No cinnamon, no icing.
There, I said it.
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Yes they do indeed suck. They also have some sort of dubious sweetening syrup (itās not sugarāwhat is this?) and no discernible cinnamon taste. 
Guy
The worst part is that theyāre dry. Itās like eating cinnamon toast without the butterā¦or the cinnamon. Canāt say that Iāve ever had a good cinnamon roll in Taiwan, which is probably good for my waistline.
Is it a conscious decision and do they do it for the local taste or a conscious decision to save money or something or is it an unconscious decision?
I wouldnāt doubt that skimping on the cinnamon is a cost-saving measure. And itās easier to just drizzle some corn syrup on the thing than to give it a proper frosting.
Also, itās a truism that the Taiwanese tend to like their drinks much sweeter than Westerners and their pastries drier and less sweet. I think itās telling that Taiwanese usually call pastries ābread,ā as itās kind of all the same to them. The pastries arenāt sweet enough (and donāt have enough butterā¦or even real butter at all), and the bread is too sweet.
Then again, it seems like itās harder to get a decent cinnamon roll in the U.S. these days. I blame Cinnabon.
Hey make it in a factory in Xindian. Yum.
Man the coffee is great in taiwan but the pastries suck.
Itās not that they donāt like nice parties, they mostly donāt know what real pastries taste like.
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For sure. Iām very satisfied with the coffee choices available these days, and the pastries are improving slowly but still mostly pretty sad.
Iām not so sure about that. When I try to turn on Taiwanese friends to good pastries in the U.S., they usually say āToo sweet, too rich.ā
I went into a new Mr. Donut that opened in Banciao, had a coupon for a free coffee if I bought a donut. There was a cinnamon swirl drooler in front, loaded with dark brown cinnamon. I closed my eyes and dreamed of a Cinnabon middle of the bun back in the USA. But once I bit into that āwhatever it wasā I almost spit it back out. The cinnamon was JUST cinnamon, no brown sugar, no butter, The dough part tasted like dry cake. Not my idea of a donut at all. There is a donut place near the wharf in Bali that fries em up with taro filling that are pretty tasty though.
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Why Cinamon roll in Taiwan? You r in TW!!!
Why, when one is transported to Taiwan, would oneās craving for a cinnamon roll magically disappear?
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Agreed. I tried their cinnamon rolls yesterday realizing that I will probably regret even before the purchase. 
Itās not a mistake I would ever make a second time. Now, just looking at their cinnamon rolls gives me a dry, scratchy feeling in my throat.
Why do their basic products (including COFFEE) suck so much? Uni-Presidentāthe local operator of Starbucks in Taiwan, as well as much elseāmay well be hugely profitable, but in terms of delivering a quality product, these guys are like Midas in reverse.*
Guy
[* i.e. able to take GOLD and somehow magically transform it into something far sh*ttier.]
For those of you guys in Taipei, you can give this a try if you are craving a cinnamon roll/donut like snack. Taiwanese style, canāt live up to US style donuts, but sure as hell beats Starbucks.
Two locations for you guys to choose form
I think? Their original flavor has some cinnamon sugar on there.
I was just looking at the pictures. My god, they look like giant deep-fried squid rings!
They arenāt cheap, but I can assure you, they arenāt empty inside like Dunkin Donutā¦donuts in the states.
Iām easily pleased, I like them, but not sure what everyone else will think.
I suppose if you can guarantee they arenāt squid-filled, I can give them a try. How much will one of those faux squid rings set me back?
Just checked. Theyāll cost you a whopping 25NT.
Weird, I remember them being more expensive.
Coolā¦for that price Iāll even try a squid one!
I Googled å°ē£ éŗµå åŗ čę”å· and found four places in Taipei on Google Maps, with a little information on each one, but Iāve never been to any of them, and I donāt know whether they have the kind yāall like.
Reminds me of an old song:
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