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Eight years after opening, this Chiayi all-day brunch spot remains as popular as ever. Taipei has a Japanese restaurant called “Hide-and-Seek Daddy,” while Chiayi has its own “Hide-and-Seek Mommy”—though its real name is “Warm Belly.” The owner, trained in the culinary arts, loves both cooking and eating. She dreamed of opening a restaurant, but her family thought entrepreneurship too risky and refused to support her. Stubborn as ever, the young woman quietly opened “Warm Belly Coffee” in 2014, one of Chiayi’s earliest all-day brunch cafés. She never chased design trends—clean and natural was enough—and set no target demographic: “I just want to make what I love to eat. If guests happen to love it too, that’s perfect.” The toast costs four to five times the commercial standard, and even the seasonal vegetables were the first in town to use hydroponic lettuce from Dalin. Focusing on food that satisfies guests replaced flashy marketing; eight years on, Warm Belly’s unwavering quality makes it the go-to brunch spot locals recommend. Scroll through Google reviews and you’ll see the “Maple Fried-Chicken French Toast” is the longtime favorite, often sold out before noon—come early if you want a taste. Image source: Chiayi City Government Tourism and News Department | Photo: Marg (closed days per store announcement)