Zhongzheng: competition rooms
The district where champions open shops, and what that does to the menu.
Why champions cluster here
Old commercial buildings, cheap upper floors, and a customer base that reads the menu. A competition bar can survive here without selling cake.
The result is a district where the espresso is dialled in twice a day and the filter list is written by the person brewing it.
A competition bar is a workshop with a till.
What to order
Order the thing they are practising. If there is a single-origin espresso on the menu, that is the tell.
Skip the milk drinks unless you are testing the milk; nobody here is hiding behind foam.
Disclosure: this article contains no affiliate links. Prices and dates checked in October 2026. Our methodology.