Being a Keelung “ke-á kid” when I was a child (Ke-á means “street” in Taiwanese, and Keelungers refer to it as the downtown area covering the Keelung Train Station, the Miaokou area, the No. 31 Bridge, and the area surrounding the Tianliao River), I had no impression of Chung Cheng Road until the time when my mom and I found the “nameless noodle shop” on the street opposite the New Kunming Hospital. After this, I began to know a bit about this area. This January, from “ke-á” to visiting the nameless noodle shop on Chung Cheng Road, I found another interesting spot there: LOKA Café!
I was initially attracted to its signs. The store’s entrance is in between a series of old arcades and is next door to the nameless noodle shop. Anyone can see this well-designed signage board. Take a closer look at its door, and you will see there is a coffee shop located at 2F. The glass on the doors has some basic info written about this café.
The second time I visited, I actually stepped on the stairs. Regarding space, the details that show the vintage traces and its super sea view are its main selling points, but the beautiful vintage tile in the bathroom which I inadvertently saw is the biggest surprise!
As for the food, the local dried noodles downstairs differ from café at 2F in a 2-minute journey like traveling between time and space.
Because of its location, LOKA Café isn’t like downtown coffee shops full of noisy people; the atmosphere here is quiet and calm. It’s quite enjoyable to have a cup of coffee, enjoy handmade desserts (my favorite: Lemon Cake) or quiche, and make yourself comfortable facing the beautiful cruise ship in the port, watching the sunset.
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