Best Food in Taipei - A Food Lovers Bible Taiwan

Taipei is known for its lively street-food scene and many night markets, you can wander around and find good food everywhere. During our short visit here, we were on a mission to find the best food in Taipei!

Our plan was to eat at all of the best hawker stalls, hidden restaurants, eateries and recommended foodie hot spots that we could find over 3 days.

With so many incredible eats dotted all over this humble city, we gathered as much local knowledge and tips from the friendly locals to compile a list of must-eats!

Here’s our hit-list below. Our Food Lovers Bible will ensure you don’t miss out on tasting some of the best food in Taipei! 

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1. Breakfast Food in Taipei

Fu Hang Soy Milk – Both their hou bing (thick bread) and shao bing (flat bread) have cult-like followings making the queue ridiculously long. Enjoy them stuffed with scrambled eggs and a Chinese fried donut stick.

Soy milk here is one of the best in Taipei. Order it hot, cold, sweet or unsweetened.

Must try – the sweet xiao bing – a small, hot, flaky pastry with sugary syrup oozing in the middle. Be prepared for a long wait, especially on the weekends.

Address:  No. 108, Zhongxiao E. Rd, Sec. 1 (Level two of the indoor market right by exit 5)

MRT: Shandao station

Hours: 5:30am-12:30pm, closed on Mondays.

Best Food in Taipei dumplings
Dumplings – are my favourite food in Taipei for sure.

2. Restaurants

Ding Tai Fung – The original DTF location. Although there are multiple locations, however, local foodies agree the original location is the tastiest.  We recommend going around 11:30 am if you want to avoid long lines.

Address: 106台北市大安區信義路二段194號 // Xinyi Rd. Sec.2, No. 194

MRT: Dongmen Exit 5 (Red/ Yellow line)

Hours: 10 am-9 pm during the week and 9 am-9 pm on the weekends

Ming Yue Tang Bao – Specializes in soup dumplings. Yum. Crab soup dumplings here are fantastic. Located nearby the Tonghua night market, so go here after for some dessert!

Address: 106台北市大安區通化街171巷40號 //  106, Taipei City, Da’an District, Lane 171, Tonghua Street, 40號

MRT: Liuzhangli (Brown line)

Hours: 11am-2pm, 5pm-9pm

3. Best Noodles

Yong Kang Beef Noodle –  Szechuan style beef noodles – the best food in Taipei for noodle lovers.

Address: 106, Taiwan, Taipei City, Da’an District, Lane 31, Section 2, Jinshan South Road, 17號

MRT: Dongmen station

Hours: 11am-3pm, 4:30pm-9pm

Mountain and Sea House –Taiwanese fine dining. Organic classic Taiwanese cuisine in a unique setting. It’s pricey, but a worthwhile dining experience. Call ahead for reservations. 02 2581 5760

MRT: Zhongshan station

Hours: 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-10:00pm

Gwoo – The best chicken soup in a clay pot. The most flavorful and thick chicken soup you’ll ever have. Also very good stir-fry dishes. This place is extremely popular with locals so remember to phone ahead for reservations (02) 2704-3038. A must-visit if you want to tick off eating some of the best food in Taipei.

Address: No. 63, Lane 81, Dun Hua S. Road, Sec 2 台北市大安區敦化南路二段81巷63號

MRT: DaAn station

Hours: 11:30am-2pm, 5:30pm-9pm

Quan Alley – The best hot pot spot!

Address: No. 22, Lane 505, Section 5, Zhongshan North Road, Shilin District

MRT: Shilin station

Hours: 11:30am-3pm, 5:30pm-10:30pm

4. Hot Pot

Mala Top Double Soup Hot Pot – Fun experience for good quality all-you-can-eat mala hot pot (including all-you-can-eat Haagen Dazs and all you can drink Taiwan beer and wine).

You can choose the spiciness level and have half of the pot as regular non-spicy broth. Seven locations throughout Taipei. Food in Taipei doesn’t get much better than this!

Address: 108, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District, Xining South Road, 62號2樓

MRT: Ximen station

Hours: 11:30-12am

Aquatic Addiction – Japanese-style seafood with a lively atmosphere. Fresh seafood market, standing sushi bar, shabu-shabu, and outdoor bbq area. Even though it’s not Taiwanese food, tourists from all over the world still flock here for the fresh seafood and the atmosphere.

Address: 104, Taipei City, Zhongshan District, Alley 2, Lane 410, Minzu East Road, 18號

No close MRT

Hours: 10am- 12am

5. Street Food – Best Eats Taipei

Best Food in Taipei - A Food Lovers Bible Streets in Taipei

Lan Jia Gua Bao – Local favourite vendor to get the Taiwanese Burger, Gua Bao. We recommend that you go late afternoon, or early evening, as there’s also a night market nearby. My favourite street food in Taipei, I could eat gua bao every day!

Try the black sugar boba milk located across from the vendor. Don’t be alarmed by the queue, it moves fast.

Address: 台北市中山區羅斯福路3段316巷8弄3號 // Roosevelt Blvd Sec. 3, Lane 316, Alley 8, No.3

MRT: Gongguan station

Hours: 11 am-10 pm, closed on Wednesdays.

Jin Feng Lu Rou Fan – Tasty minced braised pork belly over rice. A real local favourite.  Located near the Chiang Kai Sheik Memorial Hall. If you’re nearby, it’s definitely worth a visit!

Address: No. 10, Section 1, Roosevelt Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100

MRT: Chiang Kai Sheik Memorial Hall station

Hours: 8 am-1 am

Best Food in Taipei Night Markets
I believe the best food in Taipei is found at the food markets. So many options. Don’t miss them!

6. Night Markets – The Best Food in Taipei is right here!

NingXia Night Market – This is a smaller night market, but it has some of the best food in Taipei.

Locals love the sesame oil chicken noodles. We recommend trying the deep-fried taro balls and ordering an oyster omelette too.

Open every day from 6 pm-12 am.

MRT: Shuanglian Exit 1, turn left (west) out of the exit and pass Chengde Rd.  You’ll walk past 3 alleys, the 4th road will be Ningxia Rd, go left (south)

RaoHe Night Market – Fun night market with a good mix of food and shopping.

You must try the pepper pork buns cooked in the tandoor oven by the entrance!  Delish. There will be a queue, but it moves fast and it’s definitely worth it.  These buns are so good, they easily made our list for some of the best food in Taipei.

Open every day from 6 pm-12 am.

MRT: Songshan station.

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7. Something Sweet

Ice Monster – Huge bowls of shaved ice with many different flavours, mango being the most popular. Maybe order 1 between two people, it’s huge and delicious.

Address: Zhongxiao E. Rd Sec 4, No. 297 台北市忠孝東路四段297號 or No. 16, Song-Gao Rd., XinYi District in the Breeze Song Gao Mall

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall station or Taipei City Hall

Hours: 10:30am-11pm.

Show Douhua – Serving traditional soy milk pudding with seasonal fruits.

Address:  No. 26, Lane 131, Yanji Street, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106

MRT: SYS Memorial Hall station

Hours: 12:30pm- 10:30pm

Best Food in Taipei coffee
The best food in Taipei is everywhere. So is amazing coffee!

8. Coffee

Rufous Coffee – This super cool local cafe roasts its own coffee beans. Great coffee, great atmosphere. Win. 

Address: 339 Fuxing South, Road Section 2, Taipei, Taiwan

Hours: Fri – Wed 1.00pm – 10.00pm

Coffee Sweet – Tucked away in an alleyway, a cosy space with 25 seats, perfect if all you really want is excellent coffee which is sourced from Panama & Ethiopia. No Wi-Fi, just a great space and great coffee.

Address: 3 Zhongshan North, Road Section 1 Alley 20, Lane 33, Taipei, Taiwan

Hours: Mon – Fri :9:30 am – 6:30 pm Sat -3:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Woolloomooloo – Coffee is great here. This place is Australian-owned and the food is also very good. Try the sourdough bread or quiche, for something lighter, I’d recommend ordering the nut tart to eat alongside your flat white or strong espresso.

No. 379, Section 4, Xinyi Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110

best food in taipei market foods
The best food in Taipei is often found in one of the many night markets.

Best Food Tours of Taipei

Yes, the best food in Taipei is all around you – but sometimes it’s great to let a local lead the way! Taiwan has so much to offer in the way of amazing food in Taipei.

To try the best of it, we highly recommend you join a food tour to learn about the food as you eat. What better way to do this than reserving a space on one of our favourite food tours below.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the best food in Taipei! We honestly cannot wait to return to this delicious destination and try more amazing food in Taipei and its islands.

We’ve got some wonderful memories of exploring the Taiwan Islands on our Rookie Reporters trip with Places We Go.

CLICK HERE to watch our 5 vlogs from this AMAZING place!

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