Taiwan is full of little gems of café, today I will take you to two, hidden away found only if you want to find them.
Brewband Coffee
To get to Brewband café you have to turn down an alleyway from the main road, then down another alleyway which you can easily miss as I did. Once you find it, a big open window that serves as a counter welcomes you.
The downstairs doesn't have many seats, it's more to serve takeaways. And the thing that stood out for me was Mr Pinhead's. I wonder what he's doing in a café... I also liked the original staircase, often found in old buildings like this
The staircase led to the upstairs, there's four small tables here sitting around 10 people. Very cosy. In fact, I think Brewcafe's website specifically said they don't accommodate groups of more than 4 people.
The other reason there is so little seated area is because part of the area was used as the kitchen to bake their own cakes and dessert.
I ordered a matcha crepe cake, same as the one I ordered in my previous visit to another café. Yum! It complemented the Kenyan hand drip coffee I ordered very well. As did the latte hubby ordered.
UOTT
Before I explain the name UOTT, I need to talk a bit about why this is a hidden gem. I walked around for about five minutes trying to find UOTT, it wasn't easy even though I had the address. In the end, I arrived outside this building. It was a traditional Taiwanese residential building, with many scooters parked outside. I peeped inside the main brown door on the left. There was no lift, just a dimly light staircase. I needed to get to the fifth floor and was thinking should I really go up.... There was just two flats on each floor, and in typical Taiwanese fashion, people don't make their front door the most welcoming place. As I ascended, I was thinking what the hell am I getting myself into. Should I turn back as it was getting a bit spooky, I'm pretty sure if I get murdered here, no one would find out 😰
Finally, after four flight of stairs there was a very welcoming sight. A big mural of a mug of coffee with plants, bird and fish growing out of it, and the letters UOTT around it. Phew! I made it safe and sound to the UOTT.
I pushed open the door and was taken back with the inside. It was like walking into someone's home. Who would have thought there would be such a contrast with my trek coming up. There was a small open kitchen, the coffee was made here.
At one side of the café/flat was a big dining table, and on the other side, which would have been the living room, a few tables and chairs, and bookcase. And a lot of plants dotted around. There was another room behind the open kitchen, it was all white inside, again filled with lots of plants. I loved how each of the sitting area offered a different vibe.
I nearly forgot to explain why this little gem is called UOTT. This place is run by two guys, you'll see them in the open kitchen. They call themselves Uncle, even though they're young guys. Uncle is like a friendly term for a mature guy in Chinese. And OTT stands for On The Top because the café is located on the top floor of the building 🙂
I really love UOTT, the journey of getting here and the relaxing and comforting feel of sitting at someone's home drinking a cup of good coffee. Here's a PoC (Proof of Coffee) from UOTT.
| Part 1 | Part 2 |
|---|---|
| Part 3 | Part 4 |
| Part 5 | Part 6 |
| Part 7 | Part 8 |
This was supposed to be a respond to the second Coffee Shop prompt 2 in the Cinnamon Coffee community, but I just realized it closed yesterday. Never mind, one can never have too many gems 😉