Taipei is no stranger to food courts, but there are food courts, and there is Breeze Taipei Station, the future of inexpensive, choice-oriented, and lets face it, fun dining. This enterprise, launched last October by the same fashion and media savvy city slickers behind Breeze Center, has "high-concept" written all over it, and though you could satisfy yourself with donuts and coffee from Mister Donut for NT$80, you can also explore all kinds of weird and wonderful eats from tofu and chestnut ice cream (NT$58) from the Japanese Kofukudo (口福堂) to the beautifully presented vegetarian buffet offered by Minder Vegetarian (明德素食園), a favorite with traveling Buddhist clergy.
The combination and the mix of restaurants makes this venture special. The first thing to strike visitors is the high proportion of proper restaurants with their own seating, most of which looks down onto the railway station's main ticketing hall. (A convenient perch for people watching during a busy weekend and worth making a visit for this reason alone.) A second feature is the four themed areas into which the food hall is divided.
There is the Sweets Corner (甜品小路), where Mr Donut rubs shoulders with Maison Kayser (cakes only, no breads) and the Italian ice cream sundae specialist Sweetberry. The Breeze people understand the power of labels, and everywhere you look, there are the Polo Ralph Laurens and Armani Exchange A|Xs of Taiwan's food establishment - big names, but plenty of affordable items.
PHOTO: IAN BARTHOLOMEW, TAIPEI TIMES
Just down the corridor is the Taiwan Beef Noodle Competition Corner, which has eight highly regarded beef noodle stalls standing side by side. It's almost as good as taking part in the Taipei International Newrow Mian Festival (臺北國際牛肉麵節).
The Taipei Night Market section also presents a wide variety of well-known local names, not least Tainan's Hong Yutou Danzai Noodles (洪芋頭擔仔麵), which has a history going back over 100 years.
Turn a corner and you're at the Curry Palace, where you can get anything from a falafel role from the Sababa Pita Bar, to Japanese style curry from Yokohama Curry (橫?;咖哩), and a reasonable attempt at the real deal at Indian Fan (印度風). The whole thing is given a stylish personal touch with photos of the proprietors and chefs of the various restaurants plastered across the walls of these themed areas.
The Evergreen Laurel Collection (長榮桂冠酒坊) has 16 wines sold by the glass (from NT$60 for 50ml). These can be tasted in the shop or taken out into the general dining area.
In all, Breeze Taipei Station, for all its street food elements, manages to be more than the sum of its parts.
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