Write something: Brunch in Taichung

It was perfect timing that most of my family had days off during the time I was back home. Sister and I both loved exploring coffee shops / brunch spots, mom sometimes joined but didn't like staying at one place for too long. I was actually surprised by how many interesting coffee shops there were in Taichung.

春水堂 Chun Shui Tang tea house (until 10:30am, ~ NTD 110)

The first boba place I had to go every time I came back to Taiwan. Last order for breakfast menu at 10:30am. The menu was not too big, about 5 items and mostly thick toasts and bread. My favorite was the garlic toast, with malt milk tea. It also came with a small salad and an egg & ham, Taiwanese style. There was no wifi here, but this tea house started as a place for people to sit down and chat over a boba tea, so was the vibe still now. This is the original Chun Shui Tang, and theoretically the first boba tea shop.

This tea house has the best boba tea I've ever had. I am more of a milk tea than boba person so it might be a bit stressed on the tea part, but I really could taste the tea flavor in the background with the lightly sweet milk. The drink was refreshing every time. I've had different flavors like the malt, matcha, and other tea base. Malt flavor sort of became my thing last trip, but I haven't got disappointed by other options.

『This little tea house bears some of my junior high and high school memories as well, years before it got famous and more chain stores sprung up. One time was a junior high school reunion, I still remembered getting a bowl of kung fu noodles. It was a lunch or an afternoon tea, and we got most of the space downstairs, a wooden big table in a tatami room?』

malt and red bean milk tea

rose bread + egg & ham

Mapper Cafe (NTD 200-300 for brunch)

This was a random adventure. Sister and I almost missed the place, while mom recognized this place from the full size bed outside. Bed from a cafe? Anyone walking by would probably have thought this place a furniture shop. Sounds very random, but it sort of made sense after receiving the menu from a suitcase.

these cards are menu :D

The brunch menu has 3 options: Taiwanese/Japanese/American style. Mom, sister and I got each of them, Japanese style for me. We all got Americano with milk. Japanese style included a pork rice burger, tofu salad, soup, egg and 羊羹 (some sweet jelly cake) for dessert. The coffee set was unique, with sugar and milk in tubes. Every item was pretty good, I liked the sesame tofu salad and egg a lot.

This cafe felt more like a creative studio. They had only two or three tables at the time, up to 15 customers was my guess. I read that the owner came back to open this cafe after a few years of traveling. I liked the design of this coffee shop, it had a mix of Asian and modern style interior. Cozy place to do some work or reading if not in a hurry (& of course when this place has spots open).

sesame tofu salad

pork rice burger, egg & sausage, and soup of the day

Americano experiment

Good Days (NTD 200-300)

Sister found this place, a coffee shop under the lavender cottage (one of the two female founders just passed away two years ago :|). The Chinese name is 好好, literally meaning good good but two "women" after breaking down the characters. The shop sold mini local organic products inside, with artsy interior.

女子女子 :-)

sister reading a book

pretty serious about their coffee

The brunch menu was western fusion, I got the pork sandwich - Taiwanese style. Mom had the bagel, and sister had tacos. Other than the local organic mini shop, it also had a tall bookshelf and a garden. A lot of thoughts into the design, we would totally have stayed here longer if not hurrying for the "Whiplash" movie - which turned out not very impressive, ah.

black soy milk toast with a cat

Taiwanese style pork sandwich and bagel breakfast

tacos + single origin

Naked Cafe (NTD 200-300)

An international brand - pretty localized here while serving pretty good western food. I had the mushroom baguette with cheese and a cup of coffee. It was a more normal coffee shop compared to the previous two, but there were classic design items over the shop. Of course, something not to miss was their two cuddly bears <3 (with "the naked cafe" clothes on lol).