Tainan is famous for its ‘snack foods’ (小吃 – xiao chi). Yet it can be difficult to locate Tainanese specialties as most are hidden off the usual tourist track. The best delicacies are served in small, family run establishments that have been around for fifty years – or in many case even longer – with recipes being carefully handed down from one generation to the next. Fortunately for me, my former Tainan home-stay family are gourmet expects who delight in feeding me. Here are some of the best Tainan must-eats that I have tried:
- Ah Gong (seafood congee)
- Chien-Kuo Taiwanese Meatballs
- Fangyuan Ice Lolly (ice-cream)
- Hai’an Road (stir-fry 100)
- Huang Family Shrimp Rolls
- Strawberry daifuku
- Tai-cheng Fruit Shop
- Yeh Family Rice Noodles (seafood soup)
- Xia Family Homemade Fish Noodles
Hi, I’m planning to visit Tainan at the end of this month and I was wondering if these best delicacies are off the tourist track, how can we access to these places? Can you recommend me somewhere to stay where it is also near to places where I can find at least reasonable Tainanese delicacies? Thanks.
We usually stay with my former homestay family when we are in Tainan. But one time we didn’t want to trouble them so stayed at a hotel for a night until they insisted we check-out and stay with them. The hotel we choose was the Cambridge Hotel
(http://www.hotelclub.com/Cambridge-Hotel-Tainan/). This is a small hotel on Min-Tzu Road situated directly opposte the Chikan Tower in Tainan, and there are several famous temples and scenic sites within walking distance from the hotel. Plus there are many really good snack places within walking distance of the hotel, especially for sticky rice and geng (a type of thickened soup, in this case with deep-sea fish). A friend of mine in Tainan did some work experience there, and he said they have an exceptionally high occupancy rate because of their fantastic location.