Where to Eat in Taipei: A Local Food Guide for First Timers

Taipei is widely considered one of the best food cities in the world.

From traditional breakfast shops and round-the-clock street food to teahouses, night markets, and Michelin-starred restaurants, the city offers a seemingly endless array of temptations for hungry travelers.

But with so many options in this food-obsessed city, where do you even begin?

After more than a decade of living and eating in Taipei, I’ve hand-picked the best Taiwanese foods, restaurants, and dining experiences I think every first-time visitor should know about.

Top Taipei Food Experiences

Short on time? These are some of the Taipei food experiences I’d prioritize on a first visit.

• Start your day at Fu Hang Soy Milk for a classic Taiwanese breakfast.
• Try Wang’s Broth for braised pork rice and Lao Shan Dong for beef noodles.
• Have xiaolongbao at Din Tai Fung, Taiwan’s global restaurant chain.
• For vegetarian dim sum and xiaolongbao, book a table at Yang Shin.
• Visit at least one night market – Raohe is the easiest all-around choice for first-timers.
• Save room for mango shaved ice, bubble tea, and ChiaTe pineapple cakes.
• Taipei also has excellent coffeehouses, teahouses, craft beer bars, and hidden cocktail bars.
• Don’t overlook 7-Eleven and FamilyMart for surprisingly addictive convenience-store food.

Taipei Breakfast Shops

Start your day of eating in Taipei with a traditional Taiwanese breakfast.

These long-running, hole-in-the-wall shops serve a huge range of freshly baked and fried foods, often accompanied by soy milk made in-house.

Fu Hang Soy Milk

Fu Hang Soy Milk is Taipei’s most famous traditional breakfast shop. Yes, it’s touristy, and yes, you’ll have to wait in a long line. But, in my opinion, it’s worth the wait.

The signature item is thick baked bread stuffed with fried egg and a crispy dough stick. You can watch the staff bake the breads in round ovens while waiting in line.

The salty soy milk is also exceptionally good. Despite the name, think of it more as a savory breakfast soup than a drink.

Yong He Soy Milk King

You’ll see the name “Yong He Soy Milk” on many unrelated breakfast shops around Taipei. They take their name and style from the breakfast shops that originated decades ago in Yonghe District, just across the river in New Taipei City.

My pick is Yonghe Soy Milk King Da’an. It feels considerably less touristy than Fu Hang, and you can watch the staff making everything from scratch at the front of the shop.

I especially recommend the xiaolongbao and shaobing, flaky sesame-coated pastries that are even better stuffed with fried egg and a crispy dough stick.

Tourists often gravitate to the Yonghe Soy Milk in Ximending, but I’ve found it noticeably weaker than other traditional breakfast shops in Taipei.

For more recommendations, see my list of the best breakfast shops in Taipei.

Classic Taiwanese Eats & Street Foods

Some of the best meals in Taipei are served on the street or from hole-in-the-wall shops.

The places below are especially good for daytime meals. I’ll cover even more street food in the night-market section later in this guide.

For a more complete list, see my 15 most recommended street food stalls in Taipei.

Wang’s Broth

One of the dishes most closely associated with Taipei is braised pork rice (魯肉飯 or lu rou fan). The version served at Wang’s Broth is so good that locals have dubbed it “black gold”.

This classic Taipei eatery is tucked inside Huaxi Night Market but open throughout the day. What began as a traditional pushcart has since been transformed into a modern, comfortable, air-conditioned restaurant.

Besides the braised pork rice, the signature pork soup with pickled cucumber is also worth ordering.

Lao Shan Dong Beef Noodles

Lao Shan Dong is my top beef-noodle recommendation for first-time visitors in Taipei.

It’s famous yet feels very local, consistently excellent, and conveniently located in the basement of an anime-focused department store in Ximending.

For more options, including my personal favorite bowl in the city, see my guide to the best beef noodles in Taipei.

Cisheng Temple Food Stalls

For a unique, old-school dining experience in Taipei, head to the food stalls beside Cisheng Temple, just off Dihua Street in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods.

A row of traditional vendors leads toward the temple, and several have tables set beneath huge banyan trees in the temple courtyard. It’s one of the most atmospheric places in Taipei to sit down for a simple local lunch.

My recommended stall is Yejia Meat Porridge, which has an English menu and serves dishes like pork congee, fried squid, and crispy fried pork.

Lan Jia Gua Bao

For one of the best gua bao (割包) in the city, head to Lan Jia Gua Bao in the Gongguan neighborhood near National Taiwan University.

The “Taiwanese hamburger” here comes with shredded braised pork (your choice of lean, fatty, or a mix), peanut powder, cilantro, and tons of crunchy pickled mustard greens.

To make a full meal of it, also order a bowl of their pork intestine and meatball mee sua (大腸肉羹麵線 or vermicelli soup).

You can also find many interesting local foods at Taipei’s traditional daytime markets.

Famous Restaurants and Dining Experiences

If you’re looking for a proper sit-down meal, this section is for you.

These are some of Taipei’s most iconic restaurants and dining experiences, ranging from Taiwanese cuisine and sushi to seafood and hot pot.

Din Tai Fung

Taiwan’s best-known restaurant chain, and one that you may even have in your own country or heard of before your trip, is Din Tai Fung.

Din Tai Fung specializes in xiaolongbao (soup dumplings). Each xiaolongbao served here comes with 18 perfect folds and you can usually watch the chefs making them by hand through a window.

There’s a long menu of other items available, including vegetarian options. Everything I’ve ever tried here has been excellent.

There are eight branches of Din Tai Fung in Taipei. A lot of tourists head to the Taipei 101 branch, so I suggest trying one of the others and avoiding peak meal times, when waits can reach 1–2 hours.

They don’t take reservations, but you can check current wait times on the official website. After getting a number at the restaurant, you can also request a call when your table is nearly ready.

Taiwanese Restaurants

For traditional Taiwanese dishes in a slightly formal setting, I recommend the Shin Yeh Taiwanese Cuisine chain (see locations).

The banquet-like setting features round tables with white tablecloths and a sprawling menu of dishes meant to be shared with a group.

If you prefer something more casual, then I recommend trying a rechao (熱炒, often translated as “quick fry”) restaurant. These are popular local hangouts where guests sit on short stools and share inexpensive stir-fries, seafood, and other dishes, usually washed down with cold beers.

My personal favorite rechao is Pin Xian Seafood Restaurant (品鱻海鮮熱炒店) near Liuzhangli MRT. It can get quite busy at peak meal times, so expect a short wait, even even if you make a reservation.

Conveyor Belt Sushi

One of my family’s favorite dining experiences in Taipei is conveyor belt sushi. My kids love making their own green tea, watching the sushi go by on the belt, and ordering their favorites from the tablet.

Sushi Express is the classic and cheapest Taiwanese chain, with over a dozen locations in Taipei.

Kura Sushi lets you insert your empty plates for chances to win Gashapon prizes, while Hama-sushi and Sushiro offer the best quality and variety, in my opinion.

Addiction Aquatic Development

The unusually named Addiction Aquatic Development (上引水產) is a seafood lover’s paradise. Here, the former Taipei Seafood Market has been converted into an upscale seafood center.

On site you’ll find live seafood tanks, standing sushi and seafood bars, seafood hot pot, ready-made meals to go, and an outdoor seafood barbecue.

While some feel AAD is a bit of a tourist trap, I still personally enjoy it.

See my guide to dining at Addiction Aquatic Development.

Hot Pot

Hot pot (火鍋) is an extremely popular dining experience in Taipei. Hot pot restaurants are often, but not always, all-you-can-eat. You cook your choice of meat, seafood, vegetables, and other ingredients in a pot of broth at the table.

Some all-you-can-eat restaurants even include unlimited beer and premium ice cream. Mala Hot Pot (馬辣頂級麻辣鴛鴦火鍋) is a popular Taiwanese chain offering all of the above. The Ximending and Zhongshan locations are convenient.

For visitors with kids, I recommend Haidilao Hot Pot, which comes with noodle spinning, birthday songs, and traditional costumed performances.

For a higher quality a-la-carte experience, I like Tripod King (鼎王麻辣鍋), which uses traditional three-legged pots. Some branches are listed only in Mandarin on GoogleMaps, so search for 鼎王麻辣鍋 to find all locations.

Food Courts

You can get some surprisingly good-value Taiwanese and international meals in Taipei’s many food courts. Many stalls offer set meals which typically come with a main dish plus one or more sides.

These food courts are commonly found in basement levels of major department stores. A few good examples are in Taipei 101 Shopping Center and Sogo (two locations at Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT). The second floor of Taipei Main Station (the train station building) also has a couple of good ones.

After you order, you’ll get a buzzer that goes off when your meal is ready.

Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurants

Taipei is one of the best cities in the world for vegetarian cuisine, with over 300 vegetarian restaurants listed on Happy Cow.

My top picks include dim sum, modern vegan fusion, and a buffet, but you can find all my favorite vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Taipei here.

Yang Shin Vegetarian Restaurant

Yang Shin Vegetarian Restaurant (養心茶樓, original location and new branch here) gets my vote for the top vegetarian restaurant in Taipei.

The long menu of shared dishes includes dim sum, xiaolongbao, and vegetarian versions of many traditional Taiwanese and Chinese dishes. Vegan options are marked on the menu. They even have a robot cat waiter.

Reservations are usually necessary and sometimes need to be made weeks in advance.

Sunami

My favorite all-vegan restaurant in Taipei is Sunami (蔬納米).

The restaurant prepares upscale, beautifully presented dishes at mid-range prices. Besides food, they also serve smoothies, desserts, cocktails, beer, and wine – worth noting because alcoholic drinks are rare to find in vegetarian or vegan restaurants in Taiwan.

The cuisine is pan-Asian, with items such as bulgogi bibimbap, smoked avocado sushi, and mushroom and yuba satay skewers.

Three To Vegetarian Restaurant

In Taipei, there are dozens of vegetarian buffet restaurants. At these, you can load up a plate or takeaway container with whichever items you’d like and pay by weight. Rice is offered at the counter and there’s usually free self-serve soup available.

My recommended choice here is Three To Vegetarian Restaurant (三來素食館), which is conveniently located between Taipei Main Station and Ximending.

Here the buffet table is typically overflowing with vegetable and faux meat options. Don’t be surprised if you end up sharing a table with a Buddhist monk or nun from the temple across the street.

Taipei Night Markets

More than almost anything else, Taipei is known for its night markets.

Each has its own atmosphere and food specialties, so I recommend visiting at least one of the six major markets below. My descriptions should help you decide which one suits you best.

Raohe Night Market

Raohe Night Market (饒河夜市) in Eastern Taipei is probably the single most popular night market in Taipei. The sheer variety of food here is hard to beat.

Fuzhou Shizu Pepper Pork Bun is the market’s most famous vendor and sits right at the main entrance to the market.

This market gets really packed at peak hours, so try to come earlier (around 5-7 PM) on a weekday if possible.

Ningxia Night Market

Another of Taipei’s most popular night markets is Ningxia Night Market (寧夏夜市), the closest night market to Taipei Main Station. While smaller than Raohe, it still gets just as packed at peak hours, with very long lines at some of the most popular stalls.

Ningxia Night Market is especially known for Yuen Huan Pien’s oyster omelets and Liu Yu Zi’s deep-fried taro balls.

Shilin Night Market

Once the largest and most popular night market in Taipei, Shilin Night Market’s popularity has declined, but I still think it’s worth visiting.

The night market features the best children’s game section of any night market in Taipei, an underground food court (perfect for rainy or hot days), lots of fashionable shops, and a still-bustling core around Shilin Cixian Temple.

Access is from Jiantan MRT station (not Shilin) north of Taipei Main Station.

Nanjichang Night Market

I often describe Nanjichang Night Market, south of Ximending, as the “most local” of Taipei’s major night markets. Few tourists seem to make it here, yet it stands out as one of the best.

In Nanjichang, I gravitate to Smelly Boss (臭老闆, here and here) for my favorite mala (spicy) stinky tofu in Taipei. I always finish with the incredible tiramisu ice cream wraps with peanut brittle and cilantro at Roll Roll Village.

Tonghua Night Market

Tonghua Night Market (通化夜市, also called Linjiang Street Night Market) stands out for being close to Taipei 101 while usually feeling less crowded than the markets above.

Despite being less packed than the others, there are still plenty of excellent food stalls.

I love Yakou Stinky Tofu for their deep-fried version of stinky tofu and Yu Pin Yuan Fire & Ice Tangyuan for their hot sesame rice balls on shaved ice with sweet osmanthus syrup.

Huaxi Night Market

Huaxi Night Market near Longshan Temple in the old city center feels like a relic from a bygone era – the once seedy area used to attract tourists for its snake dishes.

Today, the market is significantly less popular, but there are still a few reasons to come.

Wang’s Broth (introduced above) and the adjacent Yuan Fang Gua Bao are both worth the trip, but they don’t stay open late.

Desserts & Sweet Treats

Taipei has no shortage of sweet treats, but these are the three I’d prioritize for a first visit.

Mango Shaved Ice

The king of Taipei shaved ice desserts, and my personal favorite, mango shaved ice is thought to have originated on Yongkang Street.

Smoothie House on Yongkang Street remains one of the best places in the city to try it. Summer is mango season, so that’s when it’s best, but they carry it year-round.

Bubble Tea

Bubble tea, or “pearl milk tea” (珍珠奶茶), is the drink that practically put Taiwan on the map.

You’ll find bubble tea shops on practically every corner of the city, but ordering isn’t always the easiest. After choosing your drink, you’ll also have to tell them your preferred level of sugar and ice.

Some of the most ubiquitous chains are 50 Lan (50嵐), CoCo (都可), and KEBUKE (可不可熟成紅茶), while many tourists especially love Xing Fu Tang (幸福堂) in Ximending.

ChiaTe Pineapple Cakes

Pineapple cakes are the most popular packaged snack souvenir from Taiwan. After taste testing some of the top pineapple cake brands, ChiaTe came out number 1.

ChiaTe’s bakery also has many other delicious pastries, but you’ll have to wait in line for up to an hour to get in.

If you just want the pineapple cakes, you can find them in many 7-Elevens and supermarkets, or order them to your hotel or for pickup at the airport. You can also make your own pineapple cakes in this DIY class.

Here are some other popular Taiwanese snacks and where to find them in Taipei.

Food Streets & Dining Districts

Certain streets and areas of Taipei are especially known for their high concentration of food options.

Yongkang Street

Yongkang Street near Da’an Park in central Taipei is known for its restaurants, food stalls, shops, and teahouses.

Some major highlights include mango shaved ice, Yongkang Beef Noodles, and Tianjin Scallion Pancakes. Find even more in my Yongkang Street guide.

Ximending Pedestrian Area

Ximending Pedestrian Area is one of the most bustling and tourist-friendly neighborhoods in Taipei. It also has loads of restaurants and street food.

Some of the most popular eats in Ximending are Crispy Milk Donuts, Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle, and Lao Shan Dong beef noodles.

Also read about the best hotels in Ximending.

Chifeng Street and Zhongshan District

Chifeng Street (赤峰街) in Zhongshan District is one of the trendiest shopping areas in Taipei. It also has several great restaurants, many of them in historic buildings and serving Japanese food.

Chiyin Chicken Ramen is something truly special, I Want Ice So Much has vegetarian Japanese curries, while Akamaru sells traditional Japanese desserts from an old-timey shop.

Cafes, Teahouses, & Bars

Taipei is also rich in cafe culture, including cat cafes. Traditional teahouses are surprisingly harder to find, but there are a few really good ones.

The city’s craft beer scene and speakeasy-style bars are also world-class.

Taipei Coffeehouses

Modern coffeehouses have been spreading throughout Taipei for several years now. Try Coffee Space, a small and cozy cafe run by my sister-in-law and her husband. They also run Coftail, which does coffee cocktails.

Cama and Mr. Brown are larger Taiwanese cafe chains, while Starbucks has some really cool branches in historic buildings.

The new Starbucks Reserve Taipei is enormous, has gorgeous artwork, serves coffee cocktails and beer, and is open 24 hours.

Cat Cafes

Cat Cafes are a part of Taipei culture – in fact, the world’s first cat cafe was in Taipei and is still running today. It’s called Kitten Coffee Garden.

With kids, I recommend Le Mao Chef in Ximending. My family is kind of obsessed – here’s the full list of our favorite cat cafes in Taipei.

Traditional Teahouses

Traditional teahouses are the perfect place to relax for several hours and learn gongfu-style tea brewing.

My favorite traditional teahouse in Taipei is Qingtian Teahouse, which is in a beautiful Japanese-era house near Da’an Park.

You can also find many teahouses overlooking Taipei at the top of the Maokong Gondola line.

See my favorite teahouses in Taipei and where to buy tea in Taipei (to take home).

Craft Beer Bars

Taipei’s craft beer scene has come a long way in the last couple of decades. I highly recommend Taihu Brewing (臺虎精釀), which operates several excellent craft beer bars in Taipei.

These include Taihu Driftwood in Ximending, Taihu Landmark amongst the high-rises in Xinyi, and Taihu Gyoza Bar in Da’an.

The national brew, Taiwan Beer, is available at all convenience stores and many restaurants. Watch for the super-fresh 18 Days version. Taste Taiwan Beer directly from the tank on this Taipei Brewery Tour (use discount code Nick15 for 15% off).

Here are all my favorite craft beer bars in Taipei.

Cocktail Speakeasies

Cocktails are also a big deal in Taipei. The city is especially known for its speakeasy-style bars – many are hidden behind secret or disguised entrances.

My personal favorite is the gothic-themed Isotope, which features a stained glass dome ceiling, bartenders in Christian monks’ robes, and top-notch drinks.

See my guide to Taipei’s best hidden cocktail bars for more recommendations.

Fine Dining & Five-Star Buffets

Taipei is also home to numerous Michelin-starred restaurants and luxurious buffets.

I’m only scratching the surface here – search the Michelin page for more ideas and make sure to book well in advance for any of these.

Le Palais

Le Palais was Taiwan’s first restaurant to receive three Michelin stars.

Located in the Palais de Chine hotel next to Taipei Main Station (see my Palais de Chine review), the restaurant is known for its dark but elegant decor and Cantonese cuisine.

A Joy Buffet

Also called the Taipei 101 Sky Buffet, A Joy is an upscale buffet on the 86^th floor of Taipei 101, offering Taipei’s most extravagant buffet experience.

This buffet experience comes with stunning Taipei City views, all-you-can-eat king crab, lobster, wagyu steaks, cocktails, and over 300 dishes to choose from.

You can book your seats here on Klook.

Another five-star buffet we really enjoyed is the Cafe at Grand Hyatt Taipei.

Taipei Convenience Store Food

Last but not least, I can’t leave out all the convenience stores in Taipei. There are well over 1000 7-Elevens and FamilyMarts in Taipei alone, and many locals rely on them for quick meals and snacks.

These impressive establishments offer not just passable but strangely addictive food options including sandwiches, instant noodles, hot dogs, tea eggs, bento boxes, and xiaolongbao.

They also have coffee bars, ice cream, bottled teas, alcoholic drinks, and sometimes even draft beer.

As if that weren’t enough, most of them remain open 24 hours a day, year-round, even when most things close during Lunar New Year or typhoon days.