Taiwan Today

Taiwan’s culinary scene, from fine dining to street eats, is winning wider recognition.

Few can resist crispy-skinned roast goose wrapped in delicate pancakes, especially when it is made by the chefs at Le Palais restaurant in the Palais de Chine Hotel in Taipei City. Equally divine are the steamed dumplings stuffed with lobster and prawn, a popular dim sum dish at the high-end location. “The average Cantonese restaurant offers myriad varieties of dim sum but we’ve homed in on just a handful, each of which is made by a dedicated cook to ensure quality,” said David Ding (丁原偉), president of Palais de Chine operator FDC International Hotels Corporation.

Diners at Le Palais are treated like the royalty that the restaurant’s name implies. Ding explained the precision and focus that the restaurant brings to the table. “We’re particular about the spacing of seats and the timing of each course,” he said. Staff members provide meticulous service to all guests, guided by the management’s philosophy of excellence. Notably, the restaurant created a halal menu that is certified by the Taipei-based Chinese Muslim Association, joining more than 330 establishments around the country that have earned halal certification.

The status of Le Palais as the epitome of Taiwan’s culinary excellence has been internationally recognized for five years running. When the Michelin Guide first turned its attention to Taiwan in 2018, Le Palais was the only restaurant on its inaugural Taipei list to receive three stars, a top honor which it has maintained ever since. The guide expanded its coverage to include the central city of Taichung in 2020 and further to the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung in 2022, which saw 38 restaurants receive their first stars and brought attention to chefs working in styles including Taiwanese, Japanese, French and fusion cuisines.
 

Honoring Diversity

Budget-conscious diners can consult Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list, which tracks eateries that offer great quality at reasonable prices. Over 140 locations throughout Taiwan made it onto the list in 2022 and Gulu Gulu in Taichung has been selected for the past two years. The menu presents distinctive courses from different Indigenous cultures around Taiwan such as the traditional rice dumplings of the restaurant founder Chiu Chin-ming’s (邱金明) Paiwan people. Sausages flavored with maqaw, a spice used by Atayal cooks, are another hit, and seasonal foods like smoked flying fish caught off the southeastern coast by Amis fishers are available in spring and fall. “Our ingredients are freshly sourced from Indigenous communities and cooked with traditional methods to showcase their essential flavors,” said Chiu. “International tourists love the unique perspective on Taiwan they get at Gulu Gulu.”

Another Bib Gourmand spot in Taichung illustrates the flourishing ties between Taiwan and Southeast Asia and the growing visibility of the wider region’s food throughout the country. Clustered near the center of the city with dozens of shops selling Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese foods, Hello VietNam satisfies homesick students and migrant workers while increasing the city’s gastronomic diversity.


 
“My family back in Vietnam has run a small place cooking classic dishes for decades,” said Bui Thu, who came to Taiwan in 2001 from Hanoi. She worked in a Taichung factory before opening her own restaurant in 2017. “Hello VietNam was born of the desire to provide my compatriots in Taiwan with a taste of home, but today it’s also attracting an increasing number of other customers, especially after the Bib Gourmand listing last year,” she added. Half of the customers coming for spring rolls and pho are now non-Vietnamese.

Innovative Vendors

As Taiwan’s brick-and-mortar restaurants continue to draw well-deserved attention, so too do its street stalls. At Ningxia Night Market in Taipei, locals and visitors can be found every night of the week savoring beloved, budget-friendly snacks that include pig’s blood cake, stinky tofu and refreshing drinks with aiyu jelly from carts and small booths lining a street near the traffic circle in Datong District. The bustling historic market is currently made up of approximately 180 stalls and 20 stores, four of which have been added to the Bib Gourmand list. The awardees, who along with other vendors sell their food from 5 p.m. to midnight, offer delights like pork liver soup and deep-fried taro balls with salted egg yolk.

For those who might find the street’s bounty overwhelming, the night market’s sightseeing association devised the Ningxia Millennium Feast. A ticket entitles guests to a seat at a large table and try family-style servings of over 20 classic snacks with no need to weave through crowds or wait in line. As an added benefit, association personnel introduce each item as it arrives, assuaging curiosity and hungry stomachs at the same time. The night market association also advocates for guests and vendors: its proposal of a dedicated system for waste oil was accepted by the city to avoid blocked drains along the market’s main thoroughfare. Since its installation in 2014, the system has been maintained by the association to keep Ningxia Road and its neighboring lanes clean and fresh.

The reputation for friendliness, convenience and excellence at Taiwan’s restaurants, eateries and street stalls has impressed travelers. A 2019 survey by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ Tourism Bureau indicated that night markets are the top draw for visitors from abroad, and 72 percent of respondents specifically cited cuisine as their primary reason for choosing Taiwan.

Productive Competition
“Taiwan is a spectacular place for foodies,” said Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), chair of Taiwan Visitors Association (TVA), a tourism sector industry group. “The multiethnic environment, enriched by close ties with neighbors like Japan and Southeast Asian countries, has produced unique traditions that consistently impress the taste buds.”

Highlighting this culture is integral to TVA’s task of promoting tourism at home and abroad. Strategies like the Taiwan Culinary Exhibition, at which attendees are invited to savor a dizzying array of food items from around Taiwan, are particularly effective. Last year more than 74,000 people thronged Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei for the four-day show featuring around 200 elite chefs demonstrating expertise that runs the gamut from French to Taiwanese cuisine, taking in vegan foods and patisserie along the way. “Tasting a nation’s food is the easiest way to get close to its culture,” Yeh said in summary of TVA’s philosophy, adding that the association plans to take local businesses to 21 international events this year.

  Food’s ability to encapsulate and transmit culture is not feted only at the national and international level. Since 2005, the annual Taipei International Beef Noodle Competition has been supported by the municipal government. Over a hundred stores, mostly located in and around the capital, vied for titles in four categories last year, and the results were announced—and served fresh—at the associated Beef Noodle Carnival. A more recent addition to the comfort food celebration calendar is the Yunlin Braised Pork Rice Competition in the agricultural southern county. The festival began in 2020 and its contestants prioritize locally sourced pork, rice and soy sauce in their recipes for the rich, filling dish.

The breadth and depth of Taiwan’s food scene is constantly enlivened by the attention brought to bear on dishes from the humblest to the most elaborate. Michelin-starred restaurants and tiny night market stalls are equally beloved by Taiwan’s people, and TVA’s Yeh has firsthand experience of the way the country’s cuisine draws overseas attention. “Once visitors get a taste of what we have to offer, they just can’t get enough!” 

Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw