When you have enough street food and local delights, Taipei has many modern cafes and bakeries for you to explore and chill out. One of the most famous bakery in recent years in Taiwan is Wu Pao Chun. Wu Pao Chun the owner of the bakery gained fame after winning the Master Baker at the Masters de la Boulangerie, or Bakery Masters in Paris, in 2010 with his Taiwan Litchi Rose bread. He has 3 stores in Taiwan, 1 in Kaohsiung, Taipei and Taichung. Bread lovers who really wish to try their bread will be happy to know that Wu Pao Chun will be opening their first outlet here in Singapore in Capitol Piazza in 2019.
The bakery in Taipei is located in the Xinyi district very near to the 101 Taipei building where most of the new shopping malls and office buildings are located. It is not surprising to see most of the customers office workers as well as young people. The bakery occupies a huge space with half of it dedicated to a café and the other half as a bakery selling take away breads.
The café space is spacious and bright with simple clean furniture looking very much like a Japanese bakery. The café has seating for 20 – 30 persons. There is no server taking your orders so you have to place your orders at the counter and you can also help yourself to the cutleries and ice water on the rack at the side of the café.
The counter for café orders is partially shared with the bakery and there are certain items which is only available at the café. The café accepts cash and credit card for payment.
The café features the champion set which is a tasting platter for the breads that Wu Pao Chun won awards. The menu also has a couple of very interesting items like croque monsieur and the raclette toast. For beverage, they also serve coffee, fruit and flower tea as well as a wide range of cold beverage like fruit smoothies.
One of the must try item at the café is the tasting platter before you proceed to the bakery to purchase the bread. The platter includes the famous Taiwan Longan with Red wine bread, Litchi with rose bread and latest plum and green tea bread. The 3 slices of bread is also served 1 piece of Taiwan Spring Salt Brioche, Echire French butter, cold pressed virgin olive oil with La Secchia balsamic vinegar. All the bread was served warm and there was really no need for the butter or oil as each piece was full of flavours.
The longan and wine bread had a strong sweetness from the caramelised longan but I found the red wine taste somewhat lacking. The litchi and rose bread was my favourite with subtle rose taste and fragrance infused with the sweet caramelised litchi. The plum and tea bread was quite general and nothing too special. The salt brioche was very soft and tasted very buttery.
The French toast was nicely made in a golden brown color but I found the inside of the toast a bit too dry. The external of the toast is coated nicely in egg evenly and fried to the nice toasty flavour but as the toast was quite thick, the insides were slightly dry.
The raclette cheese toast came with a nicely toasted brown crispy toast and topped with melted and creamy cheese. As we only ate the cheese toast after finishing our platter, the cheese was slightly solidified and it became hard spreading the cheese evenly across the toast. It would have been better if the toast was keep warm and the cheese was kept melty and flowy until the toast was finished.
The coffee served was quite decent as well.
After finishing your break at the café, you can hop to the bakery to purchase the bread you like. The bakery has a huge variety of bread and everything looks so good as the smell of freshly baked bread waffs throughout the bakery.
They sell their champion breads as a whole loaf and it is so popular that it gets snatched up as soon as it comes out of the oven.
They also sell the salt brioche which is very delicious. The bread sold here is considered more expensive than the usual bakery but comparing with a Japanese bakery, the price is comparable. Many sources state that the onion bread is also very nice but was already sold out when we were there. For tourists bringing the bread home, the staff will suggest to bring the entire loaf of bread by hand carry and keep it in the fridge to maintain the taste of the bread. Before consuming, you can spray some water on the surface of the loaf and leave it in the oven for a few mins before slicing it to eat. Bread left frozen can be kept for up to 3 weeks.
Address: 110, Taiwan, Taipei City, Xinyi District, Section 5, Xinyi Road, 124號
Operating hours: 9.30 am to 8.30 pm
Nearest station: Xiang Shan station
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