Czech Food – Divaldo

Czech Food- Divaldo

Today’s entry is a little different from my usual shtick where I affectionately mock my dining companions, as it is somewhat bittersweet. It is a case of “hello new dining experience, goodbye my friend” as todays guest got a promotion and is heading back to his native Tokyo.

Taipei has a very sizable Japanese community, and of course there are historical links which I can’t be bothered to go into here, because this is a blog about “man eats food and has a bit of a laugh while doing it’.  Unfortunately, there is very little crossover between the Japanese people living here and the English speaking foreign community which I’ve always felt was a big shame. I have yet to meet a Japanese person I disliked, always extremely polite, generous to a fault and incredibly friendly if the language barrier can be overcome. And T-san is no exception. He had been a student of mine for four or so years, having lived in Shanghai previously and found Taipei refreshing. I am used to the grumbles we big noses have about living in Taiwan, but to hear the gripes from a Japanese perspective are genuinely laugh out loud funny. T-san actually said that Taiwan can be difficult for some Japanese to live in because of the lack of order they are used to back home, although they do enjoy it a lot. The organized confusion of Shanghai prepared him well.

Anyway, he wanted to drink beer and I wanted to try the Czech restaurant I’d heard about, so I was killing two birds with one stone. So an Englishman and a Japanese fella walk into a Czech bar in Taiwan… I feel there is a punch line in there somewhere, but I’m stumped. If you have anything- do help me out in the comments.

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I had been to this venue before in its previous incarnation as a bar run by lank-haired Taipei institution Professor Gary. I feel that 100 years from now, people will still tell tales of the Prof, and even may run walking tours to where the great man had visited.  I will visit his most recent enterprise at a later date for this blog, when I cover British food.

A small and cozy venue, a little off on a little side street that could be hard to find- Divaldo offers Pilsner on tap (I’m not a drinker but assured by T-san it was fantastic), lovely food and a film night on Thursdays. The décor is very dark, but suits the place and what they do; on the wall they were projecting the 1943 Baron Munchhausen film which also suits the arty vibe.

Food wise, my thoughts were it was going to be a dumpling fest, that wasn’t true but I ran into the problem of the menu being in Czech and Chinese. Toddler Bao was with us and she had commandeered my phone so was unable to translate what we were eating, but it was fries with a kind of schnitzel with cheese sauce, look at the menu pic and you’ll see the unpronounceable nature of it.  Wonderful stuff though, I’d recommend it highly.

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I’ve also been ordered by a medical professional to put on weight, so I also had dessert, a sticky toffee pudding which I forgot to take a picture of, as the conversation was too riveting. Oops!

I am genuinely going to miss T-san, we hadn’t spoken for some months after I left my job last summer, but nothing had changed. Knowing he isn’t on the island is going to be pretty sad, as he is one of the few people who have made the transition from “student” to “friend”. When coming to pay, he wouldn’t hear of me paying my way as he had been so thankful for my classes.  Thank you very much sir for the fun lessons, the informed conversation and indeed the valuable professional advice you gave me.  To show the measure the man, he said “When you come to Tokyo” (not “if”) “I and my family will absolutely show you around”. Safe travels my friend.

If my google machine is working correctly: どうもありがとうございました

Prices: Good question!

Unpronounceable meat dish 280 (2x)

Fries for the bairn 140

Dessert 180

Drinks- I dunno once again.

Divaldo- No. 6, Lane 81, Chongde Street, Xinyi District

Closest MRT is Liuzhangli but a wee walk from there.

I apologize for the wonky picture at the top, I had Toddler Bao on one arm doing the squirm dance and I never got chance to take a second picture.