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The Consulate Café sits directly across from Fort San Domingo. The travel-loving proprietress never misses a chance on her journeys to collect an eclectic trove of souvenirs and folk-craft trinkets, which she brings home to scatter about the dining room, turning the space into a riot of color and curiosity. On the second floor, the pasta of every shape that decorates the tables is her trophy from globe-trotting with her family. An open-air terrace lets guests soak up the nostalgic seaside-town mood, gaze across at Guanyin Mountain, and lose themselves in Tamsui’s famous sunset. On a breezy summer afternoon, sipping fragrant coffee while nibbling house-made desserts is the very picture of leisure. If you’ve been to Tamsui, you know Fort San Domingo; in the late Qing the British set up their consulate here, the inspiration for the café’s name. Sitting across from the fort, beside the mouth of the Tamsui River, you can watch both the river’s long history and the horizon where it meets the open sea. Step through the door and, in a few paces, leave the city’s clamor behind for a languid afternoon. Must-try drinks: Consulate Coffee, Vienna Coffee, and Paris Champs-Élysées Black Tea. Recommended orders: iced latte and fruit tea.