Editorial
Taipei hidden bars cluster in Daan and Songshan, often behind a coffee counter or an unmarked alley door. The eight below make the case that Taipei is Asia's most underrated cocktail city.
Aki Wang's Indulge has carried Taipei's bar scene on Asia's 50 Best for years, tucked into a residential block off Fuxing South Road in Daan. The cocktails lean on native Taiwanese teas and house liqueurs, and the kitchen keeps pace. It is less hidden than it used to be, so book ahead. Order whatever uses Wang's hand-picked tea infusions and let the bar steer the night.
AHA Saloon runs out of a low-key Daan storefront and pours some of the most technical cocktails in the city without the velvet-rope act. It has earned its place on Asia's 50 Best more than once. The drinks are precise and the room stays relaxed. Sit at the bar, tell them what you are in the mood for, and go on a weeknight when the bartenders can talk.
Ounce hides behind a coffee shop in Da'an, one of Taipei's original speakeasies and still one of its best. Push through the cafe and you land in a dim, low room built for slow drinking. The menu rewards anyone who likes a spirit-forward classic done right. Order an Old Fashioned or ask for dealer's choice, and aim for a quiet weeknight to get a seat.
Vesper is a small, spirits-deep bar in Songshan that locals send you to when they want to prove Taipei drinks as well as Tokyo. The back bar runs long on rare bottles and the pours are generous. This is a sit-and-stay room, not a quick stop. Ask the bartender for something off the beaten path and settle in for a couple of rounds.
R&D Cocktail Lab on JiaXing Street works without a menu, its French and Taiwanese bartenders building drinks around in-house infusions made from local produce. You tell them what you like and they take it from there. The result is some of the most ingredient-driven cocktails in Da'an. Go early in the week, sit at the bar, and trust the dealer's-choice route.
Draftland is Angus Zou's cocktails-on-tap original, the Taipei bar that spun off branches in Hong Kong and beyond. Two dozen premixed drinks pour fast and cheap, which makes it the easy first stop of any Taipei crawl. It is loud and casual, not a sipping den. Order a couple off the tap wall, compare notes, and move on when you are ready.
Bar Pun hides down a narrow Daan alley behind an unmarked button you have to hunt for, which is half the fun. Inside, the drinks get playful: a Jon Snow milk-tea cocktail, perfume-infused pours, truffle fries to soak it up. It is a date-night kind of hidden gem. Find the door, order something off the wilder end of the list, and go before the weekend rush.
East End sits a few floors up in a Taipei hotel and quietly earns its reputation as the city's best hotel bar. The room is polished and the cocktails are made with care, the kind of spot that suits a nightcap away from the street noise. It is the calm end of this list. Go for a well-built classic and the view, late on a weeknight.
Indulge and Ounce are the essential first stops, and most of these rooms peak between 10pm and midnight. Arrive earlier on a weeknight if you want a seat at the bar.
For more, see our full Taipei hidden gems guide, the Taipei bar guide, and the wider hidden gems category.