Taipei Travel

2nd day in Keelung (cruise), we hired a cab for the day. We did a day of pineapple cake tasting tour. First stop was Taipei Leechi! We were there bright & early! Fresh out of the oven, the cakes/cookies were delish!!! We left w/ full shopping bags to bring home as souvenirs. Very helpful w/ recommendations!

I have always heard great things about this bakery....let me tell you....rumors are true!!! It is amazing! I went to the bakery around 8:30PM and there was no line. Lots of salesperson there to assist if you need help. There are so many choices so you should you time to browse before you make your purchases. Since my tastes run towards the traditional pastries, I only browse to see various options. We purchased the traditional pineapple cake and green bean moon cake and both are amazing.....The check out process is easy. The store does not have sitting area so I don't think there is a place to sit and enjoy. It does have tasting area where you can try various pastries with Chinese tea. Overall, it is simply amazing. We will definite visit again next time we visit Taiwan.

We were told by few of our friends from Taiwan that this is the best place for pineapple cake, so we had to stop and check it out. I'm not a big dessert person, and I had pineapple cake many times before. But this place got the best. They are delicious and are great for gifts. I love the packaging. I also like the Sun Cake.

The top 3 spots for Taiwan's popular export are LeeChi, ChiaTe, and the newcomer Sunny Hills. LeeChi and ChiaTe also make a variety of other pastries (LeeChi offers more traditional Chinese style goodies like mooncakes and wife cakes, while ChiaTe offers more traditional Western style or hybridized East meets West goodies like honey castella cakes and egg tarts). Sunny Hills, the last time I checked, only sells one type of pineapple shortbread along with their bottled pineapple juice. As far as pineapple shortbread goes, all three shops bake an excellent product. They all stand by the pledge of no preservatives or trans fat. All three use imported butter and dairy products. All three would make suitable souvenir/gifts to take home. Just be aware the goodies are perishable with a relatively short shelf life. My current favorite is LeeChi. They make an awesome shortbread with 100% pineapple filling, which has a good balance of the sweet and tart. The cookie portion is rich and buttery, without being too greasy. For those who prefers a sweeter taste, there is a good selection of the pineapple/gourd fillings with varied nuts and fruits (pine nut, walnut, cranberry, etc.). BTW, they also make a very good "green bean cake" (mung bean cake with red bean filling) without the awful green food coloring. The shop is clean and newly expanded. There is more standing room now for customers to move about. They do put out samples now and then, but cut down into tiny crumb bits and only on one small paper plate. They can be more generous in this area. So, you load up your tray and line up to pay at the counter. The shop girls will wrap your selections carefully and offer you their pretty, signature, orange gift bags.

The service was friendly. Variety of pastries - pineapple cakes and green bean pastries etc. Enjoyed the tastiness and freshness!