Tainan is the first ancient capital of Taiwan and the oldest city on the island. Boasting a long illustrious history, vibrant cultures, and food traditions, Tainan is Taiwan’s culinary centre where you can savour the exciting flavours of iconic Taiwanese food. Famed for local snacks or “little eats” (小吃), Tainan is perfect for a foodie excursion of non-stop eating and snacking through the day.
In 2024, Tainan will celebrate its quadricentennial–400 years since the city was established by the Dutch under the name of Fort Zeelandia. The best way to mark this special occasion is to visit Tainan! To kickstart the Tainan’s 400th birthday celebrations, I visited Tainan in October 2023 to do a food recce and prepare this food guide. Thanks to local food blogger and chef Claudia Chen (林太做什麼), I learnt so much about Tainan’s food and culture. This Tainan food guide is filled with her local insider’s recommendations.
2024 is a great time to visit Tainan as the Taiwan Lantern Festival (3 February – 10 March 2024) will return to Tainan after 16 years and the theme this year to celebrate Tainan’s 400th anniversary is Glorious Tainan 光耀臺南. Find out more about 2024 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Tainan!
Get ready for a gastronomical tour of Tainan! This food guide introduces the best places and Michelin Bib Gourmand eateries to try these Tainan delicacies. I didn’t manage to eat everything listed in this Tainan food guide so I am definitely returning to Tainan soon. Have fun planning your food trip to Tainan!
How to get to Tainan?
Located in the southwestern part of Taiwan, Tainan is the first city developed in Tainan because of its strategic location. Tainan has a vibrant history as the city evolved through important historical milestones from the Dutch rule to the Ming-zhen period, Qing Dynasty, and the Japanese colonial period.
Tainan was the political, economic, and cultural centre of Taiwan for many years and played an important role in Taiwan’s growth and trade. Today, Tainan has 34 districts and there is so much to see and experience in Tainan. Blessed with a warm subtropical climate with a small amount of rainfall though the year, Tainan enjoys more sunshine than any other places in Taiwan.
Tainan is surrounded by the sea and lush nature and this means the people of Tainan enjoy gifts from the nature: amazing seafood, vegetables, fruits, and more.
You can get to Tainan easily from most cities like Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung.
Method 1: Train
The fastest way to travel to Tainan is by taking the Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR).
By High Speed Train (Taiwan High Speed Rail THSR)
Taipei THSR Station (台北高鐵站) → Tainan THSR Station (台南高鐵站) (about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours)
Travel tip: You can purchase high speed train tickets from Taiwan High Speed Rail website or discounted tickets (20% off) on Klook. Use my special Klook promo code WENDYKLOOK to enjoy 5% any Klook purchases (no min. spend; capped at USD $10).
By Local Trains (Taiwan Railway Administration TRA)
Taipei Main Station (台北火車站) → Tainan Railway Station (台南車站) (about 3 hours)
Please take note: Tainan THSR Station is situated in the south-eastern part of Tainan City and it takes about 20 minutes to travel to the city centre.
On the other hand, Tainan Railway Station (台南車站) is in the city centre so you will arrive right in the heart of the city if you take the local train (TRA).
If you like to save time and do not mind paying more for high speed train tickets, you can take THSR from Taipei.
Shopping tip: Mitsui Outlet Park is located just outside the THSR Tainan Station so you can have a shopping break before you catch your train to Taipei or other parts of Taiwan. There are lockers in the THSR Tainan Station and inside the Mitsui Outlet Park where you can leave your luggage while you shop. I found that the prices of international products in the outlet mall are not much cheaper than prices in Singapore. The Taiwanese brands are cheaper so I spent about 2 hours zooming through the shops and grabbed some items.
How to get to Tainan city centre from Tainan High Speed Train Station?
Public transportation: You can take local train from Shalun station (沙崙車站), which is located conveniently beside the Tainan THSR Station), to the city centre.
Taxi: You can take a taxi if you have luggage. The cost is about 200-250 NT.
Klook.comMethod 2: Bus
If you prefer slow and economical travel, you can take bus to Tainan.
Taipei → Tainan: About 4.5-6 hours
Kaohsiung → Tainan: About 70 minutes
Klook.comWhat do eat in Tainan?
As a result of its rich history and confluences of culture, Tainan has the reputation of being the food capital of Taiwan. Tainan rightly deserves this culinary distinction as it is the Taiwanese food destination where you can taste quintessential and traditional Taiwanese food.
When I visited Tainan on a backpacking trip in 2011, I was clueless about Tainan’s food offerings and I just ate the famous shrimp rolls and coffin bread. More than 10 years later, I found myself In Tainan as a more “enlightened” traveller thanks to Claudia, my local food guide.
I spent an exhilarating day with her and I learnt so much about the world of Tainan’s food. To start the food tour, let’s debunk this “coffin bread” food myth. Coffin bread, guan cai ban 棺材板, is squarish deep fried bread snack with a hollowed centre filled with creamy chowder. While it is quite yummy, locals don’t really eat this anymore. I didn’t even see this snack sold anywhere in the places I visited in Tainan.
Tainan is famous for a wide variety of local snacks or “little eats” (小吃). Eating in Tainan is a cultural journey as you taste food that has been passed from through generations. The names of most Tainan’s snacks are different to be translated to English and this show how authentic Tainan is as food and cultural traditions are respected and preserved.
36 eateries in Tainan are rewarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide in 2023. Tainan has the most new entries–a whooping 10 this year.
In this food guide, I will share the must-eat Tainan food recommended by locals and listed in the Michelin Bib Gourmand Guide. Tainan is full of amazing food so don’t worry too much about hunting down the Michelin Bib Gourmand stores as you can find good danzai noodles and beef soup easily. Here are some eating tips:
- The popular stores tend to have long lines so try to visit during off-peak hours (e.g. not during main meal times like lunchtime ). You can also ask the shop owners about their off-peak hours and return when there is smaller crowd.
- Check the opening days/hours of the shops before heading down. Google maps show the usual opening days but it is safer to check the shops’ social media page (click on the shop names below for links to their website or Facebook pages) for updated opening hours before you make a trip down.
- Head to Guohua Road 國華路 and Yong Le Market 永樂市場 to start your food feast as this main food artery in the city has many food stalls selling classic Taiwanese food.
Wa Guei
Wa guei or wagui or wha guey 碗糕 or translated as bowl rice cake is a Taiwanese staple snack. This savoury rice cake can be found in traditional eateries all over Taiwan but Tainan’s bowl rice cake is the most well known.
Yi Pin Wei is selected to be on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list in 2022. This is a local’s favourite and the owner split from a relative-run Fu Sheng Hao, another popular bowl rice cake shop, to set up the store in 2013.
Their signature dish is homemade bowl rice cake using the family’s secret recipe. Their family’s bowl rice cake was originally sold from push carts and now two family teams run two separate stores on the same street.
What is bowl rice cake? It is a savoury cake, pudding-like snack, made from local rice milk, fresh pork, shrimps, and dark pork sauce. The locals enjoy this snack topped with “3-coloured sauces”–the yellow garlic puree, red chilli sauce, and bright green wasabi sauce.
Foodie tip: Head to the back of the store to see the behind-the-scenes of the making of traditional wagui. Watch the hard work that goes into creating these bowls of goodness–the mixing of filling and paste, manual pouring of the ingredients into small bowls, and the steaming process.
Fu Sheng Hao 富盛號
Fu Sheng Hao attracts crowds as well. Their store looks more modern and appeals to youths and international tourists. The locals I met said Yi Pin Wei’s bowl rice cake tastes better. But I have not tried Fu Sheng Hao so if you manage to try both, let me know which one you prefer!
- Address: No. 177, Section 3, Guohua St, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 5:00am-5:00pm (closed on Tuesday)
- Address: No. 11, Section 3, Minzu Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 70004 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 7:00am- 5:00pm or until sold out (closed on Thursday)
Shrimp Rolls
Shrimp rolls 蝦捲 is a Tainan’s specialty. Tainan is famous for its seafood dishes and their shrimp rolls are irresistible snacks to munch on. The secret to Tainan’s shrimp rolls are the fresh ingredients—fresh shrimps, fish paste, vegetables, and how they are stuffed into the pig’s belly membrane and deep fried. The pig’s belly membrane, called bāng-se in Taiwanese dialect, makes the shrimp rolls ultra crispy.
Shrimp rolls are eaten with soy sauce, mustard, and radish slices. Locals usually pair the shrimp rolls with a bowl of soup or noodles like danzai noodles or milkfish soup.
I tried Chou’s Shrimp Rolls as its outlets are conveniently in the Anping area. The history of Chou’s Shrimp Rolls started in 1965 when the founder, Mr Chou Jing En, sold seafood snacks like fish balls and shrimp rolls. His shrimp rolls became so popular that the business started to focus on selling shrimp rolls made from fresh grilled shrimps 火燒蝦.
Another long-running shop, Huang Chia Shrimp Rolls is awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand and locals queue to buy their famous shrimp rolls.
Addresses: They have a number of outlets in the Anping area.
- No. 408-1, Anping Rd, Anping District, Tainan City, Taiwan 708 (main store) (Google map)
- No. 125, Anping Rd, Anping District, Tainan City, Taiwan 708 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 10:00am-9:30pm (open every day)
Huang Chia Shrimp Rolls 黃家蝦捲 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 268號, Xihe Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 2:30-7:00pm (closed on Friday and Saturday)
Danzai Noodles
Danzai noodles 擔仔麵 is a classic Tainan dish. Initially, when I saw danzai noodles in many stores in Taiwan, I didn’t really understand why this simple noodles is so well-loved. Then I learnt about the historical and cultural significance of this bowl of noodles.
Also called “Peddler’s pole noodles” or “slack season noodles” or ta a mi in Taiwanese dialect, danzai noodles in the past was sold by noodle sellers who peddled their food using bamboo poles where the noodles and soup pots hung from. Eating danzai noodles is more than filling your stomach as it is also enjoying the nostalgia of a traditional Taiwanese meal that used to provide sustenance for the forefathers who built Taiwan.
Danzai noodles is eaten as a snack. The small bowl of greased egg noodles are served in shrimp-based soup, bean sprouts, minced meat, and topped with shrimps.
Tainan has many stores selling danzai noodles. Du Xiao Yue is a household name and it has domestic and international stores in Taipei and China. The founder, Hong Yu To, was a fisherman who sold noodles with a shoulder, bamboo pole, during the off-peak months (or slack season months) to supplement his earnings.
Small Park Danzai Noodles has been serving piping hot bowls of noodles for over 70 years. The owner used to sit on a tiny stool to cook the noodles in a small park. The shop is recently awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand.
- Address: They have outlets in Tainan, Taipei, and even in China. The Tainan original shop is at: No. 16, Jhongjheng Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700
- Opening hours: 11:00am-8:00pm
Small Park Danzai Noodles 小公園擔仔麵 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 321, Section 2, Ximen Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 4:30-10:00pm (closed on Wednesday and Thursday)
Hung Yutou Danzai Noodles 洪祖師擔仔麵
- Address: They have many shops all over Taiwan.
- In Anping area: No. 35, Yanping St, Anping District, Tainan City, Taiwan 708 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 10:00am-6:30pm (weekdays); 10:00am-8:00pm (weekends Saturday to Sunday)
Calamari Rice Noodles
I have not tasted calamari rice noodles or squid rice noodles 小卷米粉 in Taiwan until I visited Tainan. My food quest was made easy by following a local to the Michelin Bib Gourmand listed Ye Jia Calamari Rice Noodles. I was lucky to skip the usual long lines as I visited on a post-typhoon day.
This third-generation noodle shop was founded in 1935 and is currently managed by female boss, Tu Jin Feng (凃金鳳). They use the freshest calamari from Indonesia. The noodle broth is fragrant and flavourful with subtle sweetness. The fresh calamari combined with the rice noodles makes a hearty meal. You can also try calamari eggs here!
There are many other stalls selling this local delicacy in Tainan like Qiu Jia calamari rice noodles.
Ye Jia Calamari Rice Noodles 葉家小卷米粉 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 142, Section 2, Guohua St, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 8:30am-2:00/3:00pm (closed on Monday and Tuesday)
Qiu Jia calamari rice noodles 邱家小卷米粉
- Address: No. 251, Section 3, Guohua St, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 11:00am-5:00pm (closed on Monday)
Beef Soup
Beef noodles and soup is a popular dish in Taiwan and you can find stores selling them all around the island. When I heard that Tainan is famous for beef soup, I wondered why… until I found out that Tainan serves the freshest beef soup in Taiwan because fresh beef, not frozen meat, is the star of this dish. Fresh beef from recently slaughtered cows is prepared and blanched in the hot soup. The beef with its natural flavour is so tasty that no additional seasoning is needed.
There are many good beef soup stores in Tainan. There’s a list of the Michelin Bib Gourmand stores.
Kangle Street Beef Soup 康樂街牛肉湯 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 325, Kangle St, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 5:30am-3:00pm (closed on Tuesday)
Shang Hao Chih Beef Soup 尚好吃牛肉湯 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 6, Section 1, Beian Rd, North District, Tainan City, Taiwan 704 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 3:00am-11:30am (closed on Tuesday)
Xiluodian (Hsi Lo Tien) Beef Soup 西羅殿牛肉湯 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 98, Gongyuan S Rd, North District, Tainan City, Taiwan 704 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 5:00am-1:00pm (4:30am-1:00pm on Thursday) (closed on Tuesday)
Stir-fried Eel Noodles
Stir-fried eel noodles 鱔魚意麵 is a special local delicacy that you must have in Tainan. I was very surprised by the texture and taste of the stir-fried eel. The eels were chewy and coated with wok hei-infused sauce. I did not expect the eels to taste so firm and “substantial” as this taste profile is so unlike the Japanese unagi dishes that I am used to.
Most Tainan shops cook with farm-raised eels and the fresh eels are stir-fried with vegetables and noodles. You can also enjoy the stir-fried eels without noodles and in soup form.
A Jiang Stir-Fried Eel Yi Noodles 阿江鱔魚意麵 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 89, Section 3, Minzu Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 5:00pm-12:00am (closed on Monday)
- Address: No. 161, Section 3, Guohua St, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 11:30am-8:00pm
Eastern Castle Noodles 城邊真味鱔魚意麵 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 235, Section 1, Dongmen Rd, East District, Tainan City, Taiwan 701 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 11:30am-2:00pm, 4:30-10:00pm (closed on Monday)
Mi Gao
Mi gao 米糕 or glutinous rice cake or sticky rice is a popular soul food in Tainan. This dish may not look like a delectable food but you will not forget the taste and texture after a few mouthfuls of it. Sticky and soft glutinous cake topped with braised pork, pork or fish floss, peanuts, and slices of cucumber–take in the multi-dimensional taste of this local snack. Locals like to pair mi gao with four herbs soup, si shen tang 四神汤.
Bao An Lu Migao 保安路米糕 (Michelin Bib)
Address: No. 16, Bao’an Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
Opening hours: 10:00am-7:00pm (closed on Wednesday)
Lo Cheng Migao 落成米糕 (Michelin Bib)
Address: No. 241, Section 2, Minzu Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
Opening hours: 10:30am-6:30pm (closed on Wednesday)
Hao Nung Chia Migao 好農家米糕 (Michelin Bib)
Address: No. 66, Section 2, Jiankang Rd, South District, Tainan City, Taiwan 702 (Google map)
Opening hours: 11:00am-2:00pm, 4:00-8:30pm (closed on Sunday)
Rice Dumplings
Tainan folks are very proud of their rice dumpling, zongzi or rou zong 粽子/肉粽, and believe that their rice dumplings are superior to Taipei’s and other parts of Taiwan. Rice dumplings is a festive food to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. In Tainan, you can find rice dumplings sold everywhere all-year-round.
Tainan’s rice dumplings are boiled and the glutinous rice dumpling is stuffed with sumptuous ingredients like meat, mushrooms, dried shrimp, salted egg yolk, peanuts, and more. Most shops also send vegetable rice dumplings, cai zong 菜粽. One interesting aspect of rice dumplings from Tainan is that, unlike rice dumplings in Singapore, they are served with sweet soy sauce and grated peanut powder.
Yuan Huan Ding Ruo Zong Cai Zong 圓環頂肉粽菜粽
- Address: No. 40, Section 1, Fuqian Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 5:30am-2:00pm
Tainan Old Shop 台南老店肉粽菜粽
- Address: No. 23, Section 3, Ximen Rd, North District, Tainan City, Taiwan 704 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 5:30am-3:00pm
Milkfish
Milkfish, shi mu yu 虱目魚, is used extensively in Tainan dishes. Milkfish is so well-liked in Tainan that there’s a museum, The Milkfish Palace (Saba Milk fish Theme Museum) 虱目魚主題館, dedicated to this fish.
Milkfish is enjoyed in congee and soup and even as fish balls. Some shops prepare milkfish in various ways and you can try milkfish fatty, skin, and even intestines.
A Xing Shi Mu Yu 阿興虱目魚 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 252, Wenxian Rd, North District, Tainan City, Taiwan 704 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 7:30am-7:30pm
Kaiyuan Road No Name Milkfish 開元路無名虱目魚 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 313, Kaiyuan Rd, North District, Tainan City, Taiwan 704 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 5:20am-1:30pm
Yung Tung Milkfish 永通虱目魚粥 (Michelin Bib)
- Address: No. 60, Minquan Rd, Xuejia District, Tainan City, Taiwan 726 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 5:10am-1:10pm, 3:30-8:30pm (3:30-8:30pm on Wednesday)
Tofu Pudding
Tainan’s tofu pudding, dou hua 豆花, is reputed to be silky soft. Tainan’s tofu pudding, also called bean jelly, is like the beancurd from Singapore but with more toppings and flavours. Locals enjoy this local dessert with fun toppings ranging from peanuts, yam/taro, red and green bean, glass jelly, tapioca pearls, and more.
You can find tofu pudding shops easily in Tainan. The Anping district is the place to try tofu pudding as many popular shops lined the streets. Here are some local’s favourites.
Tongji Anping Bean Curd / Anping Bean Jelly 同記安平豆花 (Main store)
- Address: No. 433, Anbei Rd, Anping District, Tainan City, Taiwan 708 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 9:00am-11:00pm
Xiu-an / Chiau-an Douhua 修安扁擔豆花
- Address: No. 157, Section 3, Guohua St, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 8:30am-9:30am
White Sugar Cake
White sugar cake, bai tang guo 白糖糕, or peh thng kue/beh teung guai in Taiwanese dialect, is a sugary snack that bring back childhood memories. These irresistible snack is made by rolling sticky rice flour dough into bite-sized shapes, frying them in hot oil, and coating the fried snacks in sugar.
I wish I could eat more of this yummy snack in Taiwan. It tastes like a combo of fried donut, mochi, and churros! Most stalls selling white sugar cake also sell other fried stuff like fried sweet potato balls, fang shu peng 蕃薯.椪.
Lin Family White Sugar Cake 林家茂子白糖粿
Address: No. 213之2號, You’ai St, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
Opening hours: 11:30am-6:30pm
You Pa Pa White Sugar Cake and Sweet Potato Balls 游爸爸 白糖糕 蕃薯椪
Address: No. 170, You’ai St, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
Opening hours: 12:00-7:00pm
Candied and Dried Fruits
Tainan is known for fruits and candied and dried fruits, mi jian 蜜餞 is a popular snack and a must-buy souvenir. There are many traditional shops selling an assortment of candied, dried, and preserved fruits like pitted prunes, Chinese olives, dried papaya, and more.
Chycutayshing or Lin Yong Tai Mi Jian is a mi jian establishment in the Anping area. This traditional shop is a Tainan treasure and it has been called an “excellent century-old shop” (優良百年老店) by the Tainan City Government.
Another popular shop is Yi Sheng Xing Mi Jian. The historical shop started in 1882 and they sell a variety of delicious and nutritious candied and dried fruits mixed with medicinal herbs. If you are unable to visit these shops, you can order their products and deliver them to your hotel.
- Address: No. 84, Yanping St, Anping District, Tainan City, Taiwan 708 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 11:30am-7:00pm (closed on Tuesday and Wednesday)
- Address: No. 87, Yanping St, Anping District, Tainan City, Taiwan 70842 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 9:00am-7:00pm (9:00am-6:30pm on Saturday and Sunday)
Leng Tih Tong
Leng Tih Tong 連德堂餅家 is four-generation-old traditional bakery shop. The biscuits from this shop is so exclusive that each visitor can only buy 2️ packets a day.
It must be destiny that brought me Leng Tih Tong! When I asked Claudia if she could recommend a good souvenir from Tainan for Singaporeans, she gave me their address. In the end, the visit to their shop was a top highlight of my Tainan trip. I spent a long time in the shop and lugged bags of biscuits back to Singapore.
Leng Tih Tong was set up by the Tsai family in 1800s during the Japanese colonial period. They learnt how to make biscuits from the Japanese and they have been refining their secret recipes and making their signature biscuits for over 300 years.
It was so serendipitous to chat with the current fourth-generation owner, Tsai We-chung and his wife Chiang Yi-ting on a post-typhoon evening and hear about their shop’s history and stories. I was moved by their passion and perseverance to continue the family shop and legacy.
The most striking thing about the shop is the rotating biscuit-making machine. Sitting in the middle of the shop, the machine is fuelled by a gas oven and all biscuits are handmade using the traditional technique. It is amazing how much skills and work have gone into producing the biscuits. Watch the video below to learn more about Leng Tih Tong!
Leng Tih Tong 連德堂餅家
- Address: No. 54, Chongan St, North District, Tainan City, Taiwan 704 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 8:00am-8:00pm (8:00am-6:00pm on Saturday) (closed on Sunday)
Pu Jei Bakery
Pu Jei Bakery 葡吉麵包店 is such a heavenly place. Visiting Pu Jei Bakery is like stepping into a wonderland of bread and pastry. They only have 1 shop in Tainan, in the whole of Taiwan, and the shop attracts long lines of bread lovers.
There is a dazzling variety of baked goods and I just wished I could buy and eat them all! Their four signature breads are:
- Borscht bread 羅宋麵包
- Milk bread or caterpillar bread 奶露/毛毛蟲麵包
- Eastern style cheese bread 東風芝士堡
- Cranberry cheese bread 蔓越梅乳酪堡
Their famous borscht bread, luo song bread 羅宋麵包 is freshly released at 2:00pm and they are quickly snapped up.
Pu Jei is also a great shop to buy souvenirs as they have boxes of cookies and palmiers. They also have a cake shop that sells cakes for all occasions.
- Address: No. 200, Chenggong Rd, North District, Tainan City, Taiwan 704 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 8:00am-8:00pm
Pu Jei Cake Shop 葡吉喜餅蛋糕店
- Address: No. 253, Chenggong Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 8:00am-8:00pm
Chuai Cha Tea Room
Chuai Cha Tea Room 揣茶 is a local’s secret. If not for Claudia, I would never have the chance to try one of the best milk tea in my life. Chuai Cha is the labour of love of tea expert, Po Chen. This popular tea shop brews quality tea leaves to make delectable tea beverages. They are so committed to the taste of the tea that the ice cubes are made of tea so that you can enjoy consistent tea flavours with every slurp.
To taste their tea, you have to make reservations (via Facebook or Instagram) in advance. Their tea is highly sought after and they sell out fast!
- Address: No. 66, Zhangbei St, North District, Tainan City, Taiwan 704 (Google map)
- Opening hours: 10:00am-5:00pm (closed on Wednesday and Thursday)
Night markets in Tainan
After eating your way through all the Tainan delicacies, xiao chi 小吃, save some stomach space for night markets! Tainan has an interesting night market scene. There are three major night markets and they are open on designated days of the week. Remember this night market mantra to know which night market to go to: 大大武花大花花! 大 refers to Dadong Night Market 大東夜市; 武 is Wusheng Night Market 武聖夜市, and 花 is Garden Night Market, or Tainan Flower Night Market 花園夜市.
- Monday: Dadong Night Market
- Tuesday: Dadong Night Market
- Wednesday: Wusheng Night Market
- Thursday: Garden Night Market
- Friday: Dadong Night Market
- Saturday: Garden Night Market and Wusheng Night Market
- Sunday: Garden Night Market
Most of the stalls are found in each of the night market as the vendors move to a different location every night. Garden Night Market is the largest night market in Tainan. I was in Tainan on a Friday evening so I headed to Dadong Night Market.
I was very impressed by the food offerings in Dadong Night Market. This may be my favourite night market in Taiwan so far. The market has a relaxing local vibe and it is not overly crowded like night markets in Taipei. I really like the diversity of food stalls in the night market and most of the stalls sell a specific dish that is different from and ot repeated in other stalls.
The night markets generally open from 5:00pm and close around midnight. To avoid lines, you can visit just before the dinner crowd comes in from 7:00-9:00pm.
- Dadong Night Market 大東夜市: No. 276, Section 1, Linsen Rd, East District, Tainan City, Taiwan 701 (Google map)
- Wusheng Night Market 武聖夜市: Lane 69, Wusheng Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 (Google map)
- Garden Night Market, Tainan Flower Night Market 花園夜市: No. 533, Section 3, Hai’an Rd, North District, Tainan City, Taiwan 704 (Google map)
Hope this Tainan food guide will fill your tummy with all the goodness of Tainan’s food scene. Check out my Taiwan travel page for more travel guides.
Travel Resources
Travel Video
Watch this video “Guide to Tainan: Taiwan’s oldest city and capital of food” to experience! This guide is a supplement to the virtual travel session organised by Taiwan Tourism Administration Singapore and whywendywrites.
Tainan Websites
Tourism Bureau of Tainan City Government: Tainan City Government’s official Travel Tainan website. You can lots of information from transportation, attractions, food recommendations, and events in this comprehensive website. Download travel brochures, maps, and books here.
Michelin Guide: Check out the full list of Michelin Bib Gourmand eateries in Tainan here.
My trip to Tainan was supported by Taiwan Tourism Administration Singapore.
I strongly believe in empowering travellers to know better, travel better! I value privacy and transparency. The article contains affiliate links so I may be compensated to run the website and continue to create content if you make a purchase at no extra cost to you.
Klook.com