Street food is an essential part of life in Taipei. From early-morning breakfast shops to late-night night market stalls, some of the city’s best Taiwanese foods are served in humble, no-frills places that locals have been returning to for decades.
After living in Taipei for more than 10 years and eating my way across the city countless times, I’ve handpicked 15 of my favorite street food stalls and local eateries in Taipei.
Some are famous institutions that appear on virtually every Taipei food list. Others are decidedly more local spots that I think deserve just as much attention.
There is one catch: expect to line up for many of them. But lining up for good food is practically a Taipei pastime, and in every below case, the reward is well worth the wait.
You’d better come hungry!
Make sure to check the opening times and days of each of these on GoogleMaps before you go. Many of them close for one day per week.
Wang’s Broth
Wang’s Broth (小王煮瓜, here) started as a humble stall in Huaxi Night Market in 1975. Its original specialty was clear pork soup with pickled cucumber (清湯瓜仔肉), adapted from a traditional Taiwanese banquet dish made with chicken.
In the days when Wanhua was famous for its lively (and sometimes sketchy) nightlife, the soup became popular as a late-night “sobering-up soup” for drinkers.
Over time, the shop became equally famous for its dark, rich braised pork rice, which diners have dubbed “black gold” (黑金滷肉飯).
After receiving its first Michelin Bib Gourmand distinction in 2019, the second-generation owners completely renovated and rebranded the old shop into the surprisingly sleek Wang’s Broth you see today.
The retro pushcart outside is a replica of the original street stall.
Wang’s Broth has become such an institution that there’s now even a branch in Taoyuan International Airport.
The signature braised pork rice has the option to add mushrooms (as I’ve pictured here), but I actually recommend starting with the original.
I went all out and also ordered braised cabbage, fried tofu, braised egg, and the signature pork and pickled-cucumber soup for a complete meal.
One warning: everything is quite salty, and that’s coming from someone who likes salty food.
There’s an English menu. Grab one, find a seat, mark your order, take it to the front counter and pay, then they’ll bring everything to your table.
While you’re there, you may also want to try the excellent gua bao two shops down at Yuan Fang Gua Bao (here).
Also see my Taipei City guide and list of my favorite things to do in Taipei.
Yonghe Soy Milk King Da’an
For the quintessential Taiwanese breakfast experience, head to Yonghe Soy Milk King Da’an (永和豆漿大王復興南路, here).
“Yonghe Soy Milk” shops are a breakfast mainstay in Taiwan, and there are numerous similarly named (but unrelated) shops around Taipei. Of the major ones I’ve tried, this is my favorite in the city.
Despite being one of the oldest and best in Taipei (and even featured in a Taiwanese film), it still feels refreshingly local and doesn’t attract the huge tourist lines of other famous breakfast shops in Taipei, like Fu Hang Soy Milk.
You know you’re in the right place as soon as you arrive: cooks work away in the open, street-facing kitchen, preparing many of the breakfast items from scratch right in front of you.
The menu covers virtually every Taiwanese breakfast classic: danbing (蛋餅 or egg crepes), shaobing (燒餅 or baked flatbreads), youtiao (油條 or fried dough sticks), steamed buns, xiaolongbao, radish cakes, and hot or cold soy milk. Try the salty soy milk (鹹豆漿) for something especially traditional.
An English menu is available. If there’s a line outside, don’t automatically join it – that’s usually for takeout. Walk inside, grab a menu and take a seat, then place your order at the back side of the kitchen.
Fuzhou Shizu Pepper Pork Bun
Fuzhou Shizu Pepper Pork Bun (福州世祖胡椒餅, here, also called “Fuzhou Ancestral Pepper Pork Bun”) is the most famous food stall in the city’s most popular night market, Raohe Night Market.
The stall stakes out a prime position right at the Ciyou Temple entrance, with barriers set up just to contain the long line of customers.
The owner learned to make pepper buns from a Fuzhou baker as a teenager, eventually opening his own business and settling at Raohe Night Market. Since then, it has become one of the most recognizable food vendors in the city.
The buns are made from scratch at the stall, stuffed with pork that has been marinated for 24 hours, loads of green onion, and plenty of black pepper, then sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Workers slap them directly onto the inner walls of scorching-hot traditional ovens, where they bake until the crust is crisp and golden while the pork inside remains juicy and intensely peppery.
Watching them being made is half the fun. As you pass the stall, peer down into the hot ovens and you can see dozens of buns stuck right to the walls.
They come out piping hot, so resist the temptation to immediately take a huge bite.
Cisheng Temple Food Stalls
Eating under the huge old banyan trees in front of Cisheng Temple (慈聖宮, here) just off Dihua Street in historic Dadaocheng is one of the most quintessentially Taipei food experiences on this list.
The narrow street leading to the temple is lined with old-school food stalls serving everything from pork knuckle noodles and four-herb soup to squid, seafood, and meat congee.
The stalls closest to the temple also open onto the back, where you can order food and eat at the jumble of tables and stools spread beneath the banyan trees in the temple courtyard.
Even though I visited on a very hot morning, the shade offered by the trees made it feel much more comfortable.
Note that each stall has its own colored-coded tables, so make sure you sit in the correct section after ordering.
My pick here is Yejia Meat Porridge (葉家肉粥, stall #11, here), second from the left when facing the temple.
Its specialty is meat congee (肉粥), an old-fashioned Taiwanese breakfast that’s much more watery than Western-style congee – members of my Facebook group have aptly described it as “soupy rice.”
Order it with the excellent fried squid (炸花枝) and crispy fried pork (紅燒肉), two classic sides. There’s an English menu with photos.
The stalls are busiest from mid-morning into lunchtime and remain especially popular among older locals.
Don’t be surprised to see a table of elderly gentlemen enjoying more than a few morning beers – exactly what I encountered on my latest visit.
Tianjin Scallion Pancake
Tianjin Scallion Pancake (天津蔥抓餅, here) is one of Taipei’s most famous street food stalls, located right on Yongkang Street, a popular foodie neighborhood packed with restaurants, cafes, and souvenir shops.
Thanks to years of social media attention, the little corner stall has become a tourist attraction in its own right, and there’s often a long line snaking down the side street.
Scallion pancakes (蔥抓餅 or “green onion cakes”) are a common Taiwanese street food, with a crispy, flaky exterior and soft, chewy layers of dough and green onion inside.
Tianjin’s are indeed excellent, especially when eaten steaming hot straight off the griddle.
You can order one plain or choose from several combinations of egg, cheese, ham, corn, and fragrant Taiwanese basil. My pick is #6, the “Everything” (總匯), which comes loaded with egg, cheese, ham, and basil.
There’s nowhere to sit at the stall, so take your pancake down the street to Yongkang Park, where you can enjoy it on one of the park benches.
Tianjin has also recently opened a second location here on Yanji Street near Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and Songshan Cultural & Creative Park.
Yi Jia Zi
Yi Jia Zi (一甲子餐飲, here) is the kind of place that makes Wanhua such a great neighborhood for eating. This tiny, third-generation vendor beside Qingshui Temple serves inexpensive, old-school Taiwanese food to a steady stream of locals.
The signature dish is kong rou fan (焢肉飯), a bowl of rice topped with a magnificent slab of soy-braised pork belly, accompanied by braised tofu, pickled mustard greens, radish, and cucumber.
The end result is very similar to a Taiwanese bento box.
This was one of my favorite meals on this entire list. Every component was delicious. The pork was the star – beautifully layered with meat and fat and so tender that it practically melted in my mouth – but each of the pickled vegetables added sourness, flavor, and crunch.
Other specialties here include gua bao, braised pork rice, chicken rice, milkfish ball soup, and pig’s blood and intestine soup.
Be prepared to wait. There’s one line for both dine-in and takeout, and locals often place large family orders. I waited nearly an hour, but it was right at lunchtime.
Ya Kou Stinky Tofu
Stinky tofu is one of Taiwan’s most notorious street foods.
Many foreign visitors can’t get past the smell, but as a longtime stinky tofu lover, I think Ya Kou Stinky Tofu (雅口麻辣豆腐專賣, here) serves the best deep-fried version I’ve had in Taipei.
Located at the eastern end of Tonghua (Linjiang Street) Night Market, Ya Kou was formerly known as Tian Xiang Stinky Tofu (雅口天香臭豆腐) and has received Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition under that name.
The owner actually ran a CD shop before switching to stinky tofu more than 20 years ago.
Order the fried Tian Xiang stinky tofu ((炸)天香臭豆腐). Three enormous pieces are fried twice at different temperatures, producing an incredibly crisp exterior while keeping the tofu hot and moist inside.
The cooks poke holes into each piece and fill them with garlicky sauce, then add cilantro and crunchy Taiwanese pickled cabbage on the side.
Vegetarians can order the vegetarian fried stinky tofu ((炸)素食臭豆腐). This distinction matters because regular stinky tofu isn’t necessarily vegetarian.
For something completely different, try the signature mala stinky tofu with duck blood and pork intestine (招牌腸旺臭豆腐鴨血), served in a spicy, mouth-numbing broth.
The Mandarin-only menu is surprisingly extensive, with noodles, hot pots, and even Taiwanese-style steaks, but I’d come here for the stinky tofu.
Fuhong Beef Noodles
Beef noodle soup (牛肉麵) is one of Taipei’s most representative dishes, and Fuhong Beef Noodles (富宏牛肉麵) is my pick for experiencing it like a local (here’s my list of the best beef noodle spots in Taipei).
Fuhong is a few blocks north of the Ximending Pedestrian Area, on a street with several competing beef noodle shops that all stay open for 24 hours.
Of the bunch, Fuhong is my favorite. It’s bustling with locals at virtually any time of day or night, yet gets far fewer tourists than Taipei’s more famous beef noodle vendors.
If you’re looking for a sanitized tourist experience, this is not it. The setting is about as no-frills as it gets.
Grab a seat inside or at one of the rickety tables spilling onto the sidewalk and order a bowl of the classic red-braised beef noodle soup (紅燒牛肉麵).
Choose small, medium, or large and thin (細) or wide (寬) noodles – I recommend the latter, which are wonderfully thick and chewy. The beef comes in generous chunks and the rich broth is seriously satisfying.
Best of all, you can customize your bowl with the free condiments provided. Add some pickled mustard greens (酸菜) and, if you like heat, a spoonful of the spicy beef tallow (辣牛油).
For vegetarians, they also have delicious sesame sauce noodles.
Yuen Huan Pien Oyster Egg Omelette
Ningxia Night Market is especially famous for oyster omelets, and Yuen Huan Pien Oyster Egg Omelette (圓環邊蚵仔煎, here) is the most famous of the bunch.
This is a permanent shop along the side of Ningxia Road rather than one of the night market stalls which set up in the middle of the street every night.
The shop has been operating since 1965. Its name literally means “beside the traffic circle,” referring to the former Jiancheng Traffic Circle (建成圓環) just south of Ningxia, which once had a famous food market at its center.
Yuen Huan Pien has also received Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition multiple times.
Their omelets are made with fresh oysters brought up from the coast of Tainan.
The omelets are smaller and thicker than some versions, with a distinctly soft and gooey texture rather than being fried until crisp, then generously covered in the classic sweet-savory sauce.
This place is seriously popular. It opens for lunch and again from 4:30 PM, and the line often starts growing before the night market itself gets busy. On my last weekday visit, there were around 20 people waiting at 5 PM and more than 50 by the time I finished.
While I waited in line, I watched the cook prepare around ten omelets at a time before sending them along a little conveyor belt to be sauced and served.
Besides the classic oyster omelet, the menu includes oyster, clam and pork-rib soups, sticky rice, and oysters with garlic sauce.
Lan Jia Gua Bao
Gua bao (割包) are sometimes nicknamed “Taiwanese hamburgers”: fluffy steamed buns stuffed with braised pork, pickled mustard greens, peanut powder, and cilantro.
For one of my favorite versions in Taipei, head to Lan Jia Gua Bao (藍家割包, here), tucked down a small lane near Gongguan Night Market and National Taiwan University.
Lan Jia started as a humble street stall more than 30 years ago and has since become a Gongguan stalwart.
Unlike most gua bao shops, which stuff one large slab of pork belly into the bun, Lan Jia uses smaller strips and chunks of braised pork. You can choose fatty, lean, half-and-half, more fatty, or more lean.
For first-timers, I recommend the half-fat, half-lean version (綜合(半肥半瘦)). The pork is incredibly tender and comes absolutely loaded with crunchy pickled mustard greens, peanut powder, and cilantro. It was one of the best gua bao I’ve ever had.
If you’re hungry, add a bowl of pork intestine and meatball mee sua (大腸肉羹麵線), which also contains black fungus and bamboo shoots and comes with a generous dose of garlic. I enjoyed it, although I’d personally ask for less garlic next time.
They also serve the very traditional four-herb soup (四神湯) with pork intestine, Job’s tears, and lotus seeds, but the gua bao is unquestionably the reason to come.
Hai You Pork Ribs
The incredible herbal aroma wafting from Hai You Pork Ribs (海友十全排骨, here) is enough to lure you inside this old-school eatery in the depths of Shilin Night Market.
Hai You has been around for more than 50 years. The founders originally sold seafood nearby, but when business struggled, they worked with a Chinese-medicine practitioner to develop a medicinal pork broth that would be fragrant and nourishing without the bitterness associated with some traditional herbal remedies.
Their resulting shiquan pork ribs (十全排骨) became one of Shilin Night Market’s signature foods.
The broth contains more than 15 Chinese medicinal ingredients, including goji berries, angelica root and licorice.
Despite that formidable ingredient list, I found it surprisingly light and easy to drink – but incredibly fragrant and flavorful. The broth alone makes this one of my favorite discoveries at Shilin.
The ribs can be awkward to tackle, so use your chopsticks or hands and toss the bones into the little basket provided. Washing each bite of tender pork down with that steaming broth was my favorite part.
Ask them to add noodles if you want to turn it into a more substantial meal.
Mai Mien Yen Tsai
Just off Dihua Street (and not far from Cisheng Temple covered above), Mai Mien Yen Tsai (賣麵炎仔, here) is an old-school neighborhood eatery that’s been serving traditional Taiwanese noodles (切仔麵) for more than 80 years.
I joined the line of locals for breakfast, but it moved quickly. There’s no English menu, so come prepared to point at the items on the handwritten menu or show the Chinese names on your phone.
Once inside, I squeezed past a row of boiled chickens on one side and a cook chopping organs on the other before sitting at one of the communal tables inside.
I recommend the dry noodles (切仔麵 – 乾). “Dry” simply means without soup; they come with bean sprouts, chives, fried shallots, pork lard, and the shop’s distinctive sweet-savory reddish sauce.
But the real star for me was the signature crispy pork (燒肉), which usually isn’t available until 9 or 10 AM. Thick slices of tender pork have a beautifully crispy fried exterior and come with fresh ginger and dipping sauce. The noodles were good; the pork was truly memorable.
Other old-school specialties on the menu include boiled chicken, squid, liver, and other offal.
Hot Star Large Fried Chicken Cutlet
Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken Cutlet (士林豪大大雞排, here) serves perhaps the most iconic version of Taiwan’s enormous fried chicken cutlet, or jipai (雞排).
Hot-Star originated in Taichung in 1992 before setting up at Shilin Night Market in 1999.
Its signature cutlets are famously enormous – supposedly around 30 centimeters long and bigger than your face – and the distinctive blue-and-white Hot-Star branding has since spread to branches around the world.
The Shilin stall occupies a prominent spot on Jihe Road, at the western entrance to the night market and just steps from the recently reopened underground food court.
Although much of the action is now deeper inside Shilin, Hot-Star remains one of the market’s landmark food stalls.
The chicken is flattened, breaded, deep-fried, and dusted with seasoning. Choose spicy or non-spicy.
Mine was super crispy on the outside, remarkably juicy inside, and absolutely enormous – but be warned, it comes out ridiculously hot. I nearly burned my hand trying to photograph mine before digging in.
There’s nothing subtle about it, but that’s really the point: this is classic Taiwanese night-market excess in the best possible way.
Huang Ji Braised Pork
For a taste of the kind of simple, everyday Taiwanese meal that locals eat all the time, head to Huang Ji Braised Pork (黃記魯肉飯, here), a popular neighborhood eatery in Zhongshan District.
The shop has been around for more than 30 years and is best known for its braised pork rice (魯肉飯). Even if you’re dining alone, though, I recommend doing what locals do and adding several small dishes to make a complete meal.
Start with the signature braised pork rice or chicken rice (雞肉飯), then add whatever appeals to you from the selection of soups, vegetables and braised dishes.
I wanted something lighter, so I skipped the rice and ordered cuttlefish thick soup (花枝羹), one of my favorite Taiwanese soups, with blanched greens (燙青菜), braised tofu (油豆腐), and braised bamboo shoots (魯筍絲). None of these are fancy dishes, but everything was exceptionally well executed.
Huang Ji gets very busy at peak times. Order first and tell them whether you’re eating in or taking away. You’ll receive a number; when it’s called, pay at the counter and they’ll seat you. I waited around 45 minutes on my visit, but I went right at lunchtime.
Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle
Some places become touristy for a reason. Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle (阿宗麵線, here) has been serving mee sua (vermicelli thick soup) in Ximending since 1975 and is now one of Taipei’s most famous street-food stops.
There’s no real dining room. Instead, the classic Ay-Chung experience involves joining the crowd standing around the pedestrian lane outside, slurping a steaming bowl of noodles right on the street.
The menu couldn’t be simpler: choose a small or large bowl.
Unlike the oyster mee sua you’ll commonly encounter elsewhere in Taiwan, Ay-Chung’s version contains braised pork intestine but no oysters.
The fine noodles come in a thick, savory broth flavored with bonito and bamboo shoots, with cilantro added on top.
If you don’t like cilantro, tell them when ordering. Otherwise, grab your bowl and head to the condiment station, where you can customize it with black vinegar, garlic, and chili sauce.
Is Ay-Chung packed with tourists? Absolutely. And you can find excellent mee sua elsewhere in Taipei (see here for my favorite one in Taipei that actually comes with oysters).
But standing in that Ximending crowd with a bowl in one hand and spoon in the other has become a classic Taipei food experience in its own right.
Those are my picks, but in a city with as much good food as Taipei, this list could never be definitive. If you find somewhere amazing that I’ve missed, let me know – I’m always looking for an excuse to seek out another local food spot.
Hungry for more? See my guide to 30 must-try Taiwanese foods for more dishes to look for around Taiwan.