Taipei Panini and Grilled Sandwiches

Ever get that craving for a Panini when you are in Taipei? Luckily, there are some options available to help satisfy your hunger.

The city’s most well known Panini shop is Toasteria, also known as Taipei’s home for grill cheese. On the menu you will find an assortment of grilled sandwhiches ranging from spicy cheese, tuna, pepperoni pizza, eggplant, smoked salmon, chicken and many others. There is also a wide variety of bigger sandwiches called “Big Toasts” that serve up great Chicken Parmesan sandwiches, Philly Steaks and Cubanos, one of the few places in Taipei offering Cuban Food.

The restaurant is foreign owned and operated by a kitchen staff, which judging from appearance, appear to be mostly Filipino. If I am not mistaken I was also hearing them speak Tagalog but there was also local staff on board. The servers are for the most part friendly but at times can be a bit forgetful and not on the ball when it comes to serving quality, but I find it to be better on the first floor of the restaurant compared to the upper level. Nevertheless, I can’t complain.

What’s great about Toasteria is not only is it one of the few sandwich shops in the city, it also offers some of the best pasta. Most Taiwanese pasta shops for whatever reason veer from having linguine pasta unless it is for specific dishes, most commonly used for bacon and cream pasta. However, this is the standard noodle type for the pasta dishes at Toasteria, which range from Melanzane, Carbonara, Arrabbiata and Salmon. The restaurant also offers an assortment of wine and the house wine of choice is a pretty decent one.

Address:

106 台北市大安區敦化南路一段169巷3號

No.3, Lane. 169, Sec. 1,

Dunhua South Road, Taipei City

(02)2752-0033

 

If you want sandwiches that are a bit lighter and also go with lighter dishes such as salads and fruits, then Dressed is your best bet. Sandwiches here range from turkey, chicken, shrimp roll, hummus and feta to various salad-type combinations. Dressed is actually a salad shop, which by the way we also think is probably the best in town for salads. Some other competitors are starting to sprout but this place by far offers the widest variety of salad options as you can build your own combinations stating with the type of leaves, vegetables and meats all the way to the dressings and various condiments/add-ons.

Address: No. 169, Section 2, Anhe Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, 106

台北市安和路二段169號1樓

Phone:02 2733 9393

 

Making your own sandwich in Taipei

It can be difficult to find good sandwich makers in Taipei unless they are bought from professional cooking stores or online much like baking pans for cakes and brownies. However, the store 3C now has an assortment of makers that should be available in stock or can be ordered online. I would call ahead of time to make sure though to avoid making a special trip as you never know what you will run into in Taiwan.

Where to buy sandwich products

One of the most annoying things I often run into in Taiwan is that when I go to a typical bakery I cannot find wheat bread. Even white bread is usually hard to find unless it is a thick and almost gooey like texture that is more suitable for making toast with jam, which is typically what Taiwanese use the bread for cooking. Making “regular sandwiches” is not a typical custom in Asia in general but there are a few places where you can get your bread such as the bakery located on the first level of the Brother Hotel, located just outside of the Nanjing Fuxing MRT station.

For sandwich meat and chees, Jasons Market offers the widest selection of cold cut meats and cheeses that are imported from all over the world but local stores such as Welcome have their own ham and bologna options available as well in addition to local cheese brands.