-- By Mike Brown Translated by Annie Liu

In opening an innovative restaurant, a restaurateur must ensure that whatever they present will bring back new customers, even after the novelty wears off. The owners of Formosa, located at the corner of BoAi and MingCheng Roads, appear to have kept that in mind when they planned their new restaurant. So far, patrons have been flocking there en masse. Without hesitation, you should as well. Whether it is for the dizzying array of displayed collectibles or for the extensive traditional menu selections.

To experience the novelty of the place, walk down the wide interior 'sidewalk' where you will find the facades of a quintessential main street-a general store, shaved ice shop, drugstore, barbershop and mini post office. Each has windows displaying relics of bygone days that strum the strings of sentimentalism.

Throughout this lofted-ceiling restaurant, you will be bombarded with innumerable authentic antiques. Glass-topped tables all reveal such curios as military medals, 70's childhood toys or lottery tickets from years past. Other notable larger displays of Taiwan's former days include carved wooden moon cake molds, a 50-plus-year-old barber chair and an actual 1960's Golden Horse Lines Bus. Last but not least, the movie room, replete with old time movie posters and two large, very rare, old-fashioned movie projectors, deserves a visit. A variety of classic films are shown by monthly schedule, and include such oldies as 'Gone with The Wind.'

Not to be outdone by all the antiques on display, Formosa's menu also offers much to be considered. Recommended by the owner are dishes such as Plum Chicken with Crispy Skin (NT$230), Grandmother Vegetables (NT$200) and the NT$220 Hakka Stir Fry with Squid. A delicious Hakka Steamed Meat Dish is also worthy of culinary discovery. Such menu treats, in addition to the general atmosphere and cultural relevance of everything on display, ensure that customers will continue coming back even after the initial novelty wears off.