English-speaking breakfast bars are hard to come by in Taipei, making breakfast options pretty limited. For many of us foreigners, ordering generally involves either choosing from pictures on the wall or the things we know the Chinese name for.
Then we discovered Chao Chen Brunch, a newly opened up English-speaking breakfast and brunch restaurant with English menus.
Chao Chen Brunch is located in the Zhongshan District, it’s about a 3-minute walk from Xingtian Temple MRT, exit 4.
| Table of Contents
1. Chao Chen Brunch’s Menu |
Chao Chen Brunch’s Menu
All their English menus are presented directly above their serving area as you come through the entrance to the main seating area.
Chao Chen Brunch’s menu offers a mix of Western and Asian foods, those of which are largely considered popular breakfast choices in Taiwan. – For example, you can find a decent selection of sandwiches and hamburgers with meat options including chicken, beef, bacon, and even fish.
If you’re looking to start your day with something more on the sweet side, then check out the Dessert Panini menu. What stands out to us as we glanced over the menus is how their Panini selection looks quite creative and delicious – dessert options that are pretty difficult to find anywhere else.
Note that the Donburi Set (on the right) is only available after 11 am.
Chao Chen Brunch is very clean and well organized inside. This goes pretty well with their modern Japanese-style interior design and environment.
As for their wall paintings, we noticed they’re all cute, abstract illustrations of the individual food products that they serve.
Since they have a spacious seating area, we spent most of our morning relaxing there. However, we noticed it did peak around 11am, but even despite that, it shouldn’t take you long to get a seat.
If you want to secure a table to be ready upon arriving, worry not – you can book ahead! Simply call them up, or even easier, private message them on their Facebook page.
They also have decent and accessible WIFI here. You can easily get the name and password as it’s displayed in the corner of the room. Better still, simply scan the QR code that is on the wall for fast access to their WIFI.
What we ordered
Since we were spoilt for choice on what to order, we decided to ask the staff for their recommendations. – Here’s what they suggested:
Fried Chicken Thigh Sandwich with Egg ($75)
I don’t mind crusts, but it’s a thing here in Taiwan for sandwiches to be crustless. As with all their sandwiches, the bread is also soft and lightly toasted.
The fried chicken was indeed crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Altogether, it was bursting with flavor as it went well with the egg and sauce.
Chao Chen’s Signature Dish Sandwich ($95)
This signature sandwich dish was our clear favorite! It’s a delicious mix of egg, cheese, pork, cabbage, and peanut butter. Even though we shared it between the two of us, we both became pleasantly satisfied at this point.
Nana Pudding ($55)
Their last suggestion was this creative, but naughty dessert which made a sweet ending to our brunch. – It’s a hot-pressed toasty with one full-sized pudding inside which is listed as a panini on their menu.
Only the toast and coconut spread within the toast is warm though, as the pudding inside is still cold. Also, the pudding is easy to drip out while you’re eating it if you’re not too careful.
Our Drinks:
Chao Chen Black Tea ($35)
Black Milk Tea ($45)
Both of our drink suggestions were two different teas, served in the typical Taiwanese breakfast bar form of a sealed cup and straw to pop a hole in.
The teas were very smooth, fresh, and had a slightly sweet aftertaste. However, what we immediately noticed about the tea drinks here at Chao Chen Brunch, is that they’re unlike most Taiwanese breakfast bar drinks, which tend to be quite bitter.
Worth visiting?
We’d say so! We used to live close by, and it had always made an easy morning to pop in and comfortably enjoy a delicious breakfast with a lot of choices.
Will we go back?
We don’t live that close by to the breakfast bar anymore, however, we sometimes order from them as they’re on Foodpanda.
Chao Chen BrunchHours: Telephone: 02 2567 7955 Facebook: Chao Chen Brunch Instagram: chaochen2020 English address: No. 9, Lane 362, Songjiang Road, Zhongshan District Chinese address: 104 臺北市中山區松江路362巷9號 Closest MRT: Xingtian Temple Station (exit 4) |
🗓️ Updated: February 2021 – Taipei.Expats
