Happiness-inducing freshly baked handmade bread pairs perfectly with a seafood stew!

Text & Photos /Lao K

New Year’s Day is the first day of the year, and starting it with a delicious meal makes the whole year feel happier!

So Lao K went with Meiji and her senior to Shishui, a bakery famous for its bread. Shishui is right next to the incredibly popular Chen Gen Tea, which Lao K had tried before—it was pretty good, but if you have to wait a long time, you might as well skip it. That day, Chen Gen Tea was insanely crowded. Lao K saw a group of students waiting when he went in, and when he came out after eating, they were still waiting XD

There weren’t many seats at Shishui, but luckily someone just finished their meal, so we didn’t have to wait long.

There were some special dishes written on the blackboard, but since those were Christmas/New Year’s meals and December set menus, we didn’t take photos—they probably change frequently.

This is the breakfast menu available before 11 AM, with relatively good prices.

Besides the breakfast menu, there’s another menu with an overwhelming number of options—so many that it was hard to choose XD We had to ask the waitress for recommendations.

Shishui Set A (150 TWD)

Shishui Set A includes seasonal charcoal-grilled vegetables, a semi-soft onsen egg, lean ham (or bacon), and freshly baked bread.

The freshly baked ciabatta is crispy on the outside, fluffy and elastic on the inside—delicious with vinaigrette. It also feels very healthy~

The charcoal-grilled vegetables are Meiji’s favorite, so Lao K didn’t fight her for them XD She said they were really tasty, with an extra smoky aroma~

Sun-Moon Black Tea (breakfast add-on for 25 TWD)

It’s the familiar Sun-Moon Black Tea. Lao K used to buy it to brew at home too. Their black tea isn’t very bitter—it’s quite drinkable even without sugar.

Low-temperature cooked tender chicken leg sandwich (280 TWD)

This is the sandwich recommended by the waitress—it’s their signature item.

The most unique thing about this sandwich is that the chicken leg meat is pink. The waitress explained that the chicken is cooked using low-temperature methods, so even though it’s pink, it’s fully cooked. If she hadn’t mentioned it, we’d have thought it was undercooked and wouldn’t have dared to eat it XD

Honestly, the chicken is super tender and juicy, with a nice bounce to it. Paired with a garlicky, strong-flavored purple perilla sauce and mozzarella cheese, along with toast that’s crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and elastic, it’s a really delicious sandwich—definitely the signature dish. It leaves a refreshing feeling too—really great!

Seafood stew (400 TWD)

This is another recommended dish—the seafood stew, which comes with French stone-ground wheat baguette. You can also swap the bread for steamed rice for an extra 20 TWD, but we prefer bread, so we didn’t make the switch.

We started by dipping the bread in the soup. The soup has a rich tomato flavor with a bit of spicy seafood taste. Once the bread soaks up the broth, it becomes soft, chewy, and moist. We just kept eating piece after piece of bread XD

There’s quite a lot of filling inside—big scallops, shrimp, squid, zucchini, and clams.

The best part has to be these scallops, though Lao K didn’t get any XD

Freshly baked handmade bread platter (110 TWD)

Since the seafood stew had so much broth, we ordered an extra platter of freshly baked handmade bread to go with it. The bread platter comes with either vinaigrette or butter—you can choose one. We’d already had the vinaigrette, so we went with butter.

The focaccia just tastes like focaccia XD—spiced bread flavor with a great texture!

The milk soft brioche isn’t as hard as regular French bread on the outside, but it’s still fairly crispy, with a nice bounce inside. It’s pretty tasty with a bit of butter. Since it’s not as strongly flavored as focaccia, it pairs well with the seafood stew. Their bread is really top-notch!

After dipping the bread in the sauce, we noticed there were quite a few clams in the seafood stew—definitely made with quality ingredients

Halfway through our meal, we spotted some freshly baked bread coming out of the oven. This is the takeaway area, and Old K noticed their bread isn't expensive at all. We should probably come here more often to buy some XD

The cutest one has to be this bread—it says "2016" on it. Truly a new year's new bread XD

K’s little reminder: Starting the New Year with such delicious bread is really lucky. All the dishes we ordered today were great, and breakfast was especially good value. It was awesome sharing everything together like this. Bread lovers can even take some home. This is a highly recommended spot, and Old K will definitely come back when possible. Everyone shouldn’t miss it—remember to make a reservation. PS. No service charge, but only cash is accepted.

K’s Personal Rating (out of 10, higher is better)
Taste: 8.3
Value for Money: 8
Dining Environment: 6.5
Price: 7

Shishui Bakery & Kitchen
Official Website:http://www.des-glaneuses.com/
Facebook Page:https://zh-tw.facebook.com/Gleaners.bakitchen/
Address: No. 5, Lane 391, Zhuangjing Rd., Xinyi District, Taipei City (next to Chen Gen Tea House)
Phone: 02-2720-1356
Business Hours: 8:00–22:00

Old K
Take your turn and keep the feast going, Old K！
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