Different health ordinances and cultural standards for public hygiene allow for animals in Taiwanese cafes. I’ve run into enough cafe dogs (and cats!) for a series of Taipei cafe pet sightings. I’ll roll them out as time permits.
Meet the two cafe dogs at 4 a.m. Cafe. Oreo is black and white.
And Yang Meimei 羊妹妹, or Miss Lamb, is the one with ticking.
Their black heads don’t make them very easy to photograph, especially at night, which is when they usually seem to make the rounds (or maybe that’s just me).
They’re especially responsive to the rustle of food wrappers.
4 a.m. Cafe is named such because of its unusual hours. It’s open seven days a week from 2 p.m. until… yup. Caffeinated bedtime!
Night owls who can’t drift their way to slumberland on a raft of espresso can partake of tea, or Belgian and local bottled beers instead. They’re not cheap, but it’s not a terrible option when bars are not your scene, everything else is closed, and you want something to ease the thought of going home to an empty apartment.
They also feed and shelter (outside) a very affectionate stray kitty who has been TNR’ed and allowed to linger.
I only wish the dogs were more affectionate or as curious about me as I am about them. Maybe that’s just because I haven’t ordered any food yet. House-made raw chocolate, cookies, pretzels, nuts, and simple dishes like pizza, lasagna, and sausages are on the menu. They don’t seem uptight about people bringing in outside snacks, but it’d be cool to order from them. They work long hours, after all. Might as well make it worth their while.
4 a.m. Cafe
Guangfu South Road Lane 308 No. 38 光復南路308巷38號 [map]
Daan District, Taipei City 大安區，台北市
Nearest MRT: Sun Yatsen Memorial Hall Station 國父記念館
Nearest Bus Stop: Ren’ai Yanji Street Intersection 仁愛延吉街口
Hours: Open seven days a week, 2 p.m. ~ 4 a.m.
Wireless: Yes, free
Electrical outlets: Plenty, with extension cords
Smoking area: Outside
Atmosphere: Good music, laid-back atmosphere, hard plastic seats and somewhat dingy surfaces, sort of like a college cafeteria instead of home, but friendly enough
The House of Two Bows 雙寶之屋 
But why have we developed such rules? If a dog is not defecating are they actually that much more unclean than some people or children? Though to be fair my perspective is from a particularly un-smelly, virtually non-shedding dog….
That’s my take on it too. I’ve seen young children do far more disgusting and unhygienic things than smuggled pursedogs and your average family pet. In the U.S., it is often a strict health code violation to have pets in food prep or serving areas. I’m not sure of the legality of al fresco dining areas and pets, but they’re tolerated and even welcomed (by some places) in the dog-friendly Bay Area. People will still gripe though… and I’m always amused by how contentious this non-issue (to me) can be in American communities.
The divisiveness and origin of these rules also hints at the variety of circumstances under which dogs are kept. Not everyone has clean, well-groomed, disciplined house pets. I wonder if these rules probably stemmed from a time when unclean and unleashed dogs were more common and somehow easier to exclude on social principle?
I can only think of a couple of diseases that can transfer between dogs and people, and both of them are vaccinated against. That being said, I wouldn’t want someones ill-behaved dog wizzing on my box of cheerios at the market. I think dogs in buildings would be less of an issue if pet owners as a group were a tich more responsible.
By the way, we’re doing a NaNoWriMo event at Rocco’s House during November. Its going to be a round robin story written by the dogs of the blog world. We thought you guys might like to have a try! If you would, please e-mail me at bossdog AT roccoshouse DOT com. Hope to have ya 😀
Cute! Yes, my dogs are way more behaved than some children. My dog is also a border collie mix named Oreo!
We have a cafe/dog store here in Toronto, but it’s not a full blown cafe. You have to pour your own coffee and grab your own cookies because that way, the people aren’t serving you. You’re serving yourself. A brilliant loophole if you ask me.
That being said, it’s 80% dog store and 20% cafe (if you can even call it that). There are a few tables with dog bowls attached to them, though.
If only there were real restaurants/cafes in North America that let animals in. What jerk off created this stupid law anyway!?