There are so many good eats in Taiwan and it can be very overwhelming to choose where to go. The great news is, delicious joints are everywhere–just be adventurous and follow your eyes and nose. There is a never-ending list of options, but below are a handful of places I recommend trying.
Tan Zuo Ma Li Grill 碳佐麻里 高雄美術館旗艦店
A Japanese style upscale grill restaurant with a trendy yet traditional atmosphere with amazing service and quality food for a reasonable price! I am so impressed with this place! They give you an iPad that has photos to help you order what you want. There are many options where you can choose set menus but still give you great options within them. They offer meat, seafood, Japanese dishes, creative and exquisite drinks, and desserts. Reservations are highly recommended or be prepared for a long wait during peak times. I visited the Kaohsiung location.
This amazing vegetarian buffet is a vegetarian’s dream come true! Even omnivores and meat-eating foodies will be pleased. There is so much to choose from and everything is displayed beautifully and visually appealing. They make small batches of each dish so every dish is replenished often and as fresh as possible. I went around the displays a few times before I can figure out my plan of action to eat as much as possible. They have so many varieties of food, drinks, and desserts that span cuisines. What a treat to see a place like this!
大埔鐵板燒民權東店
This Teppanyaki restaurant is fast and delicious! It is also an inexpensive meal with lots of choices. You eat around the big teppanyaki grill and watch them cook the food in front of you. Let them know how spicy you want your meal to be and they can adjust it for you. They also provide free unlimited lightly sweetened red tea and soup for you to enjoy with your meal.
A large space partitioned with a great fish market, restaurants, and cute vendors selling artistic goods. A fantastic place to hang out with friends in a hip and casual atmosphere with fresh seafood. You can also grab sashimi and seafood bentos to go, or live seafood to enjoy at home.
Tokiya Taipei Fuxing North Restaurant
This restaurant is a great place for reasonable set menus that offer a variety of Asian fusion fare. The set comes with a soup, entree, dessert, and a drink in cute teaware! Service and environment are great and a warm place to bring family or friends to enjoy a meal together.
This restaurant is located within the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Nanxi Store One, a new hip department store with less modest prices. King Ping Chayu’s Red Oolong milk tea with boba might arguably be one of the best boba milk teas I have had when we dined in. It was so good I had to come back the next day to grab it to-go before I flew out of Taiwan…however, it was not nearly the same. So, if you are lucky to catch it at its best, it tastes like a luxurious gourmet version of milk tea with excellent chewy boba.
While dining in, their food seems to be carefully and delicately prepared. They have many different flavors of soup dumplings that come color-coordinated, such as Sakura Shrimp Pork, XO Sauce Pork, Tea Pork, and Kimchi Pork). The tofu side dish is also worth trying and packed full of comforting flavor.
Caramel Pudding Croissant
This custard twist pudding on top of this fresh-baked flakey croissant pleasantly surprised me. What a way to enjoy croissants as I’ve never experienced before! With the various layers of sweet from the different textures, it is best eaten immediately before it loses its magic! This was an unexpected find for me in the SOGO Department Store food court and a must if you love Asian style croissants.
Traditional Breakfasts
Traditional breakfast items are sold everywhere in stores as well as the streets. Below are a couple of places with recommended items from each one. Some places are better for certain dishes than others.
Kuan Lai Shun Breakfast Restaurant
Come to this location for really delicious savory salted soybean milk porridge (bei fang dou jiang) and their turnip cake (luo buo gao) with eggs. You can make a chili sauce on the side and dip the pieces in there. The line continues to pile on, but it moves quickly. There is a separate line for To-Go orders and another one for eating in front, on the tables set up on the sidewalk.
This local breakfast joint sits at the corner of the street and is very inviting with its red awning that ushers people in. It has plenty of indoor space to enjoy your food all day. I particularly enjoy their potstickers dipped in the chili soy sauce mixture. They also have well-baked wheat cake with egg (shao bing jia dan) and their soy milk and red tea drinks are satisfying. They also have a drink where they mix the two together!
Night Markets
If you are adventurous enough, there are many traditional and new street food you can try at night markets. The aroma from all the vendors permeates the markets while you drool trying to figure out which ones you want to eat. There are many night markets to choose from but you do need to check when they are open.
Here are a few of my recommended night markets:
- Shilin Night Market: one of Taipei’s largest and most popular night markets.
- Ximending Night Market: a more modern night market that is more popular with the younger generation. It is also known as the “Harajuku of Taipei” with its Japanese anime culture and influence.
- Ruifong Night Market: Enjoy the outdoor market with rows of games and vendors that sell food and goods in the Zuoying District in Kaohsiung.
Again, this list could go on forever, but I hope these are enough to give you an idea of where to start your food adventures in Taiwan!