western/revisited: I strongly recommend GORDON BIERSCH

GORDON BIERSCH
at Xinyi Mitsukoshi A11, 2FL
No.11, Songshou Rd.,
(02) 8786-7588

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: gordonbiersch.com.tw

hours: 11 AM - 11:30 PM/ Fri/Sat until 12midnight

$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available. crayons. lots finger foods

Visit reviewed: 5/17/2011
Previous visit reviewed: 6/13/2008

For some reason, I've been craving cobb salads lately. Perhaps its the lingering memory of the awesome cobb salads I had at Tender Greens last summer in LA. Or maybe the Taipei weather going from winter directly into the humid summer has me craving cool salads. Whatever reason- I was mentally going over my choices for salads in Taipei when I found that Gordon Biersch had a seafood cobb salad. 

So the next day I headed there for lunch. Squeezed into a table despite not having a reservation. The restaurant filled quickly after 12:30PM, much more full than Chili's on a weekday. They still have a full menu of eats, as well as a lunch menu which includes a drink, soup or dessert and main dish- all for around NT$400. 

The huge cobb salad didn't disappoint (along with two full cups of dressing of your choice- we picked ranch) with lots of cheese, chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, bacon, eggs and avocado as well as some shrimp and crab meat. The shrimp were kind of on the small side and we had more dressing than we knew what to do with, but overall everything was fresh and I'd definitely order this again.

I also was extremely happy with the pulled pork sandwich, overflowing with the slightly spicy and sweet meat, and the garlic fries which I requested to sub for the potato chips. I couldn't stop eating the crispy fries.

I was happy that the drinks with the lunch set included the lemonades as an option (or soda), and I got the strawberry lemonade. I opted for the dessert of the day instead of french onion soup, but wasn't crazy about the mushy apple bread pudding, though the vanilla ice cream was good.

Advance reservations are definitely recommended, even for weekdays, and Gordon Biersch is a great option for large groups, families or business meetings, as well as beer lovers. Weekend waits without reservations are typically at least an hour, though you can leave your phone number and shop around the nearby area until they call you.  Since I last reviewed it, they opened another Taipei location in Song Shan district and one in Taichung. 

OTHER LOCATION

No.102, Dun Hua N. Rd.
(02) 2713-5288
11:30AM-11PM