pizza: i strongly recommend MARYJANE PIZZA

MARYJANE PIZZA
No. 25, Lane 44, TaiShun St.
(02) 2368-5222

MRT: Guting or Taipower Bldg

website: maryjanepizza.com English and Chinese

hours: Mon-Fri 12-2 pm, 5:30-9:30 pm
Sat & Sun 12-3:30 pm, 5:30-10:30 pm

Delivery available: minimum NT$500 order to only ShiDa, GuTing, TaiDa, GongGuan districts

$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted, but lots of room for families

Visit reviewed: 5/11/2010



I had heard about Maryjane's Pizza for a long time and I don't know why it took me such a long time to try it, but I'm glad I finally did. With locations at both Shida and Taida, it's a cozy neighborhood pizza joint offering a huge menu of pizzas with fresh ingredients for great prices.





Just from the menu, you can tell that Maryjane has a lot of personality- the cute menu is shaped and designed like a pizza, the pizzas have quirky names and descriptions (there's mention of David Hasselhoff and George Bush? LOL) and the more unusual toppings include broccoli, bacon, ricotta cheese, carmelized onions, artichokes, blue cheese, squid or smoked salmon. There's even a dessert pizza with apple, cinnamon and mozzarella called "Eve's Temptation."

Nothing on the menu is over NT$300 and there is no service charge, but there is a minimum NT$150 charge per person.



If you get overwhelmed from all the choices in the menu (there are no substitutions or additions to their specialty pizzas), you can opt for something off their lunch special, which includes a soup or salad and drink (NT$160-200). Besides the typical cheese and pepperoni, there's Crispy Bacon with Sunnyside Egg or Amigo Rocks (jalapeno, red onions, tomatoes and genonese sauce). Or you can build your own pizza.



It's really hard to decide, but I end up choosing the Pesto Chicken (NT$250) with baked chicken breast, feta cheese, tomatoes and pesto. My friend is feeling the Hola Jalapeno (NT$200) with pepperoni and jalapenos. The pizzas don't take too long to come out, or maybe we are too busy talking and sipping on our ice tea.



The pizzas all come as 10 inch pies, which is a hearty portion for one. When the pizzas arrive, you can smell the bubbly cheese and all the aromatic ingredients. The pizzas are thin crust and on the drier side, but still have some bite to them. Though I expected the tomatoes on my pesto chicken pizza to be larger sliced tomatoes and under the cheese, I don't mind the fresh half slices of grape tomatoes. The flavors of the pizza meld together nicely and before I know it, I've finished half the pizza.



Maryjane Pizza makes for a good quick lunch spot or a place to kick back with some buddies with beers and pizza on the weekend. With a larger group, you could order different pizzas to share and try more flavors.



There's no lingering after lunch though, as they promptly turned off the lights and ushered everyone out when they were closing for their afternoon break. But otherwise, the service is prompt and friendly and our complimentary ice tea was frequently refilled without asking.


View Larger Map


OTHER LOCATION

Taida
No.89, WenZhou St.
(02) 2369-5333


View Larger Map

pizza/vegetarian: i recommend SO FREE PIZZA

SO FREE WOOD FIRED PIZZA AND CHEESE
No. 28, Lane 283, Roosevelt Rd., Sec. 3
(02) 2364-3351

MRT: Gongguan or Taipower Bldg

website: SoFreePizza's blog

hours: 11:30 AM - 9 PM

$

Kid friendliness: not a lot of seating, but adjacent to a park with a few benches

Visit reviewed: 5/16/2009



The first time I passed by So Free, I wondered what all the people were doing standing around the rustic looking cabin. When I realized it was a pizza place, I had to give it a try.

The menu at So Free Woodfired Pizza and Cheese is short, but sweet. Eight 8 inch pizzas cooked to order in a wood fired oven.

And you can't beat the price at NT$120 for an 8 inch pizza with fresh ingredients, especially in comparison to the fancier options in town- Fifteen Pizzeria and Primo Trattoria pizzas run in the NT$300 range for the same size.

The tradeoff for the lower price is limited seating and the limited selections of pizzas, especially if you're craving some pepperoni. All the pizzas are vegetarian.



But So Free still keeps it interesting. I'm not sure if I'd try the Korean kimchi and Ginger Superman, but the pesto mushroom and rosemary potato sounded appetizing. You can also appeal to your sweet tooth with a dessert pizza topped with apple cinnamon or banana apple.

I tried the Mushroom Asapargus pizza which came fairly loaded with fresh ingredients- chopped asparagus and mushroom with lots of cheese and sauce. The crust is thick enough to hold all the toppings, but pliable enough to fold a slice in half for a bite for your mouth.

The seating at the Gongguan eatery is extremely limited, so you can opt to wait awhile for a barstool seat, or do what we did which was order it to-go (which is still a good 10-15 minute wait when they are busy) and eat it at the adjacent park. It's also close to Tai Yi Milk King, so you can get some shaved ice afterwards if the weather is warm.

I know I still have quite a few pizza places in town to try- some readers have recommended Mary Jane's Pizza and Le Rouge- but I'm slowly working my way through them all! Any others to add to my to-do list? And has anyone tried the dessert pizzas here?


View Larger Map

american/burgers: i recommend BONGOS

BONGOS
No. 3, Alley 5, Lane 74, WenZhou St
Gongguan area, near Taida

(02) 2365-6059

MRT: Gongguan or Taipower Bldg

hours: 11:30 am-10 pm

$$

Kid friendliness: No high chairs. Reservations (especially on weekends) strongly recommended.

Visit reviewed: 4/13/2008

A popular place in Gongguan area for burgers, Mexican fare and hanging out- Bongos has gained a following with both locals and expats for its affordable American-style eats and casual atmosphere.

I didn't expect it to be so packed on a Sunday night, but I'm glad I had called ahead and made reservations for my party of 8. Otherwise, I might have been turned away to Coda (the owner's newer restaurant nearby) or had to wait, as we witnessed happened to walk-ins. I was also surprised that it appeared that all the other customers were younger locals and I didn't spot any expats at all. It's very close to Taida (the nickname for National Taiwan University), so maybe many of them were students.

In the hustle and bustle, we were seated in the darkness of the outdoor patio, which was not bad in the cool weather, but very dark. A few of friends complained they must be getting old since it was hard to read the menu in the night's light. They have separate menus (with a few pictures) for Chinese and English and after request, I got an English menu instead. With appetizers, salads, burgers, Mexican, pasta and main dishes offered, most of the meals come w/ your choice of 2 sides (fries or salad) and a drink. Having been to Forker first, I recognized a lot of the fonts and identity styling had come from Bongos.

While waiting for the rest of our friends to arrive, we ordered the quesadillas (NT$260) (offered as a meal, not appetizer) a side of chili cheese fries and small salad, as well as the Five Layers Mexican dip (NT$180).



I was excited about the guacamole in the dip, but could barely find/taste it as the spicy salsa was the overwhelming flavor. There were also not enough chips to finish the dip (as with our experience w/ the spinach artichoke dip at Forkers). I tried to request more chips instead of fries when I ordered my burger, but they wouldn't do it, saying extra chips would be an extra NT$20. I definitely wouldn't order this again for the size and price.

The quesadillas were pretty good on the other hand, cheesy and meaty with a kick. The chili on the chili fries was thick and disappeared quickly.



The bowl of mushroom soup was also surprisingly good- it was creamy and aromatic and actually quite kid friendly. The side salad that comes with the meals was quite blah, as was their chicken entree salad which had slim toppings in a huge bowl of lettuce. We tried to order their udon salad at first, but they had run out of udon.



Instead, stick to their burgers. I ordered the bacon gouda cheese burger (NT$240) and requested guacamole on top (for extra NT$) and the burger was a lot better than my burger at Forkers. The wheat bun, meat patty and toppings all meshed together (after I picked ou the sprouts. I hate sprouts) to be a pretty good bite.



I was quite full after the quesadilla and chili fries appetizer and was unable to finish my double fries order with my burger (plus I was saving room for shaved ice at Tai Yi nearby afterwards).

My friends enjoyed their chimichanga, burger and sausage dishes. I thought the chimichanga was okay with spiced ground beef inside, but preferred the chimichangas at Jake's Country Cafe or La Casita,. Bongo's Mexican is more Tex-mex, if that. My friend also tried to order a pasta dish, and they were also out of that. There's no automatic service fee included in your bill, but your drink refills and water are self serve. They are quite busy getting to all the tables, so service can be on the absent side.



I'm glad I found it after getting lost in the taxi the first time. Now that I think about it, we were probably RIGHT around the corner and missed the small entrance, since there are no side signs in the one way alley, but instead right in front. It is easier to find from Xin Sheng South Road... as we walked around, there were a TON of little eateries and shops that I wanted to come back to check out.



Any other recommendations for this area?

(ADDED Oct 2009)

It can be a bit tricky to find, so I'd suggest looking for Tai Yi Milk King on Xinsheng S Road, and then taking the alley to the left of it, go three alleys past Wunjhou St and then turn right. It should be on the corner, on the left hand side. Look for white gates if you don't see the sign, or give the restaurant a call for directions. The green pin on the map below is Tai Yi, the red pin is Bongos.