Miyahara

They were not just a dessert shop, it’s a full sensory experience. Nestled in a beautifully preserved historic building with a dramatic, almost Harry Potter-like interior, they delivered both visual splendor and culinary delight. The ice cream was a masterpiece in both presentation and taste. Served in a delicate waffle bowl, it came adorned with an array of handmade toppings: mini pineapple cake and a charming butterfly cookie. The gelatos were vibrant and packed with flavor—mango, passion fruit, grape, and pistachio. Each scoop was dense, refreshing, and full of real ingredients. The pineapple cake added a contrast, and the decorative cookie gave a fun crunch. It’s not just dessert, it’s an edible artwork😍

Eye Scream is located behind Miyahara Café, in the same building. The building is right on the riverside, the color is red. Although there was a fairly long line, it moved quickly. As soon as you enter, you pick your ice cream flavors, pay, then choose your toppings — and you’re good to go. The shop looks large from the outside but is actually quite small inside. Ice cream is available in single, double, or triple scoops, and you can also add waffles or a sundae. Toppings are free, but the variety is impressive — not your typical ice cream toppings. There’s a wide selection of ice cream flavors. I went for the Miyahara Special and wanted to try something with coffee. I tried three flavors: • Raisins Mascarpone – This one was good. The raisins added just the right amount of sweetness and tangy taste, and the mascarpone gave it a nice savory balance. Additional NT$10, part of the Miyahara Special. • Honey Cheese – My personal favorite. It had the perfect balance of sweet and salty, making it the tastiest of the three. Additional NT$10, also part of the Miyahara Special. • Tiramisu – This one costs an extra NT$20 and had a strong coffee flavor that made it quite bitter. Personally, I didn’t enjoy it, as I think desserts that are too bitter lose their enjoyment. For toppings, I chose rum raisins and pumpkin seeds. Both were great — the raisins weren’t too dry, and the pumpkin seeds were still crunchy. Despite being free, the toppings were generous. After getting our ice cream, we left right away since there’s no seating available. Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to bring the ice cream into Miyahara Café either — you can only stand about 2–3 meters from the entrance door. For that price, I think they should offer some seating, some benches at terrace/semi-outdoor would make a big diffrence. Especially since ice cream isn’t something you can take home — it has to be eaten right away.

I always enjoy a nice stop whenever I visit Taichung. Grab yourself an ice cream to cool down in summer. They have lots of really interesting flavors to try, there’s something for everybody. You can also get free toppings when they calm you to get your order. Miyahara itself is an architectural beauty itself too. I stop by just to admire the beauty of the building itself. There’s also lots of nice souvenirs to bring back too. Cookies, fruits, cakes, nuts, candy and much more. The staff are very friendly and can answer all the questions you have.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I went to Miyahara last month and really loved it. The place is so unique and beautiful inside, like an old library. The ice cream was amazing with so many flavors to choose from, and I also took home some pineapple cakes which were really good. It was a bit busy but totally worth the visit.

Whenever in Taichung, this is a must visit destination. Visited a few times, always enjoyed the experience. From the ice cream parlor to browsing through their souvenir merch to lunches / tea time on the 2nd floor. There's plenty of history here and an immersive experience. The food is actually quite good. Not your typical tourist traps.

The building looked lovely, there is a lovely selection of items, but restaurant entry staff wasn't the friendliest and the queue at the ice cream place wasn't well organised. The Tiktok craze of this place has set the expectations of this average ice cream place unnecessarily and unjustifiably high. There are places elsewhere with much much better ice-cream, just not hyped up and social media relevant as this one.

Amazed not only the great 👍 food they offered, but inside the building is purely magical and beautiful. Loved the Harry Potter vibes and their staffs are very well informative. Def recommend for any tourists like me, when visiting Taichung, Taiwan. 👍👍⭐️⭐️🤩

I just bought a cup of ice cream and some souvenirs here. But I would say the old building is well preserved and clean. On top of that the ice cream was jaw dropping, I mean fantastic! If you have a chance to go to this city, you should visit here.

The building is converted from a former ophthalmologist clinic dating back to 1927. Miyahara is a confectionery, restaurant, milk tea and ice cream parlor. When we went, it was quite busy in there with a tour group. I'm sure it's usually busy though. I loved looking at the retro packaging of the confectioneries. The ice cream shop next door is to go only, so we went to the Fourth Credit Union location. This place and the ice cream was a highlight of my trip to Taichung!

This place has a ice cream parlor and a pastry shop which its exhibit is open to all for free. The dining area is small. Especially there is a huge crowd of people and a wait line. You are not gonna find any optometrist here at all. This historical building was a Japanese optometry called Miyahara during the Japanese occupation. If you do want the ice cream without the long wait, check out the credit union down the street serving exactly the same thing with the same price. I took a quick tour of the place, and it was great. Friendly staff with their safari style uniform. I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Cute store. Long line even on a weekday. Lots of good flavors. Especially love their tea and fruit flavors. The line goes quick. You get two free topics and they are quite generous with their topping size.

The restaurant ambiance aligned with the stunning lobby below. The staff, while friendly, faced language barriers and could've been more attentive. The appetizer tray fell short, but fortunately, the other dishes were quite tasty. Notably, portions are moderate, so consider that when ordering.

Okkkay, I get the hype. The Miyahara pineapple cakes are FIRE. You can't miss their trademark red brick building and long lines for the gelato. We stopped by originally on a weekday morning straight after making our trip from the high speed rail from Taipei, and it was surprisingly close to the station. There were so many tourists inside, we were hesitant to say we'd come back on a weekend. The decor inside is divine, filled with porcelain containers for their yummy delicacies from chocolates, nougats, to OUR favorite pineapple cakes! They have a store section that sells these goods you can take home in gorgeous wrapping, then a drinks section for their bobas and coffee, and the FAMOUS section of gelato which you can tell from the long lines out the door that double back TWICE. We actually visited twice, since we weren't feeling the ice cream or waiting in the line, so we came back in the later afternoon. The line was still long, but shorter than the morning time. Not sure if time of day affected anything. There's a service member taking orders while you're in line (reminiscent of In-N-Out style), and they have English and Mandarin menus (nice!). The gelato flavors are incredible, from various tea's to fruits like passionfruit and grape to their seasonal specials (winter is orange), it's so hard to choose just 1-3 flavors. I got two scoops of tea flavors in their waffle cone, and with that order you get to choose two special toppings from their toppings case once they call your order number. They really need to have an overhead electronic order display instead of having service members shout out the numbers. It's so hard to hear in the pack of people waiting. The quality of their gelato and toppings are definitely noted, but I feel like a few things could've been improved with the service and efficiency aspect. Hire more scoopers! One poor gal was doing all the gelato scooping. And please invest in an overhead order system. We ended up bringing some Miyahara pineapple cakes back home to the States. SO GOOD. Little circular goodies. Def recommend a visit if you happen to be in Taichung--it's walkable from the Tai Tie/HSR as well.

Definitely stop by if you're in the area! Found this place to be so cute. They sell teas, biscuits and other goodies that make for good omiyage. The ice cream shop has soooo many flavors! You're allowed to sample 2- I tried a tea flavor and the blueberry cream one. Ended up getting passionfruit and dragonfruit instead. You really can't go wrong here. At the end they allow you to choose 2 toppings, the biscuits are made in house! Overall great service and would come back again.

My girls had the most amazing ice cream sundae! We loved their selections and their ice cream was absolutely delicious! We had a double scoop sundae with toppings. We got mango, Taiwanese vanilla strawberry, Taiwanese lemon caramel, chocolate and my parents got the passion fruit. All of the flavors were well made. The staff was friendly and helped us find a comfortable spot by the bridge to sit and enjoy our ice cream. The line was long but it went fairly fast. We would definitely come back again!

This place was literally a 5 minute walk from our hotel. This was the first stop when we went to Taichung. We couldn't check into our hotel yet so we dropped off our luggage and walked over. We got several different kinds of ice cream. For the adult ice cream, we got two scoops of two different types of tea flavored ice cream. We also added pineapple cake bites and a oolong tea crisp for our ice cream. Each ice cream gets two toppings. I'm glad there's separate stores for ice cream, coffee and gifts. There is a smaller than average door from the gift shop to the coffee shop. See if you can find it. There was already a line to the ice cream shop when we got there around 10/10:30. One of the few places that was open other than the conbini shops. Worth checking out. Didn't give full marks since I haven't tried their coffee or bought any gifts from them. Kids want to go back every year so here's hoping to visiting next year.

It was highly recommended by our friends from Taichung. They recommended us to make a reservation and I'm not sure why when half the restaurant was empty. We had 9 people and they separated us to two tables. We ordered tons of food and at the end, ordered multiple orders of ice cream. Each order of ice cream came with one topping. My son was crying as he wanted a teddy bear cookie topping. I asked the waiter if he can give us ONE extra cookie and he said "no". Okkkaaayyy, so I asked if I could buy one. My son is crying because he sees his sister and cousin both have one and would like one and he said "no, the cookies are not for individual purchase." This really bothers me as we just had two tables of food for dinner and all I'm asking for is one extra cookie and am willing to pay for it. Let's not mention the ten boxes of pineapple cakes we just purchased at the gift shop. The food was good. Not epic, but good. They separately have an ice cream store downstairs with tons of unique flavors which is worth a visit. Chia Te's pineapple cake is still better for those who are looking for a comparison.

such a fun place to go to! definitely go get some ice cream there if you can. there are many unique flavors people have the chance to choose from. id definitely go back!!

This place is definitely a tourist trap and can get crazy crowded. The ice cream was nothing special and the shop is interesting but pricy. All the products come with nice packaging but I wonder if they taste as good as they look!? I marvel the long lines to both the ice cream shop and the gift shop but am not sure if I would recommend this place as "must go" in Taichung b

grape & oriental beauty ice cream with pineapple cake and cheesecake Located very close to the Taichung Train Station, Miyahara used to be an optometrist office. At one point, it was almost demolished due to its fragility. Thankfully, a corporation bought and revamped it into what it looks like today The store sells a wide variety of tea and snacks (think pineapple cake, butterfly cookie, chocolates, etc.) However, it is especially known for its ice cream. There are 40+ flavors of ice cream, many of which are non-common. For each scoop, you can pick 1 snack to go with it! We got the Jufeng grape and oriental beauty flavor, both of which were absolutely delicious A must-go if you are ever in Taichung!

While on a walking tour of the historic district of Taichung, we visited Miyahara, formerly the residence of an Japanese colonial era ophthalmologist, and now an ice cream shop owned by a pineapple cake company. This interesting history is evident from the contrast of Japanese era red brick exterior of the ground floor, to the newer, pineapple-like windows of the top floor. Our tour guide also shared a couple fun facts, see if you can spot them all! - There's 10 ants crawling in the front door, indicating the allure of the sweets. - The donation box was formerly a well for the ophthalmologist. - The exterior door handle has the digits "100", representing the 100th anniversary of the institution. The interior of the door has "120", since there's a saying in Taiwanese to live until 120 years old. There were a wide range of flavors, but we stuck to (one of the many) chocolate and vanilla flavors. While they were decent, the ice cream wasn't particularly creamy and was pretty expensive. Still worth checking either Miyahara or Fourth Credit Union out though for the history and architecture - both have the same theme of being an ice cream parlor inside a historic building, and share the same management.

We visited Taiwan and I had to go to this place. It was so beautiful and had the most unique selection of food and candy and tea. Everyone who worked there was so kind and made their best effort to communicate with us despite any language barriers.

Omg this place is so cute and is a MUST if you visit Taichung!! There are actually two locations: one is for take out only, and another for sitting in. We went to the sit-in location. There are tons of ice cream flavors and super cool toppings. We got the three scoops to share for 5 people, which was plenty for us. We tried the blueberry yogurt, oolong tea, and lychee flavors. My favorite was the oolong tea flavor. The service was great, and they were kind enough to let us try the different flavors. We also got a waffle topped with chicken. The chicken and waffle was pretty good, but not amazing. The chicken was a little plain, and the waffle was a little soggy. Still enjoyed it since I wanted something savory before digging into the ice cream. Overall, I would definitely recommend coming here for ice cream!

It is so cool in here! Gives me lots of Harry Potter vibes! I felt like I was in another world with all the floor to ceiling decor. The building used to be an ophthalmology clinic and they converted this into a tourist attraction. It is now an ice cream shop, tea shop, bakery, and restaurant. This is a definite must come if you're in Taichung. It is a such a unique experience. The building was so crowded. I decided to try the ice cream. We waited about 30 minutes in line on a weekend but well worth it! They have a fancy selection of ice cream flavors such as Alishan oolong tea flavor, lychee, starfruit, and sooo many chocolate flavors! They have an English menu for those who can't read Chinese. I love how light the ice cream tasted. It was not like heavy like most American ice cream. The shortbread and the waffle cup is a nice aesthetic touch if you pay extra. It was overall on the pricier side especially for Taiwan but it is a very touristy trendy destination. It is well worth it at least once if you're visiting Taichung.

Miyahara, me-uh-happy! Unique views and delicious desserts, it's easy to see how this place is a top attraction in Taichung. Evoking both European and Japanese influences, this building is among the most unique I've ever seen. I remember thinking this place looks so much like Hogwarts, with the floating staircases and the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, not knowing that was actually the inspiration. This place just looked so...original. It's grand and mysterious, with little secret doorways between the main dessert hall to the gorgeous coffee shop outside. If you think the décor is pretty, wait until you see the desserts. There is really an old world charm, as they draw design tips from vintage towns and sea ports. The packaging is floral and vibrant. Little triangles of tea leaves dangle from the wall. Pretty boxes of truffles and pineapple cakes line the glass cases among an assortment of traditional English and Taiwanese sweets. Merchandise sits on rustic shelves that look like old wood. If you venture upstairs, you can view the dessert shop from another beautiful angle, but only if you want to pay to eat at the café. Besides the architecture and souvenirs, the main draw would definitely be the ice cream. The hundreds of flavours of ice cream. Things you've never even heard of. There are like 50 different flavours of just chocolate and another 50 different flavours of tea. Where else can you get a sundae of Alishan Oolong Tea, Kyoho Grape, and Uganda 80% Smoked Chocolate? These are all real flavours. You can top them up with fancy pastries that come from their main shop too like white bean floral cakes, cheesecake, and all sorts of handmade biscuits. I got the Honey Cheese and the Tieh Kwan Ying tea, both very flavourful and tasting exactly as advertised, though not the most compatible when eaten together. If you want to bask in architectural beauty, Miyahara is the place. If you want to feel like an old world aristocrat for a hot second, it's definitely the place. If you want to stuff yourself with dairy and pastries with one-of-a-kind flavours...you know. (39/100) - 2019

Tastes terrible, no flavor, very blend. Not sweet enough. I was expect gelato cause it looks like it but it's no gelato. Good for Instagram pic yes, has a lot of variety but none of the 3 flavors we got were good. Not even the mango one. Tsk tsk

Three and a half stars. This is a combination ice cream shop, tea shop, and 'grammable sweets store with an upstairs cafe that closes not too late in the evening. I've had better bubble tea and pineapple cakes, but I was very happy with my purchase of their ginger and Hakka teas. Their packaging style rotates seasonally, and I feel like you're investing in the aesthetic more than the flavor. Tourism stamp is near the main shop door where the sidewalk ants converge. I loved the creative ice cream flavors (a section of coffee flavors, a section of tea flavors, and a third section of miscellaneous flavors), even if texture and flavor didn't quite deliver; starfruit and assam/plum/honey were the only two I was a fan of. Toppings were similarly meh-- cheesecake was a favorite for everyone else in my group, but I'd probably try puffed rice and cute shortbread cookie if they don't run out next time... or beeline straight upstairs to try their more savory options.

Miyahara's interior reminded me of Harry Potter. This is one of the well known tourist spots to go in Taichung. There's two buildings, one next to each other. The first one sells ice cream and the second one sells pastries. There's also a second floor to the second building which I did not go to. It's a restaurant. The line for the ice cream can get extremely long. I waited about 25 minutes from the start of the line to getting my ice cream in hand. It takes a long time because people are sampling the variety of ice cream being offered. I, myself probably tried 10 different kind of ice cream. I eventually went with the strawberry and banana. The ice cream was not creamy nor thick. It's almost like a sorbet. Very light and sweet. I didn't want to go overboard, so I only got one scoop in a waffle cup. It came with only one topping. The shortbread topping was stale and so was the waffle. Onto the second building. There's a small entrance to get in. Someone that's 6 ft would have to really get low to enter. This place was magical in terms of how much chocolate, cookies, pineapple cakes, cheesecake were around. They did give out samples for the cheesecake and chocolates, but not the others. Like most people have said, it's very expensive for what its's worth. I tried the sea salt cookie and it was just ok. Nothing special about it. I also had the pineapple cake which is round shaped instead of rectangular. This was also normal and tasted like the other pineapple cakes I've had. Overall, it's a place to visit once when you're in Taichung.

4.2 stars for Miyahara! This eye hospital was very successfully converted into a beautiful and grand ice cream shop, restaurant, tea shop, and dessert store. (They sell pineapple cakes, cookies, chocolates, sun cakes, cheesecake, etc.) As much as this is a man-made tourist destination, it is very exquisitely executed. The lavish and effortless intricate designs, decor and beautifully packaged goods make it a one of a kind experience. The ice cream is fancy (with 20 types of chocolate flavors from different countries, unique tea flavors like Alishan oolong or earl grey, fruity flavors and more) and the ambiance is truly elegant! Yes, the prices are higher than the norm but it's fun, beautiful and almost magical in many ways. I would definitely make an effort to visit again if ever stopping by Taichung!

The old ophthalmology clinic has been transformed into a popular landmark for tea, dessert, and dining in Taichung. Upon entering the building, it felt as if one has gone through the time machine going back 100 years. The old school charm with whimsical décor makes this place an eye candy for photo lovers. On the first floor, they sell teas, pastries, chocolates, and gelatos. Gelato shop has a separate entrance and is always crowded with long line. There's a restaurant on second floor serving Taiwanese cuisine and afternoon tea. I really liked the atmosphere at Miyahara, especially looking up the tall book cases and staircase; you feel the Harry Potty magic and whimsy floating throughout the building. Must visit place in Taichung. Keep in mind, as with all popular attractions, prices are not cheap in trendy spots.

I'm very glad this place was recommended to me by a cousin. The main store has a big selection of snacks, crackers, confectionary, etc. The decor is cute and gorgeous with high ceilings and walls/shelves of books and large hanging fish lanterns. There is a bar/cafe on the second floor, though we did not go in, but I would like to in the future. Next to the confectionary is an ice cream store, and to our knowledge there are two locations. This one has no seating and is more of a takeout. There were lots of flavors ranging from different chocolate percentages to fruits and teas. Everything I tasted was full of flavor. You also get confectionary with your ice cream too. If/when I come back to Taichung, this will be a must-go stop.

I can't believe I forgot to review this restaurant gem! I love love love the decor and atmosphere at their restaurant upstairs. It's definitely worth to go on that special date or for drinks with friends to celebrate a special occasion. The service is top, definitely deserves 5 stars, the food is good and overall it's a pretty place to dine in. So, yes, it is a lovely place to check out if you're in town!

3.5 stars I like and enjoy ice cream, but I don't normally go out of my way to hunt down ice cream. We went to Miyahara because it's a "top place to see" in Taichung. The actual Miyahara building itself is pretty cool. It's an old ophthalmology clinic that has been turned into an ice cream and pineapple cake/cookie haven. The description "ophthalmology clinic" doesn't do it justice. It looks more like a library out of the Harry Potter universe to me. It's pretty crowded with tourists, but it's nice to pop in an wander around for a bit. If you aren't planning to buy any of the goods on the first floor (pastries, teas, chocolates, etc.), then you can head upstairs to the restaurant. There is a 380NTD minimum per person when you dine at the restaurant (which serves food, and not just ice cream). If you're looking to try just the ice cream, you're better off heading around the corner from the main entrance. At the side of the building, there will probably be a queue outside, which will lead you through a side entrance where they serve their ice cream to go. Don't be intimidated by the line-- it moves pretty quickly. They may have a person going through the line giving out menus. They have a Chinese menu, an English menu, and a Japanese menu. The person handing out the menus will also take your order and circle it on your menu for you, which you can just hand to the person inside behind the counter who will get you set up with your ice cream. They do have a pretty extensive ice cream menu, with tea flavors, fruit flavors, chocolate flavors, and some Miyahara special flavors. We opted to try the Assam Black Tea Rose and Mint flavor. If you want the ice cream photo for the gram, you should opt for the "luxury toppings" option, which is an extra 80NTD, but gives you your ice cream in the waffle bowl, with some fruit (is it always strawberries? They seem to pick for you) and some cookie toppings (also picked for you). You also get an additional topping of your choice that you can choose at the end (1 special topping per scoop), such as pineapple cake, cheesecake, etc. The "luxury toppings" also come with an "extra scoop," but don't be fooled-- the extra scoop is a mini scoop and the flavor of the mini scoop is selected for you. Flavor wise, the ice cream was pretty good. I'm not really sure how they picked the flavor of the extra scoop-- it seemed kind of random. Prices: 1 scoop + 1 topping = 90 2 scoops + 2 toppings = 160 3 scoops + 3 toppings = 225 Waffle bowl = 20 Luxury toppings = 80 tl;dr: Cool building, good ice cream. If you want the "pretty" ice cream for the gram, you gotta go with the luxury toppings. I think it's worth it to come at least once to check it out, even if you're not a super huge ice cream fan.

I heard about this place from a friend and finally made it over to check it out. It is quite popular, and the most exciting part is definite the elaborate decorations inside, resembling a grand library of sorts. All the gift items are beautifully wrapped and the employees are dressed in impeccable uniforms as well. The food to get is apparently the ice cream/ice cream sundaes, and the line wrapped around several times with an over an hour wait, plus no seats to dine indoors. Fortunately, my friend went to use the restroom (located a few blocks away), and learned that there was a second location operated by the same parent company selling nearly the exact same menu. We walked over to the lesser known location and only had to wait about 25 minutes, plus managed to find a place to sit (there are seats spanning two floors there). We splurged and opted for the special Chinese New Year sundae, an upgrade for a discounted price which let you pick five toppings. Naturally, I picked the monkey cookie for monkey year. ;) The sundae was assembled with care and looked stunning, and there were tons of ice cream flavors to choose from as well. Price-wise, it's definitely above average, but not ridiculous I suppose (especially if converted to U.S. dollars for example). To be honest, the ice cream wasn't anything extremely special or spectacular, but I still think the whole place/atmosphere is worth experiencing at least once in your life.

Just so you know, the food here probably only deserves 3 stars, but the overall experience bumps it up to 4 stars. It's almost ridiculous how extra this place is, because it's really just a pineapple cake/pastry/dessert shop. But I can't help but love it. Miyahara is just a quick walk from Taichung Station (train station, not HSR). The outside of the building is quite nondescript, but once you walk in, you'll be overwhelmed by the extravagance. High ceilings, shelves, and expensive looking furnishings really give this place magical vibes. And there are a ton of staff, dressed in obnoxiously bright yellow and green suits (like a pineapple?) just waiting to jump in to convince you to buy something. There is a restaurant (afternoon tea is also available) located upstairs, but they do have a NT380 minimum per person. I mean it's really not hard to meet the minimum, but the food really isn't that amazing. Just know that you're really paying for the experience. Even if you don't plan on eating, feel free to go up and take pictures. Since we needed to kill some time, we decided just to snack here. We ordered: +Snack Plate (choice of 3 items NT385): got the radish cake (wish it had been crispy on the outside), salty crispy chicken (good flavor but not really crispy), and sesame ball with peanut (just okay). +Ice Cream (4 scoops NT450): this is what most people are here for. It is cheaper downstairs, but if you eat in the restaurant you can choose 5 toppings, which will allow you to taste the pineapple cakes. While they had interesting flavors available (we got Mango, Lychee, Cactus and Pineapple Yogurt, and Ceylon Tea), I ended up not being a fan of the ice cream. It was icy and didn't really have that creamy texture that I was expecting. The waffle cone also had a weird taste and texture. I'm guessing it might be made with rice flour. For how amazing everything looked, the food was quite mediocre. The pineapple cake I had also wasn't particularly exceptional. That being said, I still walked away happy because I enjoyed my time there. But I just know it's not for everyone.

Miyahara was easily one of the highlights of my trip to Taiwan. My friends and I stopped there for ice cream and were beyond impressed. They have a plethora of unique flavors. I ended up getting the lychee, mango + passion cheesecake, and blueberry yogurt ice creams in a sundae. You can also pick your toppings so I had a wonderful butter cookie, cheesecake and their incredible pineapple cakes. I ended up buying a box of the pineapple cakes to bring home for the family because they were so incredible.

Miyahara was listed as a must visit when traveling to Tai Chung. There are two sections to Miyahara: 1) inside which sells boxed chocolates, cookies, and pastries, and 2) outside which sells their infamous ice cream. The inside decor was really beautiful. I also agree with a fellow Yelper that it gives a Harry Potter + vintage Asian vibe. There were many beautifully packaged goods sold (chocolates, cookies, pastries), however, they were overpriced and did not taste good. I also tried their infamous ice cream (located outside the shop) that is elaborately embellished with 3 toppings (cookie, piece of cheesecake, nuts, dried fruit, etc) of your choice. They had a large selection of ice cream, (chocolate and fruity flavors). We selected a flavor that was recommended on their menu - yogurt w/ citrus. The yogurt w/ citrus ice cream was ok and nothing special. The butterfly cookie, green tea cookie, and piece of cheesecake was not that tasty. The ice cream was beautifully embellished, but the entire thing did not taste good. In conclusion, Miyahara is super touristy, overrated, and a good one time visit. The interior was beautiful, but the goods sold did not taste good and are overpriced. I do not get the long lines. I guess everyone who came were first time visitors, because I do not think locals would come here and spend their hard earned money on overpriced bad quality desserts.

This place does not live up to its hype (in terms of food and beverages). I came here after seeing numerous photos on Instagram and Foursquare (yes, I use Foursquare). This place is gorgeous don't get me wrong - the high ceilings and stained windows are quite stunning. This review is based of their ice cream which most people come here for - it's pretty, but doesn't taste very good. Everything has way too much sugar and the toppings although are aesthetically pleasing are not very tasty. The toppings were stale and I think they could've used some more variants instead of just cookies and related toppings. Aside from the ice cream shop, they also have fudge, pineapple and other Taiwanese cakes, cheesecake shop, tea shop, and a restaurant upstairs. Take your pic, expect to be stunned by the presentation but underwhelmed by the taste.

All the touristy stuff aside, this place had that magical, whimsical feel you get at certain places. Whoever designed this place along with all the perfect packaging and service, gets a gold star in my book. The whole place looks like some scene in Harry Potter merged with a modern version of Crouching Tiger. The packaging design was amazing - if they sold just the boxes themselves, I'm sure they would sell a ton of them. Everything in the store is designed to look like a vintage object - like for example they would have something that looked like an antique book and then you opened it - inside were beautifully packaged pineapple cakes. Genius. Also - I have a pretty high standard for ice cream/gelato - and I was pretty blown away by their impressive selection (for example 20 different kinds of chocolate gelato, varied by cacao percentage and origin). I love chocolate so I had two different kinds. Both were as good as some of the top gelato I've had in Italy and the States. I'd probably say the upstairs cafe is a skip - you can get the same ice cream downstairs for half the price.

My friend, a Taipei local, suggested Miyahara as a go-to tourist spot while I was in Taichung. Naturally, I forwarded the info to my relatives, some of whom had been to sight see but had not tried their ice cream. Before coming here, I had no idea what to expect as it used to be an optometry site and the name still suggests that. WHAT IT IS - Basically they sell sweets and baked goods (chocolates, pineapple cakes, dried fruits, cookies, etc.) that are packaged extremely well. The goods are nicely disguised as cute packages or old-fashioned books, and therefore sorely overpriced. They also have an adjacent tea shop and ice cream shop. AMBIANCE - Definitely feels like a new school Harry Potter meets Belle from Beauty and the Beast's library. I'm talking classic floor-to-ceiling bookcases with rolling ladders and fake owls. Upstairs, there is an expensive sit-down restaurant. Besides that, there is not much to see or do. I do wish they had some sort of open seating area, especially for people who order tea or ice cream. We had to walk down the street a ways to 7-Eleven to enjoy our ice cream, which melted on the way there. ICE CREAM - I did not try their teas, but their ice cream was close to THE best I've had. I got two scoops - their darkest dark chocolate (80-100%, I think) and green tea. Their chocolate melts significantly faster than other flavors, but it's definitely creamy, rich, and dark. Their green tea is unlike any other green tea ice cream I've had elsewhere. The tea taste is stronger than the milk, which I appreciated. For an extra $80 NT, it comes in a chocolate waffle cone, topped with a butterfly crackers, cheesecake, pineapple cake, and mini scoops of fruit gelato such as lychee. The ice cream is extremely expensive especially by Taiwan standards, but the line is always out the door. I do have to give it to them that their ice cream is extremely good. Overall, I think Miyahara is worth a look-see if you happen to be in Taichung, and the ice cream is legit. That being said, I don't know if I would significantly go out of my way to come here, as there is not that much to see or do. Do be aware that everything he is extremely pricey and you are paying for the packaging and the touristy name.

Great for tourists. So so for locals. You can find better food elsewhere, but for show and experience? Awesome place to show off to your friends. After a full meal, you get to buy some boba down stairs, or ice cream, and lots of souvenir sweets to take home.

Stopped by tonight to grab a scoop of ice cream to cool down. With 16 flavors of different chocolates available it's worthy of multiple visits just to even hone in on a favorite. That said, their other flavors sound amazing as well and I haven't even started to sample those. I figure I've got another 14 flavors of chocolate to get through first.

Basically the Asian version of Cheesecake Factory. 5 star for the creative interior/exterior, but the drinks/desserts are really just mediocre. Their attempt to blend Taiwanese pastry in ice cream is interesting only in concept. In reality they just taste bizarre and conflicting. The $300 minimum order per person is also a turn-off for me. We ordered plenty but they still came back and made us order another $100 something dollar in order to meet the minimum. I mean, come on guys...

Cool place to see in central Taiwan - super close to the train station (about 5 minutes walk). Skip the HUGE ice cream line, it's at least an hour! and go straight to the shop. This shop feels like something out of Hogwarts, so do make a stop and plus you don't have to purchase anything!! It's mainly a candy and sweets store and customer service attendants will follow you around trying to get you to buy something (very expensive biscuits, let's say). If you must have the ice cream, go down to its other location - also in Taichung - which is about 5-10 walk away. There, the line is significantly shorter and we were able to attended to in mere minutes.

Best pineapple cookies ever. Ambiance was as good as the food in the restaurant. The ice-cream is very delicious too. Highly recommend this place if your in the area. Love it!!! Need to find out if they deliver cookies to LA California :(

Such a cute and whimsical restaurant and shop in Taichung. Definitely reminds me of a twist of Harry Potter meets Santa workshop! All the staffs are dressed in cute red and green uniforms and are very attentitive. All the gifts there are packaged very beautifully like japan. We went to the restaurant and tried their apperizer platter where we chose 3 types of appies amongst the list - we ordered the crispy chicken, squid balls and radish cake. The radish cake was delish!! And they even give you a variety of sauces to go with it. For dessert we ordered the valrhona chocolate chiffon with macadamia chocolate and grape mascarpone ice cream - quite a list of ingredients. Ice cream is some what different then your everyday flavours. They actually have bits grapes in the ice cream and the chiffon cake was very fluffy and huge. In the end of the meal they even gave us complimentary cheese cakes slices. Overall a fun place that is camera worthy! The restaurant does have a minimum of 380 TWD per person though. Or another option would be to try the ice cream shop where you can choose your ice creams and toppings but be prepared to line up for the ice cream shop!

There wasn't a long line on a weekday in the afternoon. I tried so many different flavors of ice cream before choosing what I wanted! Totally worth it! Also, the service inside the store was wonderful! I took a really long time to decide on what too buy but they were all so patience!

We spent a bit of money buying pineapple cakes and several ice creams, but there's no public bathrooms even for paying customers?

This is a must see when in Taichung for anyone who appreciates high quality desserts and sweets. Just go, enjoy the ground floor store, upper floor dining, street side gelato and coffee café. Unequalled quality and design.

I came for the ice cream sundae but got way more than I expected! This is a must-visit place whenever I am in Taichung. I absolutely adore the environment and decorations of this place. There's usually a wait to dine in, but never too long and you can spend some time visiting and trying the different pastry and dessert samples (love the cheesecake samples lol) at the store/museum that's on the first floor. We got the cold chicken appetizer, fish with rice noodles, and the ice cream sundae that everyone comes for. The chicken appetizer was tender but the alcohol was a little too heavy in my opinion. Both the host and the waitress recommended the fish dish and we devoured that. You get less options for ice cream flavors when you dine in compared to when you get in line on the first floor at the actual ice cream shop. Regardless, the mango, grape and lychee ice cream never disappoint. The toppings are aesthetically pleasing (and great for the gram) but the flavors do not always complement the ice cream. Service is always A+ here. This is a great place for an afternoon tea /dessert and a close walk to the taichung train station.

fancy ice cream, this place is quite popular now (probably all filled with tourist!). The interior reminds me of Harry Potter, with lots of book shelves and interesting decor. They're doing so well that they actually opened up a second shop about 2 blocks away. So more seats and more ice cream. I wasn't too impressed by their ice cream, thought some of it was overly sweet.

Delicious and very natural-flavored fruit ice cream. I found the price very reasonable, there's a lot of people but the line moves quite fast! Watermelon + Mango 100% recommended, cheesecake topping as well!!

Don't miss this opportunity to have a great unique ice ceam at this place. Try it. You will alway remember the taste. A little high price compare to the local street food but reasonable for try!

Ice cream there is the best I have ever tasted. And the building is historical and beautiful.

Located in Taichung downtown, certainly a place for photograph and souvenirs. No big surprise of the menu, food is just expected and not big portion - Surely not for men! Like the choice of tea from the menu. It is a building restored from a previous Ophthalmic Hospital.

So many flavors we had to come back for a second taste. Many many chocolate ant tea flavored ice creams (gelato style) and many fruity options as well. Lychee was very yummy! We went the first time later in the evening so the line was not long. We tried a second time mid-day and the line was Disney length so we opted for another evening return. What a beautiful treat! Highly recommended. Please add a branch in Portland, Oregon Miyahara!

I really don't understand why this place is in such a long line that can take up to 30 minutes plus. It is an ice cream house that is designed like the dynasty exterior. The ice creams are a bit pricey and I would believe the target audience would be tourist since the design is very culturally presented. The ice-cream it self is not that good, they name crazy names like "beautiful mountain with the beautiful woman" and does not really caption what the ice cream flavour is. We end up eating something we don't know and tastes funny. I believe this is a tourist attraction area so for those who would like to take some ancient architecture, maybe you should visit this area but if you are looking for desserts, this isn't the best choice.