Come Buy

If for some strange reason you haven't heard, Taiwan "invented" Bubble Tea. Yes, the delicious drink that has huge tapioca in it. If you haven't had it before, you most certainly are missing out. I think it's the mixture of refreshing tea and the strange texture of the tapioca.

 

 

Bubble tea was born in the 1980's in Taiwan and is still a daily staple in the hot and humid climate. It's made it's way all around the world, in coffee shops and bubble tea cafes. In fact, before traveling to Taiwan, I took my mom to a bubble tea shop near us! Although she didn't buy a drink, she DID try some of mine and she liked it! It goes to show that you should try things even if you think that you won't like it. Nevertheless, she just had a sip of it, and decided she liked the triple chocolate cake instead. Fair enough.

 

Anyway, although there are many chains of bubble tea shops, I prefer Come Buy. Probably because this one is right near my work and the people are so nice (they let me practice my Chinese with them). There is an unlimited amount of ways you can get your tea. I'm a creature of habit so I get Black Tea with the tapioca without sugar or ice. I find that the tapioca is sweet enough for me.

If you don't some how substitute the drink for some healthier options, you'll soon find yourself holding a 500 calorie drink when all you wanted was something to tide you over.

If you're feeling adventurous, there are several other options you chose from such as beans, ice cream, flavored tapioca, coconut jelly, etc.

Bottoms up!

Dante me!

Like promised, I'm going to blog about some amazing finds, places you should go and others that you shouldn't. On today's edition, Dante Coffee. Dante coffee is a chain here in Taiwan that has really just caught on recently. Much like Starbucks, it's on every corner and it's always packed. Starbucks is where you can find younger, college/high school students, this is the place where you find young professionals or older people enjoying a tea or coffee (and believe me they will sit here all day).

 

Dante's website

 

I attached their website for further information on what Dante is all about and where you can find them in Taiwan (as if they are hard to find or something). Coffee was a luxury in in Taiwan several years back, and was very hard to come by. Today, there are plenty of shops and cafes and the prices range greatly. Overall, though, coffee is extremely expensive for the mere fact that..

 

1) People don't really drink coffee, they drink tea.

2) They have to import coffee, and they can grow tea leaves (tea) here.   

3) They don't have a severe addiction to it like I do.

 

I find it an excellent place to just relax and get some work done. Unlike Starbucks, it's not very loud, it's simple, and not quite as expensive as Starbucks.

 

I recommend getting their Dante Special if you like strong coffee. I have absolutely no idea what is in it, but it tastes like a jumbo cup of espresso and I say HELL YEAH to that!

 

Cheers!

 

 

Solemio Restaurant

I found this restaurant on a late night stroll earlier this week. I walked to it, but if you're taking the MRT get off at the Xinpu MRT stop and go out exit 1. Once you hit the road you'll come face to face with a night market which has really really cheap clothing. Actually, before going to Solemio you might want to work up an appetite and shop around for a bit! Anyway, after you exit, go left. You will come to a large road right before the main road. Turn left down it and go about two blocks. The restaurant will be on your left. As you can see below..it's pretty hard to miss.

 

Now, for the good stuff: The food. The place was adorable and small. There were probably only about 15 tables so I would go at a time that less people will be there (I got there around 830pm). The best part you ask? The menu had English on it! They have an array of food to choose from so everyone will be happy. They have risotto dishes, pesto dishes, pumpkin sauce dishes, among several other sauce types. It's definitely a pasta place so leave your diet at the door.

The place was very reasonably priced as well! I had the chicken pesto pasta dish and it came with a drink, a slice of table bread, and soup. All of that came to around $6! If you would get that same meal in the States, you would have easily spent $15 or more.

So, if you're in the area, I would DEFINATELY stop in and grab sometime to eat. I know I will be heading back here soon!

La Crema

Last week I decided to roam around to try and find a new place to eat/read. I ended up at La Crema, absolutely nowhere near where I live! Again, this was a café type place (apparently that's my favorite type of place). It opened in 1999, so it's been up and going for awhile now. The café itself was impressive with a cozy sit at bar surrounded by some hipsters, and a cushiony bench area toward the back (which I preferred). I sat down and ordered, or at least tried to.

 

 

 I ordered cookies and a double espresso.

Whatever you do, do NOT order the cookies, they tasted like cardboard, were tiny,

and cost an arm and a leg!

Secondly, don't order a double espresso. It was the smallest double espresso

and completely over priced as well.

 

WARNING: They also only take cash so make sure you bring your cash monies if you want to buy anything. If it wasn't for their hospitality and friendly smiles, I probably would have hated this place, but they were fantastic. I needed to charge my phone and they moved a table over near an outlet so I could! I ended up staying for awhile, charged my phone, read my book, and relaxed. Overall, the café was nice, just a little pricey.

 

 

 

                                       

Grandma Nitti's Kitchen

My love for coffee is no secret; I'm addicted to it. The problem with that is that I could easily down three cups without thinking about it, and have no money for food. So, a friend told me about Grandma Nitti's Kitchen. It's a small, modern diner that serves everything western, and I LOVE it. It's actually become my little obsession. It's pretty hard to find (or at least I thought so at first) so here's the address:
8, Lane 93, ShiDa Rd., Taipei, Taiwan 106
02 2369 9751 10:00 am - 11:00 pm

It's one of the side road off the Guting Market main road, almost right across from Burger King (ha!). Upon walking up to it you will find an adorable patio, and a massive amount of flowers. If you are nervous about going into places that don't speak English, don't fret, they all speak English here. The diner is two stories high, with the open kitchen on the ground level. I prefer the upstairs seating area, mainly because there are outlets that I can plug all my gadgets in. The unlimited coffee is suppose to only last for 2 hrs, but I spend all day here and they never say anything to me so that's amazing. To top it all off they have REAL desserts, like ones that actually have taste. My first time here I had carrot cake and it was phenomenal; I wouldn't go as far as to say that it was better than my mom's, but it was pretty darn good.

 

 And their breakfasts look a little like this... delicious right?



Typically, American or any other restaurant that isn't Chinese, don't really stick around too long but this place has been around for 25 years! That right there says a lot..
The downside is that it's pretty expensive compared to other places. My breakfast of two pancakes, eggs, sausage, mushrooms, and coffee was $10.19, an unheard amount of money for any type of food around here, but I think that unlimited coffee with it, is completely worth it.

On top of all of that awesomeness...they have a cat AND a dog that hang out here! I love the "homey" feel of this place and the owner is always here, always smiling.

So moral of the story..this place is definitely a place that you need to visit when you're in Taipei. If not for the food, for the people, because they are all so nice and welcoming. As long as you don't come everyday you won't go broke! So come eat some burgers, fries and milkshakes, you won't be disappointed!