🔅Actual visit date: 2024/12/07
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A place I've wanted to visit for a long time, but due to its somewhat distant location and the inability to make reservations, I hadn't made it there until suddenly today! The journey is indeed a bit long, so friends using public transport should consider that. There’s also another location in the southern part of the city to consider, but it doesn’t have much of a view.

On that day, we were quite full as we just ordered a few items of interest. There are some rules in the store (minimum spending/no outside food, etc.) that they let you know when you place your order. You can order through an app and then pay at the counter.

▪️ Chongqing Spicy Dry Mixed Noodles (Medium Spicy) $210
· Comes with a small cup of hot tea
I've heard that the salty dishes are delicious, and they really are quite tasty! The flavor is really spicy, the noodles are the thick type that I like, and the ingredients are plentiful. The braised pork is also tender and very tasty!

▪️ Little Mountain Garden Matcha Mille-Feuille $160
▪️ Pistachio Dacquoise $110
Perhaps because we had eaten other desserts at noon, the portions were quite large. When I suddenly saw the mille-feuille from this place, it seemed a bit small. Many people recommended the matcha mille-feuille. I think it’s good, but it’s rather conventional and not particularly impressive. However, it is generally pleasant to eat. The Dacquoise has an ordinary crust, but the pistachio flavor is decent.

Overall, the salty dishes were more impressive than the desserts this time. However, it might be that since I had eaten at other places that day, my expectations were higher. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great that day, so I couldn't fully experience the scenery and atmosphere of the mountain. I can't give a very high score, but I hope to have the chance to visit again in good weather!

【Foodholic Naizai @ Taipei】

"The Elsewhere Night Owl Shop" is located on Maokong Mountain, hidden in a somewhat secluded spot. After seeing the sign, you walk downwards to spot the café nestled in the mountains. It offers both outdoor and indoor dining areas. As you enter, the staff will ask where you prefer to sit.

I chose a day with a gentle drizzle to go up to Maokong and stayed inside this café to enjoy some simple dry noodles. Accompanied by a hot drink and a good book, I spent the afternoon here, or just zoning out was also nice.

The café plays old Western songs and has small exhibitions and a mini bookstore selling books, magazines, comic postcards, badges, etc.

Additionally, the café provides books and picture books that guests can freely take to their seats to read. I browsed through some picture books and the "Midnight Diner" manga; when there weren't many customers around, the atmosphere was indeed quite comfortable.

The café starts operating at 12:00. We arrived at 12:30 on a Sunday noon, being the first group of customers, enjoying a period of having the whole place to ourselves. Around 2 PM, the number of customers began to increase slowly, but everyone was quite considerate and didn't speak loudly.

Elsewhere Dry Noodles (Slightly Spicy) $200, Chongqing Spicy Dry Noodles (Moderately Spicy) $210
We only ordered à la carte; you can also add $60 to upgrade to a set, which includes three side dishes. Both bowls of noodles contain three slices of pork char siu, half a soft-boiled egg, green onions, wood ear mushrooms, and cucumber strips. I preferred the Chongqing Spicy Dry Noodles, with its Sichuan pepper aroma. Although it was quite oily by the end, it was irresistibly tasty! Elsewhere Dry Noodles is mainly seasoned with pork sauce, similar in flavor to fried sauce noodles, which I found quite ordinary. The noodles were okay; as café savory food, they're quite decent, but regarding a single bowl of noodles, the price is a bit steep, so the overall cost performance isn't high.

Flavored Au Lait (Brown Sugar) $140
This is basically brown sugar milk, one of my most frequently ordered drinks at cafés besides lattes. Upon serving, it was quite impressive, topped with plenty of brown sugar powder, and it seemed to be slightly torched. The whole drink was very sweet but very comforting, perfectly suiting today's drizzle!

Authentic Tieguanyin Pearl Milk Tea $190
It came with syrup on the side, but we opted for no sugar. Unexpectedly, the pearl milk tea was already quite sweet. It's uncertain if it's the sweetness of the pearls, but personally, I found it overshadowed the tea flavor, making the Tieguanyin taste not very prominent.