Thanks for pointing to that thread. Thought it would have been discussed elsewhere.
Cheap, easy to manage money makers. Don’t need highly trained employees. Easy to move around to new place. Mostly unregulated but that is changing.
really? i was told coffee was brought over in Japanese times, my gf told me her grandparents used to go to cafes, it was the in thing at the time, or something like that.
I wouldn’t say it was the ONLY place you could get a coffee, but the alternatives were fancy sit down coffee shops that wanted like US$3 or more for a cup of drip.
A certain kind of Taiwanese likes to make up stories that portray the period of Japanese occupation as some sort of paradise.
I remember back then there were lots of fancy cafes selling cups of “single origin” coffee for NT$300 plus a pop, and they all tasted like they leaked out of the same carburator.
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Yeah, I think @MikeN1 was meaning that 7-11 was (virtually) the only place where you could get a reasonably priced road coffee, which was definitely the case.
Yep. The only thing missing was cigarette ashes from a middle-aged waitress wearing too much make-up.
Calling you “hon”.
which part is made up? and i can’t blame the guy from preferring going out for a cup of coffee than going to jail(what happened to him after kmt arrived).
Yes. You still have one or two Japanese era cafes in Dadaocheng area. They were the literary elite gets together to discuss art, politics, philosophy and independence issues. Hence, most were banned/otherwise banished after the war.
There is one still there, obviously a shadow of itself. Boheme, Bolero…Something with a b. We wrote an article about it. Also, the History Museum also set an exhibition around coffee a few years ago. I have the pictures. Yes, coffee was around before 711 and it was cultivated in the island. However, I think it could have beenintroduced by the Dutch.
711 made it popular with the masses. Now let’s see who introduced burgers as suitable breakfast meals. McD?
And yes, if you compare Xindian in the Japanese era, with Kyoto like small rivers lined with sakura, instead of sealed off or worse open sewers…
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What about Fong Da coffee over at Ximending?
I hear that one has been around for awhile too. Not so much Japanese era, but…before 7-11 era.
Their coffee is pretty lame, but I like their almond cookies.
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pork rinds are in ever Filipino market
I don’t remember but a couple places to get coffee in Hsinchu when I arrived. And it tasted awful. It’s fantastic now.
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I love their almond cookies.
Fong Da makes a pretty ferocious cup of Dark Roasted Mandeling coffee. Paired with the never-boring task of people watching in the shop (an ecclectic mix of old school Wanhua types, crusty servers, and tourists based in Ximending), it’s pretty close to perfection. : D Too bad this place has become so popular with visitors that it’s now a pain in the @ss to get a table.
Guy
Yeah I get takeaway beans from there, not bad reasonable prices too, was busy last time I looked as well.
Bloody tourists cheek of them coming in and drinking our coffee and spending money lol.
Key cafe outlets also have very good quality coffee beans in my experience.
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I agree that the scene is interesting…there’s always some serious characters there. But I’ve never had good coffee at that place. I suppose I can try a cup of the Mandeling next time I’m there to pick up some almond cookies.
I like their “Cuban Blue Mountain”. I used to always get my beans there, but the Carrefour is easier now