let these guides be just a starting point…follow your senses and try a little bit of everything…be kind, remembering you are but a visitor here

I went to Taipei on an inkling. I just had a feeling, as a lover of oolong tea, and as someone who spent 6 hours there in 2018 on a layover in and saw all the airport’s delightful exhibitions on the street food and landscapes of the country, that I should spend a week in the country. I left Taipei wishing I had had another week or two entirely to explore more: to eat more, to escape the city for the country’s stunning mountains or coastline, and to drink more tea. But my days there I will cherish: sunrise wakeups (a result of jetlag), long walks throughout the city eating here and there, a day trip to visit a tea producer, and cup after cup of oolong.

Like most places that have had the unfortunate fate of being passed about between various outside rulers, Taiwan’s food scene represents a fascinating melting pot. In this case, it’s Chinese and Japanese cuisine mixed with ingredients and influences from indigenous Taiwanese groups and the immigrant Hakka people of China. It’s much more than just beef noodles and soup dumplings–though you should certainly seek out those too. Old wooden teahouses dot this modernizing city, nestled into small plots of trees or verdant gardens that seem to come out of nowhere, offering an oasis in each neighborhood.

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Local Guides & Tours:

Green Light Tea Farm: If you’re tea-obsessed like I am, consider making the day trip out to Pinglin to visit this amazing family. There’s a bus that runs there from Taipei, and while you’re in Pinglin you may as well check out the National Museum of Tea, too. The son speaks English (contact them through him, using the email on this page) and will guide you through their process and have you taste many different types of tea they make. You’ll have the chance to buy as many bags of tea as you want after and, respectfully (respectfully mostly towards the family, for taking a day to host you, but also because the tea is phenomenal), you should. The showstoppers for me were the Bouzhong and the white tea. I won’t forget him telling me how the taste of their teas, due to them being made through organic processes, linger on the palate far longer than most teas of the region, and maintain their aromas at cooler temperatures. 

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Wistaria Teahouse: In a city full of teahouses, this is Taipei’s most famous. A Japanese-style wooden house built to be the residence of the General-Governor of Taiwan up during Japanese rule, it later was the gathering space for political dissidents to gather and discuss ways to democratize the country. There’s usually an exhibition or two on site featuring tea-making hand-built objects or other artwork, and the tea selection is exquisite, highlighting oolongs and white teas and more from around the country. The drawback of all that history: the building isn’t holding up so well anymore, to the extent that they had to discontinue their lunch service (you can still order small snacks), and I was told by another patron that the teahouse might have to close entirely at the end of that year. Get there while you still can.

Ningxia Night Market: Great little compact night market for finding the street food of your dreams. Shida Night Market is another good option if you’re staying in the Da’an district like I was, though it can feel a bit too compact, a bit more of a gimmick.

Hehe Qing Tian: Another amazing teahouse, and more of a chinese style teahouse than Wistaria. I swung by one day but they were either closed or you need a reservation. I think the latter might be true, but I can only find the reservation form via their google maps entry and it’s not in English. Good luck. Hehe!

NKU Firewood & Embers: Your best bets for fine dining in Taipei, so says my dear friend Hsiao, and I trust anything Hsiao says about food. Lots of fun fermentation, wood-fired cooking, and more happening between these two spots.

Yangkong Street: A street on the northwest edge of Da’an district that’s home to many of the city’s most famous dim-sum, beef noodle, and dessert shops. It’s a bit touristy, especially on weekends, but there’s plenty to eat and see. 

Maokong: not a restaurant but a hillside on the far edge of the city home to a wide variety of tea producers, teahouses, and restaurants. It’s worth taking a full day to take the gondola up the mountainside, stop for tea and sweets, do one of the various hikes up there, and stop for food and more tea before heading back down to the city. My new friends in Pinglin gave me a pro-tip, which is that this spot is maybe the only place up there producing tea organically: https://maokonghanser.niceniceshop.com/en/home/

Yong He Soy Milk King: This is one of many Taiwanese breakfast spots worth checking out–look into Fu Hang for an even more popular destination. Most anyplace that contains the words Soy Milk in the name will serve similar fare, but…how many call themselves Soy Milk King?? These shops specialize in a savory soy-based soup where soy milk is slightly curdled through the application of heat and vinegar, then served with broth, a chinese donut, and various seasonings. If it sounds like an acquired taste, it is, but honestly it’s not as weird as you might think. There’s a ton of other offerings here too, from turnip cakes to eggs to scallion breads and more. This location don’t have an english menu posted, but one of the staff helped me with my order. The one thing: on weekends, get there early! A line queues up around 7/7:30 on both the outdoor side (takeout only) and the inside (dine-in). 

Jinjiang Tea House: This is where I would eat at every other day if I had extended time in Taipei. A remarkable Hakka restaurant serving plates meant to share. Tofu is highlighted here, as is offal, pork, and plenty of vegetables. Two sweet & incredibly skilled women crank out the cooking from behind the small counter and everything arrives at your table piping hot. You won’t be the only foreigner that knows about it–expect this place to fill up during the dinner rush on weekends especially.