This place amazed us we haven’t seen anything like it in Taipei before. What’s so unique about Open is that it’s a spacious bar and diner where groups of friends come to play all sorts of board games and card games together.
Open was started by a guy with his classmates who recently graduated from senior high school. The idea was for it to be a comfortable home for anyone who wants to chill with their friends and play games.
They’ve developed quite a lot since they were established as they now have private rooms available for hire. These rooms include huge TVs, making them ideal for business meetings, watching Netflix, and even for playing on the PS4 or Nintendo Switch.
The bar and diner are located about 10 minutes on foot from the Technology Building MRT (brown line).
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1. About the Diner |
Open is decorated by different local communities of friends which gives off an unpretentious and friendly vibe. It has a pretty laid-back atmosphere so it was easy to chill out and have fun here.
It’s fairly spacious inside which is why they have multiple projectors that are available for hire. They also use them to show live sports games and concerts.
We didn’t see any animals on our visit, but we were told they’re also pet friendly.
Board Games
The front section is for the smaller tables where you can see close friends or couples dining and playing board games; the middle and back tables are much bigger and sit around 6-10 people.
It costs $200 per person to play board games with no time limit. You’re welcome to play with any of their board games with no extra charge or bring your own in.
The bar is a cocktail bar. It’s also the place where you can go to order food and drinks. When we ordered our food and drink, they brought it straight to us in the private room we booked.
We found the staff to be super friendly and accommodating as they treated us as if we’re part of the club, even as a first-timer – we liked that!
They don’t wear uniforms which gives a homely and inclusive feeling rather than a typical bar and diner.
Private Rooms
There are four private rooms of different sizes which are available for hire, although they’re not all the same.
The room we hired was more like a gaming room as it had a huge TV, sofa, a PS4, and a Nintendo Switch. We poked our heads in the other room next door to find it was a tatami mat room. It still had a huge TV and tables for those who would find this kind of room more appropriate to their needs.
Room Prices:
Small rooms: $300 p/hr
Large rooms: $400 p/hr
This was the room we hired for a few hours. It’s one of their small rooms ($300 p/hr), and it’s a gaming room!
It was awesome to have our order served right to us while we enjoyed our evening playing several games on the Nintendo Switch.
We easily booked this room via their Facebook page: Open開房間桌遊餐酒館. You can also book via telephone: 02-2737-1868.
Basement Area
In addition to everything they have on the 1st floor, they also have a huge basement area where they store all their board games and console games.
These shelves were just some of the wide range of games they have since the shelves continue along the wall as well as a slide across to reveal even more games and console equipment like the fitness ring.
When we explored the basement area, we found it to be much quieter despite there being two groups of various role-playing games.
There’s a huge game of about 20+ people going on behind those white dividers at the back. We’re not sure what game they’re playing at the time, but it seemed similar to the werewolf game.
We also spotted a large private room for hire down here, too. It was complete with tables, bean bags, and a huge TV – ideal for Netflix or even any kind of meeting.
You can find the toilets in the basement area. They’re super clean with the sink on the outside, so you can wash your hands without needing to go into the toilets.
Food & Drinks
Tequila Sunrise ($350)
Even though there was always a glass of water available for each of us, we still went ahead and ordered a nice cocktail.
This cocktail was refreshingly cold and sweet with what tasted like summer fruits. We could certainly taste the tequila that went well with the juicy sweetness of this drink.
The Tequila Sunrise isn’t on their original menu yet as they’re in the process of updating it.
Chicken & Mushroom Spaghetti ($228)
We ordered this creamy spaghetti dish which came with a lot of mushrooms, chicken, broccoli, and cheese powder.
We suggest mixing it all in well first to allow the creamy sauce and egg yolk to soak into all the ingredients.
The spaghetti had a firm and chewy texture which made it easy to wrap it around our forks with ease. This made it ideal to eat in turns while gaming.
The best thing has to be the egg yolk on the top as it made the sauce much thicker and eggy after we mixed it in. This spaghetti dish was so delicious that we couldn’t stop eating it!
Crispy Fried Chicken Cheese Burger ($268)
We were delightfully surprised to find our burger comes with a portion of salted potato wedges. The fried chicken batter was very crispy, but also not too salty.
As it arrived, a large amount of thick cheese oozed out over the fried chicken – we were pleased with it!
After biting into the burger, we found the chicken thighs were fairly tender and juicy. It can typically get quite messy while eating this though, however, we thoroughly enjoyed every bite!
Despite it not being very salty, we still suggest ordering a refreshing drink to go with the burger set, especially after you’ve finished the potato wedges.
The Menu
We were told that the menu changes by season, which is why they’re currently changing it.
We hope they keep the ‘too lazy to think’ option because it’s quite ideal for regulars to let the chef choose for them while they concentrate on their games.
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Worth visiting?
Open makes an ideal bar and diner to go with friends to enjoy your time playing a large range of games in a laid-back and friendly atmosphere.
It is not just a place to play games though as it’s also ideal if you need a private space or a projector for a group meeting or project.
We felt the pricing is pretty reasonable for a bar and diner, especially when you consider that there are no service charges.
Will we go back?
We have been back, in fact, we used their private rooms to watch Netflix and write some of these blogs.
OpenHours: Telephone: 02 2737 1868 Facebook: Open開房間桌遊餐酒館 English address: 106, Taipei City, Da’an District, Section 2, Xinhai Rd, 145號一樓 Chinese address: 106台北市大安區辛亥路二段145號一樓 Close to: National Taiwan University (NTU) Closest MRT: Technology Building MRT (brown line) |
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🗓️ Updated: May 2021 – Taipei.Expats
