Ask me what I love the most about Taipei, and I will not hesitate to reply with gusto, "The night markets!" When discussing our favourite holiday trips, I often find myself incessantly chattering about Taiwanese night markets and the cold weather. The latter changes with the seasons, but the former doesn't. Classic night market foods like Oyster Omelette, Stinky Tofu, Barbecued Quail Eggs and Deep Fried Chicken Cutlet are just a few examples on the never-ending menu of our beloved night markets - In this trip, we revisited our favourite ones for cheap eats and thrills. The verdict? Yum.
士林夜市
Shilin Night Market
Address: 111台北市士林區基河路101號
Nearest MRT Station: 劍潭 Jian Tan NOTE: The nearest MRT Station is NOT 士林 Shilin!
Shilin Night Market is one of the most well-known night markets in Taiwan! It's a blessing that we have it in Taipei.
王子起司馬鈴薯
Jacket potatoes are an old-time favourite snack in the States, yet it seems that Taiwan is only recently catching up on this lovely treat, and boy, is it trending! The main difference between both versions however is that the latter's is actually a huge mashed potato croquette shaped like, well, a potato. It is then drenched lavishly in cheese sauce and served with a selection of sides that you get to choose for yourself. Enough fumbling - let the pictures do the talking!
I first learnt of this cheese potato trend from television, and as an ardent cheese lover, I knew I just had to try it out! There are now many stalls selling this dish, but this particular stall is situated at the edge of the night market facing the train station, which means that you'll be able to catch it as soon as you enter the night market area.
The queue was rather long so they had a staff member collect our orders first. I chose the 'Prince Combination' that basically had everything inside. It was 70 NTD - Quite costly!
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| FLOODED with cheese sauce! |
The toppings included ham, corn, sour cream, pineapple cubes, egg, and many more! I loved it, but Taiwan being Taiwan, I feel like this dish could have been cheaper. 60 NTD maybe?
Shilin Night Market also has international brands for those who wish to grab branded stuff at cheaper prices (compared to Singapore)
Cheap clothes for sale!
This is a classic drinks stall you can find in a typical night market. Many other food choices as captured below:
While walking along the streets, I found this cafe that looked very very similar to Starbucks..
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| I see what you did there... |
寒天Q棒
If you come to Shilin Night Market, you must come visit this store! The stall sells jelly popsicles of various flavours, at a cheap price of 10 NTD! My sister bought a Yakult-flavoured one, which was really good but I didn't manage to get a picture of it because we finished it within 30 seconds.
正宗嘉義火雞肉飯
This stall selling chicken rice and braised pork rice always sees long queues and a packed storefront! The food sold here is truly of good quality, and it is rather cheap, at about 40 NTD for a bowl so it is no surprise that you might have to wait to order your food.
However, the service is nothing to shout about - in fact, the staff's attitude is really quite a put-off! The boss restricts you from using your phone while eating at the stall because he expects you to finish your food and leave immediately, so that his queuing customers may have a chance to sit and enjoy their food too. While this seems reasonable, it is the delivery that matters, and the owner certainly does not take the nicest tone when talking to you...
The rice comes with crunchy preserved plum that you MUST eat at the end to help reduce the oily taste of the chicken rice.
Grilled beef cubes are taking over night markets nowadays! I don't eat beef but the pure sound of sizzling beef against the hot grill makes me salivate, and I would definitely order a serving if not for my dietary restriction. A serving usually costs 70 NTD depending on where you buy it from, which is worth it considering that it is beef.
青蛙下蛋 is a household 'brand' for night market beverages. You can bet your shopping expenses that this stall will be present in any night market you visit! At least in Taipei, that is. And then there's the dilemma as to which stall is the original one (because you will often find different stalls claiming to be the genuine one) and sadly I do not know the answer to that - however I do know that the stalls I've visited serve drinks that taste pretty much the same so kudos to them!
青蛙下蛋 translates literally to 'Frog laying eggs' and the name is so-given because of the appearance of the basil seeds that are traditionally added to the drinks. Nowadays you don't find them around anymore (perhaps due to inflation?) but the alternatives (Aiyu Jelly, Pearls, Taro Balls) are equally delicious. A must try if you visit Taipei!
More stalls for your reference:
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| Giant grilled squids/cuttlefish |
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| Papaya milk, a drink rumoured to have breast-enhancing properties |
This stall sells fried taro balls, which are up and coming in the night market scene!
Preparation is on-the-spot, as is the standard in Taiwan's night markets.
A while later we decided to check out 康是美 (Cosmed) which is Taiwan's counterpart of Singapore's Guardian.
I love how every store is ready for Christmas! And a purple tree at that!
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Three-stories... I can imagine my mother squealing in delight!
饒河街觀光夜市
Rao He Night Market
Address: Raohe St, Songshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 105
Nearest MRT: 松山 Song Shan Station
The nearest MRT Station to Rao He Night Market used to be Hou Shan Pi, up until Song Shan Station started business (which was only recently) .
To get to Rao He Night Market, you could walk a distance from Wu Fen Pu, a famous wholesale fashion marketplace nearby. Otherwise you could make your way there from Song Shan station - I'm not sure about which exit to take from, however. The good news is, when you are standing from my viewpoint, Rao He Night Market will be within sight!
The distant view to the left (if you were facing the station) should be very obvious with its bright lights!
Rao He Night Market is one of the oldest night markets in its area, but it has only begun gaining the recognition it truly deserves in recent years. While it is not as large-scale as Shilin Night Market, it's relatively 'untouched' when compared to it. By 'untouched', I mean that commercialisation has not fully taken its toll in the area. To me, a night market in Taiwan comprises stand-alone booths with souvenir shops or food stores at the shophouses. Of course, these brands will be local and perhaps unknown, even. When brands like Nike open a shopfront in a night market, you know that's when a night market's quality starts to drop. The governments will be too obsessed with generating income from the night-market goers that they might potentially disregard the important things like our favourite food vendors because they are relatively unable to offer high rental. Slippery slope, I know. But I'm using emotion here to rule my logic so pardon me - I strongly feel that costly, exclusive brands should remain in their shopping malls. So, by the looks of Rao He Night Market, it is still in its purest form, which calls for a celebration!
原住民山豬肉香腸
Meat-lovers will know what all the hype is about when they see stalls with signboards professing themselves to be '原住民' (aboriginal) - Taiwanese sausages! My sisters are huge fans and while we were in Taiwan, they embarked on a gourmet journey searching for the best pork sausages in Taiwan Night Markets. Of course, that also included the condiments and sauces that comes with the snack.
 
This particular store has four different types of sauces to slather your pork sausage with. There's Black Pepper, Wasabi, Thai Chili, and Garlic. Four varying sensations, I'd say! But all spicy, so I wonder if a spicy note complements pork well. One pork sausage here goes for 35 NTD (approx. 1.55 SGD)
爆桨玉子燒
Up till now I have no idea what this dish is exactly, but my sister had been eyeing this stall since before the trip so we thought we'd give it a try. The storefront displays a tablet with a looping video of a TV gourmet show featuring their dish, so it might be very famous! The queue was substantially long...
Flavours aplenty! The price ranges from 65 NTD to 75 NTD (2.90 SGD to 3.30 NTD)
This was good, but I very much prefer plain old Takoyaki.
巧手韓式蛋中蛋
This is a MUST TRY in Rao He Night Market! It's a sweet dish with the concept of an 'egg-inside-an-egg'. Of course, it isn't literally one egg within another, but instead poached egg within an egg pancake (in the shape of dorayaki!)
It is cheap given its novelty, and taste-wise it is really satisfying, especially when you get to the yolk inside, so I strongly recommend at least giving this dish a try when you visit Rao He.
蠔老闆尙青大生蠔
For oyster-lovers like me, you'll be delighted to know that there are many stalls offering grilled oysters (and raw ones upon request) for cheap! The first time I visited was in October 2014, and I was hooked on my first slurp (because you slurp oysters right?) Back then, I felt that the oysters were the freshest and the best I had ever tasted, and for Mandarin-speakers, it really brought meaning to the phrase 鮮甜 - it was SWEET.
I recommended my sisters to visit the same stall during their December trip, but my little sister was extremely disappointed because the oysters were salty, and not heavenly as I had described it. Nevertheless, I was adamant on giving it another try so this trip, we decided to give it another go.
Raw oysters are not on the menu but you can request for them as mentioned above. The price is the same (6 for 100 NTD approx. 4.40 NTD)
  
I let my sister try it first, and this time it was not as salty as it had been the previous year. When I tried it however, I could understand the disappointment my sister had felt because it was not as good as it was when I had visited in October. It was still fresh, and sweet, but the preparation might have deteriorated because there was an overwhelming taste of saltwater. I highly suspect it is due to the skill of the workers, more so than the quality of the oysters. Let me just say that the first time I visited, I was served by the boss himself so that might explain why my experience was top-notch. Then again, it might be due to the change in season. October vs December... A different of two months can mean so much sometimes! I'm not as big of a fan as I was last time, so the next time I visit, I might try another stall just to compare and contrast, but if you are an oyster lover, I recommend starting with this stall and then working your way through in other visits.
舞Q 冰品甜品館
When there's so much food in a Night Market, we tend to overeat and stretch our stomachs to the point where we really cannot take in anymore food... Unless it's dessert! We were excited to try out this new dessert store (the previous year my two sisters tried the dessert somewhere else) and so into the store we skipped.
 
Our bowl of dessert only cost us something like 50-70 NTD (2.20-3.10 NTD) which is really worth it because it was so good! Plus, it was shared between the three of us, which meant about a dollar each at max? We didn't leave the place feeling hungry!
The bowl was filled almost to the brim, and a generous serving of milk was poured which added on to the richness of the cold goodness.
This dessert is similar to Black Ball in Singapore, if not the same. The toppings (pudding, taro balls and chickpeas) are very classic examples of what you can add on to your dessert. Yum!
If you didn't see anything that caught your eye in my blog post, here are some pictures I snapped around Rao He Night Market for a better glimpse of what stalls there might be! Hopefully you find something you like :)
           
It is good to have convenience stores at night markets because you can always find something to eat or drink in case the night market food does not suit your palate. Of course, for us, this was supplementary for our ever-hungry stomach!
寧夏夜市
Ning Xia Night Market
Address: Ningxia Rd, Datong District, Taipei City, Taiwan 103
Nearest MRT: 雙連 Shuang Lian Station
Ning Xia Night Market is conveniently located in Central Taipei (two stops away from Taipei Main Station) so it sees throngs of visitors every evening. In spite of this fact, Ning Xia is not as well-known as it should be, so after a long day of travelling to 新竹 Xin Zhu to pick strawberries, we decided to check out the place to show some support!  Unlike Rao He with its lavish entrance, Ning Xia has a plain banner at the start of its night market. This could make the night market hard to find, but we found the place rather fast after a short walk from Shuang Lian station, and it was busy!     |
鴨頭正二代
One particular stall that left a great impression was this one selling traditional Taiwan cuisine. At just 25 NTD (approx. 1.10 SGD), you get a delicious bowl of Braised Pork Rice that can fill you up enough to keep hunger away, yet hungry for more snacks! We also ordered their egg and pumpkin broth, which was extremely fragrant with a hint of sweetness.
Highly recommended!
One thing I didn't like about the market was that it was too crowded. The stalls were placed too close to each other, creating a narrow path that is borderline claustrophobic considering that it had to fit two lanes of bidirectional traffic. It was hard to stop for a photo, and if a friend buys something from a stall, you would have to walk on instead of waiting because the crowd just keeps pushing. Typical of night markets, but the stress is real in Ning Xia. Nevertheless, it can be quite a fun experience if you like crowded areas!
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Reliving my previous trips to Taipei along with this one, I am certain that Rao He Night Market and Shi Lin Night Market are my favourite places to go, the former being the one I prefer more. Which night market is your favourite?
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