BOX Taipei: Epic VR Bar in Zhonxiao Dunhua

Whenever we think we’ve experienced the best of Taipei’s nightlife, we find ourselves sorely mistaken. One of the city’s newest up-and-coming bars is BOX Taipei, a VR bar located on a busy stretch of Civic Boulevard near Zhongxiao Dunhua. We couldn’t believe our ears when we first stumbled across it — we’ve heard of VR arcades, but an actual bar? — and couldn’t wait to try it out as soon as possible. We will admit to having pretty low expectations before visiting and are extra pleased to report that this bar is definitely as cool as it sounds, and is totally doable even if you’re on a budget.

BOX Taipei is relatively new, which is probably why it flew under our radar until now. We were easily able to make a reservation for six people the night before, but as this place gets more popular we strongly recommend you make your reservation a few days in advance, just to be on the safe side. The neat thing about BOX Taipei — and the reason we’re sure it’s going to blow up in the future — is that there is no charge to play the games, and you are able to play as many times as you like. They do have a minimum spend of $350 per person, or $1000 per person if you sit in the VIP section upstairs (which grants you access to the premium games — which you do normally have to pay to play). We’re not about that $1000 life, so we stuck to the free games downstairs.

It was surprisingly easy to get set up with the free games. First, you need to download a free app: just scan the QR code at the table and it will take you automatically to the app store, where you can download the app and sign up with email or Facebook within minutes. A staff member will show you the very simple steps to using the app to sign into the VR system — then you’re ready to go! You have the option to play solo, on a team with your friends, or even against your friends. There were a couple of different game options that we cycled through to find one we liked best.

If you want to go even harder on the VR, check out the upstairs section with more premium games. In the one we played, three people formed a team against a zombie horde, each with a unique weapon — there’s even a shotgun that you physically cock to reload. This survival mode was a lot of fun and cost $500 a pop, split between the three people in your team. We hadn’t realized we would need to pay extra for this game until we saw it added to our bill at the end, but unanimously agreed that it was worth the $167 extra each. If you’re sticking to a budget, you could easily have a great time without adding any premium games, but if you want the full experience we recommend giving them a try!

BOX Taipei had a fun, intense atmosphere on the Saturday night that we visited. Loud electronic music blasted through the bar, which normally isn’t our favourite but definitely added to the experience. It definitely wasn’t a place to grab a quiet drink or two with friends as the music was noisy and the mood was charged with a competitive spirit. This made it an ideal spot for turning up before a night out, which was exactly what we were looking for.

BOX Taipei has a decent enough selection of food and drinks, with standard prices for the area. The cocktails were nothing special — we tried the tequila sunrises ($300) and whiskey sours ($350) and thought they were pretty meh — but simpler drinks like gin & tonics ($250) came to our table fast, so we quickly switched over to those. The minimum charge per person was $350, which included food and drinks, so we also decided to get something to eat. After some deliberation, we chose the English fish & chips ($320) to share between a few people. To our surprise, it was delicious. It wasn’t exactly authentic, but both the fries and the fish were crispy and seasoned perfectly, making a great snack to share while we butchered some virtual zombies.

Check out the full menu down below:

We had the best time at BOX Taipei. In all honesty, we had low expectations when we first went because we assumed it would be crowded or gimmicky or full of hidden costs, but in reality it was none of those things. Maybe we just got lucky because it had opened fairly recently and was still relatively unknown, but in our experience we didn’t have to wait too long for drinks or for a game, and there was no restriction on how many times we could play or what we could use our $350 minimum spend on. The atmosphere was lively and fun, and we had an absolute blast playing the VR games.

What’s the vibe?

Modern looking bar with lots of neon, intense trance music, and four virtual reality systems that you can jump on and play without restriction. Customers are mostly groups of young Taiwanese friends.

Worth it?

The $350 minimum spend was extremely worth it! We couldn’t believe how awesome this place was, and we felt that it was very reasonably priced considering how much fun we had.

Would you go back?

Absolutely! We had an amazing time, and can’t wait to recreate the experience with different friends.

Last updated March 2020