If you are looking for a city in Asia to base yourself as a writer or digital nomad then add Taipei to your consideration list. With 90 day visa on arrival for most western countries and unadulterated internet in Taiwan, Taipei is a good base for location independent types. Taipei is well known for its food scene and soon it may be known for the cafes as well.
I spent two weeks in Taipei which gave me enough time to visit the most popular cafes and explore some lesser known ones. It’s an odd cafe scene. Some cafes look like they are straight out of Brooklyn, while some are just gaudy cake shops. The prices are not consistent either, with a coffee varying wildly from $2 to up to $7. Any place that was serving a coffee for over $5 I didn’t bother staying at. I know for some cities in Europe $5 would be normal, but the coffee prices were out of line in relation to the price of food.
I left out some cafes that were not open when I visited. Some places didn’t open until 10 or 11 am (and one at 1pm!), which is an odd time to be serving coffee. I also visited some excellent cafes but they were so small that they wouldn’t be suitable to crack open a laptop. For this post I have only listed cafes that are suitable to work from.
Taipei Cafe Map
Direct link to the Taipei Cafes Map.
If you use Foursquare I have also made a Taipei cafes list.
Independent Cafes
Notch
Notch is not far from the main train station and turned out to be my most regular cafe as it was open early. Quality coffee at a decent price, and there is more room to work upstairs.
Location: 6 XinYang St
Website: www.facebook.com/NOTCHfrontstation
Cafe Junkies
This supercool cafe was one of my favourites. Good atmosphere with independent music playing in the background.
Location: No.9 Jiankang Rd.
Website: www.facebook.com/CafeJunkies
Inn Cafe
Cafe in “Hong Kong Lane” inside the lobby of the inHouse Hotel.
Location: No.8 Ln 27, Chengdu Rd
Website: www.facebook.com/inncafe2013
Costumice
Costumice is in a neighbourhood filled with with little boutique shops and restaurants and this cafe is the pick of the bunch.
Location: No. 6, Aly. 71, Ln. 223, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd
Website: www.facebook.com/costumice.cafe
StayReal Cafe by Gabee
This cafe is more of a cake shop but it is a decent option to Costumice.
Location: No. 21, Ln. 177, Sec. 1, Dunhua S. Rd
Website: foursquare.com/v/stayreal-cafe-by-gabee/4e572c67e4cd4430132564dc
Rising Sun Coffee
Rising Sun Coffee is a little cafe next to the Dalongdong Baoan Temple, so visit the temples and bring your laptop.
Location: 65 Hami St
Website: www.facebook.com/shengsheng.coffee
The Aroma
The Aroma is a Christian cafe, just in case you prefer a separation of church and cafe, but if that doesn’t bother you they won’t bother you either.
Location: No. 205 Hanzhong St.
Website: www.facebook.com/thearoma
Yaboo Cafe
Near the Dongmen metro station there is a wonderland of cheap places to eat and side streets dotted with cafes. Yaboo was my favourite in the area.
Location: No. 26, Ln. 41, Yongkang St
Website: www.facebook.com/yaboo.lalala
forgood Cafe
Another good option in the Dongmen cafe quarter (not the actual name of the quarter, just one I made up).
Location: No.41, Lane 41, Yongkang St
Website: 4sq.com/YQzCYU
Libero Coffee&Bar
Location: 1F, No.1, Ln.243, Jinhua St
Website: www.facebook.com/LiberoCoffeeBar
Roaster Family Coffee
Location: No.7, Ln.243, Jinhua St
Website: 4sq.com/XqeZ4R
Cafe Xiaomijo
Location: No. 5, Ln. 41, Yongkang St
Website: 4sq.com/bLjKZj
Helen Coffee
Helen Coffee is a big cafe catering for workers breakfast and lunch and is a decent option in this area.
Location: 42 Guanqian Rd
Website: 4sq.com/rp7Vf9
21 Cafe
A small cafe that is good for breakfast.
Location: 62 Kaifeng St, Sec. 2
Website: foursquare.com/v/21-cafe–living–bar/527cd3af11d2db43cb36a76c
Homey’s Cafe
One of those cafes that isn’t open until midday but it comes recommended.
Location: 2F, No.36, Lane 236, Sec.1, Dunhua S. Rd.
Website: 4sq.com/cUBv9o
Cafe Kafka
Good independent cafe vibe here with soft lighting, a mish-mash of 70s-inspired furniture, and western indie music.
Location: No.16, Lane 37, Yongkang St
Website: 4sq.com/1qHJvbJ
Goat Coffee
A decent option not far from the Raohe Street Night Market.
Location: 715 Bade Rd Sec. 4.
Website: www.facebook.com/goatcoffeetw
Atlantis Coffee
A homely cafe set in an apartment building. Comes with bonus resident dog.
Location: No.1, Lane 201, LiaoNing St
Website: 4sq.com/hhXUKG
Woolloomooloo
I saw the name “Woolloomooloo” and automatically knew that I was going to serve Aussie style coffee. Woolloomooloo is a suburb of Sydney (and perhaps my favourite Australian name) and the coffee was as good as I hoped it would be. I went to Fujin Street and they also at have a branch at 379 Hsinyi Road Section 4.
Location: No. 95, Fujin Street
Website: foursquare.com/v/woolloomooloo/4b6b8370f964a5205e0d2ce3
Coffee and Collectables
Location: 146 Minquan Rd East, Sec. 3
Website: www.facebook.com/chuucoffee
Check Cafe
This is a popular breakfast place and they serve cafe lattes in big cups.
Location: 253 Songjiang Rd
Website: 4sq.com/1rdbdMb
Story Coffee
Location: Lane 166, XinYi Rd, Sec 3.
Website: foursquare.com/v/story-coffee/5154287ee4b006679d5b9ee4
Chain Cafes
Starbucks
Starbucks are here, of course, but if you want to use the internet you will need a local mobile number and use that to log into their Wi-Fi.
Mr Brown Coffee
If you are going to be hanging out in chain cafes then you may as well give the locals a go, and here one of the big chains is Mr Brown Coffee. They have free wifi and the branches I visited had lots of space.
Address: Various Locations
Website: www.mrbrowncoffee.com.tw
Ikari Coffee
Ikari is another local chain that also offers wifi.
Address: Various Locations
Website: www.ikari.com.tw
Wilbeck Cafe
Probably the best coffee I had was at the little hole-in-the-wall chain. The shops are too small to work from but the coffee is excellent and a cheap price.
Address: Various Locations
Website: www.facebook.com/WilbeckOne
Closed Cafes
Cafes that have closed since the publishing of this list.
Icafe: No.2, Lane 82, Xining South Rd
Some of those places look amazing – really puts Bangkok to shame!
What sort of food do they serve in coffee shops like that – local fare or western?
Do they have co working spaces out there too?
Thanks,
Joe
Hi Joe, it’s a real mixed bag when it comes to food. Some cake shops, western places and local.
There are some co-working spaces but I didn’t get round to checking them out.
Great list! I’ll definitely be visiting some of these when I travel to Taipei next time!
I loved Taipei a lot, this made me want to go back. You’ve been to so many cool cafes there, it’s difficult to say but I think Cafe Junkies looks probably the one that I’d return to again and again 🙂
Glad you liked it as much as I did. I would have ended up at Cafe Junkies more often if it was near to where I was staying.
james I don’t know but the ones you posted from Vietnam and Thailand are much better. Don’t you think?
I am biased to Vietnamese cafes so I would have to agree 🙂
Such charming cafes! I am sure it’s fun working in such pretty cafes and if the coffee is good too, what else one needs? 🙂
Great list there seems to be heaps of options which is good if you’re spending time in a cafe. Gives you the opportunity to change up the atmosphere.
There’s one in the ‘east district’ near Zhongxiao something something station that has hammocks hanging from the ceiling instead of chairs! Nice ambiance for sure. Forgot what that one was called….
woolloomooloo rools! I think it should be spelled woolloomoolloo. Brian.
What a great idea for an article! Some of these look really really cool. I’m heading to Taipei in a month, so will be sure to check some of these out then!
Thank you so much for providing this awesome list. Great blog!
Thanks for the post James – I’m in Taipei now, this was a great starting point.
Cafe scene here seems great – I also find it a bit strange the (very large) amount of cafes not open till 11am, 12pm, 1pm.
Thanks so much for the post, James!
I am aware that you can work at anywhere in most of cafes in taipei, but some get crowded with afternoon tea crowds that I feel like I am get in the way.
Where would you recommend to work from 9 to 6? cheers!
Looks like your list needs an update friend, many of these places have drinks for well over 10$ now, which is, as you say, a bit stupid compared to the price of food here. I don’t like paying 3-4x the price of my dinner for a glass of tea with ice.