Shilin Night Market

Night markets are essential to Taiwanese culture and have been around for longer than you can imagine. A trip to Taiwan is never ever complete without touring one of the night markets. Located in Shilin District, Shilin Night Market is regarded as one of the largest and most popular night markets in Taipei due to its close location to MRT Jiantan station (捷運劍潭站).

Shilin Night Market is divided into two sections. One is a building where stalls are spread over four floors: one floor above ground and three underground. For those who are arriving here with cars, parking is available on level B2 and B3. A food court can be found on level B1, while the ground floor is all about fresh produce, souvenirs, clothes and accessories. The food court is a wonderland alive with myriads of vendors selling deep-fried chicken steaks, stir-fried cuttlefish, oyster omelettes, and many more. You will be spoiled for choice. Having difficulties trying to decide where to start? You can never go wrong with those stalls with a long queue up front.

The other section is a full-blown snack market that covers a few blocks. Having sprung up around Yangming Movie Theater, this market of gastronomical fun is home to some of the best local delicacies such as Shilin big sausages, Shanghai pan-fried buns and lemon aiyu jelly. With your stomach nice and full, it is time to work some of those excess calories off by walking around those shops in all sorts of styles and colors — your shopping cravings will be satisfied here. Considering the sheer size of Shilin Night Market, make sure you have enough time and energy to go treasure hunting.

Although Shilin Night Market is one of the bigger ones, most Taiwanese people would avoid going there. It is crowded with tourists, the food is overly priced, and most restaurants are nothing to write home about. What’s worse is that, after all the vendors were relocated indoors and Chinese tourists started to flood here, the variety is getting less and the quality is getting lower and lower. Of course, there is still good food served at Shilin Night Market, but it can be difficult for foreign visitors to find. For real authentic local cuisine, consider Ningxia Night Market (寧夏夜市) and Yansan Night Market (延三夜市). Go to Shida Night Market (師大夜市) if you are after a fashion night market. Happy shopping, folks!