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Bar Mood

Taipei

Re-Entry

As one of the first craft cocktail bars in Taiwan, Bar Mood opened its sliding doors in Taipei’s commercial district back in September 2017. Guests enter an inviting, cosy space – akin to a friend’s living room – where each piece of furniture is fabricated by owner Nick Wu’s parents, who have been in the furniture-making business for more than five decades. But the eye-catching focal point is the bartop garden where the team ‘forages’ for garnishes that showcase Taiwan’s native flowers, herbs and botanicals. Zeroing in on homegrown ingredients, Wu aims to illustrate the famous beauty of the island coupled with its impressive biodiversity through the art of cocktail making, showcasing Taiwan’s organic, natural ingredients on the global stage.

The menu is an opportunity for seasoned bartender Wu to flex his mixologist muscles, while demonstrating pride in the agricultural, gastronomic and cultural traditions of Taiwan. Key local ingredients include bitter melon, soy milk, peanuts, edamame and oolong tea harvested by Wu’s grandparents, which are then prepared using contemporary techniques such as rotary distillation, fat separation, filtration and low-temperature cooking. It is this honesty of concept that has afforded Bar Mood a coveted spot on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list consecutively since 2019, as well as the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award accolade in 2022.

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