Oh Taiwan…a paradise for foodies, where night markets and tasty foods abound. Taiwanese people really love food, and desserts are no exception. For example, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different ways chicken is prepared, cooked, and seasoned. The same love can be extended to desserts as well. Taipei has so many shaved ice shops, patisseries, bakeries, and more. Any shop can sell shaved ice, but each shop has its own differentiating factors for preparing and creating the shaved ice. Having tried a lot of desserts—some good, some half-assed, and some plain bad—I decided to make a compilation of some of what I thought are the best desserts in Taipei.
Here is a list of some of the best desserts you can find in Taipei:
- Tzubi Coffee – grape chiffon cake – grape was a bit underripe, but the cream and chiffon cake layers were perfect. Both were light, airy, and not dense.
- Melon Coffee – hojicha chiffon cake
- Smoothie House – Da-An – Mango Shaved Ice – Right around the corner from the Dongmen Station. The mango shaved ice is refreshing, has fresh mangos, mango sorbet, and full of mango.
- Lady M – Regent Taipei – Mille Crepe Cakes. Although Lady M crepe cakes are known to be pricy for a slice, these crepe cakes are such an intensive labor of love that you really get your money’s worth. There are a lot of other stores that have tried re-creating crepe cakes but none will ever come as close to the crepe cakes of Lady M because it’s technical, and it’s not easy to get the heavy cream flavors and texture right, yet Lady M successfully overcomes those obstacles. Their renown is well-deserved.
- Uzna Omom – Miramar – delicious hot cakes! Tall and proud, these hot cakes will comfort you like the hug of a loved one. It will be dry without the syrup, so make sure you take care to use the syrup that is provided!
- Mountain Kids Chill & Relax – cinnamon rolls & cheese cake(maybe vegan). What I really like about this cafe is that the staff heats up the cinnamon roll for you(so you don’t have a stale and cold cinnamon roll), and that there isn’t excess sugar glaze on the rolls.
- Harrit’s Donuts – fluffy & chewy donuts w/o the greasiness. The best donuts in Taipei.
- Capatina – Shilin – tasty fruit sorbet
- Tokyo Cheese – Xinyi District – creamy cheese soft serve with a slice of cheese cake and namesake biscuit.
- Tangyuan – Tonghua St Night Market – Tang Yuan (Glutinous rice balls, like mochi) served on a bed of shaved ice that you can flavor with lemon or osmanthus syrup. This is a very unique combination that somehow works!
- 台灣手作水果冰淇淋 Ice Cream/Gelato Stall – Tonghua St Night Market – generous portions, generous samples, natural ingredients, high CP
- Nice Cream – creamy coconut milk ice cream with barely, if any, the taste of coconut meat (vegan)
- Pablo Cheese Tart – yummy cream cheese tarts
- On the Road – The best gelato in Taipei. Literally, the best.
- Lady Chef – homemade French custard ice cream
- Soypresso – creamy soy milk soft serve ice cream (vegan)
- Yu’s Almond Milk – almond milk shaved ice, almond milk ice cream with almond bits
- Maccanti – Italian owned gelato shop. This shop has lots of Italian flavors such as, sicilian casato, and stracciatella.
- Beard Papa Cream Puffs – light and airy outer shell, with rich, light and fluffy cream. There are seasonal flavors every month.
- Meet Fresh – Taiwanese chain full of delicious taiwanese shaved ice toppings such as, herbal grass jelly, taro balls, red bean, & more. Meet Fresh is known to use fresh and high quality ingredients.
- 108 Matcha Saro – Near Tianmu – delicious matcha wheel cakes!
- 緣味古早味現烤蛋糕 – Tamsui – Castella Cake Block. There is nothing like a gigantic and jiggly cake fresh out of the oven. The cake is cut into the whopping size of a text book and is only 80-100 NT depending on whether you want the original or with cheese slices cake.
- Tim Ho Wan – Mango Pomelo & Sago
- Eastern Ice Store – shaved ice with traditional toppings
- Japan Rail Cafe – JRC is known for 7 levels of matcha gelato. The texture of the gelato is smooth and creamy, and the matcha flavor is rich.
- Smoothie House – the best mango shaved ice in Taipei. Read more about it here!
- & more! Updated on a rolling basis.
