Griot Good co-host leesean was recently back in Taipei visiting family. Here are his travel and dining recommendations:
Taipei Main Train Station
Whether you are changing trains on the MRT (Taipei’s subway system) or taking excursions to other cities in Taiwan, you will no doubt pass through Taipei Main Station. Unlike in some other places, train station food is actually really good in Taiwan.
Head upstairs to the Breeze Center food court for a variety of restaurants and food stalls. One of our favorites is Chef Teng Restaurant, famous for their variety of side dishes and hearty bowls of Taiwanese-style noodles, like the pig’s feet noodles pictured below.
Exit Taipei Main Station and cross Zhongxiao West road and explore the side streets behind the Caesar Park Hotel and Shinkong Life Tower for additional street food offerings and coffeeshops. If you want to go on foot to explore the heart of Taipei, the Taiwan National Museum, 2/28 Peace Park, and Presidential Palace are all all within walking distance from here.
If you are near the station in the morning, line up at 飯糰霸(Fan Tuan Ba) to get a Taiwanese sticky rice burrito, sort of like a giant onigiri rice ball stuffed with a variety of goodies like pickled daikon radish and fried pork. Wash it down with a cup of fresh soy milk.
Above: Hujiaobing (胡椒餅), peppery meat pies baked in a circular oven that resembles an Indian/Central Asian tandoor, are another popular Taiwanese street food.
Ximending
Taipei’s Ximen (or Ximending) district is an entertainment district and center for youth and gay cultures. It will remind seasoned travellers of Tokyo’s Shibuya, Shinjuku, or Harajuku side streets. Check out Utopia for LGBT recommendations.
Ximending is a great place for people watching, shopping, and eating. For a brief respite from the hustle and bustle, check out Artisan Bakery (麵包廚房) for some afternoon coffee and cake. They also serve up Italian-style pasta for lunch and have a variety of European and Asian-inflected breads and pastries to take home.
Wu Bao Chun
While on the topic of bakeries, Wu Bao Chun is a world-renowned Taiwanese baker and winner of the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie (Bakery World Cup) in Paris.
The Taipei-location of Wu Bao Chun is located inside the Eslite Spectrum mall and adjacent to the Songshan Culture and Creative Park. In addition to the East-meets-West-style breads, it’s also worth stocking up on some Taiwanese pineapple cakes too. They make a great “taste of Taiwan” gift for folks at home.
See also: Travelling Foodies’ review of Wu Bao Chun
吳寶春麥方店 Wu Pao Chun Bakery @ Taipei
I began noticing master boulanger 吳寶春 Wu Pao Chun when he first appeared in one of my favorite Taiwanese forum talk…travelling-foodies.com
Take the Line 2 North
From the center of Taipei, take the MRT Line 2 (Red Line) north to a variety of attractions including the National Palace Museum and the Shilin Night Market. For a more local (and less touristy) night market experience, head a couple stops further north to the Shipai Night Market.
Also on the Red Line, at the Yuanshan stop is Maji Maji Square, a shopping arcade with hipsterlicious food and shopping.
Get off at the Jiantan (劍潭) stop and head to the Tianmu branch of the Sogo Department store to check out oldie but goodie Din Tai Fung for their world-famous soup dumplings. We also love their pork chop fried rice.
To see the traditional way of how the locals shop for groceries, go to the Ziqiang market in Shipai in the mornings (every day except Mondays).
Another local specialty to try are the beef soup noodles (牛肉麵), Taiwan’s answer to Japanese ramen. A local and international favorite is Mien Mien Chu Tao Tasty Noodles (麵面俱到) which has branches near both Shipai (石牌) and Jiantan (劍潭) stations on the Red Line. Mien Mien Chu Tao made CNN’s “Taipei’s Best Beef Noodle” list in 2015.
If you need something sweet to cleanse the palate after beef noodles, Shui Gui Bo Traditional Tastes(水龜伯古早味店) in Shipai offers up some traditional Taiwanese desserts in a retro ambiance.
Forking off of the main line, head to Shin-Beitou (新北投), an old hot spring resort town that dates back to the Japanese colonial era. Some of the hot springs are divided by gender, while some are co-ed, so don’t forget your swim suit if you want to try the baths.
The end of the line is Tamsui (淡水), an old international port town at the mouth of the Tamsui River. Nowadays, it is famous for the pedestrian boardwalk and variety of street foods. It is sort of like Taipei’s answer to New York’s Coney Island. Walk or rent a bike and head back up river a bit from Tamsui to check out the mangroves (紅樹林) along the banks of the river.
More Sweet Toothed Recommendations
Sweet Rice Ball (雙連圓仔湯) in the Zhongshan district is famous for their mochi-based desserts. You can get mochi with shaved ice in the summer time or oil-poached mochi with peanuts and sesame in the winter time.
Ice Monster is temple and embassy for Taiwanese-style desserts with locations around Taipei, as well as outposts in Japan and China.
Another local favorite is Xiao Nan Men (小南門) Traditional Food & Tofu Pudding, with locations all over Taipei, including in the Taipei 101 Food Court, Taipei Station Breeze Center, and even at the Taoyuan International Airport. Some locations do both savory food and desserts, but we usually just go straight for the number 6 on the dessert menu, a refreshingly sweet soup with tofu pudding, boiled peanuts, and starch jelly.
Alternative Soup Dumplings
While Din Tai Fung is the gold standard for soup dumplings in Taipei, the crowds at their various locations can get a bit overwhelming. For a more low key, local experience, check out Li Yuan (犁園湯包館). They have the normal Shanghai soup dumplings with pork as well as pork and crab, but they also have some new innovations like oyster and basil dumplings worth trying as well.