When the two-star RAW closed its doors on Lequn 3rd Road in 2024, the same street did not stay quiet for long. A few hundred metres away, in the NOKE Zhongtaile complex, Thomas Bühner had already opened La Vie — and in the MICHELIN Guide Taiwan 2025 it took a star of its own. Bühner is no newcomer: at his original La Vie in Osnabrück, Germany, he held three Michelin stars for years before bringing the name, and his cooking, to Taipei.
The Kitchen
The format is a fixed seasonal tasting menu, eleven courses at NT$8,988 or a shorter six at NT$5,988, both before a 10% service charge. Bühner's style is modern European built on prime produce and clean, layered technique rather than spectacle; day-to-day the pass is run by chef Xavier Yeung. Across a meal you might meet New Zealand venison cooked with restraint, and the dessert course is where the kitchen signs its name: a souffléed chocolate tart served with savoury black truffle ice cream, and the Petit Gugelhupf à la 'La Vie' with vanilla ice cream and a cognac sabayon.
The menu changes with the season, so dishes rotate, but the discipline does not. This is precise, ingredient-led cooking aimed at people who want a long, considered dinner rather than a quick one, and the wine list — a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence holder — is built to match.
The Room
La Vie sits on the first floor of the NOKE Zhongtaile development in Zhongshan, a calm, contemporary dining room a short walk from Jiannan Road MRT. Tables are well spaced, the lighting is low and the pace is unhurried over a tasting menu that runs to several hours. Service is formal without being stiff. Dress smart; this is a special-occasion room rather than a drop-in.
Best to Impress Clients
Book La Vie when the dinner has to land: a client you want to win, a proposal, a milestone birthday. The Michelin star and Bühner's three-star pedigree do the signalling, the tasting-menu format keeps the evening structured, and the quiet room lets a real conversation happen between courses. Reserve the longer menu, add the wine pairing, and let the kitchen set the rhythm.
Not for
Not for a casual walk-in, a quick bite, or a budget evening. There is no à la carte — you commit to a multi-hour tasting menu from roughly NT$6,000 before service and wine — and the European fine-dining register will not suit a table looking for Taiwanese cooking or a relaxed, informal night.