One Day Eating Through Taipei: Beef Noodle, Michelin Gua Bao, Boba, and the Best Crispy Pork at Ningxia Night Market

We spent New Year's Eve in Taipei and decided to dedicate the day to eating through the city. It rained the entire time. We did not care at all.

This was our first time in Taiwan and we had heard the food was in a completely different category. By the end of the day, we agreed. Here is everything we ate, where we went, and the one dish at Ningxia Night Market you should not skip under any circumstances.

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Stop 1: Wuhong Beef Noodle (Morning)

We started the day with beef noodle, which felt like the right introduction to Taipei. Wuhong Beef Noodle had over 20,000 Google reviews and a line even in the morning.

We ordered one beef noodle and one braised beef dish to share. The beef noodle was 150 TWD. The braised beef was 1,060 TWD.

Beef noodle: Very simple but very good. The soup is the star here. Not too salty, full of depth, and the beef was tender throughout. The noodles are thick and chewy. Strong first impression of Taiwanese food.

Braised beef: Served with sesame sauce and peanut. This was the highlight of the two dishes. Rich and savory with the peanut adding a distinct sweetness to it. Both of us finished everything.

If you are starting your first day in Taipei, this is a great anchor meal.

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Sightseeing: Huashan 1914 Creative Park and Longshan Temple

Between meals we walked through Huashan 1914 Creative Park, which is a cluster of old factory buildings that have been renovated into an arts and culture district. Nice for a wander between spots.

Then we visited Longshan Temple (also called Dragon Mountain Temple). This is one of the most well-known temples in Taipei and it was genuinely impressive. Giant koi in the pond, enormous decorative dragons, turtles eating moss along the water edge, and incense burning throughout. The offering and prayer process is similar to what we have seen in Japan and Korea, but the design language is completely its own. The level of detail in the art and architecture is worth taking your time with. We would recommend it to anyone visiting Taipei.

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Stop 2: Yuenfang Gua Bao (Michelin)

This is the stop we had been anticipating. Yuenfang is known for their gua bao and has earned a Michelin recognition for it. We arrived around 11:40 AM and the line was already building. Night time we were told it would be significantly longer.

Gua bao is a steamed bun filled with braised pork, pickled vegetables, and toppings. The Yuenfang version has peanut powder, cilantro, and a very particular combination of sweet and savory flavors that is genuinely unlike anything we had tasted before.

Neither of us usually likes cilantro. In this context, it worked completely. The peanut powder adds sweetness and texture. The braised pork is soft and fatty. Everything together creates a combination that justified every minute of the wait.

Would it be worth waiting an hour? Yes. Two hours? Probably yes.

This is one of those dishes that is simple on paper but executed at a level you cannot replicate elsewhere. The Michelin recognition made sense the moment we bit into it.

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Stop 3: Fang Boba in Ximending

Ximending is the youth and pop culture district of Taipei, similar in energy to Myeongdong in Seoul. We went specifically for boba from Fang (Chun Shui Tang is sometimes credited as the origin, but Fang was our stop here). Taiwan is where bubble tea started, so trying it here feels like a requirement.

The verdict: Creamy and well balanced. Vincent showed up in a boba t-shirt he bought the day before specifically for this moment.

There are boba shops every few steps in Ximending. Walk around, try a few.

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Stop 4: Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken (Ximending Area)

While wandering Ximending, Vincent found Taiwanese popcorn chicken. This is different from Korean fried chicken. Taiwanese style is smaller, bite-sized pieces with a lighter coating and a distinctly sweet profile that surprised us.

Our take: good, crunchy, and worth trying for the comparison. A touch of spice would make it better. At 55 TWD (roughly $1.75 USD) it is an easy snack to grab.

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Detour: Hello Kitty 7-Eleven

Taiwan has a Hello Kitty collab 7-Eleven and we could not walk past without stopping. This is very on-brand for Taiwan. Hello Kitty is everywhere in this country, possibly more than in Japan.

We got a melon coolish (tastes like melon, not bad) and a watermelon milk that looked interesting in theory. The watermelon milk tasted artificial. Skip that one.

Taiwan 7-Elevens in general are worth a visit beyond the Hello Kitty angle. They carry things you genuinely will not find in convenience stores anywhere else.

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Stop 5: Ningxia Night Market (Final Stop and Best of the Day)

Ningxia Night Market has close to 60,000 Google reviews and the reputation matches. We went in the evening and the energy was excellent.

Stinky tofu: Present and accounted for. We could smell it from a distance. We made the strategic decision not to eat it because we were not ready to potentially ruin our appetite for everything else. No regrets.

Taiwanese sausage (50 TWD): Sweet and different from Korean or Chinese sausage styles. Less sweet than we expected but with its own distinct flavor. Good on its own and would go well with rice. Worth getting.

Sweet potato balls: Fried dough around sweet potato, purple and yellow varieties. The purple version is sweeter and closer to taro/yam in flavor. Both are puffy and airy inside with a crispy shell. Simple, cheap, and very good.

Taiwanese guava: A market vendor was slicing green guava and we had never tried it before. It tastes like a cross between apple and pear, mild and slightly sweet with a crisp texture. Refreshing and different from the tropical guava most people know.

Crispy pork (the best thing we ate all day):

200 TWD. You can add spicy powder, cumin, and onion. We added everything.

We almost skipped this one. We were full, it was late, we thought we would move on. We did not move on. We are very glad.

This pork is not fried. We are not entirely sure how they prepare it, but the result is simultaneously the crunchiest and juiciest pork we have ever had. Crunchy on the outside in a way that was audible when the vendor cut it, yet completely juicy inside without any dryness. The cumin and onion toppings elevated it further.

It was the best highlight of the entire night market. Possibly the best pork either of us has ever eaten. The vendor did not have a long line when we passed, which somehow made it feel more like a real discovery.

If you go to Ningxia Night Market: find this vendor. Do not skip it. You will regret it.

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Final Thoughts on the Day

Taipei food delivered everything we had heard about it. The flavors are distinct from Korean, Japanese, and Chinese food despite sharing influences with all three. Every stop had something that surprised us. The crispy pork was a genuine shock. The gua bao at Yuenfang was worth every minute in line.

The rain was constant all day. It did not affect anything. If anything, the night market in the rain had a particular atmosphere to it that felt right.

We had two full days in Taipei and could have used four. More Taiwan content is on the channel.