Gongguan Night Market (公館夜市) is a small but bustling two-block night market in one of the hippest locations in Taipei. It’s a mere fraction of the size of more famous night markets like Raohe and Shilin, but packs a lot of tasty food into a compact space.
Surrounded by university campuses, Gongguan has always attracted a loyal following of hungry students (much like the nearby Shida Night Market). It is especially known for bargain priced street foods, all sorts of pancakes and green onion cakes, and lots of vegetarian street foods.
The foodie masses took note in 2019, when one of the stalls in Gongguang Night Market obtained Michelin Bib Gourmand status (you’ll have to read to the end to find it!)
In this article, I’ll walk you through Gongguan Night Market, recommending some of the best and most famous foods you should consider to try, as well as some tempting ones that you should actually skip, based on my personal experience visiting the night market many times.
Gongguan Night Market Introduction
Gongguan is a small commercial district (公館商圈) surrounded by universities. These include several campuses of National Taiwan University (NTU, Taiwan’s largest university) and the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.
Besides many students, the area is also known for its population of veterans from China as well as Southeast Asian migrants.
In 1980, Shuiyuan Market (水源市場), a traditional indoor daytime market, opened on Roosevelt Road, one of Taipei’s largest thoroughfares.
Over time, food vendors appeared on either side of the market, appealing to the many students and shoppers in the area. These two streets came to be known as Gongguan Night Market.
Students, both Taiwanese and international, still flock to Gongguan Night Market, giving it a young and international flavor.
Ever since Hsiung Chi Scallion Pancake, one of the stalls in Gongguan Night Market, made the 2019 Michelin guide, more and more international visitors have been making their way to the night market.
Perhaps due to the demand from students and international visitors, there are a lot of vegan and vegetarian food stalls in this night market.
A visit to Gongguan Night Market can be paired with other attractions in the area, including Treasure Hill Artists Village, Taipei Water Park (the city’s best children’s spray park, July and August only), and Gongguan Waterfront Plaza (a cool outdoor drinking venue at night).
This makes it one of the best areas to visit in Taipei at night.
How to Find the Night Market
Gongguan is super easy to get to as it is right next to Gongguan MRT station on the Green Line.
At Gongguan MRT, take exit 1 (escalators and elevators available). Turn right and walk one block along Roosevelt Road to Lane 78 (羅斯福路4段78巷), where you will turn right (see image above). In this guide, I’ve called this the “first street” of Gongguan Night Market.
To find the “second” street of the night market, you would continue along Roosevelt Road past Shuiyuan Market to the next lane, Lane 108 (羅斯福路4段108巷).
Besides these two lanes, which are the heart of the night market, you can find numerous clothing shops and restaurants in the surrounding commercial district (see my shopping guide).
What to Eat at Gongguan Night Market
Now we come to the most important part: what are the best foods at Gongguan Night Market?
To make this easier, I’m going to cover the two main streets separately, in the order you will encounter them from the MRT. We’ll first walk down Lane 78, then return to Roosevelt Road via Lane 108.
The First Street: Lane 78
Generally speaking, Lane 78 has more meat dishes, while Lane 108 is more vegetarian-friendly, but there are of course many exceptions on both lanes.
At the entrance to Lane 108, Martabak Gongguan (回味麵煎餅, #16, here) is the first stall on the left side.
This is a very popular martabak (thick turnover pancake found in many countries in Asia) stall. Taiwanese generally know these as Shandong Da Bing (山東大餅), after the most famous chain of shops selling them.
The pancakes at Martabak are super thick and poofy, with an inner layer of your choice of peanut (花生), black sesame (芝麻), brown sugar (黑糖), or custard (奶油).
On the right side and a few stalls in, there are enormous fried chicken cutlets at Tempura Flavored Chicken Steam (天婦羅口味香雞排, #4, here but the location on GoogleMaps is off).
The stall also has deed fried popcorn chicken, fish cakes, tofu, and other items. But if you’re looking for a better variety fried foods, both meaty or vegetarian, there will be more options to come below.
Hong Ji Purple Rice Milk (洪記紫米牛奶, #5, here) serves cups of purple rice milk. The purple rice is boiled on the spot. The drink is thick, sweet, creamy, filling, and healthy(ish).
Opposite the purple rice stall, I DO NOT recommend the Waterfall Cheese Pancake Roti (瀑布起司香蕉煎餅).
On the one I ordered, the cheese was not even fully melted, let along substantial enough to be “flowing” like a waterfall. I mean, it wasn’t terrible, but the sign (see pic above) led me to expect much more.
However, I DO recommend the Chinese Burgers at Rojiamo (肉夾饃, #20, not on GoogleMaps). Like gua bao, these items are often translated as “burger” but are totally different than gua bao.
Roujiamo are flaky pastries stuffed with shredded pork (almost like an American pulled pork sandwich) with green bell peppers or beans. This stall also has a beef version. You can add an egg to any of them for TWD 10.
These roujiamo are very delicious, but I did find that the ones in Tonghua Night Market are even better.
A few stalls down from the purple rice milk, Bich Loan (阿鸞手工法國麵包, here) is a staple for international students in the area.
This physical shop has grab-and-go Bánh Mì (Vietnamese sandwiches – the bread is freshly made in house), rice noodle salads, spring rolls, and Vietnamese desserts.
On the left side, Qiu Ji 10-Dollar BBQ (邱記10元碳烤, #27, here) is a branch of a popular BBQ chain across Taiwan. You can’t miss the huge barrel beside the stall, which they roast the meats in.
However, the stall gets terrible reviews from locals (just click the “here” link above and read them for yourself). Apparently, after roasting the meat skewers, they just sit out for a while and become cold. What’s more, the 10元 in the name is deceptive, as most sticks cost more than that.
Therefore, I suggest giving this one a miss.
Instead, for your meat fix, head two stalls down to the new Taipei Street Beef (燒肉冠軍侯, #29, here, follow here on IG). The stall operator offers a personalized grilled beef tasting experience.
As you stand at the counter, he’ll cook and perfectly season several slices of beef to your liking for TWD 70. If you prefer rarer or more well-done, just let him know.
He cooks the meat slices one-by-one, so you can taste each one straight off the grill. You can taste them straight up or dip them in your choice of soy sauce, Japanese spices, or cumin.
I’m not surprised whatsoever that this stall maintains a 5-star rating on GoogleMaps reviews. I highly recommend it!
In the second half of the street and also on the left side, A Lang Fried Foods (阿郎鹽酥雞, #38, here) is a Gongguan Night Market institution.
Students have for many years flocked here for cheap and delicious fried foods, which they consider to have “high CP value”.
Like any 鹽酥雞 (fried foods) stall, the many items (vegetables, tofu, meat sticks, offal) are on display. Grab a bowl and set of tongs, then choose the items you would like.
Any piece you take represents one portion of that item (for example, if you grab one little green bean, they will cook you a whole portion of beans). 2 or 3 items is a full meal for one person, so be careful not to order too much!
Directly opposite A Lang, Bird’s Nest Beitou (燕窩北投紅茶, here) is an iced tea shop that always seems to have a long line, but I’ve never personally tried it. Watch for the hanging lanterns and huge cup.
Reaching the end of the block, and again on the left side, Gongguan Liao Family Yilan Green Onion Cakes (公館廖家食記宜蘭蔥餅, #43, here) serves spiral green onion cakes, which are a specialty of Luodong Night Market in Yilan.
These things are always delicious, with a slightly crispy exterior and a filling of peppery green onions in a soft, steaming interior.
While these ones don’t have pork chunks like some in Yilan do, many green onion cake vendors use lard, so vegetarians should always ask first – here’s how to ask if something is vegetarian in Taiwan.
Across from the green onion cake stall, there’s a popular luwei stall called Gongguan Countryside Luwei (公館家鄉滷味, #15, here on the right side).
Luwei is a variety of foods which have been braised in a broth of various herbs. Like the fried foods stall, you just pick a few and they dress them up for you.
You can’t miss the traditional-looking push cart with red lantern at the end of the street next to FamilyMart.
The Second Street: Lane 108
From the end of Lane 78, turn left and follow the street behind Shuiyuan Market to Lane 108. From there, we will take Lane 108 back to Roosevelt Road and the MRT station.
This is the street where you’ll find many vegetarian and vegan food stalls. Vegetarians: also see my guide to the best vegetarian restaurants in Taipei!
The first stall you’ll encounter on the left side is Long Ge Boneless Chicken Leg Fillet (龍哥無骨雞腿排, #62, here).
This popular stall sells boxes which include bite-sized slices of breaded chicken fillet served with a cabbage salad with two choices of sauce: Vietnamese sweet and sour (越式酸甜醬) or sweet mayonnaise (生菜沙拉醬). Salad comes with free refills.
Directly across from it, the second stall in on the right side of the lane is Vegan Sweet Potato Balls (全素地瓜球, #78, here).
This is a very popular sweet potato ball stall – some even claim they have the best sweet potato balls in all of Taipei. If you’ve never tried them, sweet potato balls are a light and airy snack, crispy on the outside, chewy inside, and best eaten while still hot.
There’s usually a line, but every time a new batch is ready, the line moves up very quickly. Have your cash ready – a small portion (9 balls) is only 35, while a large portion (15 balls) goes for 55.
A few stalls in from the above, Gongguan Fried Egg Green Onion Cake (公館炸蛋蔥油餅, #75, here) does a kind of extra greasy but delicious green onion cakes. They basically deep fry the whole thing, including the egg.
Consider your options carefully, though, because there’s a more famous green onion cake stall below!
Next up, you’ll pass not one but two vegan stinky tofu stalls on the left. It may surprise you that stinky tofu is often not vegetarian! The spicy stewed kind often can duck blood cakes while the deep fried kind sometimes uses meat in the fermentation process.
The first one, Gongguan Vegan Spicy Stinky Tofu (公館VEGAN素食麻辣臭豆腐, #54, here) serves mala stinky tofu, the kind which is stewed in a spicy broth.
The fragrant stinky tofu soup comes topped with pickled mustard greens and fresh Taiwanese basil. Delicious!
You have the option to make it a full meal by adding noodles (5 different types available), mushrooms, seaweed, or other types of vegetarian meats. There’s an English menu.
Right next to it, there’s another vegan stinky tofu stall called Gongguan Stinky Tofu (公關臭豆腐, #53, not on GoogleMaps).
This one does the deep fried version of stinky tofu, with cubes of tofu deep fried until crispy and served with pickled cabbage.
When I tried this one, the elderly lady boss (老闆娘) was sporting vegan gear. She was slow, so yes there was a line and it seemed to take ages, but the stinky tofu was worth the wait.
The stinky tofu is super crispy and not as offensively stinky as regular ones. She’ll ask if you want spicy sauce. A large portion is TWD 60.
Continuing with the vegan choices, watch for Vegetarian Fried Foods (素食鹹酥雞, #70, here on the right). This is an all-vegan version of the fried foods stall we saw on Lane 78.
The menu of items you can have deep fried here includes many vegetables, tofu, and vegetarian versions of pig’s blood cake (they call it 紫米糕 or “purple rice cake”), oysters, chicken nuggets, or calamari.
You can find a similar all-vegetarian fried foods stall at Nanjichang Night Market, but the one at Nanjichang often has a very long wait, while this one in Gongguan Night Market doesn’t.
Approaching Roosevelt Road, Liu Ji’s Classic Green Onion Pancakes and Honey Glazed Sweet Potatoes (劉記古早味蔥蛋餅蜜地瓜, #45, here) is a very popular stall on the left side – watch for the line.
The stall makes only two things: thick green onion egg pie (蔥蛋餅) and candied sweet potato (蜜地瓜). The green onion pie is what people line up for. The huge, circular cakes are cooked one at a time then served in pie-shaped pieces (that’s why I call it pie rather than cake).
If you just want the candied sweet potato, there are usually in packages ready to go, so if you see a bunch of them on the counter, you can just ask for one without waiting in the line. The stall is closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
We’ve saved one of the best for nearly last – Hsiung Chi Scallion Pancake (雄記蔥抓餅, #48, here).
This is Gongguan Night Market’s only Michelin food stall (see the entry here), starting from 2019 and bringing more attention to the night market.
The green onion cakes here are as good as they come, with options to add egg, cheese, ham, bacon, corn, or various combinations of the above.
For sauce, you have the option of spicy and/or the more unusual honey mustard, for a winning combination. If this stall is a must for you, then avoid Sunday and Monday, when it takes a break.
Nearly back to Roosevelt Road and on the right side, Little Fatty Gua Bao (小胖刈包, #60, here but I found it’s closer to Roosevelt Road than indicated on GoogleMaps) serves classic gua bao or “Taiwanese hamburgers”.
Usually these consist of a slice of fatty pork inside a steamed bun with peanut shavings and cilantro. While they do have the classic version, I stuck with the vegetarian them of the street and ordered their vegetarian gua bao. It was excellent! (Note: you can also find vegetarian gua bao at Tonghua Night Market).
Since we’re finishing Gongguan Night Market with gua bao, I should also mention that there’s a very famous, Michelin-rated gua bao shop not too far from the night market.
Lan Jia Gua Bao Traditional Taiwanese Snack (藍家割包, here about 5 minutes’ walk from Gongguan Night Market) is extremely popular and worth the walk if you want some seriously good gua bao. But do expect a line.
For their gua bao, they offer a choice of fatty meat (肥肉) or lean meat (瘦肉), or a combination of the two. No vegetarian options here.
They also have intestine vermicelli meat stew (大腸肉羹麵線) and traditional rice dumplings (the kind associated with Dragon Boat Destival) with meat (肉粽).
There’s an English menu if you ask. One line is to stay (內用) and one is to go (外帶). They are closed Mondays.