Drinks for Away from Home

 Fancy A Cup?

By Shan Chien

When you are tired from a busy school week, you just need to take a break. Having a piece of cake and a cup of coffee in the coffee shop is one good choice for a relaxing weekend. Though students of Shih Hsin University must be feeling that our school is located on the outskirts of Taipei and coffee shops are hard to find, there are actually three coffee shops nearby. So let me have your attention for my recommendation.

If you would like to take brunch or to have a cup of coffee, while you don’t want to go too far away from your dormitory, then Zoo Café（鹿咖啡）might be a good choice for you. Zoo Café is close to the Dapinglin(大坪林) MRT Station, Exit 3. You can takeBus 647 and get to the Dapinglin MRT Station, and then start walking from there. Though the price in Zoo Café might not be as cheap as you think, the atmosphere of coffee shop is peaceful and quiet for thereis hardly a noisy crowd. Accordingly, because it is not a busy place, you can go there anytime without a reservation. The main attraction and my

recommendation of Zoo Café are based on its location and atmosphere. It is easy to get to like a urban spot with the MRT service nearby; it has an atmosphere like a place far away from the maddening city life. The food there is just O.K. That is to say, don’t expect too much on their food.

Reading a book while sipping coffee must be comforting. Next to the Jingmei MRT Station, there is a coffee shop named Wenshan Roasting (聞山咖啡). When you walk in, you will first sense the aromatic

smell of coffee, then, you will be intoxicated by the atmosphere and the clinking sound of coffee cups. Wenshan　Roasting is a place you’d like to go back to from time to time. It always offers people a sense of tranquility, quality coffee, and tasty quiches. However, Wenshan Roasting is quite popular place and therefore it is possible that you go there and find out no tables are available to you. Furthermore, unlike some places in Taipei where you can stay in a dining place for around 1.5 hours, you can stay here as long as you please. Go ahead order a cup of coffee and stay here the whole afternoon. 

What if you fancy a cup in the evening or at night? Tenshima Café (天島咖啡) would be a good choice for you and it is also somewhere close to the Jingmei MRT Station. The feature of the Tenshima Café is

that they serve Southern Asian food. The food is seasoned with spices and it definitely makes your mouth water. Actually, the main selling point of Tenshima Café is theirfood but not their coffee or cakes. Though prices in Tenshima Café are high but worth trying. 

There are comparatively fewer coffee shops around Shih Hsin University than there are around around National Taiwan University orNational Taiwan Normal University. However, Wenshan Roasting, Tenshima Café, and Zoo Café all deserve your visit at least once. Of course, there must be some good coffee shops in our neighborhood yet unknown to us. Maybe one of these days you’ll be wandering down an alley and seeing a signboardthat wins over your attention to a special coffee shop for you!