Blue Note Taipei

The experience

A small independent jazz cafe on the fourth floor at 171 Roosevelt Road Section 3, near Shida, that has been putting bands on since 1974 — no relation to the international chain of the same name. The room is cramped, low-lit and built for listening, with local players in residency and touring musicians passing through. Sets generally start around 9pm or 9:30pm, and weekend afternoons bring jam sessions. Entry is a live-music charge that includes a drink.

Fifty years of nightly jazz in a fourth-floor Shida walk-up, unrelated to the famous chain.

What a membership adds.

Everything above is free: the name, the photo, the rating, the exact spot. What members get is the part you can't Google: the sourced insider tip for this place (what to order, when to go, what to skip), every day of your trips unlocked in full with the insider tip on every researched stop, and the concierge at full strength, answering with your own insider tips, no daily meter.