台北夜市 2016 Taipei Night Market

We revisited some of the night markets that we had been to previously, so here are some updates on the places. For reviews of our past night market trips, please see here.

南機場夜市 Nanjichang Night Market

Being one of the closest night markets to Ximending area, and a more local style night market (as opposed to the touristy ones) with decent seating, we opted to bring my parents here first. There might not be many stalls, but there were a pretty decent variety of food options.

It was a short cab ride away (around NT$85 one way), and the first shop we went to was  呷臭彈蒸臭豆腐, for dad to try out some steamed stinky tofu.

We got ourselves a 小辣現蒸臭豆腐 Freshly-steamed Smelly Tofu (NT$70), a small 麻香麵 Dry Noodles with Sesame (NT$40), as well as a 桂花烏梅汁 Osmanthus Plum Juice (NT$20) to share.

Actually, we wanted to bring them to the more famous 臭老闆現蒸臭豆腐 that we went to during our previous trip, but I got confused about the 2 shops… Oops! Luckily, this one was not too bad.

The tofu was not bad, but I think dad was really wanting to find those super stinky ones, and so he was kind of disappointed. On the other hand, mum thought it was stinky enough, and could not wait to get out of the shop. The noodles was quite fragrant, and the Osmanthus Plum Juice was a refreshing end to the meal.

Next stop was 豐味上海涼拌手撕雞 Chicken Cold Cuisine of Shanghai, because we wanted to have some vegetables. For NT$100, we got ourselves a huge bowl of greens 涼拌綜合時蔬 (any 5 vegetables selection with additional onions and bamboo shoots). The addition of onions and lemon juice made this very tangy and yummy!

士林夜市 Shilin Night Market

Top of the list of to-do for dad’s first trip to Taipei, was to visit 士林夜市 Shilin Night Market.

We had been here quite a few times previously, but this was the quietest visit ever 😮

Since Shilin Night Market re-opened in December 2011 with an underground food street/food court, this was the first time that we found the food court to be completely empty. The LED display that indicated number of people within the food court was not even switched on, and we had to find the elevator since the escalator was not in operation.

Once we were inside, we saw more vendors than customers. That was quite a shock to us, and needless to say, we did not try anything within the food court, since we were not sure how fresh the ingredients might be. We strolled around, but nothing caught our fancy too.

The crowd was better along the roads, so, that was were we bought our food.

Of course, we gotta try the 煙燻無骨雞爪 Smoked Boneless Chicken Feet! The original was a tad more on the saltier side, but it is always a favourite snack for me 🙂 This was followed by the a 苦瓜汁 Bitter Gourd Drink, which I was told that the white bitter gourd was not in season, so I ended up with the normal green one… till I discovered other stalls selling the white version. I felt that I was cheated of my NT$80 😦

We were getting quite cold and tired, so we sat down at 圓合興(客家媽媽湯圓) and had 芝麻湯圓紅豆湯 Sesame Glutinous Riceballs in Red Bean Soup (NT$60) (Parents enjoyed it), 傳統豆花桂圓湯 Traditional Guiyuan Beancurd Soup (NT$40) (I like the smooth beancurd, but the longan soup base was a bit too sweet), and 鍋燒雞絲麵 Chicken Shred Noodle (NT$85).

As we continued walking, we spotted a popular oden shop, and 豬血 Pig’s Blood was listed as one of the items, and so.. you know.. Of course we would buy!! Item prices ranged from NT$15 to NT$40, and it was very shiok to have something so warm on such a cold night.

Along the way, hubby found himself a NT$39 iPhone 7 transparent cover, and was immensely pleased with himself. He kept wanting to find a very thin cover, and all other vendors that we been to were either selling bling bling chio chio covers, or very thick transparent covers. As one vendor said, if you want a very thin cover, you might as well as not get one, since it would not serve as a good protection. However this Apple fan is adamant that one should not cover up the beauty and slimness of the iPhone 7… 😛

We managed to cover quite a fair bit of the night market before calling it a night. However, we did not manage to find the elusive 鹽酥雞 Salted Popcorn Chicken, we would have to find another night market for dad to visit… Is 鹽酥雞 no longer the “in” thing to eat at night markets??

饒河夜市 Raohe Night Market

Another popular night market that we visited during this trip was the 饒河夜市 Raohe Night Market. Despite being a weekday, it was quite crowded! This was also where we finally found 鹽酥雞 Salted Popcorn Chicken! Finally, dad got his wish to try it out, and we also got the 杏鮑菇 Fried King Oyster Mushroom to share (NT$60 each). The 鹽酥雞 came with some basil, which was really thoughtful for it could get a little too heavy with all the fried stuff.

We could not resist the 北大洋深海大魷魚 Deep-fried Cuttlefish and got the NT$150 version (prices varied according to the size of the cuttlefish). I liked it.  Then, we saw 花枝燒 BBQ squid stall. Since we already had the cuttlefish, we thought of trying the Fried Mini Crabs. Eh… the mini crabs were full of calcium goodness, which meant that our mouths got tired very quickly… Mum quickly bought a drink from 西哥木瓜牛奶 next door, hehe.

Soon, we were quite tired from standing around, and quickly found 巷口亭豆花  to take a break. Dad wanted to try the Mango Shaved Ice (not bad, mango chunks were quite sweet), while  I opted for a Hot Grass Jelly Dessert (what is not to love about huge pieces of grass jelly?)

There were many shops selling quirky stuff as well, and we got ourselves some canned plants. The vendor assured us that the varieties we picked would grow well in Singapore’s weather. (Post trip: Erm… 1 out of 3 had herb growing; the other 2 had algae, hahahaha!)

Before leaving the night market, we got ourselves a 胡椒餠 Pepper Bun, since this was supposed to be a popular snack of this night market. The super famous stall had a very long queue, so we just bought one from another stall that claimed that it would be free if it was not nice. Erm… It was not very nice, but hubby just finished the whole thing for all of us 😛

西门町”夜市” Ximending “Night Market”

We are not entirely certain if this qualifies as a night market, because some of these stalls were illegal… 😛 But we spotted the mobile stalls almost every night at different timings, and they shift around trying to avoid the police. It is kinda sad as these hawkers were just trying to make a living! However, there were also some permanent stalls within Ximending, so there were always food available whenever we wanted some supper. Here were the stalls where we got our supper / street snacks from:

Permanent shop fronts

繼光香香雞 J&G Fried Chicken

This was a popular shop that we often saw queues at night! We got a portion of 香香炸雞 Deep Fried Chicken (NT$75 for medium portion).

Slightly spicy, we thought it was quite alright. Other than chicken, they also sell other deep fried items, such as cuttlefish, king oyster mushrooms, fries, etc.

• Location: 台北市萬華區漢中街121-1號, No. 121-2, Hanzhong St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
• Website: www.jgssg.com.tw
• Hrs: 11:30am – 11pm (Mon – Sun)

艾菲爾可麗餅専売舖 Crêperie Eiffel

This stall was just next to our hotel, so we passed by it every single day. Pass by everyday, so gotta try it, right? 😛 We got the 煙燻雞肉 Smoked Chicken Flavour (NT$75), and it was delicious! The crepe was very crispy and had a lovely egg fragrance to it. Best eaten hot, before it turned soggy due to the ingredients.

• Location: 台北市萬華區中華路1段114巷4-9號旁 Next to No. 4-9, Lane 114, Section 1, Zhonghua Rd, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
• Website: creperie.eiffel.free.fr
• Hrs: 1:30pm – 10:30pm (Mon – Fri), 12pm – 10:30pm (Sat – Sun, Public Holidays)

大姐水煎包 Big Sister Pan-Fried Bun

This was supper post supper 😛 We were still not sleepy and recalled seeing this 24-hour stall previously which we wanted to check out. We got ourselves a 葱油餠 Spring Onion Pancake (NT$20) and a 鮮肉包 Fresh Pork Bun (NT$12). Both were so juicy!! The pancake was filled entirely with spring onions and it was really fragrant. We are still salivating just blogging about it, gosh!

• Location: 台北市萬華區漢口街二段44號, No. 44, Section 2, Hankou St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
• Website: www.facebook.com/dasister23122132/
• Hrs: 24 hours (daily)

巫記青蛙下蛋

We got ourselves a 青蛙爱玉 Aiyu with Sago Pearls (NT$40). Aiyu is a kind of jelly made from the gel from the seeds of a fig variety commonly found in Taiwan, while the sago pearls was something similar to what we have in bubble tea drinks. This was a rather sweet drink, and personally I preferred bubble tea. Also, we did not care much about the poor attitude of the staff. Perhaps it was quite late and she was too tired? Super grouchy!

• Location: 台北市萬華區中華路1段116號 No. 116, Section 1, Zhonghua Rd, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
• Website: www.facebook.com/pages/巫記青蛙下蛋/125191427549657
• Hrs: 9:30am – 2am (Wed – Mon)

魷魚船—巨無霸現炸魷魚

We walked past this stall many times and the smell of the deep-fried cuttlefish always get to us!

We got a big piece of the goodness on the second night and the huge cuttlefish did not disappoint!

• Location: 台北市萬華區武昌街二段 Section 2, Wuchang Rd, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
• Website: www.facebook.com/魷魚船巨無霸現炸魷魚-760401284079250/
• Hrs: 5:30pm – 12:30am (Mon, Wed–Fri), 4pm – 12:30am (Sat-Sun)

28古早味凉面＆脆皮臭豆腐 28 Cold Noodles & Crispy Stinky Toufu

With a tiny shop front that could be quite easy to miss, we came here especially for the 古早味凉面 Old School Cold Noodles (NT$45). There was a little strip pasted on the wall that said that we should stir the noodles 28 times, and wait 2 minutes for the noodles to absorb the sauce before eating. I think waiting 2 minutes while staring at the noodles had some psychological effect, for we could not wait to attack it as soon as 2 minutes was over!

• Location: 台北市萬華區昆明街103號, No. 103, Kunming St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
• Hrs: 9:30am – 2am (Wed – Mon)

西門町麥亨堡早餐店 Ximending Mai Heng Bao Breakfast Shop

Located near the 早餐街 Breakfast Street, this appeared to be a rather popular breakfast option, judging by the number of people doing takeaways, and the small tables along the walkway packed with customers. Not to worry about the lack of seats though, for there were additional tables and chairs stacked by the side of the small shop front, and the staff would quickly set up even more tables along the walkway if required. Despite the many customers, it did not feel crowded.

We shared 火腿蛋蛋餅 Ham and Egg Crepe (NT$30) , 總匯蛋餅 Combo Egg Crepe (NT$50), and a cup of 豆漿 Soy Milk (NT$20 (L)). The egg crepes were piping hot and awesome! Totally enjoyed the breakfast here 🙂

• Location: 台北市萬華區西寧南路 93 號, No. 93, Xining South Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
• Website: www.facebook.com/pages/西門町麥亨堡早餐店/212834802108417
• Hrs: 5am – 2pm (Daily)

Mobile Vendors

地瓜球 Sweet Potato Balls (NT$30 for small portion): This was a mochi-like mini balls made from sweet potato flour, which was best eaten while hot. Not much comments, because I’m not a fan of mochi.. ha ha ha 😛

蔬菜大煎餅 Vegetarian Pancakes (NT$50-60 per portion): There were 7 flavours to choose from, and we opted for 菜脯蛋 egg with preserved turnip. We totally loved the sweet and savoury pancake, which came along with crunchy vegetables… yummy! This also happened to be the stall that we followed into the side alley when the police came and they all went into hiding… We managed to place our order when the coast was clear, and heard their side of the story.