Heritage Bakery & Cafe
Address: 73-2 Hankou St Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市漢口街一段73號之2)
Telephone: (02) 2311-1079
Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
Open: Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6pm
Average meal: NT$180 to NT$400
Details: Menu in English and Chinese
Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
On the net: www.facebook.com/heritagetaipei
Located along western Taipei’s historic “camera street,” the five-story building that now houses Heritage Bakery & Cafe once belonged to owner Sally Song’s (宋友齡) grandfather. For decades, the lower two floors were rented out as a camera shop while Song’s family occupied the upper three levels.
The interior is designed by Song herself — a San Francisco native who recently moved to Taipei. There’s nothing cutesy or over-the-top about this bakery which boasts a rustic and spacious NorCal feel. The original red brick walls are left intact and interspersed throughout the cafe are some of the family’s antiques including cabinets, suitcases and old fans.
Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times
Patrons order downstairs from a wide range of North American-style pastries such as bacon and mushroom potato pie (NT$180) and blueberry cheese tart (NT$180). Song also likes to use local ingredients, especially fruits, in desserts such as the guava cake (NT$150) and pineapple pie (NT$180). Try the mulled cider (NT$140), which has been a big hit this season.
Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque
Address: 109 Renai Rd Sec 4, Taipei City (台北市仁愛路四段109號)
Telephone: (02) 2772-6174
Open: Daily from 11:30am to 11pm
Average meal: NT$300 to NT$1,000
Details: Menu in English and Chinese, credit cards accepted
On the net: www.facebook.com/mightyquinnsbbq.tw
What started as a weekend stall serving good old-fashioned American Southern-style barbecue at Smorgasburg — the outdoor food market by the Williamsburg waterfront in Brooklyn, New York — soon grew into a thriving business in Manhattan’s East Village, with outposts around the world following suit.
The brisket (NT$360) and pulled pork (NT$320) at the Taipei outpost of Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque does not disappoint, though be warned: this place is not for the faint-hearted. Those with voracious appetites might want to try the brontosaurus rib (NT$1,200).
Choose your meat, sides and drinks — including locally brewed craft beer (NT$200 to NT$280) and a refreshing homemade ice tea (NT$60) — at the counter. All meats come with a bun, coleslaw and pickled vegetables. The meat is cooked Texan-style, charred and almost falling off the bone, which creates a distinct smoky flavor. Each table has a gigantic bottle of barbecue sauce — be sure to add copious amounts to your food.
Yucca Cafe
Address: 16, Aly 4, Ln 251, Zhongxiao E Rd Sec 3, Taipei City ( 台北市忠孝東路三段251巷4弄16號)
Telephone: (02) 2773-3678
Open: Sundays to Thursdays from 10am to 9pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 10pm
Average meal: NT$400 to NT$1,000
Details: Menu in English and Chinese, cash only, minimum charge is NT$120 per person
On the net: www.facebook.com/yuccataipei
Enjoy the flavors of the Brazilian Amazon at Yucca Cafe, Taipei’s newest health-conscious cafe. Co-owners Fabio Grangeon and Tordan Ferreira met while studying at Ming Chuan University before launching Purple Passion, a freeze-dried powder imported from Brazil. This is used to make their signature drink, the Acai Jar (NT$310), which is topped with acai imported from the Amazon Rainforest.
Though acai is old news in North America, the craze has yet to hit Taiwan, and the menu at Yucca contains a lengthy description of the super fruit, from cultivation methods to the vitamins and antioxidants it contains.
Popular ingredients include chia seeds, homemade pesto, basil, nuts and tons of fruits. The Yucca Toast (NT$380) — a selection of three sweet and savory toasts — is highly recommended. In keeping with their holistic menu, ambiance is meditative, with plants in burlap sacks and ceiling lights and mirror frames carved from driftwood found on the beaches of Yilan by Grangeon himself.
On April 26, The Lancet published a letter from two doctors at Taichung-based China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) warning that “Taiwan’s Health Care System is on the Brink of Collapse.” The authors said that “Years of policy inaction and mismanagement of resources have led to the National Health Insurance system operating under unsustainable conditions.” The pushback was immediate. Errors in the paper were quickly identified and publicized, to discredit the authors (the hospital apologized). CNA reported that CMUH said the letter described Taiwan in 2021 as having 62 nurses per 10,000 people, when the correct number was 78 nurses per 10,000
As we live longer, our risk of cognitive impairment is increasing. How can we delay the onset of symptoms? Do we have to give up every indulgence or can small changes make a difference? We asked neurologists for tips on how to keep our brains healthy for life. TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH “All of the sensible things that apply to bodily health apply to brain health,” says Suzanne O’Sullivan, a consultant in neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, and the author of The Age of Diagnosis. “When you’re 20, you can get away with absolute
May 5 to May 11 What started out as friction between Taiwanese students at Taichung First High School and a Japanese head cook escalated dramatically over the first two weeks of May 1927. It began on April 30 when the cook’s wife knew that lotus starch used in that night’s dinner had rat feces in it, but failed to inform staff until the meal was already prepared. The students believed that her silence was intentional, and filed a complaint. The school’s Japanese administrators sided with the cook’s family, dismissing the students as troublemakers and clamping down on their freedoms — with
As Donald Trump’s executive order in March led to the shuttering of Voice of America (VOA) — the global broadcaster whose roots date back to the fight against Nazi propaganda — he quickly attracted support from figures not used to aligning themselves with any US administration. Trump had ordered the US Agency for Global Media, the federal agency that funds VOA and other groups promoting independent journalism overseas, to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” The decision suddenly halted programming in 49 languages to more than 425 million people. In Moscow, Margarita Simonyan, the hardline editor-in-chief of the
RSS