaurant. I think I've made it clear that I'm unlike most food bloggers, and the reason for my style being different is: It's not about ego, and it's the most intelligent way to procure honest, unbiased, and thorough reviews for the everyday clientele. If a food blogger busts into a restaurant and uses their ego to receive free food in exchange for a review, of course the restaurant is going to go out of their way to make the food better than usual, and sometimes it's so altered that it doesn't look much like what the everyday customer receives; also, the food blogger's review would most likely become compromised due to a conflict of interest. I think I've clearly made my point.
My website is all about cuisine appreciation, mostly reasonably priced cuisine, because we all work hard for our money and shouldn't waste it on overpriced food when there are more than enough quality and delicious restaurants available to choose from that are just as good as, or better than, pretentious places. Finding and trying new restaurants and cafes is a hobby of mine, and I want to share my findings with you. You'll find my Taipei restaurant guide to be very informative, easy to navigate through, and containing no ads (I'm a food blogger solely to help people, I don't accept money or free food). All of my reviews include pictures, a Google Map, usually the menu, a related video, a voting poll for guests, a song from my MP3 player, informative links, and a link to the restaurant's Google Map page.
Recognize that the Taipei restaurant scene is one of the ficklest in the world with restaurants opening and closing frequently, menu items and prices changing regularly, and inconsistencies abounding, so some reviews' information may differ from your experiences or may be outdated. Keep in mind that this is my hobby, I don't get paid to do it, so I don't have the time to keep every review updated.
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Other great food or drink related websites & blogs. I share them because it's not about competition, it's about sharing & love.
All About EAT Taipei
Foodbaby
Taipei Expat
Confession of a Foodie
Bluesomeone's VEGAN World
Eating in Taipei
Two Scoops Taiwan 臺灣「雙」淇淋
Chef in You - Making Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes Easy
Bhojana Recipes
To contact JET, e-mail foodies@jaysuneatstaipei.com
or send a message via JET's Facebook page.