Taipei Food Guide: 32 must eat places in Taipei! Where to eat in Taipei?

I’ve done extensive research, then tried and tasted most of the famous night markets and restaurants in Taipei. This Taipei food guide would not be similar to your typical tourist spots but will be a good mix of hidden gems where the locals eat at and Taipei iconic restaurants! While Taipei might be famous for their street food and night markets, I personally prefer their restaurants who tend to serve my favourite eats in Taipei. If you are researching on where to eat in Taipei, this will be your ultimate food guide to the best restaurants in Taipei!





Tips for getting around

It is best to travel in groups of fours so you can uber or take a cab around Taipei. You might find that it could be more convenient/cost effective to share a ride rather than public transport in Taipei. I find this more convenient as opposed to taking the subway. My Taiwanese friend told me the rental is more expensive near the subway so it is usually quite a distance to walk to the good places to eat even after you took the subway, which is okay if you have plenty of time. I’ll try my best to put the Chinese names of the restaurants so you can just copy and paste the names onto your google map or uber to find it!





Getting to and from the Airport to Taipei

Since airport is in Taoyuan, and Taipei city is quite a distance, if you travel solo or in pairs, it might be cheaper to save or take public transport but groups of four and above should consider pre-booking your airport transfers which will be more cost efficient and saves time. When I took the bus, it took quite a long time because it will pick up customers at many different spots before going to or from the airport – I actually regret not booking a private transfer instead (no need to lug around my heavy luggage and I actually waited for almost 20 minutes at the bus stop while it was drizzling slightly!)





Private transfers from the airport





Simcard and Wifi Egg

I am happy to say that Taipei has one of the most affordable and fast speed internet I’ve used during my travels. That means all the IG STORIES and Snapchat videos you can upload!! It’s just as simple as booking it online and just collect it at the counter at airport or at the high speed rail. I usually avoid buying it at the counter before the immigration queue (which can be pretty long wait if you don’t go straight in and spend quite a lot of time buying simcards). Instead I book it online through the website first – then collect it after I pass immigration, saving plenty of time. If you are in groups – its always cheaper to buy a wifi egg to share – otherwise, just buy your own simcards if you are solo or couples travelers. Click here or the picture to prebook your simcard or wifi egg online ~

Taipei 101 Observatory

Before I get to the food, I’m sure most of you would definitely get to the Taipei 101 observatory and here’s a tip I can give you as well. There will definitely be a long line of people who are queuing up to buy tickets. You can actually skip that queue and just collect your ticket at the ticket machine! Just be sure to pick your time slot and arrive on time – or else you might need to line up to change your ticket timing! Click here or the picture to prebook a ticket to Taipei 101 and skip the lines!





The most popular Taiwanese Breakfast! Dou Jiang Yu Tiao (fried dough with soy milk)

While you will see Yong He Dou Jiang everywhere, my fav Dou Jiang has to be Fu Hang Dou Jiang. They open as early as 5:30am and you will definitely see a queue!





The sao bing are baked fresh from the oven ~~ You get to see them in action while queueing to order but my advice is to ask one of your travel companions to get a seat first as it can be very difficult to find seats here!





Basically you order the soy milk (dou jiang) and also the yu tiao wrapped with sau ping – which is basically fried dough, wrapped with egg and toasted pancake. You can dip them on the soy milk while eating.





The Savoury Soy Milk is something that you either love or hate it. It’s savoury curdled soy milk served with dried shrimp, picked veggies and chopped fried dough (yu tiao). Some of my friends didn’t like this but I find this quite nice.





Fu Hang Dou Jiang 阜杭豆漿

Hua Shan Market, 2F

No. 108, Zhongxiao East Rd., Sec. 1

Near MRT: Shandao Station

Opens: 5:30 am til 12:30am (but sometimes they sell out early)





Mama Lau Rice Balls: Another Taiwanese Breakfast

Mama Lau is a very popular place for takeaway breakfast according to my research. You can see a queue in the early morning where people grab their breakfast on the way to work.





There’s seriously a lot of choice to the type of rice balls you want but they are usually stuffed with pork floss, and you choose between white or purple rice, with options to even add cheese!





Hubba hubba! That does look good!





‘

As with all Taiwanese breakfast ~~ they have soy milk or you can opt for this red rice milk here!





They even put yu tiao in it! Do note that these can be ultra filling and its best to share one amongst two people or you will find that you won’t be hungry for the whole day! I guess that’s why people love these for breakfast as it fills you up and you stay full for quite some time!





Mama Lau Rice Ball 劉媽媽飯糰

No.88, Section 2, Hangzhou South Road

Opens 5am – 11am

Nearest MRT: C.K.S. Memorial Hall Station





Lan Jia Gua Bao 藍家割包 Taiwanese Hamburgers

Lan Jia Gua Bao was one of the memorable moments in Taipei. What I like about this place was how soft and fluffy the steam buns were – coupled with the gorgeous pork where you can choose how lean or how fat you want your fillings to be – then topped with herbs and crushed peanuts… OMG! Seriously heaven in a bite!





This Gua Bao is a die die also must eat in Taipei I tell you!





Besides gua bao, they also got very good pork intestine soup here. Highly recommended!





Be sure to pop opposite this restaurant to have a cup of Chen San Ding Fresh Milk with brown sugar tapioca balls/pearls drink! Seriously good! You will keep coming back for more! In my opinion – best in Taipei amongst all I’ve tried.





﻿Lan Jia Gua Bao 藍家割包 and Chen San Ding 陳三鼎黑糖粉圓專賣店

No. 3, Aly. 8, Ln. 316, Sec. 3, Luosifu Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City 100

Nearest MRT: Gongguan Station

Opens 11am – 12am (closed on Mondays)





Song Shan Gua Bao 松山割包 Alternative to Lanjia (conveniently near shopping paradise)

While shopping in the shopping paradise Wu Fen Pu, I stumbled across this alternative to Lan Jia called Song San Gua Bao, which actually tasted better than Lan Jia according to my wife, as she mentioned the pickled vegetables taste better here. While I find both Lan Jia and Song San are both super delicious, the advantage of Song San is that it is very well placed within a shopping heaven in Taipei. So if you are shopping around Wu Fen Pu, be sure to look out for this spot for delicious Gua Bao!





ohhh what a great find this was after all that shopping! DELICIOUS!!





Song Shan Gua Bao 松山割包

No. 179, Songshan Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110

Opens: Daily 11:30AM–8PM

Nearest MRT: SongShan Station





Taiwanese Beef Noodles

Taiwanese take their beef noodles seriously and even host competitions annually to encourage competition. I’ve tried quite a few beef noodle place but I narrow it down to 3 favourites of mine here.





Lao Pai Niu Rou La Mian Da Wang (Old School Beef Pulled Noodles King) 老牌牛肉拉面大王

To be honest, this place was not in the list of places I’ve researched but it was just nearby the hotel I stayed in. I was attracted by the local crowd here and decided to give it a try. Little did I know that this place actually has a long history and is pretty famous for their beef noodles and dumplings! The noodles here are proudly handmade!





The noodles were hand made and you can also choose to have dau xiao mian (knife shaved noodles) to go with the beef.





The best part is that you can order some assorted mixed braised meats,tofu and egg side dishes (RU WEI) to accompany your noodles. I especially love the braised tendons! Drools!





Lao Pai Niu Rou La Mian Da Wang 老牌牛肉拉面大王

No. 7, Lane 46, Chongqing South Road, Sec. 1, Taipei, Taiwan

Nearest MRT: Taipei Main Station

Opens 10am – 8pm





Niu Dian 牛店

Niu Dian basically means bull shop in Chinese. A simple name but this place ranks very highly and I needed to wait for one hour before I get a seat for breakfast! The good news is that you can take a number from the staff and go around to shop since this is near Xi Men Ding area.





You can choose the clear beef soup noodles and pick which part of the bull you like ~~ such as tendons, or tripe ~~ droools ~~





I also decided to check out their beef stew version with the works; a mix of every part. You will add the braised to your clear beef noodle soup and mix ~~ I have to say the beef is quite tender ~~ drools~~





Don’t forget to add their beef bone marrow chili paste to enhance your beef noodle soup experience ~ this is something really unique!





Niu Dian 牛店

No. 91, Kūnmíng St, Wanhua District Taipei City, Taiwan 108

Nearest MRT: Ximen

Opens: 11:30am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 8:30pm





Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodles 林東芳牛肉麵

If I didn’t include this Beef Noodles place, it would be a #foodcrime. This place has a long history of being one of the most popular and respected Taiwanese Beef Noodles in Taipei. The place was so cramped, it reminds me of eating pho in cramped spaces in Hanoi, Vietnam.





After selecting which type of beef soup you want, there’s also side dishes for you to pick ~~ ranging from pickled vegetables, cucumbers and even pig ears!





This is the complete package where the broth, noodles and the beef combine together to form a delicious combo ~~ it’s like Niu Muo Wang (bull king demon) attacked you with a multi-hot combo to finish you off ~~~





If that is not enough ~~ you can have a look at this chili paste made with a mix of beef drippings and chilies to add more beefy spicy ommpph to your soup! Ooooh yeshh!!





Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodles 林東芳牛肉麵

No. 274, BaDe Road, Section 2, DaAn District, Taipei City

Opens: 11:00am - 6:30pm

Nearest MRT: Zhongxiao Fuxing





Taiwanese Pork Chop Rice

During my Taipei trip, one of my friends from the Philippines @mmmluakian told me that Taiwanese Pork Chop Rice is amazing! So I researched and found two famous Taiwanese Pork Chop establishments that happened to be very near one another so I could try both of them in one go! The two popular ones are 君悅排骨Emperor Foods and 東一排骨 Dong Yi Pork Chop.





君悅排骨衡陽店 Emperor Foods Heng Yang Branch

Emperor Foods happened to have a branch near Taipei Main station so it was within walking distance to my hotel. If you have a bigger crowd you can order their famous fried tofu or other dishes but I only tried their Pork Chop Rice.





I have to say that the pork chop was really delicious! Kudos to @mmmluakian for recommending me this place! The pork chop was seasoned very well with a strong hint of five spice, crispy on the outside but not dry on the inside. It goes well with the pickles and also the rice. A good complete satisfying meal!





君悅排骨衡陽店

37 Hengyang Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan, 100

Opens: 10:30am – 9:00pm

Nearest MRT: Taipei Main Station









東一排骨 Dong Yi Pork Chop Main Branch

Dong Yi Pai Gu is another Taiwanese Pork Chop Rice establishment that has been around since the 1970s. It is only about 6 minutes walk from Emperor Foods. The ambience of the place looks more like a old school Chinese dim sum restaurant as opposed to Emperor Foods fast food looking branch. The porkchop here is pretty good but I give high marks to their side dishes that combines very well with the pork chop. If I were to rate on the pork chop alone – Emperor Foods will win, but my overall satisfaction of a meal will come from Dong Yi!





東一排骨 Dong Yi Pork Chop Main Branch

61 Yanping South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan, 100

Nearest MRT: Taipei Main Station

Opens: 11am – 8:15pm. Closes on Monday





Taiwanese Hot Pot Culture

If you were in Taipei and you didn’t try out their hot pot – people would be screaming at you for committing food crime! There are plenty of good places for hot pot in Taipei but if you got money to splurge, I suggest going to one with good comfortable ambience and high quality ingredients.





Elixir Health Pot 無老鍋

Wu Lao Guo comes highly recommended by international food bloggers and foodies and I can understand why. It might be pricier than most but they have very good service and ambience, and there’s quite a few unique signatures that others don’t have. *note* I have good friends to do all the lighting for me to shoot my pic! LOL





You can have so much ingredients to order from the menu and I guess the best way to enjoy this is to come in medium to big groups!





They have a ying yang hot pot which allows you to try two of their signature broths. The white one is the non spicy creamy one with Chinese herbs. This base is actually quite flavoursome with a good creamy consistency because they have a secret ingredient called tofu ice cream (something I’ll mention more later) while their spicy version has a good kick to it but doesn’t sting and numb your taste buds. If you want to add more broth or you felt the soup needs more oomph, call for the staff and they will add more herbs to flavour it.





THIS! The signature frozen tofu ice cream is enough to make me come back here again and again and again! You basically cook these in the milky broth for around 6-8 minutes and they will have a very creamy tofu like texture that is AMAZEBALLS! A really good sensation ~~ wish I could order more but they are pricey!





Seriously no joke ~~ their soup has actual big piece of ginseng inside one ~~





They actually give you calamansi lime slushies as palette cleansers to give us a refreshing ending to the meal.





Elixir Health Pot 無老鍋

No. 143, Section 3, Civic Blvd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491

Nearest MRT: Zhongxiao Fuxing

Opens: 11:30AM–3AM





Fresh Seafood and Japanese Food: Taipei’s answer to Tsukiji Fish Market

Aquatic Addiction Development 上引水產

This fish market is one of the must visit places in Taipei if you want to have the freshest seafood or you are into Japanese food. They have a Japanese Sushi bar where you need to stand and eat. It is a very popular place so when you arrive – go straight to the Sushi bar and take a number first – it was a rainy day when we went so we didn’t need to queue very long.





Excited to enjoy the sushi after we got our space to stand ~ LOL!









Serious sushi galore ~~ it was reasonably priced and we filled our tummy with quality sushi! Ahhhh oiiishii!!





After all the sushi~ it’s actually fun to walk around and look at all the fresh and live seafood around the fish market area ~~ I didn’t take much photos but its a sight to behold!





If you have more money to burn – they have grilled fresh seafood or shabu shabu where you can sit down and enjoy the food.

Addiction Aquatic Development 上引水產

No. 18, Alley 2, Lane 410, Minzu E Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 104 (take taxi here, public transport is quite inconvenient)

Opens: 6am – 12am (though its better to go earlier)





Kurume Izakaya 酒留米日式精食居酒屋

Kurume Izakaya is one of the places that screams Japan when you walk in ~~ look at the amount of trinkets at the bar area. It’s basically a yakitori place serving Japanese skewers and sake or beer.





This is seriously a good place to not only enjoy Japanese Yakitori but also to have a mug of Japanese Orion Draft Beer and chat with your buddies at night!





Needless to say – the yakitori here is amazing!





Whether you are a beer drinker or want to try out sake ~this is the perfect place in Taipei for it! Chinese menu only but I bet you can ask the staff to help you. Space is limited so be sure to call to reserve a table in advance!





Kurume Izakaya 酒留米日式精食居酒屋

104, Taipei City, Zhongshan District, Lane 56, Section 1, Zhongshan N Rd, 2號

https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/242056360/ (instagram geotag for you to checkout the food)

Opens: 5:30pm to 2:00am (last order 11:30pm) Closes on Mondays

Closest MRT: Taipei Main Station





FISH.FISH Seafood Restaurant 魚苑船釣海鮮餐廳

Fish.fish is a restaurant that every seafood or fish lover should visit when in Taipei. The owner William himself is an expert fisherman and the restaurant specializes in freshly caught seafood and fish. What’s special here is that the fish are actually caught using fishing rods instead of nets. This shows that the quality of the fish flesh would be preserved unlike those being crowded together in fish nets where possible degradation could happen.





The chef has worked in five star hotel restaurants before and is able to cook the fish Chinese style or western style like the above salt crusted bake fish.





There’s also other notable dishes like this gorgeous salted yolk claypot tofu that was sooo good with rice! This restaurant also has plenty of non-seafood Taiwanese style dishes for you to try out!





In today’s modern commercialized era – it is really difficult to experience fishing rod caught fish cooked and prepared by an experienced chef. William has a passion for both fishing and cooking – and has combined that passion of his to serve the best quality seafood dishes. It was indeed a pleasure to speak to him and have him show his fishing rod collection as well as his freshly caught seafood! While this place is quite difficult to reach by public transport – it is about 20-25 minutes taxi ride from Taipei Main Station. Worth it if you want some good quality seafood – be sure to call and ask about availability of seafood.





FISH.FISH Seafood Restaurant 魚苑船釣海鮮餐廳

No.2, Ln. 205, Sec. 2, Anhe Rd., Xindian Dist., New Taipei City 23159 (take taxi)

Opens: 11AM – 2PM, 5PM – 9:30PM

Phone: +886 2 2212 0989





Xiao Long Bao: Soup Filled Dumplings





Ding Tai Fung 鼎泰豐

Taiwan’s most famous franchise has to be Ding Tai Fung that has opened branches world wide! In fact, their main branch at Yong Kang street actually won a Michelin star and one of the main reasons is their good service and consistency in terms of quality despite the huge crowds! Be prepared to take a number and then wait up to an hour or two as their main branch is packed with tourists from all around the world. I had tried many branches around the world and I have to say I have the best experience in this branch – just take a number then walked around Yong Kang street to pass your time while waiting.





Be sure to order their yam dumplings for dessert ~ one of my favourites!





Ding Tai Fung 鼎泰豐

No. 194, Sec 2, Xinyi Road, Taipei City

Nearest MRT: Dongmen

Opens: Monday - Friday 10am-9pm Weekends & Holidays 9am-9pm





Kao Chi 高記: The Rival and Alternative to Ding Tai Fung

Perhaps one of Taipei’s best kept secrets away from the throngs of tourists is Kao Chi, a place that sells Xiao Long Baos that can rival Ding Tai Fung, minus the queue! Their pan fried baos, sen chien baos are really good and a must try here!





The Xiao Long Baos here really can fight Din Tai Fung ~~ no joke ~~





Pretty old school ambience too and when we went during tea time it wasn’t busy. A good place to come for delicious xiao long baos!

Kao Chi 高記

No. 1 Yongkang Street, Taipei City, Taiwan

Nearest MRT: Dongmen

Opens Mon-Fri 10am to 10.30pm, Sat-Sun 8.30am to 10.30pm





Taiwanese Cuisine

While Taipei is famous for their street food and night markets – I really enjoyed their down to earth home style cooking in Taiwanese establishments. Here are some of my favourite dine in places for authentic Taiwanese cuisine.





Slack Season Noodles Du Hsiao Yeh 度小月





Slack Season was started by a fisherman in Tainan whose Dan Zai Noodles was so successful that he quit being a fisherman to focus on the business. Needless to say this cosy Taiwanese style Dan Zai Noodles is now a very popular place in Yong Kang Street. A long history which begain in 1894! Their original branch is located in Tainan. You must try their dan zai noodles and enjoy it with other local Taiwanese dishes.





The secret to the noodles came from this pot of meaty sauce, that has been cooking for god knows how many years! LOL!





We had a side order of oyster fritters to enjoy with the noodles ~ yummers!





Slack Season Noodles Du Hsiao Yeh 度小月

9-1 Yongkang St., Taipei

Nearest MRT: Dongmen





Chien Hsiang

Right next door to Slack noodles is a place recommended by my local Taiwanese friend so I just pop by to taste test their Bah Kua (pork jerky) and I was hooked – bought quite a lot back home as souvenirs.





Their thick bah kua (pork jerky) is very delicious and I highly recommend you give them a try – taste them – then decide if you wanna buy some back home ~~ I love them to bits!





Chien Hsiang

Just next door to Slack noodles.





LU SANG Yi Lan Delicacies Restaurant 呂桑食堂

Lu Sang specializes in Yi Lan home style dishes and I felt it is a much better representation for Taiwan than the night markets. I would highly recommend this place as a must eat in Taipei to get a feel of how the locals eat. The highly recommended dish are the Gao Cha (look like fried tofu cubes) which is actually chicken broth gelatinized into cubes then deep fried – taste like a very silky creamy tofu but better! There’s also lips smacking good clams, silken chicken, sliced pork liver (ooooh yeshh), stir fried oysters and of course the iconic braised pork rice (ru lou fan).





Simple down to earth Ru Lou Fan ~ braised pork rice ~~





Pork Liver served in slices ~~ seriously yum!





Stir fried oysters ~~





You can see the happy foodie soul in me when I was enjoying this spread of Taiwanese cuisine!





LU SANG Yi Lan Delicacies Restaurant 呂桑食堂

No. 12-5 Yong Kang St.

Opens: 11:30AM – 2PM, 5PM- 9PM

Nearest MRT: Dongmen





Second Most Delicious Private Kitchen 第二好吃私房菜

Paul brought us to this restaurant that is near Shilin night market and we were very impressed with the food! Normally we have a phrase saying “If I say I am number 2, nobody would dare to say they are number 1” but according to my research the boss says the most delicious is still his grandmother’s cooking. This is kinda like a bistro style restaurant where you have some dishes to enjoy with beers. They also have sashimi and hotpot from what I saw from other tables. *note* The restaurant has now moved to a more strategic location and the address is updated. This signboard photo is the photo of their previous location.





The dish that really impressed me was this egg dish. This simple dish is called FRIED egg where they fry a few eggs together in very hot oil! This results in a silky creamy egg! It takes very good skill to cook this dish! Really big applause to the chef!





These crispy fried pork tendons are simply delicious ~ an eye opener for me since we usually have them braised and steamed as dimsum!





Hearty clam and pork ribs soup ~~ *slurps* We tried a couple of other dishes but I’ll leave that for you to check this restaurant out on your own! Highly recommended! A great place to have good food and drink lotsa beers!





Second Most Delicious Private Kitchen 第二好吃私房菜

No. 229, Jilin Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111

Opens 11:30AM–2PM, 5pm–10PM, Closes Sunday









Ming Fu Restaurant 明福台菜海鮮

Ming Fu restaurant has a long history in Taiwanese cuisine as a place to treat important guests or special occasions. The food served here is top notch but also very expensive. If you have money to burn – this place is highly recommended. You can easily spend between 750 to 800 SGD for a table of 10 if you order most of their signature dishes! A lot of people who had dined in here before would say that it’s worth it for the quality.





They are famous for their abalone glutinous rice stuffed chicken which is pretty expensive but it will seriously warm you up when you have a taste. You need to pre-order this dish I think and it’s around $180 – 200 bnd according to exchange rate at the time I tried. Some of the reviews online describe this as one of a kind soup dish and I have to agree it would be very difficult to find a similar dish this good. Another famous dish here is their version Buddha jump over the wall (around 140 SGD) which earned rave reviews online as well! Be sure to check that out!





Smoked shark slices has a lovely smoky flavour but doesn’t taste dry. A very popular dish here as well. This is around 19-20 SGD





Ooo succulent garlic soy oysters ~ DROOLS!





Another dish that wow me over was this Sesame Pork Kidney and Chicken Testicle – wait WHAT?! TESTICLES?! Yes! You heard that right – apparently it’s a delicacy here and my friends tricked me into eating one thinking is was another type of kidney but MY GOD ~~ so buttery and deliciously cooked! I have to say Ming Fu restaurant really know how to cook the spare parts/innards very well that it doesn’t have the unpleasant taste typically associated with innards. Super thumbs up this dish! Around 40-50 SGD for this dish I think.





Dessert was these crispy fried yam balls stuffed with red bean paste which was a really delicious ending to our meal! Sooo gooood!





Ming Fu Restaurant 明福台菜海鮮

No. 18-1, Lane 137, Section 2, Zhongshan North Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491 (easier to take taxi especially since you are bound to dine in big groups here)

Nearest MRT: Minquan W. Rd. Station

Opens 12–2:30PM, 5:30–9:30PM

Phone: +886 2 2562 9287





Acheng Goose 阿成鵝肉

Roast goose is a dish that is synonymous with Hong Kong so I was surprised when I was recommended to try this goose place if I want to learn more about Taiwanese cuisine. Funny enough – this restaurant is one of our favourites and the goose is very different from the Hong Kong roasted style which can be quite fatty. The goose here tastes like it’s smoked (I’m not 100 percent sure whether they actually smoked it but I do taste the smokiness and it does give me that assumption that smoking is the technique used here).





As you can see – it looks very different from Hong Kong roast goose. This is really good! Other notable dishes are GOOSE FAT RICE ~~ OMG ~~ and also goose liver ~~ *drools*





and how can you say no to HOT AND SPICY GOOSE BLOOD CUBES!! OMG SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!





Their home made pork sausages are really good as well ~~ so be sure to order these too!





This lady was having quite a lot of food for herself ~~ must be a true foodie like me ~~ nom nom nom ~~ Namaste ~~





Acheng Goose 阿成鵝肉

No.105 JiLin Road, ZhongShan District, Taipei City (more convenient by taxi)

Nearest MRT: Songjiang Nanjing or Xingtian Temple

Opens: 11am – 8pm





Zheng Pork Knuckle 鄭記豬腳飯

Zheng Pork Knuckle place is popular for their porkilicious selections such as braised pork knuckle, tong puo rou (braised pork belly), braised intestines and 虱目魚肚 (milk fish). My Taiwanese friend Paul brought us to this place for dinner and you might be put off by the old school looking restaurant but to me – this means authenticity and good eats!





We ordered almost everything on the menu and got to pigging out. My fav was of course the pork knuckle and the pork belly while the girls like the milk fish.





Got Pork? Pop by to Zheng Pork Knuckle which is strategically locate near Taipei Main Station.





Zheng Pork Knuckle 鄭記豬腳飯

No. 22, Yanping South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100

Opens: 11AM–8PM Closes Sunday





Gui Jing Bang Ramen 辣麻味噌沾麵 鬼金棒 Best Ramen in Taipei

When I asked my Taiwanese Ramen Club friend where’s the best ramen in Taipei, he instinctively replied Gui Jing Bang, which is kinda like a Japanese demon with the spiked club that you are familiar with. You will need to be early (maybe 10 minutes before opening times) if you don’t want to wait very long as with all popular ramen places, there will be a long queue and wait. I arrived early and got the first seat with my wife and we both loved how unique the ramen is. Firstly, the broth is more to the MA LA side, you can select the level of spicy and ma la but I think the normal one is good enough. A seriously good broth that matches well with the delicious charsiu ~~ I have to agree that this is something you can’t even find in Japan! That numbing Mala feel with every slurp is really SIOK! A must try in Taipei, seriously!





From time to time, they will have special editions like this Oyster Ramen, which was very good as well but I love the original Mala version more!





Gui Jing Bang Ramen 辣麻味噌沾麵 鬼金棒

No. 35, Alley 2, Lane 19, Chang'an West Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491

Opens Daily: 11:30AM–2PM 5–8:30PM

Nearest MRT: Zhongsan Station





Fu Da San Dong King of Steamed Dumplings 福大山東蒸餃大王

This place with a long winded name is an accidental find for me as I was walking around hunting for food and walked right into this dumpling store. They not only serve good dumplings but also soupy noodles. It is really worth a try to check out their yummy dumplings!





I got seduced by the amount of article clippings praising the place ~ LOL!





Fu Da San Dong King of Steamed Dumplings 福大山東蒸餃大王

No. 11, Lane 140, Section 1, Zhongshan North Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491

Nearest MRT: Zhongsan

Opens 11:30AM – 8:30PM Closes Sunday





Cha For Tea 喫茶新饌

Cha for Tea is an interesting concept restaurant that has expanded as a franchise even to other countries. The theme is promoting the use of tea as a healthy ingredient in their cooking. You will find it fascinating how they managed to use different types of tea in their dishes.





One example is their interpretation of the classic Taiwanese beef noodles – using green tea noodles and the usage of tea in the making of the broth. You will also see quite a lot of desserts made using tea in the restaurant. Taste wise – it is more to the healthier side and if you got friends who are interested to learn about healthy eating – do bring them here. I have to say food here might be bland in comparison to other places listed in this guide. They got quite a few branches strategically located as well and I’ll share them below.





Cha For Tea 喫茶新饌

http://www.chafortea.com.tw/Content/Distributors/distributors.aspx?SiteID=11&MmmID=654272230251716032 – store locator in Taiwan





Gao Jia Village Mi Tai Mu 高家庄米苔目 (great after clubbing supper place)

Gao Jia is a famous supper place for the locals and it is located in the ktv drinking area of lin sheng bei lu. Mi Tai Mu is basically a type of rice noodles similar to lau su fen but the ones here have a good QQ bouncy texture to it. The place also serves a few side dishes (some might even say mains) to accompany the Mi Tai Mu. Totally packed with people after 12am!





You will see their top sellers here ~~ freshly made Taiwanese style pork sausages, fried fish roe, braised intestines, fried hongsao pork, sliced squid and pork liver ~~ *drools*





I’ll say these are quite strong in terms of flavours and is quite filling for supper especially after a late night of clubbing or bar hopping of Taipei night life!

Gao Jia Village Mi Tai Mu 高家庄米苔目

No. 279, Linsen N Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491 (come via taxi during late nights)

Nearest MRT: Zhongsan

Opens 6pm to 5am





Fang Jia Lu Rou Fan 方家滷肉饭

I know I voiced out my preference for restaurants over night markets but if you like Lu Rou Fan ~ braised pork rice ~ you should head over to one of the famous Ningxia market to look out for Fang Jia Lu Rou Fan and also there chicken rice!





I have to rave about how yummy the braised pork rice but the chicken rice here is really good as well! Since they are small bowl portions – it is easy to just order both and finish it ~ then walk around to try other sorts of street food though I’ll have to say this stall will take all the spotlight.





Fang Jia Lu Rou Fan 方家滷肉饭

Ningxia Night Market, Ningxia Road, Datong District

Nearest MRT: Shuanglian Station





Zhong Cheng Hao 忠誠號蚵仔煎

This place is the one you would need to queue to get a spot. It’s the famous Taiwanese Omelet place at Shilin Night Market.





While many raved about their oyster omelet, I find that there are many who shook their head when they tasted this. It’s a love it or hate it dish as some might not like the starchy goey texture of the oyster omelet and the sauce could be too sweet for some. Personally I don’t really fancy this version and am more steered towards the ones I had in Penang and Bangkok.





Their crispy stinky tofu is not bad but I felt it is not stinky enough – as with most places I’ve tried lately. It is nearly impossible to find something that is similar to the good old fashioned extremely smelly stinky tofu in Taiwan. Do let me know if you found anything stinky enough! LOL





This was the dish that was worth queuing for in my opinion – their starchy squid soup which have a very QQ springy texture to the squid and is my fav in this stall.





Zhong Cheng Hao 忠誠號蚵仔煎

No. 15-32, Dadong Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111





Ah Chung Mian Xian Rice Noodles 阿宗麵線

I was actually quite reluctant to include this in my Taipei food guide as this is another one of those love it or hate it famous dishes. You have to queue quite long for this and it’s quite expensive for a starchy gooey small bowl of rice noodles. I find this quite overrated and not worth my time but there are some friends of mine who actually craved for this dish! So if you want to try this, try it with an open mind – you might love it or you might not ~~ I will introduce my preferred place next!





Ah Chung Mian Xian Rice Noodles 阿宗麵線

No. 8-1號, Emei Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108

Nearest MRT: Ximen

Opens 9am – 10:30pm





Chen Ji Mian Xian 陳記大腸蚵仔麵線

In my opinion, Chen Ji Mian Xian is my go to place for a good delicious bowl ~~ not only does it have delicious texture intestines – they also have oysters!





Seriously a must try in Taipei – and you can avoid the long queues from Ah Chong





This is definitely more worth it ~~~





In fact my wife likes the intestines so much, she separate order another plate just to savour it!





Chen Ji Mian Xian 陳記大腸蚵仔麵線

No. 72, Fuxing North Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491

Opens: 7:30AM–9PM

They actually have many branches – just google map them and find the one nearest to you!





Hot Star Large Fried Chicken 豪大大雞排

Just nearby Ah Chung Mian Xian is another overrated popular food that you need to queue but thankfully the queues are pretty quick ~ these are basically XXL size breaded chicken chops that are seriously as big or bigger than your face. For me, it is okay for you to check it out but I am not a big fan of this and I personally prefer fried popcorn chicken with basil leaves that are popular in most night markets. Try it if you have the time or if its convenient while you are around Xi Men Ding. Though if you are in Kaoshiung, you must check out the Angel Chicken Chop which is nicer!





Hot Star Large Fried Chicken 豪大大雞排

No. 36 Hanzhong street Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108

Nearest MRT: Ximen





Beans Village 豆花庄

Beans Village or to be precise, tou fu fah village is a Taiwanese dessert shop with a main focus of tou fu fah, soybean curds, a Chinese delicacy. This stall is located just opposite the entrance of Ningxia market so you can stop by here after your Ningxia Night Market food tour ~~





Basically this place is perfect to get a taste of Taiwanese style dessert ~~ yam dumplings, tapioca pearls, ai yue, glutinous rice balls, grass jellies and of course paired with to fu fah ~~~





The combinations are seriously endless so just pick whatever appeals to you ~~





Beans Village 豆花庄

No. 49, Ningxia Road, Datong District, Taipei City, Taiwan 103

Nearest MRT: Shuanglian Station

Opens: 10am – 1am





Mango Shaved Ice at Smoothie House 思慕昔

A very popular dessert place at Yong Kang Street is the Mango Shaved Ice from Smoothie house! Be sure to pop by and there’s seats upstairs as well! I could still remember four of us guys sharing two big bowl of shaved ice to dodge the Taiwan typhoon weather! It’s very instagrammable and of course yummy to share!





Smoothie House 思慕昔

No. 15, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106

Nearest MRT: Dongmen

Opens 10AM – 11PM









Yang Ji Wintermelon Tea 楊記冬瓜茶

We all have fond memories of having our first sip of wintermelon tea ~~ a refreshing drink that is now popular in many kopitiams and restaurants but have you ever tried freshly made from scratch versions? You absolutely must check out this place at Shida Night Market.





I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw the wok full of wintermelon caramelized till a sweet paste!





Grab a bottle or cup to enjoy! Ahhhhhhh soooo goood!





Yang Ji Wintermelon Tea 楊記冬瓜茶

Shida Night Market No. 19-2, Longquan St, 106, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan

Nearest MRT: Dongmen or Taipower Building





Last but not least – 7-Eleven

WTF? 7 Eleven? Thanis are you out of your mind? Well before you start yelling and say #foodcrime – I actually think the food here is pretty good and I confess I had quite a lot of them for supper especially at 4-5am in the morning because they are so convenient and delicious! You can see this spread during one of our after clubbing sessions at the hotel rooftop lounge. Notice the onsen eggs? (eggs with perfect custardy centres – yes they sell those here!). They also have breakfast muffins that are similar to McDonalds! Yummers!





This is my favourite rice ball of all time at 7 Eleven! Almost everytime I walk into one ~~ this is a must buy!





So much choices in terms of instant noodles to enjoy with the yummy





The drink options are good as well ~~ there’s also alcoholic drinks if you want ~~





Spicy Cold noodles anyone?





They even have MAPO TOFU RICE! They can heat it up at the counter for you or you can heat it up at your hotel ~~~





Anyone for some braised pork chop rice? Drools ~~





Seriously man ~~ even chicken wings and chicken feet also got ~~~~





Gyozas ~~~ Taiyakis ~~ pop corn chicken ~~ chicken nuggets ~~ you see why 7 Elevens in Taipei are awesome?









Well I guess that’s all from me for now – I will update this food guide when I visit Taipei again to hunt for more food. The restaurants listed in here are all personally tried and tested by me and are subjective to my preferences and I hope it would help you in your planning for your Taipei food guide. If you want to make suggestions for me to try out for my next trip – please drop a comment and do look out for my upcoming Taipei Cafe Hopping Guide (hope this doesn’t take another 6 months to write LOL)





Be sure to read my complete tried and tested Tokyo Food and Cafe Guide for other great Japanese cuisines in Tokyo!





Find the best tamagoyaki or okonomiyaki in my Osaka Food guide!





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Sedan Taoyuan Airport Transfers (TPE) for Taipei - Klook Travel

'Unite Traveler' 4G SIM Card (TW Airport Pick Up) for Taiwan - Klook Travel