I lived on and off in Taipei for several years now (was locked out during COVID though) and Taipei is amazing.
I would add several things to your list:
- Suprised you don't mention a taiwanese food specialty : the Xiaolongbao! Most famous chain being of course Din Tai Fung but small and cheap restaurants often are very good also
- for desert, other delicious specialties is the Mango Shaved Ice & the Red Bean Cakes (go do they love to put red bean everywhere here... )
- In a lot of McDonald's, you can now order on electronic displays which help a lot the non mandarin speakers like me.
Ah, I ran out of space, but yes forgetting about XLB was a mistake! Of course, I recommend people check out the original Din Tai Fung at some point, but last time I went it was so unbelievably crowded at every single one I looked at. They have gone quite global though.
Am also a huge fan of night market buns and baos of every kind. I definitely need to do more research on dessert, I'm not a huge dessert person after all.
It's definitely my favorite country to visit in Asia — someday I'll sit down and learn Mandarin and head over for a longer period of time... where did you move from? Was it for work?
Din Tai Fung is definitely always overwrowded. Some tricks might help. Obvious one is to avoid taiwanese rush hour (which is surprisingly early for us. Around 6:30pm). Another one is to realize there is now quite a lot of DTF stores in Taipei and go to one a bit out of the way. There is one for instance in Banqiao which was - relatively - quiet every time I went there.
Not a huge dessert person also but I definitely love mangos (and the taiwanese ones - their fruits in general - are tasty) and my gf loves red beans so...
I'm from Paris originally. I had a period where I travelled Asia working online and now alternate between Paris and Taipei (when a virus doesn't change my plans).
I'm trying to learn Mandarin but have huge trouble with tonal languages. So I alternate between periods of big motivation and bigger discouragement... The latter is unfortunately more common than the former...
I don’t go to many DTF anymore, considering they’re everywhere, but I did miss out on taking my friend to the OG. Funnily enough, I have heard of a lot of Parisians traveling to both Taiwan and Japan... dunno if you’ve ever heard of Ocharaka in Tokyo (a tea shop), but there’s a small eclectic bunch of people who made it out there. Learning languages is incredibly hard after 19... feels like my brain hit a brick wall this past decade lol. Nothing like how easy it is when I was a kid
Thanks for the Google map links! Saved a few.
Some good list!
I lived on and off in Taipei for several years now (was locked out during COVID though) and Taipei is amazing.
I would add several things to your list:
- Suprised you don't mention a taiwanese food specialty : the Xiaolongbao! Most famous chain being of course Din Tai Fung but small and cheap restaurants often are very good also
- for desert, other delicious specialties is the Mango Shaved Ice & the Red Bean Cakes (go do they love to put red bean everywhere here... )
- In a lot of McDonald's, you can now order on electronic displays which help a lot the non mandarin speakers like me.
Ah, I ran out of space, but yes forgetting about XLB was a mistake! Of course, I recommend people check out the original Din Tai Fung at some point, but last time I went it was so unbelievably crowded at every single one I looked at. They have gone quite global though.
Am also a huge fan of night market buns and baos of every kind. I definitely need to do more research on dessert, I'm not a huge dessert person after all.
It's definitely my favorite country to visit in Asia — someday I'll sit down and learn Mandarin and head over for a longer period of time... where did you move from? Was it for work?
Din Tai Fung is definitely always overwrowded. Some tricks might help. Obvious one is to avoid taiwanese rush hour (which is surprisingly early for us. Around 6:30pm). Another one is to realize there is now quite a lot of DTF stores in Taipei and go to one a bit out of the way. There is one for instance in Banqiao which was - relatively - quiet every time I went there.
Not a huge dessert person also but I definitely love mangos (and the taiwanese ones - their fruits in general - are tasty) and my gf loves red beans so...
I'm from Paris originally. I had a period where I travelled Asia working online and now alternate between Paris and Taipei (when a virus doesn't change my plans).
I'm trying to learn Mandarin but have huge trouble with tonal languages. So I alternate between periods of big motivation and bigger discouragement... The latter is unfortunately more common than the former...
I don’t go to many DTF anymore, considering they’re everywhere, but I did miss out on taking my friend to the OG. Funnily enough, I have heard of a lot of Parisians traveling to both Taiwan and Japan... dunno if you’ve ever heard of Ocharaka in Tokyo (a tea shop), but there’s a small eclectic bunch of people who made it out there. Learning languages is incredibly hard after 19... feels like my brain hit a brick wall this past decade lol. Nothing like how easy it is when I was a kid
Never heard Ocharaka. Will have a look next time I go to Tokyo!
Completely agree on learning anything when you get older. Currently working on a certification and my head hurts.