Best Restaurants in Ximending

Theo

I've lived in Taiwan for over 5 years and love discovering all it has to offer. I made this blog to share Taiwan living and travel resources I wish I'd had.

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Category: Taipei Attractions, Taiwanese Food

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This post is a work in progress and information transfered from my other guide on things to do in Ximending. This post has all relevant information to what you’re looking for.

But I just need to work on a few minor things.

Anyway.

Best Restaurants, Bars, & Cafes in Ximending

Here are a bunch of places I recommend eating/drinking at:

RestaurantChinese NameBest FoodAddress
Xing Fu Tang幸福堂Brown sugar bubble teaNo. 101號, Hanzhong St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
Hot Star Fried Chicken豪大大雞排Fried chicken breastsNo. 36, Hanzhong St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, 108
Drift Brewery西門町Craft beerNo. 46, Kunming St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, 108
Snow King雪王冰淇淋Exotic ice cream100, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongzheng District, Section 1, Wuchang St, 65號2樓
Fuhong Beef Noodles富宏牛肉麵Beef noodlesNo. 67–69, Luoyang St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
Yong He Soy Milk永和豆漿Deep fried dough sticks & soy milkNo. 30號, Section 2, Hankou St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
Starbucks Chengdu XimenNACoffeeNo. 87號, Chengdu Rd, Wanhua District, Taipei City, 108
Ay-Chung Flour Rice noodle阿宗麵線Flour rice noodlesNo. 8-1號, Emei St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, 108
FUFU Cat CafeNACat cafe號 3 樓, No. 53, Section 2, Wuchang St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, 108
Eighty Eightea Rinbansyo Tea House八拾捌茶輪番所Japanese-style tea houseNo. 174, Section 1, Zhonghua Rd, Wanhua District, Taipei City, 108
Lilith in Wonderland台灣主題女僕咖啡廳Maid cafe10843, Taipei City, Wanhua District, Section 2, Wuchang St, 29號3樓
Mong Kok Stone Hot Pot旺角石头火锅Best hot pot restaurantNo. 74號, Section 1, Zhonghua Rd, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
No English name天天利小吃店Traditional Taiwanese dishesNo. 118號, Desheng St, Luzhou District, New Taipei City, 247
The Duck House鴨肉扁土鵝專賣店Best goose restaurantNo. 98之2號, Section 1, Zhonghua Rd, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108

I don’t have enough room to also include the hours of each business. Type each address into Google and you’ll also see each business’ hours.

Ximending’s Modern Toilet Restaurant is popular restaurant for a due to serving food out of dishes shaped like toilet bowls. I haven’t been here yet. However, it’s what a million other bloggers in Taiwan will recommend.

Does Ximending have a night market? Kind of. There are several alleyways filled with street food vendors, which technically defines a Taiwanese night market.

I’ll provide more details on some of my favorite food places below.

1. Snow King: Best Ice Cream

Chinese name王冰淇淋
Address100, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongzheng District, Section 1, Wuchang St, 65號2樓
Hours12–8 PM
PriceNT$100+ per scoop

雪王冰淇淋 (Xuě wáng bīngqílín), or the Snow King, opened its doors to Taiwanese and foreigners alike in 1947. From there, Kao Jih-hsing, the owner, conjured hundreds of flavors that I never knew anyone could turn into ice cream.

There are plenty of unique flavors you won’t around most places in the world like:

Most of these flavors cost around NT$100 ($3.00) per scoop, which makes them a great deal compared to other ice cream shops in the area.

When I went, I tried the osmanthus and mochi flavors. The mochi flavor was strong, but it counteracted the interesting salty and sugary taste of the osmanthus ice cream.

Don’t get me wrong, both flavors tasted good, which was a surprise. However, it’s just not something that I’m used to.

Snow King has an English and Chinese menu. Moreover, the staff won’t have a difficult time figuring out what you’re saying.

All the flavors Snow King has in March 2022.

The seating wasn’t cramped. If you sit alongside the wall, you’ll see the small business’ awards and newspaper clippings. Read these while you’re waiting for your ice cream and eating.

You may have a hard time finding Snow King, because they don’t have an English sign. However, here’s a picture of what to look for. Once you arrive, make your way up the stairs and the staff will give you a menu.

entrance, snow king, taipei, Taiwan

From there, you choose your seat. Whenever you’re ready to order, make your way to the counter and tell (or show) them what ice cream you want.

Snow king flavors

OsmantusCustard appleKaoliang liquor
Oolong teaEggWasabi
CurryBasilSesame oil chicken
Sticky riceGingerChili pepper
osmanthus and mochi flavored ice cream, snow king, ximending taipei, Taiwan
Osmanthus and mochi ice cream

2. Fuhong Beef Noodles: Best Beef Noodles

Recommended restaurantFuhong Beef Noodles
Restaurant Chinese name富宏牛肉麵
AddressNo. 67–69, Luoyang St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
Hours24/7
PriceNT$100

Taiwanese brought red braised beef noodle soup to life in 1949 after the Kuomintang (KMT) fled China during the Chinese Civil War [2].

Now you’ll find beef noodle shops throughout Taiwan. However, a noteworthy one resides in Ximending.

Fuhong Beef Noodles. It’s a humble restaurant that looks like any regular Taiwanese restaurant. Yet, they cook up some of the best beef noodles the city has to offer.

I love thick noodles and prefer a little softer meat, which my meal had. The noodles also weren’t too soft or thick—they had an ideal texture.

Price-wise—a medium-sized bowl, which is likely all you’ll need, will cost you NT$100 ($3.00). It’s an amazing deal, considering the amount of food you get. Also get a free soda with your meal.

I recommend first trying your beef noodles without any sauces. Afterward, if you want to experiment, add chili sauce, black or white vinegar, and other sauces to your noodles. I don’t recommend adding too much chili sauce, though. If you don’t like too much salt, you’ll want to be careful at Fuhong.

I didn’t see an English menu when I went there. Order by saying 中碗牛肉麵 (zhong wan niu rou mian), or show the staff this Chinese word. 中 (zhong) is medium. If you want a small bowl, say 小 (xiao). Or, say 大 (da) for large.

You can also translate this list on Google Translate, pick what you want, and show it to the staff. These Chinese characters are written vertically (top to bottom).

After ordering, just wait at your spot, play on your phone, and once your noodles arrive, feast.

3. Yong He Soy Milk: Best Breakfast Spot in Ximending

AddressNo. 30號, Section 2, Hankou St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
Hours12 AM–2:30 PM7:45 PM–12 AM
Price<NT$100 per item

Lots of foreigners have good things to say about Yong He Soy Milk, even though they have multiple locations throughout Taiwan. However, if you’re planning a trip to Ximending, Yong He is where you’ll want to go for the first meal of your day.

It’s a traditional Taiwanese breakfast joint that has:

  • Great-tasting soy milk
  • Fried breadsticks
  • Radish cakes
  • Dumplings with ginger
  • Rice rolls

The meals won’t cost you much—you can usually find items under NT$100 each at the cost of not having much English support.

They have an English menu, take your menu to the staff and point at what you want. When they announce your total, they’ll likely do what most Taiwanese do to foreigners, show you the total on a calculator.

You can find seating inside and out, depending on the weather.

Other Restaurants in Ximending

I’m working on organizing these: