Taiwanese Bakery Taipei Story Offers Freshly Baked Bread and Sad Desserts

On a cold winter day with blustering winds, the warm light and appealing smell from bakeries beckoning us in. Thankfully, we are not like the little match girl in Hans Christian Andersen’s story shivering in the streets while watching rich people enjoy their food – we could actually walk in and try some.

On the first floor of World City Place, Taipei Story is a bakery specializing in Taiwanese pastries. If you are a regular at Zeroll, this place will feel familiar: the baking area in the back, two shelves displaying over 20 varieties of bread in the middle, and a fridge with desserts near the counter.

Claiming to bake only with natural ingredients, Taipei Story originated in Taiwan (obviously), and now has three locations in World City Place, Daxing, and Haidian. The good part is that you can walk around and try samples of the bread before buying, and we would recommend the whole grain bread (RMB 27) if you're a purist and reject the fancy breads containing matcha, red bean, orange, raisins, pumpkin, or other stuff with an Asian influence. That bread is delicious and chunky, with a generous dash of pumpkin seeds, oatmeal, and other grains on the surface and wolfberries inside to add more texture.  

The “German pudding” (RMB 20) might be the largest egg tart we’ve seen in Beijing, with a flaky bottom full of butter and cream flavor. The cold custard was simply good, and the flavor was light without hindering you from taking another two or three bites.

Only those with an exceptionally strong sweet tooth should opt for their desserts. The strawberry cheesecake was the weirdest one we’ve seen. The seemingly days-old strawberry on top detracted the charm it was likely intended to add to the cake, the cheese was not abundant at all, and the bottom was made of a soft toast. All the cake's weirdness made us turn around to look for more bread options, in an effort to focus on the positives. There are three tables in the shop, and the music is quite comforting, while the aromas of freshly baked bread tease you all the while. We would come back to grab some bread for breakfast, but not the desserts, thanks.

Taipei Story
Daily 8am-10pm. 1/F, World City, 10 Jinhui Lu, Chaoyang District (8590 7707)
臺北物语: 朝阳区金汇路10号世界城E座底商

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Photos: Tracy Wang