Started in early 2015 by a pair of food-obsessed friends rediscovering the culinary masterpieces of their homeland, Taipei Eats’ goal is to offer curated English-language walking food tours that give visitors a “taste” of why Taipei has been called a foodie’s paradise by outlets such as CNN and Conde Nast Traveller. Our tours are geared towards authenticity, leading visitors to spots that local frequent. Through tasting recipes and hearing stories that have been passed down over generations, visitors will enjoy the Taipei that we love, and have come to call home.
Our Guides
Tina
I grew up in Hong Kong, but I’m Taiwanese. A few years ago I was doing a lot of travelling and going on food tours was my favorite way to explore new cities. I started spending more time in Taipei to be with my family, and after living here for a while I realised there wasn’t a single good food tour here – a shame when there’s so much amazing things to eat. I live near Yongchun market (the starting point of the Xinyi Tour) so essentially, leading Xinyi tour is like leading people around my ‘hood!
I have a severe obsession with shaved ice. I even go to random, middle-of-no-where places on the outskirts of Taipei just to try a place I’ve heard about it. This summer I’ve been eating them two times a day; its kind of disgusting. I document it all on our Instagram <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/taipeieats/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>@taipeieats</a> – so you can see the proof for yourself.
The stinky tofu shop we go to is pretty unique – it sells stinky tofu at a variety of levels. It begins at 10 and goes on to 12, 15, etc. We try a raw stinky tofu as part of the tour, but recently there was a group of friends from Hong Kong, and they didn’t think the raw tofu wasn’t that stinky, so they asked if there was anything stronger. The shop owner goes upstairs and fetches a jar; when she opened it, it stank up the entire shop. It looked like concrete mud. She warned us not touch the jar with our bare hands, or we’d never get the smell out. So of course by this time the guy had already put his entire hands on the jar (Fun, but gross fact: the paste began to move in reaction to the body heat, because its alive). His hands smelled disgusting for the rest of the tour, and – as he told me later – even hours after.
Mike
I worked in finance before moving back and decided to take a breather and spend time with family – and then starting Taipei Eats. It’s been quite a change – obviously, my job is a lot more fun now.
The mango here is amazing – all the fruit in general, actually. Random fact: The island mango we’re known here is originally imported from Florida. It looks exactly the same as the Floridian variety, but the Taiwanese version is way sweeter and more fragrant. It’s the best version of mango out there.
Some of my favorite memories actually come from the vendors and locals we meet during the course of the tour – they have so much personality. Take the gua-bao vendor we go to: Her sister also owns a gua-bao stall in the south of the city that gets a lot of mentions in guidebooks, etc. But she says her sister’s place got spoiled by the attention, and doesn’t make anything from scratch anymore. All the loyal customers who really know how to eat now go to her. It sounds so cutting – but she says everything with a smile; in fact, she smiles all the time – so I’m not sure how she really feels about it. She also smiles all the time.
Also, the stinky tofu shop we take people to serves a raw tofu that resembles a soft cheese: and there are actually local wine clubs in the city that come to have meetings at the stinky tofu shop – pairing wine with the raw stinky tofu!
Nathascha
I am half Taiwanese and half German, so I was born in Taipei and raised in Germany. After graduating university and freelancing for a while I decided to move back to Taiwan in summer 2017. The reason for that was that I wanted to get to know more of the country I was born in. Now I feel more at home than ever!
This is pretty hard! But I would say Beef noodle soup and dumplings are under my top 10… oh and also Taiwanese style fried chicken.
I’m really in love with Taipei’s skyline. So relaxing on a rooftop or hiking up e.g. Elephant mountain to enjoy the view is one of my favorites. I am always looking for new places to enjoy the wide view on the city!
Sophia
Hi lovely people! I’m Sophia Jen from Taiwan, I born in Hsinchu where in the middle North of Taiwan. Because Hsinchu is a wind city, so you can try the BEST pork ball and rice noodles in the whole world!! Sharing food is my favorite thing in my life, if I have one price of cookie, I will share to someone and that feels more yummy! So join the tour with me will be SUPER FUN!
As an nature lover, I enjoy hiking a lot. There are plenty of mountains with hiking tracks in Taipei City. For example, the Elephant Mountain and the Yangmingshan National Park. You can enjoy abundance of natural beauty and photogenic scenery while reaching the peaks.
My fav dish is my dad’s homemade braised Beef soup! Be my friend and you might have chance to try it! haha
Diego
I really enjoy spending time in Taipei because there are so many things I can do. Like when I am hungry during late nights, I can still find delicious dishes here. Or party would never be a difficult thing in Taipei. There are always the best choices.