That said, I understand that the French population of Taipei is too small, too widely-spread and the locals prefer mantou (饅頭, Chinese steamed bun) over croissant at seven in the morning, so it doesn’t really make any sense for a French bakery to open that early!

A general complaint I have to make is that none of the bakeries I’m going to talk about have a proper opening time. See, we French love to get our freshly baked baguettes or croissants for breakfast, so usually bakeries in France open at 7AM. In Taiwan, the best I’ve seen is 10AM, and usually it just means the shop opens, but the products are not all there… I’ve even been told once at a bakery to come back after noon to get some croissants, for instance. Needless to say, in France such an impetuous comment would get you burnt alive for heresy.

There are two things that French people, especially French people living abroad, can debate about passionately for hours: politics and bread. I’ll try not to get started with the first topic, but I’ll surely be biased about the second one and give a very subjective opinion about a few places I know in Taipei. The best is still to go visit these shops, try their products and pick the places you like the best.

A friend of mine recently asked if I had “located the best baguette in Taipei”. I thought it would be interesting to share a few addresses here and maybe to hear back from you, my dear readers!

Roi du pain (國王烘焙)

Address: 台北市大安區大安路1段96巷1號 (Da’an Road Section 1, Lane 96, No. 1)

Other locations in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan

Website

Roi du pain is one of the latest bakeries I have discovered in Taipei and I ended up loving not only the bread but also the viennoiseries (danishes) available there.

Their baguette is really good, not only due to the fact that the chef has been trained in France and the flour is specially imported from France, but also because the baking time is mastered (I’ve seen too many bakeries here where the products are overcooked).

Roi du pain also has a selection of specialty country-style breads, such as one filled with chunks of camembert, that are sold by weight. You can ask for a free sample to taste and then buy a bigger slice. I think the flavors change regularly, so make sure to try them out when you pass by!

Finally, like I mentioned, their danishes are really good too, but it’s no secret: when you put a lot of butter in the dough to make a croissant, you get a delicious croissant!

The only downside to all that is the price: a baguette at Roi du pain is around three times more expensive than a baguette in France. Ouch.

Purebread

Address: 台北市大安區​四維路154巷15號 (No. 15 Siwei Road, Alley 154, Da’an Road)

Website

Surprise! One of my favorite bakeries is not trying to mimic a typical French shop. Purebread was opened a few years ago by an American fellow, and you will find really good sourdoughs there in addition to the usual suspects (baguettes, ciabatti, croissants, pains au chocolat and the like).

It’s definitely not a show off place and you could almost walk by without realizing there is a bakery at all! The focus is given on the products, and again, you can ask to taste some samples of their freshly baked goods.

Lalos

Address: Taipei 101, B1 or 安和路1段91號 (Anhe Road, Section 1, No. 91)

Lalos bakeries surf on the reputation of their owner, boulanger Frédéric Lalos, who won a couple of awards in France and has worked for famous restaurants in Paris.

The baguettes and breads there are good (I really like the ciabatta), but if you’re looking for something to really indulge yourself, try the pain au chocolat aux amandes. Technically, it’s a trick used by bakers to recycle the unsold pains au chocolat from the day before, but I always fall for it: a pain au chocolat filled with crème pâtissière (custard) and topped with powdered sugar and roasted almonds. Delicious and probably the amount of kilocalories you need in a whole day!

Carrefour (家樂福)

Address: 德行西路47號 (Dexing West Road, No. 47) (Tianmu branch)

Website

Note: Although Carrefour supermarkets are widely spread in Taiwan, the content of a supermarket varies greatly from one to another. When it comes to bread and imported goods, the best option is still unsurprisingly the Tianmu branch.

What the hell is a supermarket chain doing in a list of bakeries?! , I hear you say. Well, we French are quite lucky to have Carrefour in Taiwan, and especially the one in Tianmu a.k.a. Expat-land, because it imports a lot of goods from France (CHEESE! CHEESE! Ahem.) and it bakes baguettes, country-style breads and pastries. Hell, the Carrefour in Tianmu even baked éclairs au chocolat and galettes des rois for a while (but I guess they stopped because it was too cumbersome and not profitable enough)!

Although I’m not particulary a fan of their baguettes (it’s often a bit too tough), the boule (country-style bread) is very nice with pretty much anything (cheese, pâté, tapenade or even to accompany a salad). I usually buy a bunch of them, ask the staff to slice it (they have a machine to do so) and freeze them. Then you simply need to toast a slice or two (or three!). Sometimes they have a version of the boule with cereals, which is even better. And price-wise, it’s really the cheapest you will get for a decent piece of bread at only 40-something NT per item.

La boîte de bijou (珠寶盒)

Address: 台北市麗水街33巷19號之1 (Lishui Street, Lane 33, No. 19-1)

Website

I still don’t know why the owner of La boîte de bijou decided to use this name instead of the grammatically correct La boîte à bijoux, but it doesn’t really matter because the pastries, brioches and other delicacies you will find there are really delicious.

I usually don’t buy bread there, but this is the first bakery in Taiwan where I spotted kouign-amann, a delicacy from Brittany made with what Brittany makes best (apart from drunk people): butter. You thought croissants had a lot of butter? Pleaaaaase! Get one of their mini kouign-amann and see for yourself!

Another thing I get almost every time I go there is the brioche à la fleur d’oranger (orange blossom brioche). Its texture is perfect (a little bit chewy while melting in your mouth) and the orange blossom flavor combined with the pearl sugar just make this one of my favorite by far! I usually can’t resist and eat it all before getting back home. If some has survived, it’s usually gone by the following morning.

Make your own bread!

As you’ve seen above, it’s possible to get pretty good bread in Taipei. But guess what, it’s also possible to make your own bread quite easily! DIY bakery shops usually sell everything you need to do so, including fresh yeast and pretty decent bread flours. I know this shop for instance has it all.

I complain a lot about the unbearably hot and humid summers we get here, but let’s see the positive side of it: it’s the perfect conditions to get your bread or brioche dough to rise properly or even to cultivate your own fresh levain!

Oh and yes, the baguettes in the photo at the beginning of this article are homemade ;)