Taiwanese breakfast culture prepares to go global

Taiwanese breakfast culture prepares to go global

2025-01-17

One of Taiwan’s best kept secrets is its breakfast culture. People go out for breakfast more often than for any other meal of the day! There are lots of morning options available in cities, and there are fierce north-south divides over the menu too. One owner of a chain of successful breakfast eateries has opened up about his ambition to take the Taiwanese breakfast global. He grew up in a breakfast diner family in Pingtung, before carving out a niche in Taipei. This undiscovered gem of Taiwanese life is ready for the global stage, he says.

Egg pancake, turnip cake, pan-fried noodles. Or perhaps a shaobing with a fried dough stick and a soy milk. Life’s good in Taiwan. There’s a dizzying array of choices for the very first meal of the day.

Ariel Wang
TV host
In the north, it might be a Chinese-style breakfast: soy milk, shaobing with a fried dough stick. But in the south, you might get noodles as well.

Chang Wen-cheh
Breakfast shop founder
In Taichung, you have thick noodle soup, fried noodles. And even more in Pingtung. There you get all the soup dishes.

Hailing from Pingtung, Chang Wen-cheh grew up in a family that ran a breakfast restaurant. After graduating from college, he became a tour guide, and could show international tourists the “Taiwanese breakfast culture” that made him so proud. Then he went to work in Australia, made his fortune, and came straight back to Taiwan to open the breakfast restaurant of his dreams.

Chang Wen-cheh
Breakfast shop founder
I’d hear the numbers of customers being shouted out, or “Mr. Lin, Mr Lin!... Sir! Madam!” That’s my favorite. So I create that feeling in my own restaurant. We want to be the “king” of breakfasts in Taipei. We don’t just sell breakfast. We’re showing you Taipei culture.

The eatery has found a solid place in the market after nine years in business. Chang says his business philosophy is modelled after the kendo practice he has maintained since childhood.

Chang Wen-cheh
Breakfast shop founder
We aim to follow the kendo concept of “shuhari:” Preserve the classics, break with tradition and transcend something new.

This Pingtung kid has made a splash in the capital, winning a slice of the NT$200 billion annual breakfast-brunch market. But Chang’s ambitions extend even further. Next he wants to take Taiwan’s proud breakfast culture global.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

全台最大"帥哥"聚集地！外國人最愛「台灣早餐文化」

2025-01-17

台灣人外食比例最高的一餐就是早餐，早午餐商機逼近兩千億，也孕育出值得驕傲的"台灣早餐文化"，北中南東各有不同。人稱"台北早餐大王"的連鎖早餐創辦人張文哲，從小家裡就開早餐店，擔任導遊期間還把台式早餐文化推廣給外國觀光客，一起來聽這位屏東囝仔的故事。

蛋餅、蘿蔔糕、鐵板麵；或是想來點燒餅配油條、喝豆漿，台灣人真的好幸福，每天睜開眼第一餐就有選擇困難！

[[主持人王嘉琳]]
“北部可能就是中式早餐，豆漿啊燒餅油條，但是在南部可能還有麵”

[[連鎖早餐創辦人張文哲]]
“台中有大麵羹、炒麵，屏東更多，屏東還有湯水類”

從小家裡經營早餐店的屏東囝仔張文哲，大學畢業後當導遊，就把令他驕傲的「台式早餐文化」推廣給外國觀光客，後來到澳洲打拼賺得第一桶金、立刻回國開出心目中的理想早餐店。

[[連鎖早餐創辦人張文哲]]
“會有叫號的聲音，會有林先生林先生...那種聲音，這種是我最喜歡的，所以在我店裡營造這種感覺。我們就想當台北早餐大王，我們不只賣早餐，我們告訴你台北文化”

創業9年站穩市場，張文哲的經營之道，竟然跟從小學習劍道有很大關係。

[[連鎖早餐創辦人張文哲]]
“我們能不能像練劍道講的守破離，能不能守住舊的、經典的，打破格局然後變成一個新的東西來”

屏東囝仔勇闖天龍國，不光要搶一年兩千億早午餐商機，張文哲還想進軍國際，將台灣人最驕傲的「早餐文化」帶到全世界！

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週日至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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