Retro speakeasy music and romance: The Yuppy Bookstore Café
Great tunes and The Grand Budapest Hotel vibes at a hidden restaurant-café, literature salon, and jazz club in Taipei, Taiwan
The Yuppy Bookstore Café is a former bookstore that was transformed into a restaurant-café, literature salon, and jazz club in Taipei, Taiwan.
Quick Facts:
This place is also sometimes known as the Art Reading Cafe
The striking red-hued entrance area was designed to pay homage to The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson
The inside is the definition of shabby chic - quirky, retro-inspired, cozy, and intimate, with high ceilings bedecked with chandeliers, book nooks and corners stacked with antiques, and vintage memorabilia and period décor scattered about the dimly-lit, corridor-like space
It feels reminiscent of a Parisian cafe in the Belle Epoque era, combined with a Prohibition-time speakeasy. The fact that it’s hidden away on the third floor of a building that houses a few quiet shops and a tired-looking (rather dodgy-feeling) two-star hotel or motel, just adds to its “secret private club’ feel.
When there’s an event happening here during the day, you’ll typically need to buy a ticket to enter, otherwise you can just pop in for a drink and a bite whenever you like, if it’s open. The schedule of events is usually available on their website.
The Write Benefits - features we loved:
There is something magical about writing from one of the window-side tables in this beautiful spot, and one or two (the ones near the corners) are near a plug outlet. With the other tables - and there are many, with the restaurant divided into multiple sections with different types of tables and chairs, as well as a bar - it’s a luck-of-the-draw situation. The staff were quite friendly, and were very supportive of me wanting to sit in a corner and write quietly for several hours, on more than one visit.
Don’t miss:
The venue hosts multiple types of events, here, but jazz and blues nights are among its fortés. It also hosts literary events, from book and poetry readings to discussions, lectures, film screenings and more. Last time I visited, there was an event focused on educating and inspiring keen travelers to take an adventure to Peru.
Top tip:
There’s a quiet little park behind one building. It’s also a short walk from two of the best malls in Taipei - Far Eastern SOGO Zhongxiao Store, and Far Eastern SOGO Taipei Fuxing Store, the former of which is connected to the Zhongxiao Fuxing metro station. The cafe - which you’ll find listed on Google Maps as “Art Reading Cafe”, at the address 3FNo. 1號, Lane 126, Section 1, Fuxing S Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106, is a three minute walk from the metro station. If you’re lucky, while walking through the area, you might find a street seller with a cart of flowers for sale - like pink lilies - and on the cart, you may also find some Yulan magnolia. Also known as white champaca, white michelia, or white jade orchid, these flowers are often sold outside of temples, and the best season to find them is during the summer. They have a beautifully delicate, sweet, light, citrusy fragrance that is one of my favorite scents in the world, and that is not easily found elsewhere.
Writing fuel:
There is a food menu available here, and it’s a bit of a mixed bag. It’s a mostly Western-inspired menu, but it’s quite hit and miss. The food is fine - not bad, but nothing to write home about - but you’re going here for the atmosphere or the events, not for the cuisine. The tea, however, is excellent. If you enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail while you write, it is available, but personally, I loved their “Organic Comfortable Health Tea” - a caffeine-free custom blend made in-house, that’s soothing and fragrant, great for digestion, and comes with tasty handmade cookies.
A truly hidden gem
This place is quite hard to find - the first time I visited, I thought I’d taken a wrong turn because both the back entrance (facing the park, with the lifts found through a garage and tiny alleyway) and the front entrance (inside the 101 Amici Hotel), seemed rather dodgy. But once the lift doors open up on the third floor, where you’re welcomed by the stunning entrance in its dramatic red, you’ll be glad you found it.
And all that jazz
The jazz and blues performances at night reportedly last around 90 minutes each, with a break in the middle. There’s some great talent and it’s a fun way to spend an evening, that really helps to bring the rest of the venue’s vibe to life.
Down the rabbit hole
As you enter, through the doorway past the red steps, you’ll see an illustration of the March Hare from Lewis Carroll’s Alice Adventures in Wonderland welcoming you into the salon. Between that and the quirky vintage lamps and retro decor, really adds to the “hidden gem” feeling that you’ve gone through the looking glass and landed in an alternate world.
Be prepared
Since the venue can be rented out for private or invite-only events from time to time, even during the day, I’d strongly recommend checking out their schedule on their website first - or better yet, giving them a call to be certain that it’ll be open and available to you (with or without an entry fee - I’ve visited in both circumstances).
