Back to 1931 – JiDai Sushi Bar in TAIWAN

Following the post of where to stay in Taiwan, I would like to introduce some nice places to eat and attractions of Taipei during my business trip last year. If you have read some history about Taiwan, you might know it was a dependency of Japan between 1895 and 1945. Thus it is easy to find some Japanese style architecture, even the residential area throughout the city. Ji Dai 1931 is one of those which remain the style of the Showa period in Japan.

A little background of the restaurant, it is owned by a Japan catering group which have 30 restaurants throughout Japan. So this is one of those they expanded in Taiwan. It is situated in Zhongshan district which takes only 5 minutes walkable distance from Zhongshan station, it is very easy to find. It named Ji Dai (Time) 1931 because they wish their customer could feel being into the time of that period while dining in the restaurant. Being successfully remain the exterior of the architecture of marble Soda factory (predecessor of Ji Dai 1931), it make it more unique and stand out from a modern city.

I felt amazing when you could see such a old style architecture situated in Zhongshan district (which is full of shopping mall, different brands). I was addicted to the exterior and no doubt you would be interested to get in of such historical style with 2 old style benches in front.

Interior

Due to the business trip reason, I passed by after store visited with my colleague and decided to have our lunch in here. There is no one but only 2 of us during lunch hour. Believe it might be more crowd at night? The interior is fully decorated in wood, red / white lanterns along the interior. There’s also a long bar table on the side. On the side of the restaurant, it is decorated with a varieties of traditional Japan wide bottles and the sushi menu posted on wall. I am much appreciated with all the details they have in this little restaurant.

Jidai 1931 Japanese Suishi Bar resturant Taipei Taiwan Travel — This looks very interesting to me! it is located at the entrance of the restaurant.

The Food

To be honest, it’s a bit pricey for lunch. However they do offer set lunch menu with 15 varieties which also come with set of starters. I ordered the assorted sashimi rice and it include miso soup, tofu and some veggies to start with. The Sashimi rice is very fresh and tasty. There are toro, shrimp (which is quite big) , egg , salmon and squid. I think the portion is just enough for me as there aren’t too much rice. It cost approx. 520 (TWD) which is around USD$16. As I said it is not a cheap lunch however to enjoy in such an historical architecture, I do think is still worth to give a try!