Taipei Night Markets: What to Eat and Where to Find It

At about six in the evening, a quiet street near Songshan station fills with smoke, steam and the smell of black pepper. Somewhere a clay oven is being opened. By seven there is a queue. This is how most of the Taipei night markets begin, and it is the best reason to visit the city hungry. You can eat a dozen small things for the price of one restaurant meal, standing up, and nobody will think it strange.

There are dozens of markets across the city. You only need three or four. Here is where to go and what to order when you get there.

Raohe Street, for the pepper bun

Raohe is a single long lane, which makes it the easiest market to navigate. Enter from the end by the ornate Ciyou Temple, and the first thing you will see is a line of people waiting for hujiao bing, pepper buns baked against the walls of a tandoor-style oven. The bun is crisp outside, filled with pork, spring onion and a lot of pepper, and it is ferociously hot. Wait a minute before biting.

Raohe is also one of the older markets in the city, and it has a neighbourhood feel the bigger ones have lost. Families come straight from work, students share plates at folding tables, and the stall owners call out to regulars by name. Give it at least an hour.

Walk the lane slowly after that. Look for medicinal herb pork rib soup, a dark broth that tastes better than it sounds, and grilled mochi. Then cross to the riverside park behind the temple to sit down and eat.

Ningxia, for the serious eaters

Ningxia Night Market is small, a short walk from Zhongshan, and almost entirely about food. This is where Taipei people go when they want to eat rather than shop. The stalls run down the middle of the road with tables squeezed in beside them.

• Oyster omelette. Eggs, small oysters and sweet potato starch fried until chewy, under a sweet and sour red sauce. The classic.
• Fried taro balls filled with salted egg yolk and pork floss. There is usually a long queue for the best known stall. Join it.
• Lu rou fan, braised pork over rice, Taiwan's comfort food, cheap and perfect.
• Sesame oil chicken soup on a cold night.

Shilin, the big one

Shilin is the largest and most famous of the Taipei night markets, and the busiest. Get off at Jiantan station, not Shilin station, which is further away. There is an underground food court as well as the streets above, and it can feel like a theme park on a Saturday night. Go for the atmosphere and a few signatures, then move on.

The giant fried chicken cutlet, pounded flat and larger than your face, is the thing to try here. So is a bowl of shaved ice with fresh mango in summer. Large sausages wrapped in sticky rice, da chang bao xiao chang, are another Taipei habit worth trying once.

The smaller ones worth knowing

Tonghua Street, often called Linjiang Street, sits close to Xinyi and is popular with people who live in the neighbourhood. It is a good stop after Taipei 101 and easier to move through than Shilin.

Huaxi Street, near Longshan Temple in Wanhua, is the city's oldest quarter. It once had a reputation for snake dishes. Today it is calmer and more interesting for the walk around the temple at night, which is beautifully lit and still very much in use.

Gongguan, beside National Taiwan University, is a student market, which means good, cheap food and plenty of bubble tea. Taiwan gave the world the drink, and it is worth trying a fresh one here with brown sugar syrup.

Order one of everything to share. Stomach space is the only real currency in a night market.

Things to order at any market

• Stinky tofu. Fried and served with pickled cabbage, or braised in a spicy broth. The smell is louder than the taste.
• Gua bao. A soft folded bun with braised pork belly, peanut powder and coriander.
• Scallion pancake with an egg cooked into it.
• Sweet potato balls, puffed, chewy and slightly sweet.
• Papaya milk. Cold, thick and surprisingly good with salty food.
• Candied fruit on a stick, often strawberries or tiny tomatoes in a crackling sugar shell.

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Good to know

• Bring cash. Some stalls take transit cards or mobile payment, but small notes and coins still matter.
• Go on a weekday if crowds bother you. Weekends are packed everywhere.
• Arrive after dark. Most markets warm up as the evening goes on, and stalls set their own hours, so check before travelling across town for one.
• Carry your rubbish. Public bins are scarce in Taipei. Many stalls will take your empty bowl or skewer.
• Share everything. Portions are small but they add up quickly.
• Watch the weather. Markets thin out in heavy rain and close for typhoons.

Plan one market a night, go with someone who likes to share, and leave a little room for something you did not expect. In Taipei, the best dish of the trip is often one you pointed at without knowing its name.