CLOSED baking/classes: i recommend BAKE IT YOURSELF

BAKE IT YOURSELF

No. 24 ChangAn W. Rd, 中山區長安西路 24 號

(02) 5811-8003

(edited 8/2016 CLOSED. you know it wasn't a good sign when they started to carry less and less perishables and things that differentiated themselves from other shops. I guess just not enough demand to sustain this shop at these prices)

MRT: Taipei Main Station

website:  www.b-i-y.com.tw

hours: 11AM - 7:30PM, Closed Sundays

$-$$$

Kid friendliness: lots of supplies for baking with kids, for kids

Visit reviewed: 11/1/2012

Where does one find baking supplies in Taipei? Before Bake It Yourself opened, I tried looking for baking supplies at Ikea, City Super, Jason's, Working House, Carrefour, Muji, Pantry Magic, and the Taipei International Baking Show to relative degrees of succcess. 

Even finding things like a basic cupcake pan was difficult. You can find different things in different areas, but there's no one stop shop that you'd be able to find what you could easily pick up at Target or on Amazon in the states. Until now...

Opened over a month ago, Bake It Yourself stocks pretty much anything you would need from a Wilton store. Now if you're looking for sprinkles, fondant, frosting, baking pans, or anything related to cakes, cupcakes or baking, you should be able to find it here. Just in time for holiday baking! 

Browsing the selection at BIY might be an overwhelming, but welcome sight for those who've been lugging back cupcake carriers from the states (like me) or have been wanting to experiment with things like colored fondant. The space is more practical than cute, but is very organized and easy to browse.

Just a few hundred fancy cupcake liners to choose from for birthday parties... 

A rainbow of sprinkles...

There's even a good selection of candy melts colors and lollipop sticks to make cake pops (or candy) which are slowly making their way to Taipei. I've been eyeing these since seeing Bakerella's cake pop masterpieces so many years ago.

The range of colors for gel frostings and royal icing frosting has definitely been a challenge to find before in Taipei. It's slightly pricey, but not too much more than what you'd pay in the states at the market. I actually picked one of these up and it's cool that you can attach the icing tip directly to the bottle for a no-mess project.

All the sugar cake toppers were very cute and it's crazy how varied they were.. Do people need fish and butterfly toppers? 

My favorites were these cupcakes...



Downstairs, Bake It Yourself had the basic pans- cookie, cupcakes, brownies, bundt- as well as more elaborate ones that had shapes to eventually mold or frost to your fancy. Star, heart, flower, square, round, even ice cream and popsicle shaped. There's also plenty of tools like spatulas and other baking utensils, like a cake leveler, (which I was almost tempted to get except that I've only made a whole layered cake once and so don't really need one.)

 

These days, not only do you have to bake it yourself, there's also choices of how to transport and display your goodies too. Cupcake stands, cupcake carriers, cake pop stands, wedding cake toppers. 

For hard core decorators, there's even a Rolling Caddy with compartments for icing tips and tools.

You might spy the classroom space and oven for Wilton classes for decorating (and learning how to use all the stuff they sell). They have schedules available at the store and on their website, and classes are available in both Chinese and English.

Another thing I was tempted to get... do I really need a Cake Turntable

Hope this post will help some of you that have been wanting to bake for the holidays in Taipei! If there's other good places to find baking supplies, please share!

Don't forget to vote for your favorite Taipei restaurants in this year's Readers' Choice Poll! Voting ends this week- December 20th!

food court: i strongly recommend Q SQUARE

QSQUARE 京站時尚廣場
1 Chengde Road, Section 1, B3 中正區承德路一段1號

MRT: Taipei Main Station

website: qsquare.com.tw

hours:

$-$$

Kid friendliness: mall food court with lots of options

Visit reviewed: 11/13/2010

There's no shortage of malls in Taipei to window shop in and same goes for the food courts, since most malls have a food court somewhere in their basement. Q Square is a newer mall that some might not have discovered yet, but definitely worth checking out. Easily accessible by MRT, it is even connected underground through the walkways at the Taipei Main Station stop.

The snapshots of the QSqaure food court are from a few years ago and I know since I've been there recently that it's gone through some changes since then. There's two sides to the basement floor- one side with the traditional square of food court fast food eats, plastic bento displays and plenty of seating and then the other side with mini stations of bakeries and cafes like Richard Blanc, Cloudy Cupcakes, Ariel Le Cafe and Movenpick.




There's also plenty of sit down restaurants if you don't want to bother with the food court, but during peak dining hours there's often a wait- ramen, curry, tempura udon sets.



Japanese bakeries like Yamazaki to stock up on some freshly baked sweet bread.


Jasons Supermarket if you need to pick up some fresh fruit or gourmet items as a local or tourist.

Food courts in Taipei are actually an affordable and tasty way to spend a meal. I enjoyed my bimbimbap (NT$160) with crispy rice from the stone pot....

Perfectly crispy underneath!

My friend didn't have as good luck with the Hainan Chicken rice which was lacking in chicken, instead fluffed up with shredded cabbage.

This cold soba/udon tempura combo was also a surprise in value and size, but sadly I think the Japanese shop was changed into a different store and menu on my most recent visit.


Or stick to Taiwanese eats with sticky rice ba zhang and wonton soup.



One souvenir that I've turned friends onto is the kimchi flavored popcorn from Planet Popcorn. Ask for samples if you spot this stand- it's kind of addictive with a spicy, sweet and slightly sour kick. My friends usually take home a bucket or two. There are plenty of other flavors- classic kettle corn, chocolate, cheese, caramel or wasabi.


Skip these cream puffs- I bought a box as a gift and disliked their frosting like filling and soft puff.

Lots to explore at Q Square- there's also restaurants like NY Bagel and Alleycats on the 1st floor; Ariel Le Cafe on the 2nd floor, and a whole floor of restaurants on the 4th floor including Crystal Spoon, Momo Paradise, Eat Together buffet and Vieshow theaters for movie watchers.

Oh yeah, there's shopping too!

western/coffee: i recommend COFFEE ALLEY

COFFEE ALLEY
at ATT 4 FUN, 3 FL
No. 12, Song Shou Rd.
(02) 7737-0700

MRT: Taipei City Hall

website: coffee-alley.com.tw

hours: 

$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted though some room for strollers. 

Visit reviewed: 10/5/2011

Coffee Alley is a popular chain of coffee shop/cafes that serves Western fare, including sandwiches, waffles and of course, lots of coffee and tea. Be warned there's a one drink per person minimum here, so you'll get to try one of their drinks whether you like it or not.

Surrounding the sofas, the walls are decorated with some interesting art. At the ATT4Fun location, one wall is lined with live potted plants, so you see a wall of greenery. Another wall has framed rows of stones.

 I thought the menu was fun, designed like a newsletter which had lots of helpful pictures and English. Sandwiches, salads, waffles and desserts.

The sandwiches were solid, kind of like ones you could make yourself at home, with tiny scoops of egg salads on the side of some.

Grilled Chicken Ciabatta Sandwich (NT$160)

Barbeque Pork Sandwich (NT$160)

Tuna sandwich with egg salad (NT$130)

But the real must order dish at Coffee Alley were the waffles- there was a plate at almost table in sight. Cushiony and thick, these were the cake-like type of waffles that had become so popular in Taipei ala Melange Cafe, which garnered lines outside its doors and wait times of an hour or more.

I typically don't like cake-like waffles, so I've either been living in Taiwan too long or the salted caramel sauce was the perfect accompaniment because I liked these. I guess if you put salted caramel and whip cream on anything it'll taste pretty good. 

Besides the Salty caramel and vanilla ice cream waffle  (NT$150), you can also get waffles with fresh strawberries with strawberry ice cream, chocolate ice cream banana, azuki red bean and green tea ice cream, or the more unusual, peanut butter and condensed milk waffle or the tuna waffle, possibly only popular in Taiwan.

If waffles aren't your thing, there are plenty of other desserts to order. Ice cream, brownies, or mille-feuille, or ice cream with cotton candy and espresso.

Some things on the menu get lost in translation- when I thought I was ordering a vanilla latte, was actually a latte with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

My friend ordered the pizza toast which seemed to take a disproportionate time to come to our table, after all of us were done eating, despite us asking our waiter repeatedly about it.

Advance reservations strongly recommended, especially during lunch and afternoon tea hours.

OTHER LOCATIONS: 

No. 45, Lane 101, Zhong Xiao E. Rd, Sec. 4

(02) 2711-1912

No. 42, Lane 187,  Dun Hua S. Rd, Sec. 1

(02) 2711-1910

No. 253, Zhong Zheng Rd, 2 FL

Shih Lin District

(02) 2888-3322

No. 18 Guan Chian Rd, 2 FL

MRT: Taipei Main Station

(02) 2388-3000