Teach English in Taiwan

Taiwan Food

There is too much I can say about food in Taiwan. In fact, food is one of the reasons I stayed in Taiwan another year. Everything there is delicious, inexpensive, and fresh. Everyday was a party for my taste buds. I'm not even sure where to begin!

(Above) Conveyor built sushi restaurant in Hsinchu, one of my many favorites. The sushi, wasabi, desert dishes circle around a conveyor belt that is placed eye level and goes around all the tables. The prices are determined by color coated plates (see right photo). Yellow plates are 50 NT (about $1.50 USD). All you can drink hot green tea + conveyor belt sushi = delicious.

How much is food in Taiwan?

Food costs in Taiwan vary greatly, basically the choices are so great that you can literally spend $1 for any meal or spend upwards of $20 for a meal at a Western style restaurant.

What are some breakfast options?

Taiwan streets are dotted with "breakfast stores" that sell breakfast until the early afternoon. The breakfast store choices vary from a wide choice of sandwiches, eggs, sausage, turnip cakes, fried dough sticks, rice and drinks ranging from soybean milk to coffee and milk teas. Below is a photo of typical sandwiches you can buy for breakfast. The cost for each sandwich is about $0.75 - $1.00 USD. These sandwiches are always prepared daily and delicious. If you are in a hurry, you can just go up and take a premade sandwich, or make your own special order.

Typical breakfast sandwiches. Inside the sandwich at right is pork, egg and sliced cucumber. The sandwich at left is egg, ham and tuna sandwiched between three pieces of bread. The sandwich at the top right is strawberry jam.

What's for lunch?

Like the breakfast choices, lunches choices are very numerous. If you are in a hurry, you can go to 7-11 and pick up their $1.50 USD lunch boxes and microwave them in the store. I often ate their "cold noodles" on hot summer afternoons. 7-11 even has chicken feet, triangle shaped rice things filled with tuna or shredded pork. You can even buy baked goods at 7-11.

If you have more time, you can try the numerous noodle shops dotting every street. A bowl of fried noodles with duck meat (my favorite) will set you back $1 USD. It's delicous also. Noodle soups with pork, beef, duck or anything else you want costs less than $1.50. The food is also delicious and fresh. I loved eating a bowl of noodles and drinking a can of Hey Song's Sarsaparilla. A perfect lunch for less than $2 USD.

The 7-11 across the street from my apartment with my Civic in the foreground. Sigh. I miss my Civic. 7-11 is open 24 hours and you can always find something delicious to eat for less than $2. They also sell drinks, snacks, toys, CD's, DVD's, magazines and school supplies, everything. Seriously.

Dinner choices?

Like lunch and breakfast, there are many places to eat. Besides the many restaurants lining the street, you can even visit the night markets open year round to try your choice of rice dishes, soup, steaks, anything! These restaurants are open very late and it's never too early or too late to eat.

Are there Western restaurants in Taiwan?

Yes, KFC and McDonald's is common in Taiwan. Wendy's and Church's used to be in Taiwan but left a few years back. In Hsinchu they do have a TGI Friday's. Bigger cities like Taipei have a Chili's, TGI Friday's, Hooter's and probably other places. The prices are similar to those you would pay in the US so it's really not much of a deal. One place they didn't have was a Denny's, which made me miss Denny's even more...

The interior of the McDonald's near the Taipei Zoo, Taipei.