Tiger Frog Discovered in Taichung

By David Flint

No people it’s not National Geographic, it’s the opening of another chapter for The Frog Family of restaurants.  It’s the same family, but not the same Frog. Located at Tiger City, Tiger Frog offers an airier less pubby atmosphere more atuned to diners and daters than to ale quaffers. It’s bright and roomy with inside seats for 76 at 20 non-smoking tables, as well as 20 outside seats at 4 tables for smokers.

The menu is longer than most foreign eateries in Taichung with a very good variety of pizza, pasta, rice dishes, steaks, chicken, German sausage, and of course Mexican. There are also sandwiches, finger-food combos, and hot snacks. The best way to describe the menu is “Ariel”. She has been running The Frog Family for 16 years, and has always been close to her customers. This may be the culmination of what she knows about what her customers want.

We decided to check out the full range of dishes and ordered (are you ready?) Chicken Caesar Salad, both the Chicken and the Beef Rice Quesadillas, German Filet Steak, Mexican Beef Pizza, Boneless Short Beef Ribs, and Vegetarian Pizza. Every dish rates with the best in the city, but we agreed that the German Filet Steak and the Boneless Ribs were quite remarkable. I would recommend any of these depending on your tastes, but be sure to spend time checking the eight set meals in the classical food section of the menu.

BTW all Salsa sauces, salad dressings, pizza dough, and spaghetti sauces are made in-house. Two can eat for 550NT to 1400NT with around 800NT being a nice night out. 

Ok, the food is good, but the only reason to go to Tiger City is to see a movie….NOT! Tiger Frog also features music from Groovecity, the same great people that bring you Grooveyard night after night. On Friday and Saturday from 6-8pm you get live jazz desserts with your dinner! On Sunday there’s more jazz from 12-1pm then 6-8pm. Friday and Saturday nights there are featured bands from 9-12 midnight with a very good venue for the best players around Taiwan. Monday to Thursday from 8-12 midnight it’s many happy hours, with 2 for 1 special pricing on any Deluxe Beer and any cocktail.

Achtung! Deluxe Beer is made in a mini-brewery in Taipei, and it is German style draft. There’s ale, a pilsner, and a dark brew with strong European roots. I liked the pilsner, but I saw a lot of the dark ale being served around. At 2 for 1, this works very nicely for me.

Is it a pub, or a family restaurant, or a live music venue? Yes, it is. Congrats to Ariel and the good people of Grooveyard. One more thing; this is a perfect place for company events, weddings, birthdays and so on. Ariel would be glad to make all the arrangements personally. You can reach her at 0953-725-048. It’s a new species of Frog, Mr. Darwin!

Here’s a little more info:

Tiger Frog
B1 at Tiger City on Honan Rd
Open everyday 11am to 12 midnight
Free parking under Tiger City if you spend at the mall plus pay parking and street parking
Good idea to call ahead to eat……04-3606-2305
Visa Master Card JCV accepted
Non-smoking indoors