13 Food Landmarks in Taipei You Need to Visit
13 landmarks with verified facts and stories
Dadaocheng & Dihua Street
No. 4 Dihua St, Fengnian Village, Taitung City, 950022, Taiwan
Dadaocheng is Taipei's oldest commercial district — a neighbourhood of Baroque and Art Deco shophouses along Dihua Street that has been the centre of Taipei's tea, fabric, and dried goods trade since the 1850s.
Jiufen Old Street
Jiufen, Ruifang District, New Taipei City
Jiufen is a hillside village an hour east of Taipei that was a gold mining town in the Japanese colonial era, fell into quiet decline when the mines closed, and was reborn as one of Taiwan's most popular tourist destinations after it was widely (though inaccurately) identified as the inspiration for the spirit bathhouse in Hayao Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away.
Maokong Gondola & Tea Plantations
Wenshan District, Taiwan
Maokong is Taipei's tea mountain — a hillside of tea plantations, temple gardens, and traditional teahouses south of the city that is accessible by a 4-kilometre gondola ride from Taipei Zoo station, providing aerial views of the city, the zoo, and the forested mountains before depositing you at the top of a hill where Tieguanyin oolong tea has been grown since the late 19th century.
Ningxia Night Market
Ningxia Road, Datong District, Taipei
Ningxia Night Market is the locals' night market — a compact, single-street market in the Datong district that lacks Shilin's scale and Raohe's fame but consistently produces the best food of any night market in Taipei.
Raohe Street Night Market
135–185 Raohe St, Ciyou, Songshan District, 105058, Taiwan
Raohe Street Night Market is Taipei's oldest night market — a single 400-metre street in the Songshan district that many Taipei residents prefer to Shilin for the quality of its food and the more manageable scale.
Shilin Night Market
No. 101, Jihe Road, Shilin District, Taipei
Shilin Night Market is the largest and most famous night market in Taipei — a sprawling labyrinth of food stalls, clothing vendors, game booths, and the general sensory chaos that makes Taiwanese night markets one of the greatest street food experiences on Earth.
Taipei 101 Observatory & Xinyi District
Xinyi District, Taiwan
The Xinyi District is Taipei's commercial and entertainment centre — a planned development of shopping malls, department stores, and nightlife venues surrounding Taipei 101 that represents modern Taiwan's commercial ambition.
Taipei Main Station & Underground Mall
Zhongzheng District, Taiwan
Taipei Main Station is the transit hub of Taiwan — a massive station building connecting MRT, Taiwan Railways, and the High Speed Rail, with an underground city of shopping malls, food courts, and pedestrian corridors extending in every direction beneath the streets of the Zhongzheng district.
Taipei's Bubble Tea Culture
Taiwan
Bubble tea (zhēnzhū nǎichá, pearl milk tea) was invented in Taiwan in the 1980s — a drink of tea, milk, and chewy tapioca balls (boba) that has become one of the most successful Taiwanese cultural exports and is now available in virtually every city in the world.
Tamsui (Danshui) Old Street & Fort San Domingo
Zhongzheng Rd, Qingwen Village, Tamsui District, 251018, Taiwan
Tamsui is the riverside town at the end of the MRT Red Line — a 40-minute ride from central Taipei that takes you to a former port town where Fort San Domingo (a 17th-century Spanish and later Dutch fort), a Japanese-era customs house, and the waterfront old street (lined with stalls selling iron eggs, fish crackers, and ā-gěi — a fried tofu pouch stuffed with glass noodles) provide a half-day excursion that covers 400 years of Taiwanese history.
Wistaria Tea House
No. 1 Xinsheng S Rd Sec 3 Ln 16, Longpo, Daan District, 106021, Taiwan
The Wistaria Tea House is the most historically significant tea house in Taipei — a Japanese-era wooden house that served as a secret meeting place for democracy activists and intellectuals during the martial law era (1949-1987) and has been a designated heritage site since 1997.
Ximending
Xinqi, Wanhua District, Taiwan
Ximending is Taipei's youth culture district — a pedestrianised shopping and entertainment zone in the Wanhua district that has been the city's centre of fashion, street culture, and nightlife since the Japanese colonial era, when the area was developed as Taipei's first entertainment district with theatres, cinemas, and department stores.
Yongkang Street Food District
Yongkang Street, Da'an District, Taipei
Yongkang Street is Taipei's most famous food street — a tree-lined lane in the Da'an district where Din Tai Fung (the xiao long bao dumpling restaurant that started here in 1972 and has since expanded to a global chain with Michelin stars) sits alongside independent noodle shops, mango shaved ice parlours, and the kind of small, family-run restaurants that make Taipei one of the great eating cities.
Explore food in Taipei
GPS-guided narration at every landmark. Tap a spot on the map, hear the story. Every fact verified.