Taiwan offers a diverse range of breakfast options, from traditional Taiwanese breakfasts to those influenced by cuisines from around the world. Through this article, you’ll discover where to find delicious Taiwanese breakfast during your travels in Taiwan!
1. Traditional Taiwanese Breakfast at Soy Milk Shops
First up is the breakfast that most Taiwanese people would recommend to foreign visitors: breakfast at a soy milk shop! These shops typically serve rice rolls, clay oven rolls, fried bread sticks, and Chinese omelets. Beverage options include sweet soy milk and rice milk. Some shops have more extensive menus, featuring radish cakes, soup dumplings, meat buns, fried dumplings, and savory soy milk (a bit like a tofu soup).
How do you order? It’s similar to ordering breakfast at McDonald’s: choose a main dish and a drink for a simple and perfect breakfast. In Taiwan, you’ll find that there’s no wrong way to order food—the possibilities are endless. For example, you can order a clay oven roll with egg and a cup of soy milk or rice milk. If you’re very hungry, you can wrap a fried bread stick in the clay oven roll. For a unique taste experience, try dipping the clay oven roll and fried bread stick in the soy milk.
In Taipei, a meal like this costs around NT$40-60, and it’s even cheaper in smaller towns.
Where to find soy milk breakfast shops in Taiwan?
Some soy milk breakfast shops might not stand out at first glance, but as you get closer, you’ll smell the rich aroma of soy milk and fried bread sticks. Here are a few recommendations:
Ding Yuan Soy Milk
- Address: No. 30-1, Jinhua St, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106
- Opening hours: 5–11:30 a.m.
Wu Hu Soy Milk
- Address: No. 73, Xing’an St, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491
- Opening hours: 5:30–11 a.m.
- Instagram link
Qin Lao Shi Soybean Milk
- Address: No. 4-1, Guangfu S Rd, Songshan District, Taipei City
- Specialties: soy milk with a unique roasted flavor and dishes like lion’s head meatballs.
You can find more of these breakfast shops by searching for “soy milk 豆漿”, “clay oven rolls 燒餅”, or “fried bread stick 油條” on Google Maps.
2. Mixed Western and Taiwanese Breakfast Shops
The concept of mixed Western and Taiwanese breakfast shops began with a chain called Mei Er Mei. These shops became popular and loved by Taiwanese people, leading to the opening of many similar breakfast shops.
These shops offer a variety of options, including Taiwanese-style sandwiches, omelets (different from those at traditional soy milk shops), Taiwanese hamburgers, and iron plate noodles. Beverages include milk tea, black tea, and coffee. The ervariety makes them especially popular with young Taiwanese people. When you visit Taiwan, try one of these breakfast shops to experience flavors loved by the younger generation.
Where to find mixed Western and Taiwanese breakfast shops in Taiwan?
Since there’s no specific keyword to search for these breakfast shops on Google Maps, you can simply search for “breakfast”. Look at the images to identify shops that serve this type of food.
Here are a few recommendations in Taipei:
Morning Bar
- Address: No. 32, Meilun St, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111
- Features: Creative dishes like taro custard toast, mashed potato pork chop toast, homemade kimchi pork burger, and German sausage omelet.
Zhen Fang Breakfast Sandwiches
- Multiple locations in Taipei
- Specializes in various charcoal-grilled toast sandwiches and offers an English menu.
Yajiada Breakfast Restaurant
- Address: No. 8, Zhangshun St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
- A classic example of a mixed Western and Taiwanese breakfast shop with typical red, orange, and yellow signage.
Oriental Beauty Breakfast Shop
- Address: No. 8, Lane 33, Guangfu S Rd, Songshan District, Taipei City 105
- A chain of typical mixed breakfast shops frequently seen on the streets.
3. Noodle Stalls and Hot Soup Breakfasts
The third type of breakfast is hot meals, preferred by the older generation in Taiwan. They often start their day with a hot bowl of noodles and some side dishes.
69-Year-Old Noodle Stall (Rice Noodle Soup)
- Address: No. 5, Lane 101, Huayin Street, Datong District, Taipei City, Taiwan 103
- Opening hours: 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
- Features: Delicious rice noodle soup made from pork bone broth, served with side dishes like blanched vegetables and tofu.
Lu Xiangzai Kou Noodle House
- Address: No. 2-1, Lane 76, Section 2, Heping E Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106
- Opening hours: 6:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
- A typical Taiwanese noodle house offering breakfast and lunch options such as sliced noodle soup, fried noodles, fried rice noodles, and braised tofu.
That’s a brief introduction to the types of breakfast you can find in Taiwan. There are many more options that I haven’t covered, but I’ll leave those for another time.
I hope you get to explore the diverse breakfast offerings in Taiwan during your visit. After all, in Taiwan, you can have a different breakfast every day for 365 days!
