It’s very uncommon when asking a Taiwanese person what the best thing to do in their home country is and not hear about night markets. They’re found all over the world, but Taiwan seems to have established itself a culture of its own when it comes to these bustling nightly festivals that draw thousands each day.

The history of night markets is now a well-known one; originally established outside large temples or shrines, vendors and merchants would take advantage of hungry patrons who were leaving places of worship at night. From there it grew. Now, night markets don’t need to be situated near a temple to make money – from locals to tourists alike, the cheap, delicious fare, dozens of games, and endless options for dining and entertainment make these as much of a hangout spot as a megamall.

There are so many night markets around Taiwan that it’s difficult to give a definitive number. However, it wouldn’t surprise us if the number reached triple digits – though the big ones are most notoriously known and commonly mentioned, each city can have a dozen others in smaller neighbourhoods that operate only a couple of times a week. While these little markets may not cover the scope of the big guys, they often still have the basic selection of night market classics: fried chicken, QQ balls, fried squid, stinky tofu, to name a few. It’s not a bad choice if you want to avoid the crowds, even if you don’t have the same atmosphere.

The big night markets often have a couple of outstanding stalls, and it’s these ones that gather huge amounts of attention. Like the coffin toast in Tainan’s Garden Night Market or Keelung’s nutritious sandwich, you can’t go wrong with the unique stands that shine above the classics. And that’s what we’re here for.

LeHua Night Market (樂華夜市)

LeHua is an example of one of the more neighbourhood night markets. Though it operates daily, it’s a few minutes’ walk from the closest train stations in the south-western corner of Taipei, which makes it a little less accessible than other night markets situated more centrally. However, its 20,000 Google reviews recognise it as far from “small”. Pickings may have been sparse on our rainy weeknight visit, but we reckon it would be a good weekend option to get away from the stifling crowds in the likes of Ningxia and Shilin. LeHua operates on a long stretch of road which closes in the evenings, setting up from both the shops in the buildings as well as stalls that emerge at night. Plenty of your classic night market foods are available, but there are also a couple of stands that we were keen to check out.

Hidden Fried Chicken Steak (隱藏版雞排)

Taiwanese fried chicken is something we’ve already had a couple of times before in other night markets, with varying degrees of success. We’ve learned that the general rule is freshly fried is better, and as intuitive as that may seem it’s difficult to determine when a vendor is pulling chicken fresh from the oil but serving from a vat from who-knows how long before. So, as we always say, follow the crowd – a longer wait means a high demand, and accordingly, a high turnover.

One stand with lines longer than others was an unsuspecting little stall that isn’t even in the night market. Hidden Chicken Chop (隱藏版雞排) is true to its name, located in dark little alley joining two main roads. Compared to the bite-sized popcorn chicken, chicken steaks in Taiwan are equally popular, though possibly lesser known. Slabs of breast meat are pounded into a steak, crumbed with a flour dredge and deep fried to moist, juicy perfection with a touch of five spice. Chilli powder made a great addition to open up the tastebuds and increase flavour.

Thai-Style Papaya Salad (官記 純檸檬泰式涼拌青木瓜)

Every country has its own fascinations with foreign foods. Taiwan, land of great eats, is no exception; throughout this little island, Southeast Asian cuisine is commonly found, with Thai papaya salad as an uncommon, but available option in some of the night markets we visited. This one in LeHua is more of a permanent restaurant than part of the temporary market, but operates from 5pm in line with the hours of the night market.

Boasting excellent Google reviews and flaunting a huge queue, this place mixes each portion of salad to order. One portion is NTD75 (US$2.50), and hulkingly large – it’s more of a meal than a snack. Be warned also that even the lowest level of spice comes with quite a burn. When it comes to Thai food, true spiciness is no joke. The julienned papaya and chunks of tomato weren’t quite as fine as we’d have liked, making it hefty and difficult to eat. Nonetheless, with the combination of sweet, salty, savoury, and sour, the salad really embodies the complexity and freshness of Southeast Asian food quite well. It’s great if you’re looking for a refreshing cold salad.

These two dishes made for quite a filling meal – it was virtually all we ate before we called it a night, though it was also lacking a bit due to the sparseness of the drizzly weekday evening. Still a great spot to come to for a couple of unique options, if you’re looking for something a little less crowded. Just be advised that setting up takes a while – this one is best to visit at full swing.

RaoHe Night Market (饒河街觀光夜市)

This night market is located on the eastern side of the city just at the entrance of Songshan Station. It’s located just a couple of minutes’ by foot from the Wufenpu shopping district, where many visit for cheap local fast-fashion unbranded shopping. Thanks to its feature on the Michelin Guide’s website, it has gained huge amounts of attention, but without a doubt, one stand reigns supreme as the iconic dish most associated with Raohe.

Fuzhou Pork Pepper Buns (福州胡椒餅)

Originating from the Chinese city of Fuzhou, these black pepper buns have a cult hit following in Raohe. Dough is filled with a generous peppery pork mince filling and baked by slapping it onto the inner surface of a cylindrical oven very akin to an Indian tandoor. The high heat results in a thin, crisp exterior that bursts with piping-hot juice as you bite through. ShiZu Black Pepper Buns is the first thing you see upon the entrance of the Raohe Night Market, with roped entry even at opening in preparation for its queues. You can tell its popularity by its setup alone.

One hujiao bing pepper bun (胡椒餅) here is NTD55 (US$1.85), and thanks to its high turnover rate comes to you scalding hot. The exterior is almost cracker-like, with tender, juicy meat and plenty of black pepper, chives, and spring onions. It’s easy to see why this stand is the one to come here for. Truly a must-try in RaoHe.

Mochi Baby (麻糬寶寶)

Mochi is a rice cake made from glutinous rice flour cooked to form a soft, chewy dough. It’s often served with a variety of fillings or coatings such as crushed peanuts, as is served at Mochi Baby (麻糬寶寶), a Michelin Bib Gourmand recommendation.

One portion is NTD40 (US$1.35), and tastes as if filled with sugar. The mochi skin is a little thick compared to the quantity of the filling. Truthfully, we’ve had better mochi, but it’s an enjoyable enough snack if you’re craving some.

Medicinal Pork Stewed Ribs (藥燉排骨)

Medicinal stewed pork ribs are also a Bib Gourmand recommendation, even if it’s not this one stall we stopped at. Either way, we were keen to try a dish we hadn’t really encountered during our trip, so we ordered one at a sit-down table to have a go.

We ordered the medicinal stewed pork rib soup (藥燉排骨; NTD80; US$2.70), a steamy bowl of pork broth, with a smooth mouthfeel – it seems to be a very gelatinous soup. The use of Chinese medicinal herbs adds a particular flavour which may be an acquired taste, but for those who like the herbal fragrance will enjoy this, especially as it seems into the meat of the ribs. Though not falling off the bone, it’s tooth-tender, and a very satisfying eat.

Filled Mashed Taro Balls (老芋仔芋頭酥)

This one may not sound like the most appetising thing in the world, but it’s heaven for taro-lovers. Cooked taro is mashed into a ball of dough and filled with pork floss and salted egg yolk before being re-fried into a crispy ball (蛋黃肉鬆芋頭酥; NTD25; US$0.85). Other fillings include cheese (起司), red bean and salted yolk (豆沙蛋黃), and a plain taro ball (原味). Ningxia Night Market also has a similar stall whose queue runs incredibly long, but here in RaoHe we were the first ones up for a while.

The slightly sweet taro went well with a savoury pork floss and salted egg yolk, a combination of flavours that is difficult to describe to anyone who hasn’t had any of these before. Though a little expensive, one ball is fairly hefty (it’s a whole yolk after all), a surprisingly tasty eat that covered a lot of Jos’ favourites. If you’re into taro and salted egg yolk, this is a must-try.

QQ With Cheese – a.k.a A Cup of Hollow Lies

QQ balls consist of mashed sweet potato mixed with glutinous rice or tapioca flour to make a dough that is then deep-fried into a hollow, crispy ball, named as such thanks to its chewy “QQ” texture. Though this was cause for excitement for us during our first night markets, we quickly learned that these QQ balls are not only everywhere but are virtually identical from place to place.

QQ balls with cheese piqued our interest enough to fork out NTD50 (US$1.70), but it turned out to be as disappointing as we hoped it wouldn’t be. Thanks to the expansion of the dough during cooking for the hollow centre, whatever cheese they managed (or bothered) to put in turned out as nothing more than a smear of ambiguous, bland goo. It’s technically not bad, but nothing as good as it markets itself to be.

An Alternative Black Pepper Bun (武大郎胡椒餅)

WuDaLang is located on the corner right at the entrance of RaoHe night market, even before you get to ShiZu Pepper Buns. A little cheaper at NTD50 (US$1.70) each, the quality is distinctly different. It’s not quite as fresh considering it’s been sitting fully cooked on the counter but the heat of the oven means it’s not cold at all. Perhaps the oven is more inconsistent, as we found that there were patches of slight burning, and the meat is more homogenous. While quite different in texture, it’s not the case that one is far better than the other; Jos preferred Shizu, whereas Noms preferred WuDaLang. If possible, try both. There’s no reason not to.

Packed with food and games, RaoHe expands along a main street with plenty of side alleys who also offer their own fares. It’s an excellent option as a night market, especially after a long day of WuFenPu shopping.

TongHua, aka Linjiang Street Night Market (臨江街夜市 (通化夜市))

A fairly large night market, Tonghua or Linjiang Street consists mostly of stalls which are wheeled out upon nightfall, standing packed side-by-side. Again there are plenty of options, with a couple of unique stalls that we thought we would give a go.

Papa Fu’s Meat Rolls (富爸爸肉捲)

Seems like Papa Fu had an idea, and it was a good one. Your choice of meat is rolled with cheese and vegetables before being crumbed, deep-fried, and served with a side of what seems to be a fresh tomato salsa. At NTD100 (US$3.30), it’s a pricy option, but it’s large and claims to use Omi beef, one of the Big 3 in terms of Japanese wagyu beef. It even has a certificate displayed to back up this claim, so we figured it was worth a go.

It’s one of those dishes which are engineered for maximum enjoyment – served hot, it has a satisfying, hearty crunchy exterior and is filled with that low-quality, bland stretchy mozzarella that exists purely for the pull. The fresh tomato salsa is a welcome side dish thanks to its acid, but it appears to change depending on season. It’s super tasty, and we would totally recommend it, even if we can’t tell it’s wagyu. You can check out their Facebook page here.

Sweet Potato King (蕃薯王)

We always say that Taiwan loves its sweet potatoes, and the fries they make from them is no joke. At Sweet Potato King, you can choose from orange, purple, and red sweet potatoes, as well as normal potatoes. We went with the anthocyanin-rich purple at NTD40 (US$1.35) for a decent heap. These are battered, deep-fried, and dusted with a sweet-sour plum powder that’s totally addictive.

The crisp outside, fluffy inside, and perfect seasoning makes for a great snack as you walk through the night market. It’s a must-eat for those who love sweet potatoes.

DaHan Grassland XinJiang Grilled Skewers (大漢草原新疆羊肉串)

XinJiang is a province in northwestern China bordering Russia and several Central Asian countries. The influences of these countries are evident in their cuisine, which is reflected in their Muslim-friendly dishes. These skewers have options of lamb, beef, pork (surprisingly), and chicken, dusted in a blend of cumin and other spices before being grilled.

Order by taking a tray and heaping it with as many sticks as you like for NTD20 (US$0.70) each. We chose a single lamb skewer – probably an unusual thing to do – and it was delicious. Perfectly cooked, slightly smoky, tender, salty, spiced, and fragrant. The cooking and spices toned down the strange smell that some lamb meat can have, but we can see that it would be easy to polish off a whole tray in one go. Tasty!

Plenty of games and things to eat makes this one a great stop for a night market! Thanks to the beef roll, we had something we wouldn’t have tried otherwise, and plenty of claw machines to try your hand for only NTD10 (US$0.35) a go.

ShiLin Night Market (士林夜市)

Possibly one of the largest night markets in Taiwan, Shilin’s Night Market is arguably comprised of a handful of markets spanning a huge area all squished together and denoted as one. It has an above-ground and underground market, with countless options throughout a maze of streets, making it literally endless in terms of what to eat and do.

Old Shilin Small Pocket in Large Pocket (老士林大餅包小餅)

In the basement foodcourt of the night market is a stand whose product is something we’d never seen before in Taiwan – like the concept of having a sausage inside a larger rice sausage, this comprises of a small pancake inside a large pancake. There are several options of both sweet and savoury fillings, including red bean, peanut, sesame, chilli, curry, and seaweed, but we went with pork floss for NTD45 (US$1.50). A crispy bing griddle pancake is crushed, covered in the topping of your choice and wrapped in a soft flour pancake not unlike a flour tortilla.

Because of the lack of sauce, it is a little dry, and the outside pancake a little floury. But thanks to the crunch of the little pancake and the savoury pork floss, it made for a strangely delicious but unhealthy eat. It might make for a great dip in a hot Chinese porridge.

Grilled King Oyster Mushroom (碳烤杏鮑菇)

One stand outside that had a huge queue sold slices of grilled king oyster mushrooms. At NTD100 (US$3.30) per 240g portion, it isn’t the cheapest eat in the world but we thought we’d give it a go. We went with the classic black pepper flavour, though one portion can have up to 2 seasonings.

Nice and firm, these mushrooms are tender but bitey, with an excellent balance of the grilled flavour and the spicy pepper. Though we agreed it was a little spendy, the mushrooms were of good quality and it was a delicious purchase.

Papaya Milk (木瓜牛奶)

JianJi Papaya Milk (簡記木瓜牛奶) sells a Taiwanese favourite – while western countries have chocolate or strawberry-flavoured milks, Taiwan takes fruit-flavoured drinks to a new level, offering a whole variety of fruits blended with milk or creamers. JianJi sells one 500mL portion for NTD40 (US$1.30), making it one of the cheapest options we’d found in Taiwan.

Papaya has firm, creamy, orange flesh that is tropical in flavour, sort of a mix between a mango and a peach. When blended with milk, the flavour is toned down but makes for a sweetened, refreshing drink that explained just why it was so popular in Taiwan. It’s really delicious, and highly recommended.

Bubble Milk Tea Soufflé Pancake

We’ve written more about bubble milk tea than a lot of other dishes originating from Taiwan, so go check out all the information you need to know on our milk tea article. This dish plays into both the trend of milk tea and Japanese-style soufflé pancakes – tall, jiggly, slow-cooked pancakes are stacked and covered with a sweet, milky tea sauce and chewy black tapioca pearls. At this one soufflé pancake store in Shilin, one serving of this will set you back an eye-watering NTD120 (US$4), but hey, anything to see what the hype is all about.

We hated it. It may have been this one store in particular, but the combination of the undercooked, doughy pancakes, the bland sauce, and the relentlessly chewy bubbles made for an awful finish to an otherwise interesting evening.

ShiLin is overall an excellent place to come if you have limited time and you’re looking to experience as much as possible in one go. Thanks to a huge area, you can wander around for hours and get the best of most things a night market has to offer.

NingXia Night Market (寧夏夜市)

NingXia is a fully open-air night market a few minutes’ walk from Taipei Station. It stretches down a main road that is closed in the evenings, and though not very heavy on the games or merchandise, still has a number of every kind of stall to keep you entertained between eats. Keep in mind that queues run behind the stalls in the cases of the most popular eats, in order to keep people out of the way of the narrow lanes.

Stall 122: Salted Egg Yolk Custard Taro Balls

NingXia is famous for its fried mashed taro balls filled with salted egg yolk and pork floss, a version of which we tried in RaoHe Night Market previously. In NingXia, the equivalent stall gathers a huge queue that snakes for several metres down the road. We didn’t bother with that one, as we couldn’t fathom how much better it could be from RaoHe’s, but instead made a stop at Stall 122. Here, the fried balls of mashed taro are filled with a salted yolk custard, and sell for NTD100 (US$3.30) for four pieces, which sounds expensive but they are very large in size.

The taro is crispy and fluffy. The custard isn’t as molten as we’d expected, but complements the sweetness of the taro well. Again, it’s another of those dishes that may not make sense to people who weren’t raised on such flavours, but to us it’s undeniably delicious. One of Jos’ favourites.

Stall 82: Cold Drinks

In need of a cold drink, we decided to try something with aiyu jelly as it’s so popular in Taiwan but we hadn’t yet tried it. Aiyu jelly is made from the gel of the seed of a type of fig, and is common in Taiwan and Singapore but few other places. We tried the lemon juice with aiyu jelly (NTD40; US$1.30). We loved it immediately – the juice is sweet, tart, and refreshingly cold, the richness of the flavours toned down by the slightly bland jelly.

Beware that the juice disappears faster than the jelly – we were soon left with nothing else but that at the bottom, and thanks to its slight bitterness, made for not much of a drink in the end. Still, the juice made it so worthwhile, we would highly recommend it.

Stall 23: Meat Roll Stall

Spring onions are rolled into strips of pork belly, then basted in sauce as it grills. One stick is NTD12 (US$0.40). It was really tasty; the sauce was sweet and peppery, and the rich, fatty meat was balanced by the bright flavour of the spring onions. It’s definitely a one-mouthful thing, as it’s difficult to share via biting in half, as we learned.

Stall 61: Sugar Syrup Fruit Stall

Another common snack in China and the surrounding countries is covering a stick of skewered fruits in a hot sugar syrup. As the syrup cools, it hardens into a crispy shell. Any combination of fruits can be used, with a common fruit being hawthorn thanks to its tart, slightly astringent flavour balancing the sweet sugar. Here, they also sell cherry tomatoes and strawberries, but we went with just the strawberries, as Noms is not too particular to cherry tomatoes.

One stick was NTD50 (US$1.70). To our delight, we found that the heat of the sugar syrup had cooked the strawberries slightly, causing it to bleed out some of its juice. Warm, crispy, sweet, a little sour, and flavourful, it was a no-brainer when Noms chose this as one of her favourite night market eats.

Stall 115: Peanut Ice Cream Coriander Roll

This curious dish is an unusual mix of a thin flour pancake wrapped around crushed peanuts, taro ice cream, and a handful of fresh coriander leaves (cilantro). It’s found throughout Taiwan but we hadn’t had a chance to give it a go until now, so we bought one for NTD45 (US$1.50).

It was a little strange for us, as we’d never eaten anything like this before, but in the same way that mint is used for sweet dishes we didn’t find that coriander was an outlandish addition. It was refreshing in some ways, and thanks to the combination of creamy ice-cream, crunchy nuts, and the chewy pancake, it was definitely an experience in itself.

NingXia turned out to be one of our favourite night markets in Taipei; thanks to its size it offers plenty of food and drink, with a variety of the classics and some unusual offerings too. If you’re looking for a place to sit down for a meal, the buildings that line the streets also have restaurants of which some stay open for the night. It was a strong end to our final night in Taipei.