Kinks Pub
Kinks Pub
Kinks Pub is converted from an old house along the railway
Grandma’s house is now a bar!
a dark and vintage lounge
Just along the railroad tracks near Qingnian Road is a lounge bar that you’d never find unless you were shown by someone in-the-know. Renovated from an old home, this one-story bar really feels like you’re in someone’s old house. It’s been decorated with vintage furniture from the 70s and beyond, and they’ve added old fans, TVs and rotary-dial telephones to enhance the atmosphere. There are various rooms to sit in and there’s some additional seating in both the front and back gardens. The place is not huge, though, and you may be rejected for lack of seating on the weekends.
Kinks attracts an eclectic crowd of hipsters, artists, academics and foreigners. Additionally, there are always groups of twenty-somethings clustered around their table, frustratedly photographing themselves in the unforgiving darkness of the dimly lit establishment.
The mood of the lounge is intentionally dark. The music is usually kept low and tends to be of the moody sort in the same vein as Radiohead or My Bloody Valentine. A framed Joy Division poster has been leaning against the wall, un-hung, for quite some time. The dark mood feels like an appropriate enhancement to any of Tainan’s sultry summer evenings. Lounging on big old couches with quiet music, a glass of jiu, the sound of passing trains, and the crack of another electrocuted mosquito is sometimes the best antidote for the heat. Spending a Sunday afternoon on the back porch is also recommended.
old fans and TVs
Kinks offers a standard assortment of drinks at the usual prices. They also have an assortment of fruit beers (I can’t decide if these are ciders or lambics) and Belgian beers. The food menu is mostly light fare, including onion rings, Belgian waffles, chicken skewers and the like.
Finding Kinks is the real difficulty. It is on a small lane that runs along the east side of the train tracks. If you are approaching from downtown, head to the intersection of Qingnian (Cingnian Road 青年路) and Beiman Roads. Cross the tracks and make an immediate right. Kinks is about 50 meters down on the left (a brick wall separating the street from the tracks is on the right).
lychee beer in the back room
- the back porch
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 2pm – 2am; Monday 8:30pm – 2am
Phone: (06) 208-5152
Lane 232, No. 25 Qingnian Rd. (Cingnian Road 青年路), East District, Tainan City
Tainan City Guide 