Forgetting for a moment the weird English name, Addiction Aquatic Development (上引水產) in Taipei is a must-see both for foodies and urban planners… they did a fantastic job in turning an old fish market into a multi-function space including a standing sushi bar, an oyster bar, a couple of restaurants, a supermarket and much more. The seafood is fresh and the prices are good. It is really easy to get addicted.
The visit
I visited (again) multiple times the place in late December 2018.
The space is located in North Taipei, unfortunately it is not close to any metro stop, so taxi is the best choice to arrive. Taxis usually station in front of the main entrance pictured above.
Inside, the first area is dedicated to aquaculture with large tanks full of lobsters, giant crabs and so on…
Then you step in a relatively small supermarket area stocked with fresh sushi and sashimi to go. The products are very reasonably priced.
The rest of the main indoor area is dominated by a standing sushi bar and other smaller eating areas (including an oyster bar and a cooked food station).
Above a sashimi platter (with the addiction of 3 pieces of medium fatty tuna and 5 pieces of regular tuna) that I had in the standing sushi bar.
In a station you can have fresh lobster sashimi. The cook will cut the live lobster in front of you and they will also give you a lobster soup with all the left overs. In the pictures a 200gram lobster (quite small).
The four pictures above show more seafood that I bought from the supermarket area and I consumed outside. The sushi was very good and I could even find a big portion of cod roe and mullet roe (a Taiwan specialty, very salty, but to try).
They also have a full-fledged restaurant called Trésors de la mer where bookings are possible. In the restaurant I had their mega seafood platter and a miso soup. Some fruit was complimentary. Otherwise, it is possible to pick the fish from a market display and they will prepare you according to your instructions.
The seafood platter included tuna, yellow tail, salmon, sea snails, oysters, scallops, salmon roe, and a piece of abalone. Everything was delicious. The only thing disappointing was the miso soup, but who cares!
The last picture above shows a view of another seating area, a grilled seafood restaurant that I did not try.
The check(s)
The supermarket food cost me 1304 NTD (42 USD), the big ticket time was the lobster sashimi (644 NTD before tax). The sushi was just a few dollars.
The bill for the huge seafood platter at the restaurant Trésors de la mer was 1595 NTD (52 USD) including a miso soup and a coke. This was really a dish for two people.
The sashimi platter from the standing sushi restaurant was 913 NTD (29.6 USD) and it was a lot of sashimi.
Overall, prices are very reasonable for a funky location. The only caveat is to avoid peak hours on weekends or holidays, unless you like to queue like this people on New Year’s Eve (2018):
Where in Taipei:
No. 18, Alley 2, Lane 410, Minzu E Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City.
Name in Chinese: 上引水產.
Address in Chinese: 台北市民族東路410巷2弄18號.
Website: http://www.addiction.com.tw