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Cafes to work from in Taipei

October 9, 2014 By James Clark 17 Comments

Taipei Cafes List

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

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


“Cafe

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


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"

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


Stay Real 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

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

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


“Yaboo

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


forgood

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


Libero Coffee&Bar

Location: 1F, No.1, Ln.243, Jinhua St
Website: www.facebook.com/LiberoCoffeeBar

Roaster Family Coffee


Roaster Family Coffee

Location: No.7, Ln.243, Jinhua St
Website: 4sq.com/XqeZ4R

Cafe Xiaomijo


Cafe Xiaomijo

Location: No. 5, Ln. 41, Yongkang St
Website: 4sq.com/bLjKZj

Helen Coffee


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Coffee and Collectables

Location: 146 Minquan Rd East, Sec. 3
Website: www.facebook.com/chuucoffee

Check Cafe


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


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

Filed Under: Travel Blog Tagged With: cafe, coffee, taipei, taiwan

Comments

  1. Joe says

    October 10, 2014 at 2:04 am

    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

    Reply
    • James Clark says

      October 14, 2014 at 12:21 am

      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.

      Reply
  2. Shaozhi says

    October 10, 2014 at 3:28 am

    Great list! I’ll definitely be visiting some of these when I travel to Taipei next time!

    Reply
  3. Franca says

    October 10, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    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 🙂

    Reply
    • James Clark says

      October 14, 2014 at 12:22 am

      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.

      Reply
  4. Michael says

    October 11, 2014 at 8:30 am

    james I don’t know but the ones you posted from Vietnam and Thailand are much better. Don’t you think?

    Reply
    • James Clark says

      October 14, 2014 at 12:19 am

      I am biased to Vietnamese cafes so I would have to agree 🙂

      Reply
  5. Renuka says

    October 11, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    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? 🙂

    Reply
  6. De'Jav says

    October 12, 2014 at 11:46 am

    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.

    Reply
  7. TT says

    October 14, 2014 at 11:55 am

    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….

    Reply
  8. Brian Hill says

    November 3, 2014 at 9:33 pm

    woolloomooloo rools! I think it should be spelled woolloomoolloo. Brian.

    Reply
  9. Rich - Richyfeet says

    November 5, 2014 at 1:26 am

    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!

    Reply
  10. Anny says

    January 25, 2016 at 3:36 am

    Thank you so much for providing this awesome list. Great blog!

    Reply
  11. Jay says

    June 30, 2016 at 2:04 am

    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.

    Reply
  12. tanya says

    April 13, 2017 at 2:59 am

    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!

    Reply
  13. Will says

    July 7, 2017 at 7:08 am

    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.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Just another day | 4 Reasons I Miss Asia says:
    November 3, 2014 at 10:46 pm

    […] you can find small coffee shops everywhere. It’s fun to try out different ones. Check out this post by James of Nomadic Notes for some great cafés in […]

    Reply

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James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

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