Eating Through Ningxia Night Market Taipei, Delicious Taiwanese Street Food!
The street is fully lined on both sides with tasty Taiwanese Street Food
Ningxia Night Market was the first night market that I went to as soon as I landed in Taipei for my girlfriend’s and I’s Christmas Holiday. We were both really excited to try some Taiwanese street foods like Lu Rou Fan and Stinky Tofu, two of the most popular Taiwan street food dishes.
Taiwan is well known for their plethora of street food night markets, like the Shilin or Ximending Night Markets. However, I wasn’t able to find much information on Ningxia Night Market, which is weird as according to Google Maps this Taiwanese street food heaven complete with over 180 street food stalls as well as having the highest concentration of Michelin recommendations is extremely popular.
So come with me as we taste some of the must eat foods at Taipei’s Ningxia Night Market!
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Foodie Heaven of Ningxia Night Market!
What to try first? So many options!
That’s right! Ningxia Night Market is indeed a heaven for foodies, you can find all sorts of delicious Taiwanese goodies here, from classics like the aforementioned Lu Rou Fan, to something more unfamiliar (at least to the western palate) like braised organ meats.
Best thing about Ningxia Night Market is, is that it’s located right in the center of Taipei City, about a 10 minute walking distance from the Taipei Main Station, so easy access is guaranteed.
Best Hotels in Taipei near Taipei Main Station
Staying near the Taipei Main Station allows for easy access to all the landmarks and attractions throughout Taipei City and it’s neighboring regions. Here are 3 of my personal recommendations that are affordable and comfortable:
Water Meworld Hotel - Elevator situation is a bit annoying but overall comfortable rooms, and friendly staff, good for budget travelers
Taipei Inn - Budget friendly, clean rooms, and within walking distance from Taipei Main Station. great food scene in the area.
The Blue by Just Inn - Rooms are clean but quite small, recommend to upgrade, however very comfortable, and modern rooms complete with friendly staff.
Best Time to Visit Ningxia Night Market?
Ningxia Night Market opens everyday at 5:00PM and closes at 1:00AM, so pick your poison. As regards to season, spring, summer, winter, it doesn’t matter, though I went during the winter season and I’d say it makes the food tastes way better because it warms your stomach (and your soul).
Eating at Ningxia Night Market Taipei
Unfortunately, While I was there, there was a little bit of rain
Alright before getting into the eating, you’ll find your regular street food stalls, but Ningxia Night Market also has sit-down restaurants. Word of warning, these restaurants are guaranteed to be packed full of people.
I recommend pre-booking the restaurants and foods online with the NingXia Night Market Street Food Pass like I did. This makes ordering a breeze as the pass gives you an option of up to 24 food choices, as well as including a package for up to 6 street food dishes. This pass is very cost effective as well if you are planning to eat your heart out at Ningxia Night Market.
To be fair, Taiwanese Food is pretty cheap in general so you could try many different things without worrying about your budget, however at the more popular restaurants and stalls, the prices cna be jacked up sometimes.
Alright enough with the waiting, let’s get to eating all the delicious Taiwanese street foods at Ningxia Night Market!!!
Lu Rou Fan, Taiwanese Braised Pork over Rice
Lu Rou Fan is suppose to be braised PORK, but this looks like just pieces of fat, no protein anywhere lol
The first dish on your food tour is of course, the Lu Rou Fan. Lu Rou Fan is essentially fatty pork belly braised with a bunch of spices like cloves, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and much more. All of this fatty juicy goodness is then piled onto a piping hot bowl of rice.
The resulting dish is a sweet, fatty, oily, porky, melt in your mouth, and oh so comforting dish that has quickly become my favorite dish to eat in all of Taiwan. Seriously, on my 5 day trip to Taiwan, I’ve had 4 bowls of this stuff, and the one I and at Ningxia Night Market is by far the best out of all 4 of them.
It’s just so good, especially when all of the fat and braising juices gets absorbed into the hot rice. The though sometimes (or a lot of the time, to be honest) the portion of pork you’ll get is quite small however, it’s fine as eating too much can make you sick from all that fat and oil.
Ji Rou Fan, Chicken over Rice
The chicken looks dry but they are certainly not
An a slighty more healthy side, there is a chicken version called Ji Rou Fan, it’s basically the same thing, the chicken is stewed in the same braising liquid as the pork, however the result is not as tender or melt in your mouth as Lu Rou Fan as chicken breast is often used.
This one is not my favorite, as after taking a bite out of the pork version, the chicken just cannot compare, although I do see why some people can prefer this version of the heavier, oily Lu Rou Fan.
Sweet, Savory, and Fatty Taiwanese Sausage
I wish I could bring these Taiwanese Sausages back home
Another popular street food item you’ll find all over Taiwan (even in the metro) is the humble Taiwanese Sausage. These guys are fatty pork sausages made with large chunks of minced pork, fat, liquor, and various spices.
The sausages are extremely juicy, fatty, meaty, and also very sweet, the casing is also very crisp from the grilling process, which I love. The sweetness might throw some people off but if you push through the unfamiliar taste, you’ll grow to love it, trust me.
I love these guys, my girlfriend loves them even more, she was skeptical at first, I mean “it’s just a sausage, what’s so good about them?”. Well, after her first taste, she practically went hunting for these Taiwanese Sausages everywhere we went.
The Infamous Fried Stinky Tofu
If you can get over the smell, Stinky Tofu is just like you’re regular tofu, still super tasty!
Stinky. Tofu. Are they stinky? Yes, absolutely. Do they taste stinky? Not at all.
Stinky Tofu was THE Taiwanese street food dish that I was most looking forward to try when I landed in Taiwan. Even as I am typing this, I can remember the smell of the Stinky Tofu.
Stinky Tofu comes in 2 types, fried or steamed, I got the fried ones and these were served with sour pickled vegetables and a sweet and spicy sauce, along with some sort of sweet and sour soy sauce drizzled all over.
In all honesty, the tofu wasn’t as bad as I though, it tasted like regular tofu, albeit with a funky after taste which is quite enjoyable. I have to give it up to the real star of the dish though, the sour pickles and the soy sauce, they help to balance out the oily fried Tofu and they complement the funky aftertaste pretty well.
Definitely a must try when you come to Taiwan, just like the Lu Rou Fan, I’ve grown in love with Stinky Tofu and have had it multiple times throughout my Taiwan trip.
Giant Sheets of Grilled Squid
Big huge pieces of meaty squid, the largest I’ve ever seen in my life
One thing that I did not expect to see are giant sheets of grilled squid. There is a stall in Ningxia Night Market that sells this snack that has a looooooong line of people waiting for it.
It can’t be that good? It’s just grilled squid… Well I’m here to report that yes, it IS not that good. It tastes exactly how you think a piece of grilled squid should tastes.
By no means is this bad, if you like grilled squid then you’ll love this, but it’s nothing special, I’m just confused why there are so many people in line waiting for this when there are countless other interesting things to try…
Maybe I’m being too harsh, but that’s just my opinion. Try it for yourself and comment below on your experience.
Rou Jia Mo, Flaky and Meaty Braised Pork Burger
I ate this Rou Jia Mo a while after I bought it, still tasted really good, but fresh is obviously better
This is a good one, Rou Jia Mo! A huge handful of chopped juicy and fatty pork belly meat sandwiched between a delicate, flaky, and crunchy bun. You can find this satisfying street food all over Taiwan and especially in Mainland China.
It’s basically a Chinese Burger if you will.
The pork is braised in a similar broth as the pork in the Lu Rou Fan, so you can expect the pork meat to be extremely tender, fatty, and sweet.
It gets better when the juices from the pork gets absorbed into soft interior of the flaky pastry bun while the outside is still warm and crunchy.
I’m salivating as I am writing this, the juicy pork, the crunchy, flaky pastry, oh my god. Divine.
Xiao Long Bao and Piping Hot Meaty Steamed Dumplings
Dumplings, my beloved.
When in Taiwan you MUST try Xiao Long Bao, the world famous soup dumplings. You might’ve heard of Din Tai Fung which has an incredibly famous branch at the Taipei 101 building (which by the way, I highly recommend you check out the Taipei 101 Observatory), but you can find Xiao Long Baos all over Taiwan and Ningxia Night Market is no different.
These dumplings are served by the basket and comes in different fillings, I chose to have the classic pork filling. Each dumpling is full of meaty and flavorful pork meat as well as a pool of juicy pork soup inside. The thin wrapper makes these a joy to devour.
The dumplings are served with soy sauce, and you can add strips of ginger, chili paste, and vinegar to it to enhance the flavor of the sauce and the dumplings.
My girlfriend and I ordered one basket to share but we could’ve easily had like 3 more.
Juicy Chunks of Grilled Steak
They’re not cheaping out on the beef here, these are seriously high quality cuts of meat
Chunks of grilled steaks seem to be popular in East Asian street food, I’ve seen these in Japan and South Korea as well, nevertheless these steak bikes are mouthwatering and perfect for any meat lover.
The steak “cubes” as they call it, are tender, juicy, and seasoned well with salt and pepper. I loved how in addition to the grill, the vendors use a literal blowtorch to give the steaks some much needed smokey crust which enhances the flavor.
Though a bit expensive, but that’s to be expected as the steaks are good cuts of well marbled meat.
They’re good, tasty. I recommend it if you just wanna eat a good hunk of meaty protein.
Chewy Fried Sweet Potato Balls
These sweet potato balls come in 2 different colors
If you’ve been to Thailand, these snacks can be found everywhere and are known as “Kai Tao” or “Kai Nok Krata” meaning Turtle Eggs, or Quail Eggs. Rest assured these snacks have no animal products in them.
These snacks are made out of sweet potato and rice flour, once fried in a pool of oil the dough puffs up into a ball and then enjoyed.
The balls are crunchy on the outside, while the inside is a little chewy and bouncy, kinda like mochi. The slight hint of sweetness from the sweet potato makes this snack very addicting.
What separates them from the ones in Thailand is that here in Taiwan, they seem to add some extra toppings on top of the balls to give them an extra bit of magic, you can pick between sweet or savory toppings like chocolate or cheese.
While I didn’t have them while I went to Taiwan, I can guarantee that this snack is very tasty as I’ve had them plenty of times before in Thailand (I live in Thailand after all).
Assortment of Braised Goodies
I’m going to be honest, this looks kind of intimidating to me
The last street food item that I want to show you is a very popular one throughout Taiwan, these assortment of braised goodies.
To be honest, even to me as an Asian person, these foods are quite unfamiliar to me.
There are many different options to choose from like: Chicken wings, Tofu, Duck neck, Quail eggs, Blood sausage. They are all very sweet due to the braising liquid and with some meats like the chicken wings, most if not all of the fat have been rendered out so you’re left with a pretty skinny chicken wing.
It’s sort of a acquired taste, it’s good to snack (or nibble) on, though I personally don’t really like them as they are too sweet for me.
Though if you are looking to try some goodies, I recommend the intestines and the tofu, these are quite tasty.
Details About Ningxia Night Market
Ningxia Night Market is a street food market in Taipei, Taiwan full of delicious and unique foods to try. It’s located about a 10 minute walk away from the Taipei Main Station.
The market is often packed full of people especially during the night time, so be prepared to wait in line for some of the more popular street food stalls.
Location: 103, Taiwan, Taipei City, Datong District, Ningxia Rd, 58號2樓
Opening Hours: 5:00PM - 1:00AM | Mon - Sun
Looking for Things to Do in Taiwan?
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Taipei 101 Observatory Ticket - Pre-purchase to avoid large crowds and long wait times.
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Useful Resources for Traveling in Taiwan
Tourism Information - All the information you need when traveling in Taiwan
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