Tainan is an old city. There are many historic buildings built by the Portuguese, Dutch, and Japanese in the downtown. The divergent round roads and old-fashioned houses are one of the features of Tainan. Tainan snacks are the reason why many tourists are rushing.
Traffic
Since there is no subway system in Tainan City, buses and bicycles (T-bike) are the more recommended way of transportation. You can download the “Big Tainan Bus 大台南公車” app (Chinese only) and T-bike app (English available) to help you inquire Information.
1. A-Yi Beef Soup (阿億牛肉城)
- Address：No. 1-3, Section 1, Minquan Road, West Central District, Tainan City, 700
- Price：Beef soup NTD.100(S) NTD.150(L) , Braised Pork Rice NTD.20
- Time：17:30 p.m – 1:00 a.m , Everyday
- Traffic：Bus or Bike
Beef soup is one of Tainan’s most famous foods and the lifestyle of Tainan people. The beef slaughtered every day is poured with the beef broth that has been boiled with big bone for several hours. With a bowl of braised pork rice, You can taste the original flavor of the ingredients. I suggest that the beef tastes best when it is pink.
To the tourists, Tainan’s most famous beef soup is the “WenZhang beef soup” and “Six Thousand beef soup”, but they are definitely not the two that locals will eat. Every Tainan people has a beef soup restaurant that they are used to eating.
The reason I didn’t recommend these two is that the WenZhang is too far away from Tainan Station, and Six Thousand you must get up at 5 am to line up, but believe me that A-Yi Beef Soup will not let you down.
2. Qiu Squid Rice Noodles (邱家小捲米粉)
- Address：No. 5, Section 3, Guohua St, West Central District, Tainan City, 700
- Price：Squid Rice noodles NTD.90, Squid soup NTD.90
- Time：11:00 a.m – 17:00 p.m
Checking public holiday on fan page : Facebook - Traffic：Bus or Bike
Qiu Squid Rice noodles is located in the famous Guohua Street in Tainan. Guohua Street can be said to be a representative street of Tainan snacks. The small business district formed with Zhengxing Street often holds market events and there are also many street artists on weekends. Nearby attractions are Hai’an Road and Shennong Street.
Qiu Squid Rice noodles use thicker rice noodles, which is different from the more common fine rice noodles. Thicker rice noodles will taste more chewy. The squid is quite sweet and crispy. It’s quite a match to be eaten with rich moodles.
3. A-Ming Pig Heart (阿明豬心)
- Address：No. 72, Bao’an Road, West Central District, Tainan City, 700
- Price：Pig heart with mung bean noodles NTD.55, Sesame oil pork liver NTD.60
- Time：17:00 p.m – 24:00 p.m
Checking public holiday on fan page : Facebook - Traffic：Bus or Bike
Pig heart is a common dish for Taiwanese people. It is often cooked with a variety of ingredients. A-Ming is special that it’s pig heart is only scalded with broth. When the staff brought the pig heart to you, it just appeared ripe, and the texture is quite soft and tender. The most common way is to eat with mung bean noodles.
In addition to pig heart, garlic pig trotter and sesame oil pork liver are also the most commonly ordered dishes. It is recommended to whom eat viscera must try A-Ming!
4. Kadoya
- Address：No. 36, Section 1, Shulin St, East District, Tainan City, 701
- Price：Set : Lemon Tart and Earl Grey Milk Tea NTD.250 , Set : Strawberry Puff and Raspberry Flavour Hearble Tea NTD.330
- Time：13:00 p.m ~ 20:00 p.m (Monday,Wednesday,Thursday), 13:00 p.m ~ 22:00 p.m (Friday,Saturday,Sunday), Public holiday : Tuseday
- Traffic：Bus or Bike
Tainan is an ancient capital and a gourmet paradise. Naturally, cafes and dessert shops are indispensable. Kadoya is a Japanese-style dessert shop with few indoor seats and a U-shaped bar work area in the middle. You can see staffs making drinks for you on seat.
This time I will introduce two desserts, the Lemon Tart and Strawberry Puff. The cream on the Lemon Tart is quite solid with a touch of lemon aroma. The stuffing below is quite acid enough, not too sweet. Pie skin is quite crunchy and is recommended to be served with Earl Grey Milk Tea. Strawberry Puff is made with fresh strawberries of the season, served with soft bread and sweet but not greasy cream. It is recommended to enjoy with Raspberry Flavour Hearble Tea.
5. Tai-Cheng fruit shop （泰成水果店）
- Address：No. 80, Zhengxing Street, West Central District, Tainan City, 700
- Price：Guagua ice NTD.220 (You can choose fruit you like on the top.)
- Time：14:30 p.m ~ 21:30 p.m (Monday~Friday), 13:30 p.m ~ 21:30 p.m (Saturday,Sunday),
Checking public holiday on fan page : Facebook - Traffic：Bus or Bike
Tai-Cheng Fruit Shop is a very historic shop for more than 70 years. Today, Tai-Cheng not only sells fruit, he creatively makes fruit into ice products which is very popular in Taiwan where the all seasons are like summer.
Today’s protagonist is Tai-Cheng’s most famous Guagua ice. Tai-Cheng uses a cantaloupe as a base and topped with fresh fruits or fruit smoothie. The first one in the picture is a cantaloupe with fresh strawberries and the second one is cantaloupe with red pitaya, kiwi and lemon smoothie.
6. Li-Ye （裏葉）
- Address：No.10, Alley 42, Lane 45, Section 3, Ximen Road, North District, Tainan City, 704
- Price：Dish NTD.270 (average) , Pudding NTD.100
- Time：9:30 a.m ~ 17:30 p.m
Checking public holiday on Instagram : Instagram - Traffic：Bus or Bike
Li-Ye is a brunch shop. The owner has a very unique personality. He only cares about the quality of the meal and the dining experience of the customers. He doesn’t care how to increase sales. Social media only makes basic introductions without much publicity. Ri-Ye’’s location is quite hidden, and it is very difficult to find without introduction.
The meals are very natural and healthy. The salad is very refreshing with it’s own salad dressing. Chicken breast is often used as the main course and grilled with Southeast Asian and South American sauces. The staple is Thai rice or couscous, with Indian curry or braised beans in tomato sauce.
7. NINAO (蜷尾家)
- Address：
1st : No. 92, Zhengxing Street, West Central District, Tainan City, 700
2nd : No. 720, Anbei Road, Anping District, Tainan City, 708
- Price：
1st : Ice cream NYD.90
2nd : Gelato single flavor NTD.90 , two flavors NTD.150 , take-away box NTD.480
- Time：
1st : 11:00 a.m ~ 18:00 p.m Everyday , Facebook
2nd : 11:00 a.m ~ 18:00 p.m , Public holiday : Tuesday , Facebook
- Traffic：Bus or Bike
The winner of the Gelato World Tour Silver Award in East Asia. The prize-winning work “Popcorn Litchi Honey Black Tea” is a Taiwanese forest-based ice cream. The rising ice cream represents the mountains, and the flat front is covered with popcorn, symbolizing the plain planting rice. and using A-Li mountain black tea and litchi nectar from Hsinchu to combine local culture with ice cream to bring Taiwan’s imagery to the world stage.
The first shop of NINAO is located in the Guohua Zhengxing district. It is a small street vendor with no seats. It only sells two flavors of ice cream every day. The second shop is located in Anping District. The store is quite beautiful. More flavors to choose from.
NINAO also visited Tokyo in 2018, and currently has three branches in Sanken Jaya, Azabu Juban and Ikebukuro.
