In a Nutshell
Starting it off with Din Tai Fung: Xinyi branch (鼎泰丰：信义店) – the first and original store where the awesome xiao long baos (小笼包) were born; followed by a series of cafes: Nom Nom, Matcha One – a green tea themed cafe; Stoppage Time (补时), and lastly Café Trouve (找到咖啡).
Woke up late again hahaha,,, Freaking slept at 4am busy making video and learning Jay Park's 'All I Wanna Do' dance routine. Went back to 365台湾小吃 for breakfast, their oyster omelette is so addictive! Also ordered a small bowl of braised pork rice, their food is just so good!
First I went to Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰). This Xinyi branch is the very first store and did you know Din Tai Fung did not started out selling xiao long baos? They started out as a cooking oil retailer. When tinned cooking oil became widely accepted in the 1980s, their business started to decline. In order to survive, the owner Mr Yang and his wife turned half the shop into making and selling xiao long baos. The dumplings became so popular that they stopped selling oil and turned the store into a full fledged restaurant. Today, Din Tai Fung can be found in many countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Australia, Malaysia, and many more.
The place was flooded with people and waiting time was 70mins! I opted for sharing table so I probably only waited for about 5-10mins. I am surprised that the servers here are so multi-lingual! Apart from Mandarin, they can speak English, Korean and Japanese so well! Since I had already eaten, I had a small portion of pork xiao long baos and a hot shrimp and pork wonton soup. Back in Singapore, xiao long baos are eaten with black vinegar and ginger shreds. But over here, it's a mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar and ginger shreds. Since I am so used to eating it with black vinegar, I think Singapore's Din Tai Fung is better.
Din Tai Fung 鼎泰丰
No. 194, Section 2, Xinyi Road, Da’an District, Taipei City
台北市大安区信义路2段194号
Opening hrs: 10am-9pm (Mon-Fri), 9am-9pm (Sat-Sun)
Subway: Dongmen Station Exit 5 (line 2 red, line 4 yellow)
#1: So many people waiting to go in! But in fact the actual crowd is a lot more!!
#2: Pork Xiaolongbao, NTD105 (5pcs) = SGD4.75.
#3: Shrimp and Pork Wanton Soup, NTD170 = SGD7.70.
Next, I went to Matcha One, a matcha-themed cafe. Didn't expect it to be so popular and had to wait for a seat! So after dropping my name down, I head over to Nom Nom first, just three lanes away. This place is really vintage and a nice place to calm your senses down. Ordered a cappuccino and it came overly dusted with cocoa powder! Or is this how they serve their cappuccino? But their coffee was good so no complains.
Nom Nom
No. 137, Chaozhou Street, Da’an District, Taipei City
台北市大安区潮州街137号
Opening hrs: 9am-10pm
Subway: Guting Station Exit 5 (line 3 green, line 4 yellow)
#4: Nom Nom.
#5: The overly-dusted Cappuccino, NTD130 = SGD5.90.
#6: A really cozy corner at the side of the cafe.
About a half an hour wait, finally Matcha One called me! The place is really pretty and all their desserts look so matcha-ly delicious! Had a dilemma on what to order and eventually settled with a Matcha Adzuki Crepe Cake and Matcha Drops. The cake was really really good, probably the BEST matcha dessert I have ever had! Matcha Drops on the other hand was disappointing... It's Iced Matcha Milk with Pearl, pretty to look at but taste diluted.
Matcha One
No. 16, Lane 75, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei City
台北市大安区永康街75巷16号
Opening hrs: 12:30pm-9:30pm
Subway: Da'an Park Station (line 2 red)
#7: Matcha One.
#8: Matcha Drops, NTD160 = SGD7.25.
#9: Matcha Adzuki Crepe Cake, NTD180 = SGD8.15.
I was so full that I kind of started to feel lethargic. Took a walk to Da'an Park (大安森林公园) and it's really nice to just sit in the cold and enjoy the natural breeze. While this is something that you can't do in Singapore as it is always hot and humid. Da'an Park is a huge park measuring 26 hectares. It is built to serve the same purpose like New York's Central Park and London's Hyde Park. It consists of ponds, pavilions, strolling paths, amphitheatre, playground and many other recreational facilities; and is home to animals like squirrels, ducks and turtles. Due to its desirable views, the apartments surrounding the park fetch premium prices up to NTD400 million! After resting for about an hour or so, I continued on with my cafehopping...
Da'an Park 大安森林公园
No. 1, Section 2, Xinsheng South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City
台北市大安区新生南路2段1号
Subway: Da'an Park Station (line 2 red)
#10: Da'an Park.
Third cafe stop is Stoppage Time (补时). A really simple and cozy cafe. Many camree here to study or on their laptops. The servers here are less friendly and they don't even bother tying up their long hair! There is this guy with such long shoulder length hair and it's covering all over his face. Even when he's making coffee, his hair is all over the place. It's so unhygienic. While, minimally I think he should at least tuck his hair behind his ears if he don't want to tie his hair. It's also rude to serve customers looking like this. It's like 'I don't give a shit'. I had a hot chocolate and a chestnut cake (Mont Blanc), which are really good and I strongly recommend them, especially the cake!
Stoppage Time 补时
No. 30, Alley 15, Lane 96, Section 2, Heping East Road, Da’an District, Taipei City
台北市大安区和平东路2段96巷15弄30号
Opening hrs: 11am-11pm
Subway: Technology Building Station (line 1 brown)
#11: Stoppage Time.
#12: Chestnut Cake, NTD140 = SGD6.35.
And the last stop of the day, Café Trouve (找到咖啡). Was expecting a small wood house as seen on Google, but turns out they have shifted to a new address just 200m down the road where 台大 (Taiwan University) is. Kind of disappointed as now they reside at the 2nd floor. Well what draws me to visit this cafe was definitely the exterior design and nothing else. By the time of arrival at 8pm, the kitchen has already closed, so I ordered a mocha. What says on the menu was '棉花糖摩卡' and 'Cotton Candy Mocha', but turns out the '棉花糖' that they are referring to is marshmallow and not cotton candy. So misleading and this is what happens when they translate it incorrectly. #feelsocheated I thought it's gonna look so pretty with fairy floss sitting on a cup of hot mocha! Oh wells... Got some Ay Chung mee sua, 山猪肉台湾香肠 (Wild Boar Taiwan Sausage, taste normal though) and 三吉外卖's popular 炭烤鸡腿 (Charcoal-grilled Chicken Thigh, super good!) back at Ximending before heading back!
Café Trouve 找到咖啡
No, 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Da’an District, Taipei City
台北市大安区罗斯福路4段1号
Opening hrs: 10:30am-9pm (Mon-Thu), 10:30am-10pm (Fri), 9:30am-10pm (Sat-Sun)
Subway: Gongguan Station Exit 3 (line 3 green)
Instagram: @cafetrouve
#13: Cafe Trouve.
#14: Mocha, NTD170 = SGD7.70.
Expenses for the Day
Braised Pork Rice (small): NTD25
Oyster Omelette: NTD60
Din Tai Fung Pork Xiaolongbao: NTD105 (5pcs)
Shrimp and Pork Wonton Soup: NTD170
Nom Nom, Cappuccino: NTD130
Matcha One, Matcha Drops: NTD160
Matcha Adzuki Crepe Cake: NTD180
Stoppage Time, Hot Chocolate: NTD150
Chestnut Cake: NTD140 (-NTD30 for cake and drink set) = NTD110
Cafe Trouve, Mocha: NTD170
Ay Chung Mee Sua (small): NTD50
Wild Boar Taiwan Sausage: NTD40 x 2 = NTD80
Charcoal-grilled Chicken Thigh: NTD90
Total Expenses for Day 5: NTD1,480 = SGD67.25
Previous Total Expenses: SGD1,198.26
Current Total Expense: SGD1,265.51