Kooka Coffee

Address: No. 5, Lane 57, Dàzhí St, Jhongshan District
Telephone: (02) 8509-5859
Hours: Mon - Sun 8am to 10pm
Price: $ to $$

So as I mentioned last month, I paid Kooka Coffee a brief visit. I noticed they had free Wi-fi and quite an extensive food menu, so I made a mental note to come back when I had some studying to do.

A week or so later, I took a seat at a table near the windows (and a power outlet) and ordered a glass of iced rose tea ($100 NT). Located next to Shih Chien University, the cafe attracts many students looking for a cheap cup of coffee, free Wi-fi, and a quiet place to do work. Unlike the Starbucks down the street, Kooka has a plethora of seats and rarely are all of them taken. Side note: Kooka is a reference to the Kookaburra bird. ... It's not colloquial Italian. In case you were wondering.

The rose tea arrived and was light, crisp, and flavorful. If you've never had rose tea, I highly recommend it! What miffs me a little about the tea prices in Taiwan? Restaurants are purchasing these tea packets for pennies on the dollar, then charging their patrons $100 NT for a glass. They must be making money hand over fist at this rate... still, I purchase the tea so I really only have myself to blame.

After an hour or so (during which time I discreetly refilled my tea glass with complimentary water), I ordered Kooka's special ice coffee ($120 NT) and chocolate stuffed waffles ($180 NT). Yes. That's right. Kooka sells waffles stuffed with chocolate sauce, Nutella, mochi, peanut butter, and jam and honey. Served with a side of Meiji ice cream. Lord, give me strength.

The "special" Kooka ice coffee tastes as though it's been transformed into an Irish ice coffee. I've had this feeling before with Fong Da's special ice coffee, but perhaps I'm hallucinating? It tasted like a "virgin" Irish coffee; there was a hint of liquor flavor, but it wasn't the real deal.

Now on to the glory that was the chocolate stuffed waffle! I could smell it before I could see it. Yesyesyesyes! As the barista put the plate down in front of me, I saw the waffle (bigger than I imagined) oozing chocolate. The plate was decorated with peanuts (who cares?) and delicious Meiji vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce and topped with peanuts (again, who cares?!).

The waffle was hot, crispy, and not cake-like! The chocolate sauce was omnipresent. I wish I had thought to grab a spoon! That was probably a much more necessary utensil.
You felt as though you were eating solid chocolate, until you reached the edges of the waffle. Perfect ratio and marriage of chocolate and waffle. I want to try the Nutella stuffed waffle, but feel as though I should start reviewing salad places or something.

I topped off the waffle with the Meiji ice cream and was immensely pleased. There was nothing they could do to improve this dish (in a good way). I highly recommend Kooka as a cafe to visit on the northern side of the city. You feel as though you're in Portland (I'm obsessed with this neighborhood); it can be cheaper than Starbucks; there's ample seating (maybe not during finals); and if you don't like it, there are plenty of other places nearby. You'll be practicing your Chinese for sure. The menu is in English, but the waitstaff really want you to practice your 中文. Nothing wrong with that.

Lastly, Kooka is a very "do it yourself" kind of place. You need to grab your own utensils, water, and menu. And you also need to place your order with the cashier up front. The trade-off is that there's no service charge. You can check out their FB page here. They have a lot of photos of their food and detail their summertime food specials.

Evans Burger

Address: No. 1, Shi Da Road, Lane 86. Daan District (台北市大安區師大路86巷1號)
Telephone: (02) 2365-5022
Hours: Mon - Thurs 11am to 11pm, Fri - Sun 9am to midnight
Price: $

So, you've done it again. You've pulled a Taiwanese all-nighter and partied until 6am. Why 6am? Because that's when all major forms of public transportation resume operations. Except now it's mid-morning (you know, because the bartender at Roxy 99 kept the drinks flowing) and you're looking for a big breakfast. Stumble over to Evans Burger for the drunken/hungover brunch.

There are two Evans Burger locations in Shida - both located within 200 yards of one another. Clearly, this is a restaurant chain that values convenience. And on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30am to 11:30am, brunch is 40% off. Do you need any more incentives?!

The newest Evans branch overlooks Shi Da Road and gives you a decent view of the post-Friday-night shenanigans. If your blurry eyes can focus on the interior, you'll see that the decor is somewhat reminiscent of a modern American restaurant complete with kitschy 1950s signs on the walls (juxaposed with Heidi Klum's Project Runway of course).  

There's a lot of options on the menu and you'll be spoiled for choice. Omelets, eggs benedict (salmon eggs benedict, ham eggs benedict), french toast, pancakes, brunch specials, breakfast burritos, etc. Each dish comes with a small glass of milk or orange juice (not eligible for refills) and a cup of coffee or tea (unlimited refills). 

I picked one of their brunch specials for $280 NT and it came with a pancake, cheese omelet, bacon, hash browns, and a side salad. I was looking to the salad to mitigate some of the effects of eating all this deliciously bad food, but no dice. The "salad" was drenched in some sort of Italian sauce, and there wasn't much of a salad with which to begin. 

The cheese omelet was quite runny and the eggs weren't thoroughly cooked. The cheese was tasteless, though that means one of three things to me; 1. The cheese wasn't Kraft 2. Perhaps it's some sort of healthier cheese? 3. Maybe MSG wasn't in the cheese? So far, this meal isn't recommending itself. 

On to the bacon! These strips of bacon were quite good and tasted like those back home. They weren't burnt to a crisp, nor were they rubbery, under-cooked messes of meat. Success! The pancake was one of the best I've had in Taiwan (though that's not saying much). It was a little on the thin side, but that's probably for the best. There was an ample serving of butter on the side, in addition to maple syrup(!). 

The maple syrup tasted like Aunt Jemima syrup and is the second best syrup I've had in Taiwan (The Diner has the best). Many restaurants carry watery or flavorless maple syrup, so this was quite the unexpected surprise. 

My glass of milk lasted me all of three gulps, so having unlimited coffee refills was nice. But as the waitstaff were a little neglectful, many times I found myself with nothing to drink. There is a 10% service charge, but hopefully you stumbled in early enough to qualify for the 40% brunch deal. Last complaint: Bruno Mars. His whole CD. On a loop. During the entirety of my dining experience. I love Bruno as much as the next girl, but listening to the same thing over and over and over is not really all that pleasant. Also, Evans Burger has a niffy website here, and you can practice your Chinese. The menu at the restaurant is in English though. I'll be back next Saturday morning. ... And the next. And the next.

Haricot

Address: Lane 233, Section 1, Dūnhuà South Road, Daan District
Telephone: (02) 2773-7111
Hours: 10am to 10pm, days not listed
Price: $$

Since I'm always on the lookout for good food in Dunhua, I was surprised to see a restaurant I didn't recognize almost right across the street from Ginjer. Haricot had a cute look ("a little old, a little new" as the owner put it), and the menu outside boasted European cuisine at reasonable prices for the area. 

Haricot has a chic rustic look and tries without trying too hard. While the tables and flooring were a synchronized cedar, the chairs and light fixtures were a tasteful hodgepodge. Though the interior was more "Alaskan lodge" than "European cafe", I really appreciated the effort put into the design and layout. With the soft jazz music in the background, I spent the better part of the afternoon enjoying the ambiance.

On the menu, I noticed the continental, John Dory, and deluxe breakfast sets were served all day and seemed to list an insane amount of food. So insane, in fact, I decided to forgo the continental breakfast and its pancakes, cheese omelet, bacon, ham, potatoes, salad, garlic bread (why garlic bread?), and coffee. Instead, I chose the smoked salmon panini ($240 NT). Unfortunately, the restaurant hadn't yet received the delivery of panini bread. So after the owner apologized and gave me an iced tea on the house to ease my suffering, I chose the Swiss cheeseburger ($260 NT) and a cup of illy coffee ($120 NT).

 

When my plate arrived, I dug into the salad, seasoned with a strawberry balsamic dressing. I liked that the dressing was a little out of the ordinary; salads here tend to come with the same, bland ranch or Caesar dressings. The French fries had really been fried! They were hot, crispy, and probably 1,000 calories in and of themselves. Delicious. And lastly, the burger itself. I'm quite pleased to report that the Swiss cheese was actually sliced from a block of cheese and didn't taste processed or plastic-y like certain brands of cheese (I'm referencing you, Kraft). The bun had been lightly buttered and toasted and was delectable. The lettuce, onions, and tomatoes were all fresh and plentiful; absolutely no complaints. The burger actually had two hamburger patties, one on top of the Swiss cheese (as shown) and another (complete with an additional slice of Swiss cheese) underneath all the lettuce. Take a good look at that hamburger patty. Aside from the dollop of barbecue sauce, what do you see? That's right. The patty doesn't look like the standard fast food fare. This is at once encouraging and discouraging. 

Don't get me wrong, I hate pink slime hamburger patties as much as the next girl, but whenever I encounter a patty that looks drastically different from what I'm used to eating, I wonder, "Is this 'hamburger' more fake than the fast food hamburgers, or is it more natural?". Usually one bite is all it takes. Biting into my burger, I couldn't quite figure it out; was this a half-beef, half-turkey burger? was this a frozen, store-bought patty? was this some bizarre new organic beef burger my palate wasn't accustomed to? I was perplexed. Summation: the burger components were delicious, it was just the beef that gave me pause. That being said, I will most certainly go back to Haricot for that smoked salmon panini.

The menu is in English and Chinese, there are pictures accompanying every item, and there's a 10% service charge. In case you're a little curious about the menu, Haricot took over Posh Burgers. The owner told me that Haricot opened in January and retained most of the wait staff and Posh's menu items, but added a wider variety of pastas and beverages. In fact, I think the owner of Haricot was the owner of Posh Burgers. Since Posh was a sinking ship, I didn't think it polite to ask her if she was the previous owner (and she was very sweet and gave me a 10% discount for my next visit). Haricot claims to have a website at haricot.com.tw, but punch this into your browser and you'll come up empty-handed. Because it's just getting off the ground, there aren't any other reviews online and the only mention of Haricot you'll find is here.