Visiting a Starbucks Copycat

Having returned to Taipei, we started the day by grabbing a bite to eat at Dante Coffee Shop. Western-style coffee shops are abundant and in Taipei, but unlike in America, they're not all run by Starbucks. There were a surprising number of strong competing chains, one of which was Dante. My cousins explained that years ago, when Starbucks first entered the Taiwan market, they were the lone dominant coffee shop. But soon, local businessmen copied their successful business model and started offering more local tastes (for instance, bubble tea) at lower prices. (And I do mean "copy" since lots of these competing chains use some form of Starbucks-esque green circle or green lettering on their signs.) Today, it seems to be a point of national pride that Taiwan's local businesses have won back the lion's share of the market.

Not being a coffee drinker, I couldn't evaluate the quality of coffee at Dante, but we did immediately see the shop's appeal. Chris ordered a hot "quesadilla" of sorts, which was filled with delicious finely minced chicken, onions, peppers, cheese, and spices -- all very delicately put together. (As I write this, Chris is saying "I really want another one.") I ordered a curry chicken calzone-thing, which was also great. The bread was soft and fluffy and the filling warm and spicy. Plus we ordered two pots of tea. The best part: all of this cost just $6 (US).


Returning to Eggwater (Danshui)

Danshui is a port city to the north of Taipei. It's apparently a popular place for young people to visit, because of all the little traditional shops and carnival-style arcade games along the street. Couples also like it because it's a lovely place to watch the sunset. We actually visited on Valentine's Day, but there were no couples to be seen, probably due to the cold foggy weather.

My family calls the place "Eggwater" in English because that's how I translated "Danshui" when I was little. I actually got the "water" part right, but "dan" in this context means something like "light" or "dilute". This is where the river meets the ocean, so the water is "lighter" in the sense that it's less salty. Here, I bought a nifty box of wooden chopsticks, and we also tried out some interesting foods.

• Agei - A big fried tofu block served in a bowl. It was stuffed with rice noodles (iirc). Apparently one of my cousins got hooked on this stuff when she was in college.
• Fish ball soup.

There were also some "iron eggs" being sold on the street side, but we weren't brave enough to try them. They looked like small bird eggs of some sort, but Da Ayi explained that they're normal chicken eggs that have somehow been dehydrated to the point where there really tiny and hard. In retrospect, it might have been fun to eat one.

The one food I really wanted, however, was "longxutang" or "dragon whisker candy". It's a candy that you can usually watch them make on the spot, out of a brick of taffy-like sugar. The maker will stretch the brick into a long skinny rope, then fold it over and stretch again. They keep folding and stretching until the threads are so fine and wispy that they do seem like a fine dragon beard (if dragons do indeed have beards). Then they'll cut off little chunks and fold in some sesame powder in the middle, so the candy looks like fluffy white silk worm cocoons (yum). Longxutang are one of my favorite candies in Taiwan, so it was a bummer that the stand was closed.

Later in the evening, Gu Gu treated my entire mom's side of the family to dinner at a fantastic vegetarian restaurant in TianMu.