Toasteria Cafe (吐司利亞) in Dongmen has three floors to accommodate the influx of diners that flock to the restaurant on a regular basis to enjoy the food and drinks they have to offer.
The Yongkang location, which is on the corner of Xinyi Rd., opened in November 2016, while its Dunnan location has been open for about a decade. The newer restaurant in Dongmen is much larger than the open-air cafe near Zhongxiao Dunhua MRT station.
The original Toasteria focused on cheese paninis with a simple setup. At Dongmen, it has expanded to draw a larger crowd hungry for more variety.
Despite the crowd in the restaurant, the decor exudes a more relaxing vibe–large windows overlooking the street and a touch of modern Mediterranean design. It’s a place that is inviting enough that diners may want to hang around for hours, but service is efficient and intended to move customers to allow for higher turnover.
Toasteria specializes in Mediterranean cuisine, with some fusion involved. There’s a wide variety of salads and paninis on the menu, as well as pasta. The restaurant also has a array of tapas to share with your dining companions. There’s also a full cocktail menu for those looking to pair something different with their meal.
The salads aren’t as enormous as the ones at Mia Cucina, but they are equally as good and there’s enough to share. The signature Toasteria Salad makes a great introduction to the restaurant is a worthwhile choice to start the meal.
They offer classic and specialty paninis, including Red Wine Butter Steak and salmon with mustard. The Philly Steak panini is not a substitute for a Philly cheesesteak, especially if you have a hankering for Pat’s or Geno’s, but it’s still one of the best paninis in Taipei.
Everything on the menu is made to be shared, so it’s best to dine at Toasteria with friends. The tapas aren’t enough for a full meal, but they make a delicious start to the meal, especially the calamares estilo Morocco (pan-fried calamari with Moroccan-style tomato sauce).
Toasteria is open from 9 am to 1 am. On Monday-Thursday from 9 pm to 1 am, the restaurant has happy hour with house wine for NT$129.
Keep in mind that Toasteria is cash only. Most menu items are in the NT$200-300 range.
Address:
Dongmen Location
No. 200, Section 2, Xinyi Rd. (Dongmen MRT exit 5)
(map)
Phone: (02)2321-0073
Dunnan Location
No. 3, Lane 169, Section 1, Dunhua South Rd. (Zhongxiao Dunhua MRT exit 1)
(map)
Phone: (02)2752-0033
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