Wanderlust Taiwan- Le Pain Grille| Agnès b. Rue de Marseille for the Expats 

There is a large population of foreign workers in Taiwan. There are the manual labor types who usually come from the South East Asian countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. See my post on the Mail Order bride who became a beautician. There are the professional types (the expats) who come from around the world to capitalize on the Taiwanese technology, highly developed infrastructures, language and associations to China. I met a few people like that on this trip. They are from the US, Holland, Colombia, Canada, Switzerland,and the UK. What better way to get to know someone than to bond over a meal or tea?

One of Le Pain Grille’s restaurants, Agnès b. Rue de Marseille, is located near Taipei 101 where almost everything is in English and the food is geared toward tourists and expats.
 Ratatouille Provençal $290NT or $10USDThis is a decadent chocolate dessert which if I recall correctly is dark and not so sweet, exactly the way the French dessert would be. Beautiful and smooth. Unfortunately, it’s not on their online menu. This is their pineapple flavored tea which is recommended by my expat friend. It was delicious but not my cup of tea. I don’t think pineapple and tea should be combined. Pineapple in Taiwan is so full with flavor and sweetness and therefore takes away the bitterness of the tea. I don’t like it. For me, it should either be tropical fruit juice or tea. But not combined.
Staying true to the French way, Le Pain Grille has a long list of chocolate drinks. Really really yummy.  Never too sweet and dark.

Would I return? Maybe, if I live in Taipei for many months and crave French food. It’s decent. But the set up is weird… They charge for bread and you can’t ask or tap water. That’s not the worst thing… The worst is that they explain it to you like you are three and explain it multiple times.

This experience took place at