Jolly - Brewery & Restaurant

Visit: Mar 9, 2012
Address: 台北市松山區慶城街29號B室
Number: (02)8712-9098
Website: http://www.jollys.tw/net-city/front/bin/home.phtml

I've been wanting to try Jolly for the longest time. I've heard a lot about the good food as well as the awesome beer, so when I heard that Jolly would be the venue for our gathering, I was extremely excited.

Pale Ale (淡色愛爾啤酒) & Pilsener (皮爾森啤酒) $265NT/600mL (large)

from front: Pale Ale, Pilsener

  Personally, I liked the pilsener more. The pale ale was a little too bitter for my liking, but honestly, both were really good. I don't usually enjoy beer, but Jolly's brewed beer wasn't just usual...it was awesome.

Complimentary Bread & Curry

Bread and Curry

 It's really nice how they serve the bread and curry. It's like a preview of what is to come...

Rice (白飯)

Rice

I think this was complimentary as well.

Crab Fried Rice (蟹肉炒飯) $270 NT

Crab Fried Rice

 The crab fried rice was good but not spectacular. The crab meat was cooked really nicely so it wasn't overcooked, and the rice was also seasoned so that it wasn't too salty. My only objection to this dish is that the seaweed/fried rice pairing just seemed a little off.

Yellow Curry Beef (咖哩牛肉) $295 NT

Yellow Curry Beef

 It's really interesting how they serve toast or some sort of carbs with basically everything...and it actually works. The curry was good, except I would have preferred it to be much much much spicier. I could barely taste the chili in the curry. The beef was also a little overcooked, so it ended up being a little too chewy.

Water Spinach with Shrimp Paste (蝦醬炒空心菜) $160 NT

Water Spinach with Shrimp Paste

 This was your standard Thai stir fried water spinach with a lot less of the spiciness.

Green Papaya Salad (涼拌木瓜) $210 NT

Green Papaya Salad

 After so many dishes of non-spicy Thai, my chili craving was finally satisfied with the green papaya salad. I really liked how the papaya salad in cabbage leaf acted as a balance to the rich and heavy curry.

Grilled Chicken (碳烤雞腿) $275 NT

Grilled Chicken

 Out of all the dishes, this was one of my favorite dishes. The chicken was just so tender and nicely seasoned that we ended up ordering another dish of it. When you put the chicken inside the bread, make sure that you add the pickled onion as well as a lot of the sauce. It's so good!

Red Curry Beef (紅咖哩椰汁牛肉) $290 NT

Red Curry Beef

 This was also another one of my favorites. The beef short rib was stewed and seasoned nicely so that a few pieces practically melted in your mouth. However, I certainly wished that there were more of those pieces though, because some of the beef were actually a little tough to chew on. Personally, I'm also not a big fan of peanuts, so it was annoying trying to avoid the copious amount of peanuts in the curry.

Stout Tiramisu (黑啤酒提拉米蘇) $190 NT

Stout Tiramisu

The mousse on the tiramisu was really good... but the cake was a little too soggy for my liking.

When I got there on Friday night, the restaurant was completely packed, so make sure to make reservations beforehand. Overall, I would definitely recommend Jolly. Although the food was a little bit mediocre and the waiter a little hard to flag down, none of the dishes were bad, and the atmosphere as well as the beer really made up for it.With multiple TV's broadcasting sports channels, the atmosphere was a lot younger and much more lively.