Breakfast Spot: 伯朗咖啡館 (Mr. Brown Café)

So in my last post, I talked about a typical Taiwanese breakfast which consists of 蛋餅、土司、三明治 and 飲料 such as 豆漿、柳橙汁、紅茶 and the likes, but what if you wanted a more Western-style breakfast? And other drink options? Preferably ones that won't break your wallet? Well then, might I recommend 伯朗咖啡館 (Bó lǎng kāfēi guǎn), otherwise known as Mr. Brown Café?

伯朗咖啡 Mr. Brown Coffee is actually a series of canned coffee products which you can find sold in any convenience store or vending machine in Taiwan. They also have a café, 伯朗咖啡館 Mr. Brown Café, which is a little similar to Starbucks--they have a variety of coffees and teas, a baked good sections, and other food items, all of which while are a little more expensive than a typical breakfast, are still pretty affordable.

Mr. Brown Café serves both breakfast items (before 11 am) and lunch items (after 11 am), but as I have only ever gone there for breakfast, I shall be writing about the breakfast items. I have also never tried their drinks beyond what was included in the breakfast set so no thoughts on that either.

As I mentioned, the drinks tend to be a little more on the expensive side (over NT$100), and the breakfast items as well, but they do have breakfast sets available and for NT$100 you can choose a breakfast item as well as one drink (out of the choices of iced/hot 紅茶 black tea、iced/hot 咖啡 coffee、and 柳橙汁 orange juice). A little more than I'd like to spend on any one meal, especially for breakfast, but it's still pretty decent.

Their breakfast menu includes choices such as club sandwiches, bagels, cheese toast, ciabatta sandwiches and pancakes (although I have not seen that option at the store near my dorm), and their servings are actually pretty large and come with a little scoop of (I believe) egg salad and some vegetables on the side. Not too bad for a little over US$3.

I got a 火腿磨菇蛋巧巴達三明治 ham and mushroom ciabatta sandwich along with a glass of 冰紅茶 iced black tea the first time I went--you can't really see it but there is an egg salad and cucumbers behind the ciabatta

The second time around I opted for the 煙燻雞肉焗烤土司 smoked chicken cheese toast and a glass of 柳橙汁 orange juice which came with sides of egg salad, mushrooms, and a little cherry (plum?) tomato

The breakfast food here is pretty good, it's more like a Western-Asian fusion as some of the choices for the sandwiches were flavors like teriyaki pork or teriyaki beef but nothing outrageous and I recommend this place if you're in the mood for a more Western-style meal.

The atmosphere is also nice too, especially at around breakfast time. It's not crowded but not completely empty either and it's nice to just sit there and chat with your friends.