TAIWAN CAFE BREWING GOOD BUSINESS

THE STRAITS TIMES
TAIPEI

independent cafes in Taiwan vie for a share of the market as coffee culture takes root.

At Taipei sidewalk cafe is almost always a short stroll away in Taiwan. Some come with simple seats and flower beds. Others are decked out with mini chandeliers and plush brocade chairs.

"ambience is key" said Emma Weng a sales executive at an electronic components maker who frequents Lara Cafe, a languid, European-style corner coffee place in a lane not far from the Taipei 101 skyscrper.

Then there are English learners being tutored by American teachers in the finer points of grammar, tarot masters doing regular readings, and financial adviser dishing out investment tips.
in the decades that followed, the usually dimly lit, wood-floored coffee shops were the exclusive domain of the rich and the upper class with a penchant for Japanese-style syphon dripped coffee.

It war not until the entry of Starbucks in the late 1990s that coffee ground and brewed by machines was finally poularised.

At the Castle cafe however, patrons are treated to a breathtaking wiew of the pacific ocean and spacius dining space spread out over two storeys. The company also built footpaths and pavilions around the cafe to offer a "healthy recreational' experience.

The cafe has proven to be such a hit that roads leading to it are often jammed on weekends.

The reception has been overwhelming.they already plan to open another similar cafe elsewhere.