Terra by the Sea has come from the founder of Terra Bean to Bar, Danny, who has only gone and opened up an amazing cacao-based cafe-come-restaurant on the coast of Sanzhi Districts Qianshuiwan Seaside Park. So what does this mean? This means that the idyllic jungle-vibe chocolatier of Terra Bean to Bar in the DaAn District right near DaAn Park is now available in a more open and sea-centred style space where you can drink your favourite chocolate and gaze out to sea.
The goal of Terra by the Sea is to bring the calmness of the sea to you as you’re taken on a chocolate journey where you will experience chocolate sourced from all over the world, the various flavour profiles and textures of those, in a way that is infinitely accessible to everyone.
Terra by the Sea, the brainchild of Danny, sources cacao beans from Madagascar, Colombia, Haiti, and even Taiwan. The first fledgling idea for this venture emerged in 2015. The concept of Bean to Bar fascinated him and prompted deep research into what makes the best chocolate. A few years later, he started a small-scale workshop to continue researching different cacao beans, various processing methods, and diverse chocolate-making techniques.
Terra Bean to Bar was born out of that passionate research, and we are all happier because of it! With a background in Horticulture, Danny has the ability to connect with cacao growers on a different level than your average enthusiast. This connection with the growers has enabled him to create some of the most complex and thought-provoking chocolate creations I have been fortunate to taste. Whether in the form of cacao butter, powder, or cacao nibs, there is cacao in some form in all the food at Terra by the Sea, and it’s truly fascinating!
Table of Contents
Located in the Sanzhi District just north of Tamsui, the area is regularly serviced by buses from Tamsui MRT station (see the embedded map just below for further help with this). If you drive, then you can park right outside, or just a 2-minute walk away there is paid parking available at Qianshuiwan beach parking lot.
The outside is understated, simple, and elegant. The use of dark wood contrasts really well against the brighter-coloured walls and should intrigue you from the moment you step inside.
As you walk inside the entranceway to go up the stairs to the restaurant/café itself, you will walk past plenty of pictures that will get you excited for your chocolate exploration that you will shortly embark upon.
As you make your way up the stairs, you’ll come to the unassuming entrance of Terra, and as you walk in you’ll both be greeted by the beautiful aesthetics of the space itself, but you will undoubtedly be drawn to the huge expansive window that overlooks the sea without obstruction.
The space inside is crisp, calm-toned, and very Muji (I like to use Muji as an adjective as I think it accurately describes when things are crisp, calm-toned, understated, and simple, yet still perfectly well put together. For those who don’t know, Muji is a Japanese brand). There are some Terra goods for sale opposite the beautifully lit and laid out bar (with a top quality coffee machine, for all your coffee enthusiasts out there) and you can even test yourself with the flavour profile map for chocolate and cacao, too.
Undoubtedly, the star of the show here at Terra is the chocolate, but this view is quite something, too! In reality, there aren’t many beautifully lit and open spaces like this in the north of Taipei, and I’d even challenge that around Taiwan – if you have a spot similar to this, then please do comment at the bottom of this post, as I want to know about it and go.
If the hustle and bustle of Taipei ever gets to you, Terra by the Sea is a little slice of tranquility on the North coast that will put a smile on your face, of that I am sure.
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The Menu at Terra by the Sea
This menu is a chocolate lover's dream that gets better the further you get into it. You start with a brief introduction to the bean-to-bar process. Whilst that process is written out in Chinese, it is accompanied by pictures, so even though it might not be as detailed as the text, it gives an idea about the main concept of bean-to-bar chocolate.
From there you move on to the drinks part of the menu. As I already tried the delicious Nitro Ice Chocolate at Terra Bean to Bar in the DaAn District, we didn't order that this time. One thing I think worth noting is that due to supply, the cacao beans used to create the chocolate here at Terra can change on a regular basis. On the day we went, Peruvian beans were available for the Nitro Chocolate, but Ecuadorian and Indian cacao beans were available for the hot chocolate. In contrast, when we visited Terra Bean to Bar a while back, we had the option of Malagasy (from Madagascar) or Colombian beans for either the nitro or the hot chocolate.
The Cacao sparkling drink brings cacao-infused sparkling water to a drink, which sounded fascinating, but I couldn't help myself with the Cacao Espresso Romano - what most of us know as Sicilian-style coffee. For those uninitiated into the Sicilian coffee life, it's an espresso-based coffee originating from Sicily, Italy, known for its intense, rich flavour, often flavoured with citrus zest or spices and (more often than not) served ice cold.
I encourage all of you reading this to look at the 70% single-origin chocolate at the bottom of the drinks menu. Just think - for $350 (50 a slice, and 7 options overall) you could do your own little tasting experiment to determine which is your favourite origin of cacao bean. From that point, you could then determine what drink you're going to order based on your own personal preference. What a winner, right?
Don't even get me started on that dessert menu. One of everything, am I right?
The Drinks
As soon as I heard the coffee grinder, I had to rush downstairs to watch the espresso being created on the majestic La Marzocco semi-automatic coffee machine. As the espresso gets measured off and added to the ice in the tall glass, the chocolate is created separately and then lavishly layered on top. It's then topped off with a bit of sparkling water to give it a nice foam and extra layer of texture.
The hot chocolate is similarly expertly made and carefully decorated with some of those incredible cacao nibs. What I love even more about Terra by the Sea is that each drink is accompanied by a slice of chocolate and 2 cacao beans. Why do I love that? Because I'm here for the experimentation and complexity of flavours.
For those of you out there who take pleasure in identifying the nuanced flavours in wine, whisky, coffee, cheese etc etc, you will absolutely get where I'm coming from here. Cacao is exactly the same. Each and every bean from each location has a unique flavour that, when processed in a specific way, at a specific temperature, for a specific length of time, elicits certain flavours. This fascinates me on every level.
Hot Chocolate
Having tasted the Indian cacao Hot Chocolate at Terra Bean to Bar, we felt like we needed to try the Ecuadorian cacao bean Hot Chocolate here at Terra by the Sea, to enable us to compare and contrast. Here's what I said about the Indian cacao Hot Chocolate from Terra Bean to Bar:
Served hot, I was told on the flavour profile card to expect guava, peanut, and caramel. I don’t know whether I could identify all 3 of those specific flavours in it, but peanut and caramel definitely came through. Maybe some element of guava came through as an after taste, but probably because I had already read the card and was expecting it… What I can tell you is that it was up there with some of the nicest hot chocolate that I have had the pleasure of tasting. Light, flavourful, and effortlessly smooth.
So, what can I say about the Ecuadorian cacao Hot Chocolate?
On the flavour profile card, it says to expect nutty flavours, with malt and plum. Interestingly, I see that the nutty flavours could easily be linked to the malt in one way or another, but then the plum comes in and completely throws off my expectations of this drink.
I could genuinely taste all 3 flavours on that profile card, but all at very different stages in the drinking process. To map it out, here is how I tasted it from start (1) to finish (5):
- On the nose - sweet plum
- First taste - nuts and malt
- Plum
- Malt
- Plum
It's safe to say that I really enjoyed this Ecuadorian Hot Chocolate, perhaps even more so for the addition of the completely different and unexpected plum flavour that I tasted.
Sicilian Coffee with Chocolate
This knocked me for six. Chocolate + Coffee is something that I actually regularly do at home. We have a little Nespresso machine, and I am known from time to time to break apart some Costco-bought dark chocolate into my cup before dumping an espresso into it. But, that pales in comparison to this delightful creation here at Terra by the Sea.
The intensity of flavour is incredible. The taste of chocolate has mixed so well with the coffee that it feels like it is just one drink, rather than a hybrid drink as it most clearly is. The sourness of the cacao comes through and is combatted with the bitterness of the coffee, but I would say that sourness comes out on top in that fight. Not in a bad way at all, but in such a way that I would definitely make me order this every time I come here.
As noted earlier, all drinks will come with a piece of chocolate and some cacao for you to nibble on. The chocolate was superb and definitely spurred us on (if we even needed spurring on) to buy some chocolate before we left. But what excited me the most was the cacao beans. Having never tasted cacao beans like this before, I was super excited to get stuck in.
We were told to try one with the shell on, and one with the shell off, in order to taste the different flavours and levels of complexity. What I will say, is that based on my experience of this, the cacao bean (at least these ones) tends to be more sour with the shell on, when compared to with the shell off. However, I would also encourage you to experiment with this by yourself and comment below as to what you think.
I was so enamoured with these cacao beans that I bought a bag on my way out to share with friends and family to get their opinions and engage them with further talk of chocolate and how cacao is processed to become a chocolate bar - bean to bar.
The Food
Before getting to the dessert menu, it would be rude not to have tried the food, right? We ordered, and we were given this cute little number to take to our table. It posed nicely for the photograph.
Food time!
Lasagna
This lasagna has been made in conjunction with The Lasagna Bar, which has a location in Tianmu and also in Minsheng Community near Song Shan Airport. The depth of tomato flavour in this lasagna was stunning. Throughout each and every bite there was just an unctuous flavour of Italy dancing around in my mouth, and I never wanted it to end.
The cacao-infused oil that the lasagna is dressed with brought out a nuttiness that was really fun, and you could taste it at an even deeper level in the dressed salad that accompanied it. The salad leaves themselves had been sourced in Sanzhi District, and were truly delightful. A light sprinkling of cacao nibs added a further complexity of flavour on the salad and work really well.
Curry
Wow. How good does this curry look?
Made in collaboration with a top curry house in Taipei (Les Currys 雷咖哩), this curry is quite something. Chicken thighs are slowly cooked in the curry to the point where they fall off the bone by even looking at them, and the curry sauce itself just sings with intense Indian flavours. That little chunk of chocolate at the side is a specially made spice-infused chocolate that you grate and sprinkle on the top of your curry, adding yet another layer of excellence to an already amazing dish.
The focaccia bread is homemade (and is excellent, by the way) and serves as an excellent vessel for soaking up that delicious curry sauce. The side salad is dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to add a bit or tartness.
Desserts
Life wouldn't be complete without an amazing dessert at the end of a meal. And there was no way I could have ever left here without trying a dessert or two...
One of everything, am I right?
From left to right, top to bottom, you can see:
- Chocolate Chiffon
- Chocolate Cake
- Cross section of the Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Basque (cheesecake)
- A more beautiful picture of the Chocolate Basque (cheesecake)
- Madeleine
I can, quite confidently, say that I can find absolutely zero faults with any of these desserts.
I am not ordinarily a fan of Chiffon cake, as I think that the texture can often be too stodgy, too airy, and never anything in between. However, the Chocolate Chiffon here is bang on the money. Light, and fluffy, but perfectly packed full of flavour, it sings with chocolate and depth of flavour.
That Chocolate Cake must absolutely be ordered. It's not quite a Chocolate Lava cake, but it's not far off. The centre of the cake is moist and has an almost fudge-like consistency to it, and comes through with layer upon layer of delectable chocolate flavour.
Basque cheesecake is a creamy, crustless dessert originating from the Basque region in Spain, known for its burnt caramelized top and velvety texture. This Basque cheesecake is first cooked up, then layered on top with chocolate... Dream. This allows for the typical Basque cheesecake underneath to maintain its integrity as a dish outright, but then with the added luxuriousness of the thick wedge of delicately silky smooth chocolate on top, it becomes this amazing hybrid of wonder.
I love the simpleness of a Madeleine, and I will invariably order them when I see them. This one was generously portioned, with flecks of chocolate throughout. Served at room temperature, the chocolate was partially melted, the outside of the madeleine had a wonderful resistance to it, but the middle was amazingly soft and fluffy. I liked this a lot.
It's safe to say that I could spend hours in Terra by the Sea just staring out of the window. It might not have been the best day for weather when we were there, but I perhaps enjoyed it more for that. The sea just lulls from side to side with its presence and looks calm throughout it all.
There was no way I was leaving without some of those incredible cacao beans. As said previously, try one with the shell on, and one with the shell off, in order to taste the different flavours and levels of complexity. The cacao bean (at least these ones) tends to be more sour with the shell on when compared to with the shell off. However, I would also encourage you to experiment with this by yourself and comment below as to what you think.
I have taken a few to work with me and left some at home. If you're in the mood for a pick-me-up but don't want coffee or tea, then one (or two) of these will do you right! They give me the right kick of energy that lasts for a pretty long time.
More recently, Terra teamed up with the infamous Kuai Kuai - Kuai Kuai culture is this quite bizarre phenomenon in Taiwan where people put Kuai Kuai on machines because the name of the snack means "well-behaved," therefore they hope that it will make a machine work perfectly. This didn't go on top of a machine, though, this came home with me from Family Mart, and it was delicious. Plenty of chocolate flavour is packed into these beautifully light corn-based snacks.
I have yet to open that 70% cacao from Haiti, but I am excited to do so!
The Bottom Line
Is it worth it? Without a doubt. You should definitely go there to check it out.
What is the best dish? They are all incredible, but the dish that surprised me the most was the Cacao Espresso Romano. The complexity of flavours was delightful and it married two of my favourite things in the world together - chocolate and coffee.
Are there other places like this? If you like what you see here, then you're more than likely going to love Terra Bean to Bar in DaAn District. Check out below for more about that:
Taipei Dessert – Terra Bean to Bar Chocolate 土然巧克力專門店, Some of the Most Exclusive Chocolate That Taipei Has to Offer.
Where is it?
※ This article is a collaborative article with Terra by the Sea.