Category: taipei

Juicy Diary

Add: 1F., No. 68, Lane 233 Dunhua S. Road, Taipei / 台北市大安區敦化南路一段233巷68號1樓
Tel: (02) 8771 4358
Hours: [Tue-Sat] 11am-7pm [Sun] 3-7pm (closed on Mon)
Website: juicydiary.com.tw
Price: 250 NTD/bottle
Visited: Feb 2015

I’ve known Mark for a while – over 10 years, perhaps? – and I’ve always categorized him in the “fashion” crowd. I mean, we are talking about a guy who went to Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, whose resume reads YSL, Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Giorgio Armani…so it was a complete surprise when he messaged me one day and said, “Hey, I’m moving back to Taiwan to open a detox juice shop.”

What?

But he really did. Together with his wife Anita, Mark started Juicy Diary in Taipei in October 2014. This, however, is no ordinary juice bar that you can find on the streets of Taipei. For one, the technology they use for extracting juices is completely different from the traditional method, which is to blend fruits and vegetables through high-speed cutting. The blending process heats and oxidizes the fruits, and as a result many essential vitamins, enzymes, proteins, and minerals are lost. Juicy Diary, on the other hand, uses imported cold-press juicing machines to extract juice directly from the pulp through pressure, which minimizes oxidation and preserves the maximum amount of nutrients.

Other than individual bottles, Juicy Diary also offers juice sets for those who are in need of a cleanse. To be honest, juice cleanse was probably the last thing on my mind when I visited Taipei because all I could think about is how to stuff my face with all these food that I won’t see for another year or more…plus it was Chinese New Years holiday, which means justified/obligatory overeating. But perhaps I really overdid it, and I somehow found myself at Juicy Diary on the last day of my trip, feeling in need of a break from food.

For recipes, Mark and Anita work with professional nutritionists and use only organic produce, local or imported, and it goes without saying that there are no artificial additives. The bottles (all priced at 250 NTD) are categorized into four groups – Citrus, Roots, Greens, and Nuts – and I sampled quite a few on this first visit, including Citrus 2 (pineapple, cucumber, lemon, apple, mint, chia seeds), Roots 3 (oranges, apple, carrots, celery, parsley), Roots 4 (beets, pineapple, lemon), and Green 6 (kale, orange). I went home with a bottle of Citrus 2, which ended up being my last meal in Taipei and made me feel all light and airy….until I flew off to Phuket for more overeating, d’oh.

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