Wash Coffee

From its Chinese name, which literally means “crossing 9000 km to deliver it to you”, people might be puzzled of what this shop is actually serving. The English one, “Wash Coffee”, however, does reveal its secret: a shop bringing laundry service and enjoyment of coffee together. The idea was based on an owner’s whim, thinking that if neighbors have the need of self-service laundry, a cup of coffee might be suitable time killer for their hour-long wait. Once entering the cafe, you could see several washing machines are set by the wall. However, as the space they take is far less than seats and bar table, you could know people mostly come for their coffee but not really doing some laundry. The menu is interesting: hand-written and drawn by owner or staffs on graph papers and being clipped on a clipboard for convenient reading. Apart from seasonal single-origin coffees, liquors and foreign beers are also available. After 6 pm, the cafe would start to serve deep-fried dishes. The price of their coffee is slightly higher than average in Taipei. Nevertheless, when the staffs serve a cup of hot coffee, which is with tiny wooden pallet as its saucer, on table covered by gunny sacks, the trendiness makes it all worthy. The images on chair pads and cushions are attractive, including skull, British national flag, Sherlock Holmes and even Albert Einstein with antler. On every table, there are decorations to play with: mini rocking horse, model of Eiffel Tower, bomb-shaped alarm clock, marble run, etc. These gadgets just keep drawing your attraction away from your coffee and companion. You could see owner’s taste by drawings hanged on walls, sketches placed in room and logos painted on column. If you are a genuine heavy smoker, an outdoor area with shed would feed your need; or if you are in a bad mood, a punching bag is hanged outside and waiting for your fury fist.