A black signboard with gold lacquer lettering and mandala-style graffiti—The quirky "Tiger Café"

▲ My choice, a sundried mocha, burst with berry flavors upon the first sip.

Photos & Text / Mr. Neurotic BearMr. Neurotic Bear’s Blog）

It’s not even the Year of the Tiger this year, yet somehow, this is already the second café I’ve come across with “Tiger” in its name. On the last day of the 228 Holiday, the weather, which had been fairly sunny, suddenly turned cool and rainy—but that didn’t stop me from wanting to go out for a walk. After checking online, I found out the mammoth exhibition was also on its final day. Thanks to this coincidence, I found myself back at the long-unvisited Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.


Not long after I exited the MRT station and turned into Ningbo East Street, I stumbled upon this café called "Tiger Café." Hanging above the entrance was a grand black signboard with gold lacquer lettering, looking quite imposing. Though at first glance it didn’t really look like a café (more like an inn from a wuxia novel), seeing the E61 on the counter—and driven by curiosity—I walked right in without much hesitation.


My first impression upon entering was that the owner must have a strong sense of personal style. Though the exterior looks like a traditional old house, the café is covered in mandala-style graffiti. The space isn’t large, but the seating is arranged simply and tastefully, giving off a vibe where you can relax freely.

Perhaps it’s a café by day and a little bar by night—perfect for casual meetups with friends after work or for unwinding before heading home. Clearly, the bar part was just my imagination.


The café offers both pour-over single-origin coffees and Italian-style espresso drinks. There’s quite a variety of single-origins, as evidenced by the numerous entries on the blackboard. But if you don’t drink coffee, your options seem a bit limited. The counter area feels like an alchemist’s lab—even featuring a small roaster, the M3? Faintly, I could hear the crackling sound of coffee beans entering the second crack.
The sundried mocha brought to mind the flavors of sundried Yirgacheffe. Maybe it was wrong of me to assume it was Yemeni mocha from the start, since Ethiopia also produces mocha. I quite liked the berry-like acidity, so I didn’t bother confirming the origin of the beans with the staff. Lately, I’ve been choosing my coffee quite impulsively.

Also, the bitter-sweet aftertaste paired nicely with my dessert.


I had wanted to order a cheesecake, but today the café only had chocolate cake, which turned out to be quite delicious.


The café cat’s name is Cool Mei, which I learned from the name tag on its collar. It wandered around the café from time to time. Only then did it hit me—"Tiger Café" is that quirky café I’d seen online recently. How did I only remember it after seeing the cat? Do I recognize cafés by their cats now? As expected, Cool Mei is a beautiful American Shorthair, just like in the photos online.


Hearing the sound of beans being dropped from the roaster, I followed the noise up the stairs to the second floor, where I indeed found the roasting area. I’d heard the owner of Tiger Café is a handsome man with long hair—perhaps that’s him.


Though it’s located near a Taipei MRT station, Tiger Café has chairs and a tea table set up at the entrance, giving off the vibe of a southern Taiwanese country town. People there often place a few tables and chairs outside their homes, ready for any drop-in visitors—a gesture I feel is the most tangible expression of local warmth.

Human warmth—something seemingly lacking in this bustling, multifaceted metropolis.


【Tiger Café】

Address:No. 1-1, Ningbo East Street, Taipei City
Phone:02-3343-3508
Business Hours:12:00–21:30

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