Asia - Taipei, Taiwan Food suggestions?

Hi all,

We are going to Taipei for Christmas holiday and was hoping to get some suggestions for good restaurants.

We are big fans of quality food - all types, but are traveling with 2 kids. Does anyone have suggestions for good family friendly restaurants? Even good dessert shops.

We know about Din Tai Fung - love the dumplings! But are looking for other suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

Personally I think Japanese food is by far the best deal for food in Taiwan.

taipeipeter has written alot of stuff about Taiwanese food - maybe you can search for his posts. I've given up with the local stuff - though some of it is OK.

If you're stuck for something familiar, there are the usual food courts/KFCs. Big hotels are probably your best bet if you want something Christmassy on Christmas day. There are some expat-hangouts too (see www.forumosa.com) which do a Christmas meal, though usually smaller portions than you'd expect - that was my "Dan Ryan's" experience. I quite like the food courts, but they are not as good as elsewhere in Asia IMHO. They are fine for families - always alot of noise - and you can all choose different things if you like. The "pariss" international seafood buffet restaurant is jolly good fun. http://www.pariss.com.tw/fengxi/front/bin/home.phtml. Your hotel should be able to stick you into a taxi to get you there.

"Traditional" restaurants can be a bit tough - do check they have an English menu if you can't read Chinese. Or go for a buffet. Or point at what the other customers are eating!

English is NOT widely spoken, though you're better off in central Taipei than elsewhere.

Bills are generally accurate and no tipping (please).

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "quality food" and "2 kids"...that is, what ages? Generally speaking, even the best Taipei restaurants are more rough-and-ready than 'fine dining' with with china softly clinking on crisp linens and murmuring conversations from the next table a block away. Even 'good' restaurants welcome kids, and fellow diners are generally tolerant of their noise. People like hustle-bustle--and I rank successful Taipei restaurants into 2 categories: noisy and very noisy, largely a function of interior design.

I agree with Jimbo that the Japanese restaurants are good here; I also like many of the Taiwanese/Chinese restaurants as mentioned in previous posts. Dim sum can be good. Coming in the winter, you must have hot-pot. Also, not quality food but I would think good for kids: night market snacks (oyster omelet is required) and the 'little eats' (小吃) snack restaurants: there are concentrations in the Gongguan (公館) district around Taiwan University, around the old shopping street in the west of the city called Dihua (迪化街), and in the evening Yongkang St. (永康街). There's also the acceptable food at Shin Yeh (欣葉) Restaurant: the one at the top of Taipei 101, still the tallest building in the world built on a swamp in an earthquake zone (just kidding).

night market snacks (oyster omelet is required)And also that local speciality, snake bile, drained from the freshly skinned, still wriggling snake.

Thanks for the responses!

We have a 1 yr old and 4 yr old with us. Its always tough to bring kids to restaurants cause they make noise and want to explore... It's good to hear restaurants in Taiwan generally tolerate kids.

When I said quality food, I should have said delicious food but clean. I've gotten food poisoning before in Hong Kong eating from a restaurant for locals, so I am concerned for cleanliness - especially with the kids.

I'll try to search more in the forums. Thanks again!

Thanks for the responses!

We have a 1 yr old and 4 yr old with us. Its always tough to bring kids to restaurants cause they make noise and want to explore... !

So do the adults in Taiwan

Not a good place to be a wine aficionado - one of my most painful experiences there was seeing a man showing off to the lady he was with by ordering her a bottle of Petrus, to be served with Sprite.

We have a 1 yr old and 4 yr old with us. ...
When I said quality food, I should have said delicious food but clean. I've gotten food poisoning before in Hong Kong eating from a restaurant for locals, so I am concerned for cleanliness - especially with the kids.

As noted, noisy kids should not be a problem most places (within reason; if one starts hollering you just take 'em outside). A lot of restaurants do not have highchairs, though, so you have to make do. One thing about hot-pot, though you can't eat it every day--you can make sure everything is thoroughly cooked!

One thing about hot-pot, though you can't eat it every day--you can make sure everything is thoroughly cooked!

I must admit to gracing the odd "spicy hot pot" joint. They are highly recommended, and especially good for massaging my sense of superiority. These places always look a bit too "posh" for what they really are - my TW friends regard them as a "special" treat. I always think they should be cheaper on the basis you have to cook stuff yourself. To be sure of the genuine experience, here's a checklist:

1) dodgy burners. You've got to get one that doesn't quite work properly so that the waitress keeps fiddling with the knob until a supervisor with the "knack" gets it going. Double points if you get moved to another table.

2) You've got to splash your friend so they get burnt (but not severely, please).

3) You've got to burn the roof of your mouth. You've become so hungry waiting for it to "be ready" that you shovel it down too quickly.

4) Look out for the person that takes control of everything - putting the veg in, deciding when it comes out etc. See if you can annoy them by "interfering" - sneaking something in yourself...

5) Generate enough steam to obscure the person sitting opposite you.

6) Look at all that raw stuff and marvel at how easy it is to get poisoned. (as per taipeipeter's comment). One way to increase your chances is to make sure you don't separate the utensils.

7) Turn the heat up to max and see if you can get it to bubble before a staff member intervenes. Naughty foreigner!

Then go for a meal afterwards!

I just left Taipei, so I've got some fresh recommendations that I (and my colleagues) really enjoyed and would highly recommend. The one thing I can't really comment on is kid-friendliness, you may want to ask the hotel about that. Now, I don't speak any Mandarin and we were able to get by just fine :)

1) AoBa: http://www.aoba.com.tw
Great food in a very nice setting. I would say upscale Taiwanese food. I've been a few times and it is consistently good. They have English on the menu. Very highly recommended. They have 2 locations, I've been to the one that is just off XinYi Rd.

2) People Restaurant: http://www.shintori.com.tw (B1F, No. 191, Sec 2, An-He Rd, Taipei, Tel: 2735-2288)
I went here for the first time, though some colleagues had been and loved it. It's more of an Asian Fusion style of food, but was excellent. They did have English text on the menu. The food was really good and the ambiance was very cool, it's in the bottom of some apartment building. If you look at the website, People is the 5th bar from the right (they don't seem to have an English site, but on the main page the set of vertical bars on the right represents all of the restaurants owned by this group). The entrace to the restaurant is pretty interesting--it may take you a few minutes to figure out how to open up the door (hint: it involves a rock) :)

3) I don't even know the name of my third recommendation; some local colleagues took us out to dinner here. The website is http://www.five-dime.com.tw, and I know the restaurant is in the NeiHu district near the Carrefour--someone who can read the website (or your hotel) should be able to find the right one. This was Taiwanese cuisine, but the most amazing part was the building. Words don't do it justice, it is very unique and interesting. I don't know whether they have an English menu, but the food was very good.

Hope that gives you some ideas! I've found there to be some really great food in Taiwan if you know where to look.

Dont forget that guy with the stinky dofu bike on Fuxing rd

I just returned from 10 days in Taiwan, 3 in Taipei and 7 in Tainan.

First of all, if you can at all leave Taipei to see other parts of the island, you should do so. Taiwan has absolutely spectacular scenery, and is very beautiful and peaceful away from the busy cities.

Secondly, if you can get to Tainan, the food there is much much much better (this is not just me speaking - this is also the view of many Taiwanese). The people in the south are more relaxed and are more willing to spend time eating. Also, parking is easier, which has an impact (as follows). One speciality in Tainan is little restaurants (perhaps better called "food shops") that specialize in several items. You can order a small or a large. One way to have a magnificent meal is to visit several, eating small versions of the specialities in each one - think of Spanish tapas, but on the move (so this is where the parking comes in).

There is a seafood restaurant outside of Tainan, near the salt mountain, where the chef behaves like the "Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld. All Tainan people know this place (especially if you describe it as I did), so you should be able to get yourself there. The owner/chef refuses to speak Mandarin (only Taiwanese), so make sure you have an appropriate interpreter if you take one. We had 7 dishes (3 people), absolutely magnificent.

The Kaohsiung Fish Market is a tremendous place to eat various prepared foods as well as admire all the seafood.

Don't forget to try all the wonderful tropical fruits. Passionfruits are pennies apiece (contrast with the US!), and there is a green bumpy thing which I knew as a "custard apple" in Australia, also widely available. There are many varieties of pineapple and they all taste completely different than the homogeneous version in the US. And try "mountain apples" - this is a direct translation from the Taiwanese name.

Lastly, the street food in Taiwan is very safe. I ate with abandon and had absolutely no problems. [I also have several American friends who have lived there with their families and small children, and they had the same experiences.] The only street market in which I ate in Taiwan was the Shilin night market - I though it was very good, but was later informed by others that it doesn't have the best food of all the street markets. The old street in Sanxia is also good for trying things.