Celebrity-Owned Shops / A-Mei’s A8 Café Serves Dishes Made with Taitung Produce

By Lai Yanru

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the main roads, why not turn into a quiet little alley? There you’ll find small bookstores, grocery shops, as well as delightful cafés and teahouses... The idol drama “Big Red Riding Hood and Little Wolf” produced by Dreamland Productions collaborated with 15 Taipei alleys and shops, using their scenery for filming. Each spot has its own unique charm and character, definitely worth exploring. First, let’s take a look at the alleyway shops personally decorated by A-Mei, Mayday’s Ashin, Vincent Fang, Wu Jianheng, and Yao Yuanhao.


▲ A8 Café designed in a New York Loft style, with its lofty, spacious open layout and brick walls. (Photo provided by Dreamland Productions)
Turn down a small alley on Section 3, Heping East Road in Taipei City, and you’ll find a composite building made of raw concrete and black walls — this is the shop opened by A-Mei, the queen of Mandopop. A-Mei designed A8 Café in a New York Loft style, with its lofty, spacious open layout, brick walls, wooden elements, and her personal collections over the years, making guests feel so comfortable they don’t want to leave.

Almost all the staff at A8 Café come from the Dabaliwu Tribe in Beinan Township, Taitung County — A-Mei’s hometown. They often think about using Taitung-grown produce to develop new dishes. When mulberries were in season, they once launched mulberry pancakes. The café also serves an unassuming yet exquisitely prepared “Ordinary Salad,” with a dressing provided by A-Mei’s sister-in-law from Taitung. She spends nearly a month each time fermenting 14 kinds of fresh fruit to make it.


▲ Guests feel so comfortable they don’t want to leave. (Photo provided by Dreamland Productions)


▲ The staff mostly come from the Dabaliwu Tribe in Beinan Township, Taitung County — A-Mei’s hometown. (Photo provided by Dreamland Productions)
A-Mei, who loves coffee and also grows coffee beans in her tribe, specially sells coffee from Taitung at A8 Café, named “Harivanasi,” which means “rainbow” in the Puyuma language. “The name sounds beautiful, and even the Chinese translation is lovely,” says the manager of A8 Café. Harivanasi coffee has a mild flavor with a slight fruity acidity, and it’s A-Mei’s go-to hot drink whenever she visits the café.

A-Mei is very particular about the food and beverage quality at A8 Café — every dish must be personally taste-tested by her before it goes on the menu. But when it comes to her staff, A-Mei is kind and understanding. “She often says that as long as you do what needs to be done, you can sit and rest if you’re tired. You don’t have to stand around punished all day at work.” Treating her employees like family, she allows them to feel relaxed and at ease in the café, and this atmosphere also gets passed on to the guests. Perhaps that’s the secret behind why everyone finds it so hard to leave A8 Café once they’ve sat down.


                              ▲ The shop tucked away in the alley on Section 3, Heping East Road is so comfy you won’t want to leave. (Photo provided by Dreamland Productions)

[A8 Café]
Phone: 02-27328220
Address: 1F, No. 8, Lane 67, Section 3, Heping East Road, Da’an District, Taipei City 106