Make Some Furry Friends at Oia Alpaca Cafe

Oia Alpaca Cafe is a delightfully random spin on the worldwide animal cafe trend, located a mere few hours outside Taipei on the Northern Coast of Taiwan. Although a little tricky to get to since it’s not accessible by MRT or any one bus route from Taipei, the unique nature of this cafe make it a worthy trip for visitors and residents alike.

To get to Oia, take the red line all the way to Tamsui and then transfer to a local bus at the station. We strongly recommend following your progress on Google Maps, because the bus actually ended up taking way less time than it said it would — only around half an hour, rather than the hour that was advertised — and the bus driver whizzed past our stop. There really isn’t much around the cafe, so if you’re not paying attention and tracking your progress it’s easy to miss. Once you cross your road, keep your eyes peeled for this sign pointing you to their entrance. Marvel at the two huge birds of prey sitting outside for no apparent reason before stepping in.

Inside, the cafe is large and open, looking a little worse for wear in places. They’ve done a good job at keeping both the cafe and the alpacas clean, but it’s clear that the animals have been tearing the place up for years. The good news is that there is plenty of seating, so it’s unlikely that you will have to wait for a table, even during peak hours. That being said, just because you have your own table doesn’t mean you are guaranteed the alpaca’s attention — at any given time there are at least four or five people trying to pet or photograph the alpacas, so there is still an element of waiting around involved.

There are two alpacas in the cafe, and they constantly roam around looking for stuff to eat. And they will eat anything. Be especially careful of your hair, clothes, food, and menus — we saw more than one person fighting the alpacas off of their stuff! Lucky for us, there were free carrot sticks to entice the alpacas to our table for photographs or petting even if they were too busy trying to tear the place down. We would grab a carrot stick, line up anxiously around an alpaca, and wait for it to notice. Once the alpaca sees the carrot, it will trundle towards whoever has it and lunge. The size of the alpacas can be intimidating, but at least we never witnessed them biting anyone, so don’t be scared about getting close!

Oia Cafe has a hand-drawn English menu available on request. Prices are somewhat inflated, but still pretty reasonable considering what it must cost them to keep the place running. There is a minimum order of one drink or a meal costing more than $150, and you are strongly discouraged from even taking photos of the alpacas until you have sat down and ordered. The menu includes a range of food and drinks, and we were surprised to see that lots of people were sitting down for full meals.

We ordered a Hawaiian Iced Tea ($180), chicken nuggets ($180), and an Oia iced cocoa ($230). The iced tea and chicken nuggets were fine, nothing special, and the cocoa was quite nice. We didn’t exactly visit Oia for the menu, but we were glad it didn’t disappoint.

If you start to get bored of the alpacas, there is also an outdoor petting zoo area with lots of goats and more alpacas. The goats like to fight for dominance, and make some pretty hilarious noises. You can pet these animals too, but they stay in their pens.

In addition to the petting zoo area, there is actually a really nice area that looks right onto the ocean. On a sunny day, this is a wonderful place to sit, and often overlooked for the alpacas inside.

We were quite taken with the outdoor area, and appreciated the fact that there was plenty of seating, even though the cafe is clearly popular. Pricing was also pretty reasonable considering the novelty of the place, and what we assume must be a hefty cost in upkeep. We also felt a newfound respect for the staff who have to deal with the alpacas and their relentless chewing every day. Overall, we felt like we got what we came for — alpacas, in a cafe setting — even if we weren’t particularly blown away by the cafe itself.

What’s the vibe?

Large, slightly worn-down cafe with two hungry alpacas that roam at will. Expect lots of families and young friends or couples.

Worth it?

Price wise, sure — we didn’t feel like we spent too much money. If we were going back we would probably only do it as part of a larger trip that included other attractions in the area since it’s so far from Taipei.

Would you go back?

Only to bring friends. The novelty of the alpacas wore off pretty fast!

Last visited July 2018.