bread

When I moved to Taiwan over a decade ago, finding good bread was hard. The first loaf of bread I bought was in a supermarket and although it looked quite normal, it ended up being filled with rousong, which is an experience you might not want to have. As such. I’ve thrown together a list of bakeries that are worth shopping at that have more western style breads. There are a lot more bakeries in Taipei and in the past couple of years, there are also a ton of patisseries and let’s not forget Japanese style cheese tarts and cheese cake shops.

Rise makes what you’d call western type breads, with very few localised products. The selection is fairly limited, but they make an excellent sourdough loaf. They also have things like croissants, focaccia (not quite the real deal, but close), scones, baguettes and Pain au Lait. They also sell things like cinnamon rolls, hazelnut croissants and various other sweet treats. It’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area, or even a detour, just because.

While on the topic of croissants, we have MyCroissant by Guillaume, which as the name implies, mainly makes various types of croissants. They’re possible the best croissants you’ll get in Taiwan and they offer a wide range of varieties. There’s also some bread on offer here and some other French style sweet baked goods. I highly recommend the yuzu filled croissants, when available, as they make your tastes buds tingle of joy.

Paul was as far as I’m aware the first French bakery chain to open up in Taiwan. Although several others followed, most of them failed, but Paul is still around, even though they have fewer locations now than they did at their peak. Be warned though, it’s expensive. Their strawberry millefeuille used to be very nice, although I haven’t been here in a few years, so I can’t say what it’s like now. Note that his is a big international chain, so don’t expect anything really standout here.

Mr. Mark is an old school “western” bakery in Taiwan and has been around since 1998. Most breads are very localized, but they have some plain rye and oat based breads that aren’t terrible. I would steer clear from anything that looks like cake here, as healthy is apparently this bakeries middle name. They also sell some other food items, like jam, yoghurt, nuts and some other things.

Oma’s German Bakery is another bakery that’s been around for quite some time and it’s focus is on German style baked goods. They have a few branches and also some restaurants that sell their bread. They have a pretty decent selection of bread, although as with Mr. Mark, the focus is on a lot of healthy bread. However, they do also sell a selection of decent cakes and other sweet treats. Pricing tend to be pretty reasonable for what they sell. Keep in mind that they have limited stock and do sell out. They also sell some other food items online.

Wendel’s German Bakery & Bistro was the most famous German bakery when I moved to Taiwan, but at the time they only had a location in Tienmu and I have still not ventured there. They have since opened a location near the Sun Yat-Sen memorial hall which is much more convenient to get to. Personally I’m not a huge fan of their bread or their food, but they make excellent and affordable cake slices.

Gontran Cherrier Bakery is another French style bakery that obviously offers croissants, but also has an excellent French country bread. A lot of their products are quite local and they have some odd items on offer too. Their main location is near the Sun Yat-Sen memorial hall.

Lugar was one of the early French/Italian style bakeries that I’m aware of. I haven’t been for years, as after expanding a lot, something seemingly went wrong and all their outlets closed and they moved to a peculiar location. They used to have very decent bread and cakes though, but I can’t really say what it’s like now.

GinoPasco is a Japanese/Taiwanese bakery that has some decent bread, especially a kind of very pale, but fluffy white bread. These days they only have five locations, of which one is in Taoyuan.

Hogan Bakery is another local bakery with a dozen locations in northern Taiwan that has som decent bread. They have a very light coloured bread they call soft French parcel which is very nice if you want some really soft bread, that is’t sweet. Their crown milk toast is the best toast I’ve found in Taiwan, even though the slices are a bit on the thick side, but it toasts up really nice.

Flavor Field is another local bakery that you would find in the Fuxing Sogo. They have a decent rye bread and some better quality toast, as well as a lot of local items.

Saison Du Soleil is another local chain bakery that you’ll find in some of the malls. They have some decent bread by western standards.