Where to sit, sip and slow down in Taipei.
Coffee shops, bakeries with seats and the places Taipei lingers in over a cortado.
Fika Fika opened 2013 after founder James Chen won the Nordic Roaster Competition, the first non-Nordic champion. Yitong Street set the third-wave template.
Signature drink: Nordic-roast espresso
Tip: Open 10:00 to 21:30 daily. Bring a laptop only weekday afternoons; weekends are turnover-only.
Simple Kaffa's flagship near Huashan Creative Park is the home cafe of 2016 World Barista Champion Berg Wu, ranked the world's best coffee by Big 7 Travel.
Signature drink: Berg Wu's signature espresso
Order: The signature espresso flight and the matcha Swiss roll dessert.
Tip: Open 10:00 to 17:00 daily. Queues form before 10:00 on weekends.
Simple Kaffa Sola at Taipei 101's 88th floor is the highest cafe in Taipei, opened January 2023 by Berg Wu. Filter flights, panoramic city view.
Signature drink: Filter coffee with skyline view
Order: Filter flight of Berg Wu's seasonal beans with the citrus cheesecake.
Tip: Open 10:00 to 20:00 daily. Reservation by mobile app, walk-ins on standby.
Coffee Sweet near Taipei Main is one of the city's oldest specialty cafes, run by Sidney Kao with single-origin filters from Ninety Plus and competition lots.
Signature drink: Single-origin filter
Order: Whatever Sidney suggests as the filter of the day.
Tip: Open 11:00 to 19:00, closed Sundays. Cash and mobile pay; bring patience for filter brewing.
Smoothie House on Yongkang Street in Taipei runs the canonical mango snowflake ice, xue hua bing with chunks of mango, mango ice cream and condensed milk.
Signature drink: Mango snowflake ice
Order: Mango snowflake ice with mango ice cream and condensed milk.
Tip: Open 10:30 to 22:00 daily. Walk-in counter; mango is best May to October.
Rufous Coffee runs the city's most respected siphon-coffee counter, a dark wood-panelled room beside Liuzhangli MRT serving 1990s-style hand-brewed coffee.
Signature drink: Siphon coffee
Order: Siphon coffee of the day and the cheesecake.
Tip: Open 13:30 to 23:00 daily. Cash only; no laptops on weekends.
VWI by CHADWANG is Wang Ce-Chen's Da'an competition cafe. Located in Daan. Open 11:00 to 19:00, closed Mondays. Counter seating only; no laptops.
Signature drink: Competition-grade espresso flight
Order: Brewers Cup signature flight of three single origins.
Tip: Open 11:00 to 19:00, closed Mondays. Counter seating only; no laptops.
RL Cafe in Songshan runs a small filter-coffee bar above Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall MRT in Taipei. Roasters' competition cuppings, comfortable laptop room.
Signature drink: Hand drip filter
Order: Hand-drip filter and a slice of the daily cheesecake.
Tip: Open 09:00 to 21:00 daily. Weekday afternoons quiet; mobile pay accepted.
INK Coffee Roastery runs a third-wave brew bar above Daan Park MRT. Small-batch roasts, espresso of the season, slow drip filters by the half-pot.
Signature drink: Espresso of the season
Order: Espresso of the season and a slice of basque cheesecake.
Tip: Open 10:00 to 19:00, closed Mondays. Walk-in; counter seats limited.
Instil Coffee is Songshan's specialty roaster-cafe with rotating single-origins, slow filter brews, and a clean modern room with a working bar.
Signature drink: Specialty filter and espresso
Order: Single origin filter and the matcha latte.
Tip: Open 11:00 to 20:00, closed Tuesdays. Mobile pay accepted; small bench seating.
Qingtian in Da'an in Taipei is a tea house inside a restored Japanese-era professor's residence, gallery on the ground floor, gongfu oolong service.
Signature drink: Taiwanese oolong, gongfu service
Order: Taiwanese high-mountain oolong served gongfu-style at the table.
Tip: Open daily 10:00 to 18:00. Reserve a Saturday for the courtyard table.
Fly Cafe in Songshan above the Sun Yat-Sen MRT in Taipei is a small pour-over and sandwich cafe with a tight specialty list and a laptop-friendly back room.
Signature drink: Pour over and sandwich
Order: Pour-over of the day with the egg-and-ham sandwich.
Tip: Open 10:00 to 19:00 daily. Walk-in; counter seats fill weekend mornings.
Moonleaf is a Yongkang Street bubble-tea cafe founded 2010 by Wei Shih-Pin, a tea connoisseur from Nantou's tea region. Single-estate teas, lower sweetness.
Signature drink: Honey green tea with pearls
Order: Honey green tea with chewy tapioca pearls, half sugar half ice.
Tip: Open 11:00 to 22:00 daily. Mobile pay; small standing counter only.
Afterhours in Songshan is a small specialty-coffee bar with pour-over flights, light pastries and a clean white minimalist room on Dunhua North Road.
Signature drink: Pour over
Order: Pour-over of the day and basque cheesecake.
Tip: Open 12:00 to 21:00 daily. Counter seating limited; weekday afternoons quiet.
Oasis in Da'an in Taipei is a Nordic-leaning specialty roaster cafe, founded 2018 by Yu-ta Chu, clarity-and-balance filter, light-roast single origins.
Signature drink: Single-origin filter on the V60
Order: Filter flight of two single origins, V60 and Kalita side by side.
Tip: Open daily 09:00 to 19:00. Small room; bring a laptop for the counter side only.
Kafeholic in Songshan is a quiet specialty filter-coffee cafe near Sun Yat-Sen MRT in Taipei, single-origin pour-overs and a small pastry bar.
Signature drink: Specialty filter coffee
Order: Hand-drip filter and a piece of the lemon tart.
Tip: Open 12:00 to 20:00, closed Tuesdays. Walk-in counter; small bench.