7 cafés in 1 city. Places change: check opening hours before you go.
Opened in October 1949 by 18-year-old Archibald Chien and six Russian émigrés from Shanghai, it brought Russian pastries to Taipei. Writers such as Pai Hsien-yung worked in the upstairs café, and the building was listed as historic in 2011.
Order: Russian rum ball (Russian sweets) · Borscht and coffee upstairs
💡 Bakery downstairs, café upstairs; near Ximen MRT.
Opened in 1956 on Chengdu Road, Fong Da is one of Ximending's long-established food stops, next door to the equally old Nanmei Coffee.
Order: Hot coffee · Iced coffee
💡 Open 8am to 10pm daily.
A small Taipei specialty café that ranked No. 36 on The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026, the highest of four Taiwanese entries.
Order: Pour-over
In 2013 founder James Chen won the espresso category and overall title at the Nordic Roaster competition, the first winner from outside the Nordic countries, and Fika Fika opened the same year. 'Fika' is Swedish for a coffee break together.
Order: Light-roast pour-over · Capri Brie blend with milk
💡 Minimum one drink per person and a two-hour limit; no outside food.
A Taipei roaster's café on Fuxing South Road in Da'an. A second Rufous shop was among the nominees in The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2025 voting.
Order: Pour-over · Espresso
💡 Opens 1pm to 10pm; closed Thursdays.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Founded by Berg Wu, the 2016 World Barista Champion. In 2019 the travel site Big 7 Travel ranked it first in its list of the world's 50 best coffee shops.
Order: Espresso · Signature milk coffee
The café of Chad Wang, who won the 2017 World Brewers Cup for Taiwan. It was among the nominees in The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2025 voting.
Order: Filter coffee flight
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.