We initially passed this place thinking it’s just a cozy little cafe until we curiously went in to take a look.
As it turned out, it’s a pretty decent bakery that offers a wide selection of baked treats, sandwiches, and drinks. It’s also said to be the very first bakery to open up in Taipei, giving them their (translated) name ‘Original Bakery’.
The bakery is located in a pretty convenient area as they’re just by the Ren Ai Circle in the Da’an District. This puts them reasonably close by to many MRT stations with Da’an being the closest at around a ten-minute walking distance from exit 6.
| Table of Contents
1. About the Bakery |
They open from 12pm, so we warn that not everything would likely be ready if you come too early in the afternoon.
Considering that, they do bake throughout the day, resulting in an appetizingly fresh-baked aroma that surrounds the shop as they routinely shelve new items freshly out of the oven.
We felt spoilt for choice as each area of the bakery had all sorts of warm and tasty artisan bread, cakes, bagels, and other guilty pleasures.
Better still, all their items are authentically handmade in-store by an expert team of Taiwanese ‘aunties’.
To our absolute delight, they have a fairly secluded outside decking area that is sheltered and kept chilled with air conditioning sprays on hot days.
We’re big fans of eating and drinking outside, so we were pleased to find they had a comfortable outdoor seating area.
One of their appeals is how they like to keep ahead of the other bakeries by creating new twists to the old classics such as their signature blueberry bagels and milky bread slices.
Despite how mouth-watering everything on display was, we got the impression they freshly bake different items each day. We assume this because they have a blackboard at the counter that looks constantly updated.
With that said, this is what they had on display when we visited:
Mediterranean quiche ($90 per slice) was one of the first delights to catch our eye.
Almond cookies ($130 for each pack of three). A little bit pricy, but we have no doubt they taste amazing if you wanted to spoil yourself (or someone).
Cinnamon rolls ($75 for a set of three). They seem to be stuck together, so you’d need to individually rip them apart from each other to eat individually.
Rosemary olive cheese buns ($100 each). We liked the creative idea of having the tasty pleasure of the salty olives and sharply flavored cheese all within a soft bun.
They have a wide variety of gorgeous bagels as we spotted so many different kinds with all the prices marked.
The Original Bakery has a website that you can select in English and even pre-order for you to come in and collect so you don’t have to wait for them to bake it.
Sadly though, we found the English function doesn’t seem to work very well. The good news is, at least you’re able to translate using Google to see what they have, along with their current prices.
They have a fairly large refrigerator section with various kinds of chilled treats. The staff advised us that their most popular/best-selling items are their puddings.
What We Ordered
We felt it was easy to order here as we pointed out what we wanted from their English-friendly blackboard that’s just above the counter.
Blueberry Bagel ($60)
This is one of their signature items, so it was no question to be one of the first things we ordered. Impressively, it didn’t take long to arrive at all as it was still warm from the oven.
Not only did this bagel look so gorgeous, but it also came pre-sliced and nicely presented on a tray. It was deliciously soft and chewy with so many blueberries which gave it a natural sweetness in every bite.
It also came complete with blueberry cream and a spreading knife. The cream was soft and not too sweet, and we got a generous amount we didn’t end up using it all despite spreading it all over each slice.
Tuna Sandwiches ($100)
These sandwiches aren’t your typical kind as they come as a bun with the ingredients carefully stuffed inside. This didn’t make it hard to bite through though as the bun itself was soft and chewy.
The tuna came filled with fresh tomato, cucumber, and olives – colder than the bun itself, and all bursting with fresh flavor.
For $100 for this sandwich, we’d say it was worth it for sure – we even started to feel satisfyingly full after finishing them.
Blueberry Yogurt Drinks ($120)
We just couldn’t resist ordering these beautiful blueberry yogurt smoothies to wash down our meals. They were thick, juicy, and bursting with blueberry creamy flavor.
Sadly though, you don’t get a full pint as it starts to froth about midway up the pint glass.
Sliced bread with Pesto Garlic Sauce ($60)
The bread was much like a baguette since they’re soft and chew on the inside with a slightly tough crust. The pesto sauce had a rich and deep garlic taste which came with a spoon for us to spread on the slices.
As our orders continued to arrive, we started to realize may have ordered a few items too many to what we could handle. Luckily though, we were able to share these slices of pesto garlic sauces between us, – leaving anything we couldn’t finish as take-out since they offered that.
Milky Bread Slices ($120)
This is one of their other popular and signature items in the bakery.
We initially felt overwhelmed at this point to think if we could even share this between us. Surprisingly though, they weren’t that heavy on the stomach since they were super soft and milky – even the crusts!
These slices of bread were probably the softest and chewiest that we’ve ever experienced. The sliced come with cream to spread on the slices which do put you in a milky/creamy heaven when chewing into these soft slices.
Cheesecake ($80)
Along came our desserts that we ordered from the refrigerator section – and we just had to try their cheesecake!
As we anticipated, it didn’t disappoint us at all. The slice was fairly firm but soft enough to cut into while maintaining a moist texture throughout.
The best part of this cheesecake was the soft but subtle taste of the cheese as it tastefully disintegrated in our mouths.
Pudding ($50)
Since their puddings were one of the best-selling items from the chilled section, we cheekily went for one. It’s not very big, however, we were still able to satisfyingly share it between us.
It wasn’t like the typical puddings from a convenience store as there’s a lot of quality to the taste and texture of this pudding. It was firmer and creamier than we expected which also lacked a jelly texture while still being fairly sweet.
Worth visiting?
After a wonderful time feeling comfortably relaxed on the outside sheltered decking while enjoying freshly baked treats – so it’s a strong yes!
Sure, the pricing is a little more than a typical bakery, however, you are paying for that noticeably authentic quality. It’s a bakery with the longest experience that has noticeably put it ahead of the game after all.
We advise coming later in the afternoon, preferably from around 2pm onwards to avoid the risk of waiting around.
Will we go back?
Most likely since we’re usually around that area. They serve different kinds of delicious treats daily, so we’re looking forward to what’s new when we next visit.
Original Bakery (原點烘焙)Hours: Telephone: 02 2706 4368 Facebook: 原點烘焙 English address: No. 11, Lane 22, Siwei Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, 106, Chinese address: 106台北市大安區四維路22巷11號 Closest MRTs: Da’an, Zhongxiao Dunhua, and Zhongxiao Fuxing Station |
Sponsored
🗓️ Updated: April 2021 – Taipei.Expats
