Traveler

Food is so good. Feels like each dish is a cult classic but done up nicely. Drinks are stellar with a nod to different cities in Taiwan. They’ve even got a Japanese style drink dispenser but instead of sake you’re getting a tea-infused shot of liquor. Unique anesthetic with a modern take on retro futurism. Friendly staff. Still very new!

Had a great time at this new cocktail spot in midtown. Very new flavor combinations for me as this menu is based off different areas of Taiwan. Shout out to Tyrone and Ed for their excellent hospitality.

Traveler is a Taiwanese pop listening bar, with cocktails and food that tours Taiwanese regions. Try the fried platter! Get any cocktail! Get anything to be honest. There’s a fun shot vending machine for $8 with tea infused shots. This is only 1 concept in this building and on the 1st floor. I can’t wait to come back for the rest of the menu and the other concepts on the other floors!

Loved the concept of this restaurant. They have a small-ish menu but everything was good. My favorite was the braised pork rice, the basil sausage stir fry, and their desserts. They also have great cocktail options. I would come back again!

My partner told me about this place and was able to quickly make a reservation for Traveler during our visit from out of town. We came on a Saturday evening for our 7:15pm reservation and it was packed. The waiting and check-in area is a little confusing, especially when it's crowded. There's a tiny "Wait to be seated" sign that's easy to miss when people are blocking it. It's nice though that there are small drink samples from Gulp that you can sip on while you're waiting. We overhead the employees tell people that it would be a 1.5-2 hour wait without a reservation, but also saw them seat a couple without a reservation right away, even though we showed up early to our reservation and weren't seated until a few minutes after our allotted time. For the dining area, there are tables for two along the wall as well as larger high top tables and some bar seating. If you're seated along the wall, there's not a lot of space to put larger winter coats, and the walkway between the table and the bar seating is quite narrow, so people walking by in their big jackets would occasionally brush against our table. For Mandarin speakers, make sure if you order a cocktail, you pronounce it in a way that the non-Mandarin speaking employees can understand. I ordered the Taichung, pronouncing in Mandarin, but she said Taitung back to me so I had to pronounce it in a way that my relatives from Taichung would be embarrassed to hear. My partner ordered the Taipei. Both drinks were pretty good! I enjoyed the taro foam on mine. We ordered the beef noodle soup, oyster omelette, and basil sausage brothers. The oyster omelette and sausages were great, but we found the noodles too oily, especially compared to a classic beef noodle soup you'd find at any Taiwanese restaurant. I'm glad we gave Traveler a try and I'm happy that Taiwanese cuisine is getting a spotlight, but I wouldn't recommend coming until the hype dies down and they work out their logistical kinks.

ironically we showed up here intending to eat at Gulp, but realized Gulp was takeout-only, so we sat down at Traveler instead (in the same building). i’m very glad we did because the luroufan (their version had a steamed egg on top) was absolutely mindblowingly good, and their tainan arancini (an italian taiwanese fusion appetizer) was also extremely delicious. we devoured both in about 10 min or less. i personally didn’t care as much for the oyster omelette - the oysters were quite small and expectations were high since the dish had a special 30-minute wait, but didn’t quite live up to it. nonetheless overall great experience, vibes 12/10, service friendly, luroufan top-of-the-world. would def come back to try other dishes + the drinks!

Great Taiwanese food with delicious cocktails. On the way out, they have a tea cocktail drink dispenser for $8 a shot! Super fun but seating seems tough here for more than 4 people. They have a bar upstairs but it's first come first serve.

Absolutely fantastic addition to a block that needed a bit of revitalization. The drinks are inventive, thoughtful, and delicious. Every bite (we got the braised platter and the scallion pancake sausage rolls) was a balanced delivery of flavor and texture. I was not familiar with Taiwanese food before but my interest is piqued!