East Asia is increasingly caught up in a love affair with Taiwan’s signature pastry. Tucked away on a luxuriant side street in Taipei’s tony Minsheng Community neighborhood is an unassuming and quiet café. While sparsely furnished, the café exudes a gentle warmth, its caramel wood walls bathed in the halcyon glow of halogen track lighting….
Taiwan is gradually developing a wine culture with the help of those returning after studying or working abroad. As Taiwan’s wine market continues its growth, sophisticated wine enthusiasts are increasingly seeking out a wider variety of wines that offering more than just brand prestige. Taiwan’s wine market has come a long way since the mid-1990s…
Taipei’s Top hotels are rolling out elaborate all-you-can eat buffet spreads to the delight of diners. Photos By Matt Fulco Chef Bernard Noel loses track of time when he enthuses about the quality of the Regent Taipei’s Brasserie buffet restaurant, especially the seafood. “It’s always the catch of the day,” says the native of Alsace,…
Almost all of the beancurd and soy milk consumed in Taiwan is made from soybeans imported from the United States. Photos by Rich J Matheson Few comestibles are more Taiwanese than tofu, soy sauce, and soymilk. All three are made from soy, a legume first cultivated in Northeast Asia at least 2,700 years ago. Directly…
Treat yourself to a walking – and eating – tour through one of Taipei’s oldest districts. Photos by CHRIS STOWERS In one Taipei’s oldest neighborhoods – the Wanhua district in the southwestern portion of the city – one can experience foods, drinks, and aromas that reflect both traditional and modern Taipei. The area, formerly known…
Dedicated owners from around the world opening restaurants in Hualien are enlivening the culinary scene in this east coast city. Hualien is justly famous for the glories of Taroko Gorge and the magnificence of the coast that looks across the Pacific Ocean, attractions that bring tourists here from all over Taiwan and overseas. It is…
Long-time Topics contributor, Lonely Planet writer, and all-around travel geek Joshua Samuel Brown returns from a trip to Yilan with four food-themed vignettes. Yuanshan Township: Taiwan’s Best Chicken Vegetarians can’t comprehend the visceral, savage joy of ripping apart a roasted bird with their bare hands, and this is one of several reasons they (and their…
Like several other places located on the Asia-Pacific “Ring of Fire,” Taiwan’s landscape was shaped by tectonic forces and volcanic activity. Yangmingshan National Park, which overlooks Taipei, includes volcanoes that last erupted 20,000 years ago, and fumaroles that continue to belch steam. Across the Danshui River stands Mount Guanyin, a 616-meter-high extinct volcano named after…
In recent years, the Taiwanese have rediscovered their love of cycling. After several decades during which many people traded in their bikes for the nimble motor scooters that dominate city streets, getting around by pedal-power is once again in vogue. There are at least four reasons for this development. The first is that since two-day…
In North America, Japan, and much of Europe, October is when the tourist season begins to wind down. Jackets and scarves come out of storage, crowds thin, and souvenir vendors begin to disappear. If anything, the opposite is true in Taiwan. The island’s climate is a major reason; the final quarter of each year is…
