Café Puzzle Caffeine

Yuki has been wishing to try this cafe out for a while. With the popularity of cafe's around Taipei and the need to make them unique and attractive to the Taiwanese, this one is no different. The owners created a puzzle cafe. Coffee/Tea + Puzzles. Walking in, you'll experience a quiet and rarely busy room with large tables accompanied by an eclectic selection of comfortable "flee market" chairs. They're not cheap chairs, just chairs i'd see in an old grandparents home in the States. I'd say the furniture reminds me of the old tudor style. Moving on to their menu, they offer a nice selection of coffee, espressos, traditional teas and fruit teas. I believe they have some snacks you can order in case you want something to nibble on while your fingers are puzzling away. Prices range from $140+. The large tables really make for a nice surface for those big puzzles. Note: Pick a puzzle appropriate for your table realty. Unfortunately you cannot save your puzzle in case you can't finish it. So come in with some help :). Or go across the street to the puzzle store (same company) and buy a puzzle to bring home.

Café Puzzle Caffeine (拼圖咖啡因)
106台灣台北市中正區泰順街44巷28號
No. 28, Lane 44, Tàishùn St, Daan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106
(02)2362-0859
http://newweb.renoirpuzzle.com.tw/

Cafe Trouve

Cafe Trouve, another old colonial-era Japanese house turned espresso cafe. Not that it's a bad thing. They each have their own appeal and comfort. This one is near my school at Shida (師大). It's not in the night market but close by it and definitely walking distance from it. As Yuki mentioned, it's an old wooden Japanese house used as Taida (台大大學) faculty housing before and in May 2011 was converted to an espresso cafe. Although you wouldn't know it unless you looked up or at some of the support beams. The old logs of wood criss-crosses everywhere to form the skeletal structure of the roof. What's unique about this place, is the small antiques store at the back of the store. Walking through it, they're mostly antique oddities from the United States, Europe or Russia (yes, russia). I found that odd to find russian antiques in Taipei. They also have a few black & white photos framed on the wall to enjoy. The coffee was great and so are the fruit slushes. It was a hot day, so slushes and A/C was just comforting. Coming to this nice cafe though, expect a wait time. We lucked out at 2 minutes, but it was pretty packed. On the other hand, it was a sunday afternoon and 4 tables were reserved for a large party. Prices run around the typical Taipei cafe prices of $150-200. Here's the location and website info below as well as a google image from Catherine Shu of the Taipei Times.

Cafe Trouve (找到咖啡)
台北市大安區泰順街16巷4號
No. 4, Lane 16, Tàishùn St, Daan District
Taipei City, Taiwan 106
Sunday - Thursday 10AM-11PM
Friday - Saturday 10AM-Midnight
http://cafetrouve.blogspot.com

Waffles are better at Melange Cafe

My friend wanted to head out to a coffee shop after dinner tonight. So I brought her to Melange Cafe. She was talking about Coffee Alley, but from my experiences there, it was less than satisfying. Arriving at Melange Cafe, it immediately looked better than Coffee Alley. Less cramped, no narrow steep stairways to walk up and no one and a half hour wait. Melange even has a cool large drip coffee maker. I don't know how to describe it. It's a bunch of giant glass balls stacked and connected to each other like a chemist lab. Also, the bathrooms are through the curtains in the back of the restaurant. You'll have to guess approximately where the door is because there's no indicator. Anyways, on to the food. The waffles were more thinner, which is a good thing. Coffee Alley's waffle was too thick and doughy. And the coffee at Melange is far more superior. Maybe the person at Coffee Alley that made my coffee was having an off day. I tried the drip coffee as recommended by one of my Taiwanese friends. She said it's their specialty and shouldn't be overlooked. The one cool thing about it, is that they include an extra ice cube of espresso. So when the ice melts, it doesn't dilute your coffee. Genius! We all ordered some different dishes and tasted each others desserts. I have to say the desserts are all well crafted. Not too sweet and not too unbalanced with the flavor. They usually include the caramel, sugar or chocolate in a separate miniature pitcher, so you can add more if you want. One bad thing I have to say is, the waffles come a little naked (void of sauce). The presentation could use some work. Pricing is around $150-300. So with a coffee and a snack, you're looking around $350. I'd definitely come back here again when I'm in the area.


Melange Cafe
No. 23號, Lane 16, Section 2, Zhōngshān North Road
Jhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 104