STARBUCKS Sun Moon Lake Shop — Restaurant in Yuchi Township

A Disgrace to the Starbucks Brand – Avoid at All Costs

I feel compelled to warn others: the Starbucks at Sun Moon Lake is a complete letdown — overpriced, poorly managed, and far below the global standard expected of the brand.

Let’s start with the coffee — or whatever they’re passing off as coffee here. My Grande Café Latte was basically hot milk with a vague memory of espresso. Weak, watery, and completely devoid of depth or balance.

Still, I gave them a second chance. Big mistake. The Americano was an even bigger disaster, tasting like hot water passed near a coffee bean. No aroma, no flavor, no point.

This leads me to a painful conclusion: the baristas here desperately need training. What they’re serving isn’t coffee — it’s bad milk tea trying to cosplay as espresso. Starbucks should be embarrassed to have its name on this operation.

As for the venue — a visual and structural disaster. Tables are broken. The outdoor umbrella awnings are shredded and flapping like surrender flags. The main entrance is blocked by parked motorcycles and garbage. Street litter is literally piled up at the door. It’s not just uninviting — it’s a hygiene concern.

Inside, there are no sugar substitutes, which is a basic offering in every real Starbucks I’ve ever been to.

If you’re reading glowing reviews of this location — don’t be fooled. Anyone giving this more than 2 stars either hasn’t traveled or has tragically low standards. This place needs a total overhaul — in training, maintenance, service, and cleanliness.

Avoid this Starbucks. There are far better coffee experience at Ita Thau. Try Novia's Coffee. She makes a better cafe latte at a price that will...

For perspective, I have been to numerous Starbucks in Europe, North America, Asia, and the Philippines.

For what you get, this Starbucks is expensive and fake. The Grande cafe latte is very weak and costs $5.00. It tasted milky with no coffee. I dont mind paying for quality coffee, but this wasn't it.

Came back the next day to give it another try. The Americano was a disaster as it tasted like water rather than coffee.

I have come to the conclusion that the novice teenage baristas here need major training in coffee making. It is a disaster. This is not coffee they are making. They are making milk tea !!

The place is also tearing apart. The tables are broken, and the umbrella awnings are torn apart with huge ripped textile pieces flying with the wind like a broken flag surrendering to their fate. The outside door is blocked by motorcycles and garbage street litter piled up at the door.

Improvements are needed in the flavor, service, and cleanliness of the place.

Further, there are no sugar substitutes available. Do not expect Splenda or Equal that is standard at other global Starbucks locations.

Anyone who rated this place 3 or more stars needs to travel to experience what a real Starbucks can do.

A better substitute would be Novia's Coffee at Ita Thao. It's a lot cheaper, and the cafe latte they made was amazing, rich in that coffee taste and aroma with the perfect coffee to milk ratio. Give it a try, and you will see the...

Beautiful view of the Sun Moon Lake, but the female barista who attended to us on 18/4/24 was impatient, rude and got our order wrong, but because of her terrible attitude, we didn’t even want to tell her the order was wrong and just ate the wrong item.

Because certain breakfast items weren’t available, instead of telling us patiently that they’re not available, she rudely told us to just see what’s available in the display instead of asking for things that are not available today.

When we asked to put our drink in a reusable cup (which is a normal practice in many Starbucks globally), she was skeptical of our 16oz cup, and told us the tall drink we ordered (which was 12oz) may not fit. First time having a barista make such a misjudgment.

One of the party members is not particularly strong in mandarin and the barista was SUPER impatient and unfriendly. This is so uncharacteristic of Taiwanese and perhaps she’s just having a bad day, but this is NOT how you deliver...