Pâtisserie ALEX

Address: No. 18, Lane 553, Section 4, Zhōngxiào East Rd, Sinyi District
Telephone: (02) 2762-3236
Hours: Mon - Sun 11:30am to 9pm
Price: $$

Overlooking the Songshan Cultural Park, Pâtisserie ALEX is a cheery cafe that offers a range of European cuisine. From apricot raspberry almond tarts ($120 NT) to Russian tea cakes ($24 NT for two) to pistachio cakes with tropical fruit mousse and pineapple cream ($130 NT), Alex has a varied dessert menu.

On this occasion, I initially decided to forgo the desserts. All were quite small (as desserts here are wont to be) and I was in the mood for a meal. I ordered the salmon salad ($200 NT) and sat down with my book. I love all the natural light pouring into the cafe! The large windows looking over the park give patrons a nice, sunny view in the summer. It's in a prime location too - one of the exits for the Songshan Cultural Park  is mere feet away.

I wasn't expecting the salmon salad to be quite so huge! And after my experience at the Consulate Cafe, I wasn't expecting the salmon portion to be on the generous side but, surprise surprise!, it was more than I hoped for. The salmon salad included eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and some onions. Unfortunately there was a watered down ranch dressing on most of the salad (underneath the salmon). This was my fault though; I've forgotten that salads in Taiwan automatically come with some sort of sauce. Still, I was able to scrap the majority of it off.

I loved that they gave you four slices of slightly buttered bread! The salad is much more filling with a carbohydrate on the plate and, if you wanted, you could turn your salad into a sandwich. I am nothing if not a fan of versatility. I all but inhaled the salad and then decided I had room for some dessert.


Alex offers little desserts, like Russian tea cakes and honey lemon Madeleines ($28 NT for two), in pre-wrapped plastic bags. These desserts are extremely small (they can typically fit in the palm of your hand) but they're a safe bet if you don't want to purchase a $140 NT piece of cake you might hate. I purchased the Russian tea cakes and ate them in the park. Gone quickly, the tea cakes tasted like the ones I remember back home. All in all, a very delicious experience. Maybe next time I'll spring for the more expensive desserts...

 

Pâtisserie ALEX has a Chinese and English menu, and the waitstaff are extremely friendly and attentive. There's no service charge and as far as Wi-fi goes I wasn't able to find a connection. If you're around the Songshan Cultural Park area, I highly recommend a visit!

Consulate Cafe

Address: No. 257, Zhōngzhèng Rd, Danshuei District
Telephone: Not listed
Hours: Not listed
Price: $$

Type "Consulate Cafe Taipei" into any major search engine, and you'll get a lot of results. The majority won't even reference a cafe. Sometimes referred to as "The Embassy Cafe", Consulate Cafe is hard to miss on Zhōngzhèng Road and is across the street from the Fort San Domingo entrance.

This conveniently located cafe welcomes a lot of tourists who come to visit the Fort and former British Consulate, students from Aletheia University, and day-trippers visiting from Taipei. The fare is light and moderately priced. You can find cheaper food and drinks at the street stalls; this air-conditioned cafe is not the place to seek a bargain.

Though the menu boasted many drinks (hot/iced green tea, hot/iced black tea, beer, juice, soda, chocolate milk and hot chocolate, "ice cream soda", coffee, lattes, etc.), I decided water would be best, what with the humidity and my state of dehydration. I wanted to eat something light that wouldn't weigh me down, but thought a salad too boring. Dessert sounded good, but cheesecakes and brownies aren't really all that light. A sandwich it was.

The sandwich selection was tuna, ham, smoked salmon, or German sausage with sauerkraut ($140 - $190 NT). Quite the eclectic smorgasbord. I chose the smoked salmon sandwich with herb bread (possible alternatives: croissant, "milk" bread) for $160 NT.

The sandwich was a lot bigger than I had anticipated. The "herb bread" was actually two large pieces of olive and rosemary focaccia bread. The olive and rosemary were married well, though the focaccia seemed a little oily, bizarrely so. There was a good amount of lettuce, some nice ripe slices of tomato, several cucumbers, and (disappointingly) a sliver of salmon. All of this was smothered with some sort of salad dressing (even more disappointing). 

While I suppose it is my fault for not asking them to make the sandwich without dressing, it never stated on the menu that dressing was even a potential component. I think I hear the smallest violin in the world playing just for me.... Anyway, I was a little miffed that I had purchased a smoked salmon sandwich with almost no smoked salmon, but such is life. There was a dollop of the salad dressing and relish on the side, but the sandwich was drowning as is. Unnecessary.

The real appeal to this cafe is the location. Located right on the riverside, there are beautiful sunset views and lovely nighttime views of Bali. Consulate Cafe is located close to Big Tom, in fact, just walk down Zhōngzhèng Road and you'll bump into both of them (about a three minute walk from one another). There's no website for Consulate Cafe, but you can search "Consulate Cafe Taipei" or "The Embassy Cafe Taipei" and sift through the results.

The menu is in English and Chinese, there's a 10% service charge, and the staff speak a limited amount of English. My opinion on Consulate? Just head over to Big Tom. The view is quite similar, there's no service charge, the riverside view is indoors with floor to ceiling windows, the food and drinks are cheaper, the ambiance better, and all the Wi-fi for which you can ask!