Food Hiking for Small Eats

TAIWAN’S ANCIENT CAPITAL

Tainan is not only Taiwan’s first capital, it’s also a city well-known for its arts scene, its delicious food (including small eats), and its healthy walking culture. 

Tainan’s cultural zone centers around Taiwan’s first Confucius temple—Tainan Confucius Temple. Attractions located nearby include National Museum of Taiwan Literature, Tainan Art Museum Building 1, Yeh Shyr-Tau Literary Memorial Museum, and Tainan Judicial Museum. To the left of Yeh Shyr-Tau Literary Memorial Museum is the fully Qing-era Tainan Confucius Temple, on the right is the Japanese-style Tainan Wude Hall. This juxtaposition of architecture is the result of Taiwan’s complex colonial history.

Tainan is the birthplace of Taiwanese democracy. The Tainan Judicial Museum, constructed in 1915, is Taiwan’s only Judicial Museum. It is also one of three classic Japanese-era buildings, the other two being the Presidential Office Building, and National Taiwan Museum, both of which are located in Taipei. It features an asymmetrical baroque exterior, and meticulously constructed interior.

Nearby Tainan Judicial Museum is Tainan Art Museum Building 2. Here, every fall at the Moriyama Art Market, over 100 artisans and small businesses sell handicrafts, jewelry, perform music and offer refreshments including sweets and coffee. Tainan’s first department store, Hayashi Department Store, is currently a mecca for artisan products and up-and-coming fashion brands, and a great place to buy meaningful souvenirs. It is also the only department mall in Taiwan to have a shinto shrine on its roof.

Many stores in the area are famous for operating over several decades and have naturally climbed to the top of both foodie guidebooks, and local must-eats: Fuji Meatballs, Lily Fruit Store, Bu Lao Jhuang Medicinal Sausage, Klin Steamed Bun Store, Narrow Door Cafe, Du Hsiao Yueh, HoHsin Fish Soup. Nearly every store listed above specializes in only one ‘classic’ product that they have served for as long as anyone can remember.

For these small eats shops whose menus are naturally limited, it’s normal to have to search out what you’re hungry for. Luckily, everyone around will tell you there’s no need to be afraid of ordering something unappetizing, since in Tainan, everything is delicious. Ingredients are always fresh and the chefs skills have lapped the 10,000 hour mark several times over.

Vault Restaurant DiJia, opened in 2019, is located in a small alley behind Chihkan Tower. The restaurant specializes in replicating the flavors of traditional home-cooking and uses locally sourced seasonal ingredients including Tainan-grown passionfruit and local specialty guanmiao noodles.

The streets of old Tainan are welcoming and clean. Even as you weave in-and-out of small alleys, don’t be afraid of getting lost. If you need any help, locals are more than happy to help out by pointing in the right direction. Just be careful to avoid tripping on the stone verandas of certain shops—if one is not paying attention, it’s easy to forget they are not all the same height!

It’s easy to be tired after a day of touring Tainan’s many famous small eats shops. Be sure to stop by a massage parlor and get a foot massage on your way home—just remember, most small businesses in Tainan do not accept credit cards.