I used to write at least 500 words a day, which is pretty unbelievable considering now I write <50 words a day, and half of them are just incoherent rambles. I still wonder where my life would’ve headed if I had been more stubborn in pursuing a career in creative writing (probably poor and living at home). It was one of the few things I was passionate about — I would “collect” words and phrases to use, craft different writing prompts just to experiment with new genres and styles, and wrote my first (albeit embarrassingly bad, if I read it now!) 120,000 word novel in high school, having committed five years to developing the characters and plot. I participated in just about every writing competition I could find and actively read popular YA novels in jealousy.
But I don’t write anymore. I still sometimes map out storylines in my head and I think about jotting them down — but I don’t. I’m hella lazy now, and my ability to use words has deteriorated to a state that can only be described as pre-SATs level. I feel like I’m getting robbed from my vocabulary bank and I find myself repeating certain choice phrases for weeks just because my mind can’t conjure up any other synonyms.
I have another hobby now. It’s photography (and I’m still pretty bad at it). This is my first post on Medium, and I wanted a place to showcase all the photos I’ve taken at coffee shops around Taipei during my one-month stay this summer. One thing to remember about Taiwanese coffee shops is that they are as expensive (if not more) than their American counterparts — which is strange since food in Taiwan generally costs a lot less than food in America (think $3–6 for a full meal). But only the coffee! The lattes easily go for ~$6 but the pastries and baked goods served at the cafes are still cheap (<$3 for waffles, pie slices, sandwiches, etc).
1. Elephant Machine Coffee
Pros: can study here, spacious, amazing lattes | Cons: honestly none, I love this place
Elephant Machine is located inside the alleyways of Yongkang Jie. It was a bit hard to find for me (although we were standing right in front of it) because it’s gated/walled off from the street and I’m practically blind. There’s a less popular coffee shop right across and the owner kept asking us if we wanted their coffee instead while we were spinning around trying to locate Elephant Machine on Google Maps — I wonder if they’ve been able to poach some lost customers yet!
Elephant Machine might be my favorite café in all of Taipei: its interior is minimalistic, its exterior is green, the tables are big, and there’s Wi-Fi. The latte was also on point. I ordered a honey latte and my sister ordered a latte with the milk “sitting on top” of the coffee. We were told not to drink it with a straw or mix it so that we could taste the milk and the coffee separately. I’m pretty sure the milk was like 50% cream because it tasted like ice cream.
2. Xiao Mijiu Cafe
Pros: can study here | Cons: not too spacious, bit pricey for the quality of drinks, no-talking rule
Also located inside Yongkang Jie, this coffee shop is primarily for studying. It was eerily silent when we entered since it has a no-talking rule, so we opted to sit outside instead (big mistake, sweat was literally cascading down our foreheads). I wasn’t too impressed with the drinks and thought that it was a bit pricey, especially with Elephant Machine just a couple of steps away.
3. Ciao Ciao Scones
Pros: great food and drinks, can study here, spacious | Cons: none, I love this place!
So this isn’t so much a coffee shop as it is a scones shop, but it does have a large coffee/tea selection and I’ve spotted people doing work on their laptops here. Checks my two requirements for being a coffee shop! That being said, please come here for the scones. They are so flakey and buttery and delicious, and the lattes are tasty as well. Also, the scones are actually biscuits, but whatever.
We ordered a set of two scones (it comes with homemade whipped cream and jam if you order the set of 2, I think), one original and one matcha, and also got a salt & brown sugar latte and a matcha latte. They sprinkled a mixture of salt & brown sugar on the latte and then torched it to form a beautifully caramelized, crispy top. When you drink the latte (they warned us not to drink it with a straw!), the saltiness of the mixture really pairs well with the sweetness of the coffee. This is a must try. I thought the matcha latte was delicious as well — not too sweet so that you can still taste the grassiness of the matcha. Between the matcha and original flavored scones, I thought that the original scone was the clear winner.
4. Paper St. Coffee Company
Pros: black and white aesthetics if you’re into that | Cons: not too spacious, small selection of drinks, can study here but there’s only 1 big table
This coffee shop is pretty plain. It’s very small inside, and there’s only one table big enough for studying or doing work. In my opinion, they’ve achieved the bare bones of being a coffee shop in a city bustling with competing coffee shops. I only have a grudge against this place because they kicked us out for not buying another drink! I should’ve known that there’s a minimum order requirement for each person, but they could’ve reminded us when we were ordering instead of approaching us awkwardly 10 minutes later. We hastily packed our stuff and left since it was too late in the day for me to drink coffee.
5. Coffee DPT
Pros: delicious food and drinks, very “instagrammable” | Cons: can’t study here, outdoors so no AC
One of the cutest coffee shops in Taiwan. No debate. And their Instagram is hands down beautiful. However, Coffee DPT is located outdoors and in this summer heat, that makes the coffee almost… not worth it. My friend sought refuge in the clothing store next doors and left me battling the sun alone as I hastily tried to snap pictures before the ice diluted the latte.
DPT also serves cookies and sandwiches! I haven’t tried the sandwiches yet, but the cookies are comparable to Levain’s in NYC. They aren’t as fat, but they’re almost — and they are SO gooey. Definitely coming back here again.
6. Bleu&Book
So I’ve actually never drank coffee here because DPT is located just a few steps away (and it’s cuter! IMO). Bleu&Book was hard to find at first because it’s on the second floor of the park. We went up three different staircases that all led nowhere before finally finding the main staircase. There’s a grand piano in the bookstore and they serve coffee and beer.
I don’t recommend studying here as it has been pretty noisy the two times I’ve been inside, with a steady stream of people shuffling in to browse books. Oh, did I mention it’s also a bookstore?
7. FOMO Coffee
Pros: cheap compared to other coffee options | Cons: can’t study here, not very spacious
Grab and go coffee! Would not recommend sitting down here or doing work, since there’s only 2 tiny circular tables crammed in the back of the shop. FOMO Coffee is definitely on the cheaper side of coffee in Taipei, with lattes around 80NT, while lattes on average are easily double that, around 160NT. FOMO is also known for its cinnamon rolls, which are also <100NT. I thought they were okay. The rolls are pretty bread-y and not fluffy like the ones I’m used to in America.
8. Third Floor Coffee
Pros: very spacious, can study here, great food and drinks | Cons: relatively pricey (above average)
One of the BEST coffee shops in all of Taipei, second to Elephant Machine. I 10000% recommend studying here if you need to get work done. It’s spacious, quiet, and there’s delicious pastries and coffee. The walls are basically windows. There’s SO MUCH LIGHT. I was initially jumping with joy at the thought of capturing some amazing coffee shop photos just simply due to the ample natural light, but the waitress kindly told us that photography isn’t allowed. Like… why not???
I still managed to snap some shots though, although they’re not as good as I’d like them to be. You can tell that there’s plenty of space, unlike most Taipei coffee shops that only have 1–2 big tables. My mom and I ordered regular iced lattes and a piece of pie to share. The pie… It was amazing. I don’t even know how to describe it. The filling tastes exactly like panna cotta with a hint of orange. Overall, we spent 500NT, which is around ~$15.
The only con about this coffee shop besides the no photography rule is that it’s a bit hard to find. It’s on the third floor of a sporting goods store — like, you physically have to walk through two floors of a random store before you can get to the cafe. (I wonder how many people entering the sports store actually shop there.)
9. Swell Co. Cafe
Pros: can study here, very spacious | Cons: food was not delicious yet was pricey
This coffee shop is forever engrained into my mind as a “themed” coffee shop, which I’m very against. However, I’ve read so many great reviews about this place so I decided to give it a try. This is my sister’s favorite coffee shop. There are a few big tables and it’s pretty roomy, so I would say it’s a good location to get some studying done. The Wi-Fi is decent as well.
We ordered a coffee, tea, and one of the lunch entrees which turned out to be a subpar salad with a few chunks of salmon tossed in. I wish I knew what the Chinese description said before I ordered it! The salmon wasn’t seasoned properly and the salad was extremely small — the rice balls were the only saving grace. It was also very expensive (>300NT).
I thought it was cute that the cold brewed tea came in a glass bottle that you can take home with you. I’ve been noticing that as a trend in Taipei. They initially gave us cold brew coffee (which I thought was just very, very dark tea), but I’ve been cutting back on coffee lately so unfortunately had to ask them to exchange it. If I didn’t have to study, I don’t think I’d come back here again for the food.
10. Tamed Fox
Pros: can study here, very spacious, great food and drinks | Cons: very bad lighting
I wrongly assumed that this was a themed cafe before visiting; the inclusion of the word “fox” just automatically conjures up boho fox themes for me. The lighting inside the cafe is not great since most of the tables are shoved in the inner depths of the store. I studied here for about 3 hours, and by the end of those 3 hours I had a throbbing headache from the low light content.
As you all know, Swell Co really dealt a blow to my expectations of cute cafe food in Taiwan. But this food was amazing! They ran out of their smoked salmon items that I’d initially wanted, which I thought was a major red flag (it was like 4 whole items and I got there at like… 11:30am), but I sucked it up and went with a mushroom + egg on toast with a side salad. I thought it was average on the first few bites, but on my fifth or so bite, I was beginning to REALLY enjoy it. The egg was creamy and the mushroom was umami heaven. It was a very Asian twist on a usually western brunch. My mom didn’t really like it, but it was because Tamed Fox was full of Americans (i.e., not genuine Taiwanese food), which might’ve been an uncanny coincidence? Even the waiter spoke English to me!
11. Megane Cafe
Pros: nice staff | Cons: not too spacious, drinks are expensive
Unfortunately, due to poor ordering choices and my general laziness and unwillingness to reorder, I will be ending my coffee shop list on a dim note. Megane wasn’t as impressive as I thought it’d be, and in hindsight I wish I’d taken the opportunity to go elsewhere instead. We had to sit in the patio because the inside was crowded (on a random weekday too), but the lack of AC and the mosquitoes made the place almost insufferable. The drinks were average and the coffee shop was just way too small. Like, “I can barely walk around with my Jansport backpack” small. I ordered an iced matcha (too sugary) and my sister ordered an iced tea. It came out to be around 400NT, which is a whopping $13 USD. I do admit I might’ve ordered the wrong items because I’ve been reading some stellar reviews on their hot tea. We stayed here for about an hour but I could tell that we were both itching to leave. Another thing — they charge 50NT just to use an outlet!
There was excellent service though, I will give you that. The waitress explained the drinks to us and came back with the Wi-Fi password ASAP when we asked for it. They also didn’t look at me annoyedly when I started snapping away, especially with other customers walking around and the space so tight! Kudos to them, that takes a lot of patience.
