Cafe Review: 鬧咖啡 NOW coffee

鬧咖啡 NOW coffee is a unique Taipei Cafe serving up a classic American brunch, hip music and a modern work space.

Outside This Taipei Coffee Shop

When you walk past the front of this Taipei cafe, you’ll assume that it’s just a small to-go only shop like many other Taipei coffee shops in the area. But there’s more to it!

There’s indoor seating that can be accessed from the alley. At first I thought it was only a drink shop from the outside, but upon closer inspection it’s a full on cafe with 2 floors of seating and a 3rd floor that is used as an art exhibition space.

Inside This Taipei Cafe

There are 3 floors at 鬧咖啡 NOW coffee. The 1st floor is the cafe, kitchen and restroom. On the 2nd floor, there is an outdoor smoking area, lots of tables and a restroom. The 3rd floor is used as an art exhibition space.

One-Drink Minimum At This Taipei Coffee Shop

I went to this Taipei cafe for brunch but was shocked to find that even if you order food, they have a 1 drink per customer minimum. All drinks are over NT $100 and is pretty expensive considering that there are a lot of options in the area at half the price. That minimum is only if you are dining in since they have a to-go option.

Even though it was a little price, I decided to stay because I wanted a lox bagel. It’s pretty uncommon to find any Taipei brunch cafe serving up lox bagels and pastrami sandwiches.

Sandwich Review: Pastrami Focaccia with Cheese

The pastrami was a thick cut but not seasoned. Something you could typically find in an American supermarket. The sandwich was overall very good because of the focaccia bread! The focaccia bread was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Within the sanwich, it was built with pastrami, lettuce, cheese tomato, crunchy peanut butter.
The crunchy peanut butter added a lot to the texture of each bite! Best item here!

鬧咖啡 NOW coffee — Pastrami Focaccia with Cheese

The set meal came with scrambled eggs, yogurt with brown sugar and a salad. The eggs were standard and the yogurt was good (after I mixed in the sugar).

Sandwich Review: Lox Bagel

The lox bagel was very light on the salmon with no capers. It was lightly toasted but it was enough to satisfy my lox bagel cravings. I later found out that I could have upgraded the bagel for $20 to include scrambled eggs or a salad.

Drink Review: Miao-Li Longan Honey Caffe Latte

The cold Miao-Li Longan Honey Caffe Latte ($160 cold/$150 hot) I did not like. It was pretty bitter overall and I love cafe lattes. The coffee mix was way too strong and I couldn’t taste the honey at all.

Drink Review: Now Milk Tea

It was milk tea. They didn’t ask about sweet level and it was a bitter because the tea was very strong. The strength of the tea drowned out the milk and other flavors.