When I first moved to Taipei city in 2008, Shida Night Market (師大夜市) was one of the hottest night markets in the Taiwan. My best friend and I went there on our first night in the country.
In the following months (and years), we frequently went to Roxy Junior, a popular expat pub across the street from the night market.
In 2012, following noise and pollution complaints from local residents, the government practically shut down the night market and its popularity nosedived. Most of the food stalls were simply gone.
Shida Night Market never fully recovered but it still exists. In 2024, I revisited the night market to see what’s still around and to prepare this guide.
In my opinion, the night market has returned to its roots as a place for students to find high value eats and fashionable but cheap clothing.
Shida Night Market Introduction
Shida Night Market is named after the nearby National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU). Taiwanese usually shorten the school’s Mandarin name, 師範大學 (shifan daxue), to 師大 or shida.
NTNU is the second largest university in Taipei, after National Taiwan University (NTU), which is not far away from it. NTU has its own night market, Gongguan Night Market, which is more popular than Shida Night Market today.
The two night markets are similar in that they are small in size and have always attracted a lot of students, both local and international.
Shida Night Market has roots going back to the 1960s, when many vendors operated illegally in the long and skinny Shida Park, which runs along Shida Road (see pic below).
When the government eventually kicked them out in the late 80s, some moved to what is now Nanjichang Night Market while others moved into the small alleys just east of the park, where Shida Night Market remains today.
In the 1990s, the area really started to catch on among university students, with many artsy cafés and restaurants opening. It became a cool place to hang out in the daytime and a night market at night.
In the 2000s, many fashion boutiques opened as well, further contributing to its popularity. When I arrived in Taiwan in 2008, Shida Night Market was absolutely packed every night of the week, especially weekends (see my pic below shot around that time).
Local residents did not love this, however. Complaints about noise, air pollution, and trash increased, and in 2012, the government shut down most of the stalls.
The night market has never returned to its former glory since then and I seldom hear travelers asking about or mentioning it.
If you’re a visitor looking for a low-key, non-touristy alternative to the big night markets like Shilin, Raohe, and Ningxia, this one may be perfect for you.
Some of the oldest original vendors remaining are known for their “high CP” meals (a phrase Taiwanese use meaning “high cost performance”, or good bang for your buck).This is the main reason students have always come here and still do today.
This night market will also appeal to anyone looking to do some shopping, especially fashionable but lower-budget clothing, accessories, and cute souvenirs.
How to Get There
The closest MRT station to Shida Night Market is exit 3 of Taipower Building MRT station on the Green Line.
From that station, walk north along Shida Road until you reach the night market. As you approach, Shida Park will be on your left and the night market will be in lanes 59, 49, and especially 39 on your right.
Even though it’s a little further away, I have always been in the habit of going to Shida Night Market from Guting Station on the Green and Orange Lines.
From exit 4, I walk east down Heping E Road, walking past some buildings of NTNU, then go south down Shida Night Market.
I think this walk just has memories for me, because it goes past the old Roxy 99, which was one of the hottest night clubs in the city in my early years in Taiwan – my friends and I have had many trashy fun nights there.
What to Eat at Shida Night Market
I’m going to start this night market tour from the north (my usual approach), at the corner or Shida Road and Lane 39.
After Lane 39, which has the best food stalls, I’ll introduce a few more on Lanes 49 and 59, plus Longquan Street, the backstreet which runs parallel to Shida Road and has many shops selling clothing and accessories.
Lane 39
Today, Lane 39 has the best collection of food options in the night market and you could say it is the night market’s main street.
Lantern Braised Foods Flagship Store
Right at the corner of Shida Road and Lane 39, Lantern Braised Foods Flagship Store (燈籠滷味創始總店, here) is a household name in Taipei.
According to Taiwanese bloggers, when Taipei people think of Shida Night Market, this is one of the 2 main shops that come to their mind (we’ll get to the other one below).
As the name suggests, Lantern does braised foods, which Taiwanese call 滷味 (lu wei). The way it works is that all the foods are displayed at the front. You take a basket and set of tongs, choose what you want, and hand it to them.
They will then cook your selected ingredients in a fragrant broth of soy sauce and spices, dress it up with sauce, and serve it to you in a plastic bag with little sticks to poke and eat the foods.
After first opening in 1992, the shop gained a reputation among local students as a high CP (value) meal choice. The chain now has over a dozen branches across Taipei, but this is the original flagship store.
You can’t miss the shop’s large yellow sign and hanging red lanterns at the corner, below Watsons.
Hsu Ji Sheng Jiang Bao
Nearly half a block down Lane 39, Hsu Ji Sheng Jian Bao (許記生煎包, here) is another of the best food stalls in Shida Night Market (though its not quite one of the “top 2” I mentioned).
Going all the way back to 1984, it is also one of the oldest.
The shop does one thing only: sheng jian bao (生煎包 or pan fried buns). These are cabbage and pork-filled buns which are steamed then fried to make them crispy on the bottom.
The sheng jian bao here are a little smaller than usual so each one is bite-sized. They come with white and black sesame seeds on top.
It’s all about the contrast in textures between the soft exterior, moist meaty interior, and extra crispy bottom. You can help yourself to the soy sauce and spicy sauce if you need it.
In my opinion, each one of these is a bite of perfection. Some Taiwanese bloggers even say this shop is the “star of Shida Night Market”.
The buns go for TWD 13 for 1, 50 for 5, or 115 for 12. Five of them is a good way to sample but save some room in your tummy for other foods in the night market.
It’s very easy to find – there’s a red and white 生煎包 sign above and a circular one with the family name 許 (with the left side of the character playfully designed as a steamed bun).
You will notice the staff hastily making and frying the buns right at the front.
Shi Yun Taiwanese Fried Chicken Main Store
Right next to Hsu Ji Sheng, Shi Yun Taiwanese Fried Chicken Main Store (師園鹽酥雞 本店, here) is another flagship location of a chain which now has locations across the city.
Just like its neighbor, this shop also claims to have started in 1984.
And similar to Lantern Braised Foods, this is another high CP food vendor which students gravitate to for getting huge, delicious (but perhaps not the healthiest) meals at a reasonable price.
This shop’s specialty is yan su ji (鹽酥雞), which means “crispy fried chicken”. But 鹽酥雞 shops seldom sell only chicken. In fact, they have incredible variety, including vegetarian items.
Just like lu wei food stalls, they display a variety of ingredients at the front. You choose what you want and they deep fry it for you. Expats in Taiwan usually call these “fried food stalls” in English and they are a staple like-night greasy snack.
I’m a big fan of fried foods in Taiwan, and I can attest that this one is excellent. The rectangular chunks of taro (芋頭) were some of the best I’ve ever had, while the green beans (四季豆), cuttlefish (魷魚), and baiye tofu cubes (百頁豆腐) I ordered were all spot on.
They’ll ask you if you want fresh garlic, Asian basil (九層塔, see the green leaves in below picture), and spicy powder added. For the garlic and basil, they’ll throw it into the deep frier for a few seconds to make it crispy and fragrant.
You need to order from a paper menu here, with Mandarin only. Use a translation app like GoogleMaps to scan at the menu. Alternatively, just point at the items you want.
Heads up that can’t just order one little piece of something. If you put one piece of an item in your basket, they will give you a whole portion of that item. Items are priced per portion, so be careful not to order too much. Even just 3 or 4 items can be enough for a full meal for two people.
At the top of the menu, check the box beside 內用 if you want it to stay. Then you can sit at one of the tables inside (not so obvious at first) and they will bring it to your when ready. Otherwise, you’ll receive your foods in a paper and plastic bag to go.
This spot is very popular so it can be a long wait at peak times. Besides the fried foods, they now also sell Japanese curry with rice, another staple among students.
Shida Night Market Raw Fried Cuttlefish Stew
While I was waiting for my fried foods at Shi Yun, I could help but be tempted by the cuttlefish stew stall right across the lane.
Cuttlefish stew is one of my favorite dishes in Taiwan. These thick soups are made with bonito flakes, chunks or cuttlefish (which is very similar to quid) or other seafoods, and usually topped with black vinegar and spicy sauce (see another one I loved here at Tonghua Night Market).
There’s usually the option to add various types of noodles to make it into a more filling meal. This stall also has duck meat stew (鴨肉焿), which i didn’t try.
The sign on Shida Night Market Raw Fried Cuttlefish Stew (師大夜市生炒花枝羹, here) says it’s being going since 1975, which suggests it must be decent. I had to investigate.
To conserve tummy space, I ordered a bowl of the soup stew without noodles and sat on one of the few metal chairs right at the stall.
The soup was nice and thick but sweeter than usual, like you’d expect to find in Tainan. It came with cabbage, baby bamboo strips, and copious huge chunks of fresh-tasting cuttlefish. At 80 a bowl (or 90 with noodles), it’s a little more expensive than normal, but that is to be expected given popular night market location.
You can ask them to add vinegar or soy sauce or just grab the bottles and do it yourself.
Eating the hot, spicy soup at the side of the road on a hot evening, I was doused in sweat by the end of it, despite the fan blowing at me from the side. Was it worth it, though? Absolutely.
Other Vendors on Lane 39
While the above four are by far the most famous shops on Lane 39, there are several more to choose from.
Just past the cuttlefish stew shop and on the same side, Shida Rice Noodle Soup (師大米粉湯, here) does soup with little rice noodles which I’ve always compared to chicken noodle soup in North America.
Towards the end of the street and on the south (opposite) side, there’s a high value and very popular teppanyaki restaurant called 喫尤 (here, see photo above).
Longquan Street
Longquan Street runs north to south (parallel to Shida Road). It is like the backbone of the night market, although it does have more clothing and accessories shops than food stalls today.
In Shida Night mMarket’s heyday, Longqua Street used to be packed with people and food stalls, but now there are only a few left.
Classical Tea Shop
From the end of Lane 39, if you go right instead, I recommend Classical Tea Shop (古早茶坊). It is here, halfway between Lanes 39 and Lane 49.
Come here to try traditional iced herbal & medicinal teas, some of which are thought to be quite healthful. While I don’t have an exact age for this one, the shops looks like it is from a bygone era.
The menu is in Mandarin only in a wooden frame above. It’s a little hard to read even if you can recognize some Mandarin characters. I recommend asking for one of these:
- Wintermelon wheatgrass with honey (冬瓜仙草蜜): wintermelon, also known as wax gourd, is a huge fruit often used in pineapple cakes but also to make a sweet and fragrant herbal tea. Wheatgrass is usually used to make a kind of herbal black jelly dessert.
- Smoked longan and jujube tea (桂圓紅棗茶) With a smoky flavor from the dried longans and health benefits of jujube, also called red dates.
- Soup Plum Soup (酸梅湯): Even though it’s called “soup”, it’s actually a herbal tea made with plums, usually sweet and sour with a hint of smokiness. You can also find this on Shenkeng Old Street, otherwise known as the “stinky tofu street” in New Taipei City
Taipei Soy Sauce Braised Food
Remember at the beginning when I said there are two vendors in Shida Night Market which locals typically think of first?
Besides Lantern Braised Foods, Taipei Soy Sauce Braised Foods (大台北平價滷味, meaning “Big Taipei Budget Braised Foods”, here) is the other one. And yes, they both sell the same kind of food.
This one is even older, dating to 1988, and is arguably Shida Night Market’s most iconic vendor. According Taiwanese blogs like this one, Jay Chou (one of the most famous people from Taiwan) used to dine there, among numerous other local celebrities.
Taipei Soy Sauce Braised Foods is known for its incredible selection: there are over 70 foods to choose from on the huge menu.
It can feel a little more chaotic order here. There’s always a line, or more like a cluster of people standing around (some have ordered already, some maybe not?) At least it’s easy to find – just watch for the crowd of people.
There’s no English menu here. If you can’t speak Mandarin, I would just go for the pointing strategy. If you want to learn how to say “I want that one” while pointing, read my recommended Mandarin phrases for travelers in Taiwan.
You’d also want to tell them 內用 (nei yong, to stay) or 外帶 (wai dai, to go). In order to stay and sit at one of the tables inside, you need to also order a simple drink (TWD 20). On the plus side, when you order foods to stay, they will be served to you on a huge white plate.
Just like Lantern Braised foods and Shi Yun Fried foods, each portion is large. These restaurants are great for feeding a group of people, but you need to be careful not to order too much if alone.
This vendor is on Longquan Street just south of Lane 59. After it is mostly clothing shops.
Other Vendors on Longquan Street
At the end of Lane 39, if you turn left on Longquan street you’ll find a tian bu la (fish cakes) shop called 佐之味甜不辣 here, a knife-cut noodles restaurant called Niu Laoda Sliced Noodles here, and Takoyaki here.
There’s also Hohomei here, which does 波羅包 or “pineapple buns”. These aren’t pineapple flavored but said to look bumpy like pineapple skin. They are served plain or with a hunk of butter inside.
If you turn right on Longquan Street and walk past Lanes 49 and 59, you’ll see a few Thai and Japanese places as well as this tiny gelato shop.
Taipei Braised Foods (see the last entry) feels like the end of the night market, at least the foodie part of it. After it, there are a couple blocks of clothing and accessory shops.
Back in the day, this was more like the middle of the night market. The 7-Eleven across from Taipei Soy Sauce Braised Foods was always packed, and the food stalls stretched in every direction from here.
Lanes 49 and 59
Lanes 49 and 59 also used to be packed with food stalls, but today these lanes mainly only have some small sit down restaurants and clothing shops. They feel very quiet compared to what they used to be.
Cinnamon Tree
On Lane 49, close to the Shida Road end, I had bookmarked Cinnamon Tree (肉桂樹, here) because I wanted to try one of their cinnamon buns.
When I lived in Taiwan, I found that many Taiwanese don’t like cinnamon. However, sometime around the COVID years, this suddenly changed and cinnamon buns became crazy popular.
Shida Night Market was the first place I’ve tried a Taiwanese cinnamon bun, and I must say I was a little disappointed.
Just like so many other baked desserts in Taiwan, they look amazing. But besides the icing on the top, the inside was very dry for me. The cinnamon buns we have in Canada are much moister and better.
Having said that, Taiwanese would probably think Canadian cinnamon buns are way too sweet. So chances are if you are from Asia and/or don’t like overly sweet desserts, you may love these. But if you are from a Western country and/or have a major sweet tooth, they may not be your favorite.
Jiao Tang Feng Barbecue
At the end of Lane 59 and facing Shida Road, Jiao Tang Feg Barbecue (焦糖楓串燒連鎖第一品牌, here) is a popular barbecue skewers shop.
Again, very easy for a quick meal to go, you just grab the sticks or meat/veggies/tofu you want and they BBQ them for you. The skewers are in large fridges at the front of the shop. Just open the fridge doors and take what you want.
The name 焦糖 (jiao tang, caramel) in the name refers to the sweet barbecue sauce they use.
Tomomachi Ice
Right next to the above, and also facing Shida Road, is this cute Japanese-style dessert and shaved ice shop called Tomomachi Ice (友町冰品, here).
The shop’s signature shaved ice dish is matcha shaved ice with tangyuan (招牌抹茶刨冰). They’ve also got some more interesting creations like Blue Hawaiian (藍色夏威夷) and classic Taiwanese ones like fresh mango (新鮮芒果牛奶冰).
Besides shaved ice, they also have some traditional Taiwanese desserts like purple rice congee (紫米粥) and sago pudding (西米露).
Other Restaurants and Cafés in Shida Area
Besides the night market proper, Shida area has long been known for its many cool restaurants and cafés.
This list is not exhaustive, but here are just a few popular food stalls, restaurants, and cafés within a few blocks of the night market.
- Longuqan Fish Soup (龍泉深海鮮魚湯, here) A famous food stall in a traditional market to the south of Shida Night Market closer to Taipower MRT, with fish soup, braised pork rice, and oyster congee
- Dai-Gou Pork Intestine Thin Noodles (大狗麵線, here) Mee sua place on the way to the night market if coming from Taipower Building MRT.
- Yong Fung Sheng – bao zi (永豐盛, here): All kinds of steamed buns, also on the way to the night market.
- KGB Kiwi Gourmet Burgers, Macho Tacos, Out of India Shida: As the names suggest
- Minimal Café and CAT.jpg: A couple cozy cafés with a few cats inside just north of the night market, see my guide to other cat cafes in Taipei
- Wenzhou Street Radish Pancake (溫州街蘿蔔絲餅達人, here): Street food stall with super delish deep fried radish cakes and green onion cakes a few blocks from the night market
- Qingtian Tea House (青田茶館, here): One of the best traditional teahouses in Taipei, also a few blocks away from Shida Night Market.
