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Lately I have been making a list of cafes and restaurants that have recently opened in Canberra with the aim of trying them all. One I wanted to visit is a Taiwanese international chain called 85º Daily Cafe selling breads, cakes, desserts as well as smoothies, coffee and teas including milk and bubble tea. So this morning after my walk with my dog Axel, I drove into town to find the cafe. It was pretty easy to find as its located near our university on the fringes of the city.

You walk into this cafe and its interior is quite pink, to say the least. Pink walls, pink chairs, fake flowers on the walls are all shades of pink and there are pastel coloured flowers in small baskets, trolleys and vases near the cash register; pretty much all pink. All very sweet I must say.

I chatted to the young Chinese girl behind the cash register and asked her if she was from Taiwan (considering the cafe originated in Taiwan), she told me she was from Mainland China and we chatted a while about my travels throughout her birth country. She told me that all products in the cafe contained egg so I ordered a Jasmine tea and chose a small table near the window to sit and enjoy. The tea arrived in a teabag which was a bit unfortunate but it was nice all the same!

As for the cakes; there are so many lining the walls of the cafe in refrigerated glass side boards. And they look great; there are slices of layered sponge cake, chocolate mousse cake, cheesecake, strawberry cream cake, egg tarts and so many more…including several Asian flavours like a matcha (Japanese green tea) red bean roll and pineapple cakes.

All different sorts of breads and brioche are also sold including cheese bread, cheese twists, chocolate chip bread, coconut twists and croissants. So much choice! Unfortunately for me, similar to the cakes in the store, these savoury treats are non-vegan as they contain either milk or egg or both. These are also beautifully displayed in cabinets where you will also see more beautiful flowers above and lovely take-away boxes on display. I can imagine taking one of the larger cakes as a gift to a friend, looking fabulous in a see through box complete with bow!

The waitress told me that the name of the cafe 85º Daily Cafe actually comes from the idea that the perfect brewing temperature for espresso coffee is 85º Celsius. Interesting! But back to the cakes…there are also full cakes on display for any occasion I guess, then again who needs an occasion to eat cake!

So whilst I could not eat any of the sweet and savoury items on display, I did very much enjoy the visit and the opportunity to practice my Mandarin and view the cuteness of this cafe!