Taipei is well-nigh paradise for foodies, but there’s no need to empty your bank account while exploring the cornucopia of culinary treats on offer. With breakfast shops selling fresh-made sandwiches, soybean milk, and sesame-seed cakes, lunchtime buffet restaurants and biandang (便當), or bento box, sellers. In addition, for dinner and late-night snacks, cooked meals, snack treats, and other yummies, it’s very possible to eat your fill at each meal for just a hundred dollars or so.

A Multitude of Inexpensive Breakfast Choices to Start an Active Day

To eat well but pay little, start with breakfast! Yonghe Soy Milk King (永和豆漿大王) makes all its offerings fresh daily, such as fried youtiao (油條) breadsticks, traditionally enjoyed sandwiched in flaky xiaobing (燒餅), coated in fragrant sesame seeds; A fried egg with green onion could also be added. The warm, smooth, and silky soy milk is rich and full-bodied, with a pleasant hint of scorched soybean. Apart from Yonghe Soy Milk King, most of Taipei’s many other soy milk shops sell a wide range of fresh, savory and light foods such as steamed buns filled with minced pork, veggie-filled buns, buns with red-bean paste, and xiaolongbao (小籠包), or steamed dumplings with minced pork. You can almost always eat your fill without spending more than NT$100.

If you’d like to try more traditional Taiwan-style breakfast foods, dive into one of the local traditional markets. In Dongmen Market (東門市場) you’ll find Mama Huang’s Rice Noodle Soup (黃媽媽米粉湯), where the rich, flavorful broth is made from pork bones. The slightly thick rice noodles soak up the broth, becoming plump and full, and a little white pepper and celery are added for extra flavor. Another breakfast treat to feast on is the handmade runbing (潤餅) at Shuanglian Market (雙連市場). These soft-skinned, non-fried spring rolls are filled with slivers of egg, dried radish, cabbage, red-yeast pork, and peanut powder. They are quite filling, and their very reasonable price adds to their appeal as a yummy option for everyday folk. To enjoy an all-you-can-eat experience for just NT$100 with a local Taiwan-style rice congee and side dish, don’t miss the Taipei Hero House (台北國軍英雄館). The food here is served buffet-style, and the wide selection of tasty side dishes gives you great value for your money.

Among the many purveyors of Western-style quick-service breakfast foods popular with the office crowd are JSP (呷尚寶中西式速食連鎖店) and My Warm Day (麥味登幸福餐點). In addition to the ham and egg, pork cutlet, tuna, bacon, and other familiar breakfast-sandwich flavors, among the special items offered are pancakes with egg and corn and pancakes with smoked chicken and egg. Some breakfast spots even go a step further, making breakfasts to-order.

Inexpensive and Filling, Popular with Office Workers – Lunch Buffets and Bento boxes

For lunch, follow in the footsteps of the office crowd, who pack the city’s inexpensive cafeteria-style buffet eateries. Simple and convenient, the selections are many and the prices very friendly. A good example is the chain Qingmei Buffet (靖美全自助餐), which has many outlets in Taipei, each offering at least 10 dishes – meat and fish, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, etc. Everything is priced by weight. If looking for a light meal without meat, the restaurants of the Minder Vegetarian (明德素食園) chain serve elegant vegetarian fare, also priced by weight.

Another favorite with the office crowd is the bento box, tasty and convenient. Bento box sellers are everywhere, making a delicious lunch-in-a-box always within easy reach. The “Taiwan Railway Bento Box” (臺鐵便當) is iconic – in the past they were a staple sold aboard trains – and today you can buy your own at such formal Taiwan Railway bento box outlets as the one in Taipei Main Station. Each comes with a bed of white rice, with perhaps a soy-braised pork chop, soy-braised egg, salted mustard greens, and cabbage. Portions are generous and prices low. At Wu Tau Lunch Box (悟饕池上飯包) the boxes, made from thin slivers of wood, are filled with a layer of chewy Chishang rice (池上米), accompanied by fresh and tasty lean meat, sausage, soy-braised dried bean curd, pickled cucumber, and three types of seasonal vegetable.

Dinners and Late-Night Snacking – Cooked Meals and Snack Treats in Tasty Profusion

For dinner, the range of options is even more diverse. Saba Hotpot (沙巴風味鍋), Oh Oh Yes Stinky Pot (大呼過癮臭臭鍋), and other similar restaurants offer a single-person hotpot for NT$100. The mini hotpots are filled with sliced meats, greens, beancurd, meat or fish balls, and other goodies. This freshly cooked, delicious dish goes great with a bowl of rice. There is little wonder why these spots are such a popular dinner choice with Taipei’s denizens. Saba Hotpot, in business 20 years, offers such unique and exotic international-style choices as Southeast Asian curry hotpot, Thai-style hot and sour soup, and Malay laksa pot, which are all especially popular with younger diners. Bafang Yunji (八方雲集) offers more than 10 kinds of pot-stickers and steamed dumplings, creating economical meals that are a big draw with office workers. Commercial districts with a concentration of nearby schools and always-hungry students, such as the Taida-Gongguan Commercial District (臺大公館商圈), have many sellers of inexpensive flavor-packed treats such as pan-fried stuffed buns, soy-braised meats and other items, and soy-braised pork in steamed buns, with Lan’s Ge Bao (藍家割包) especially popular in the last category.

Taipei’s night-market cuisine enjoys worldwide renown. Among the stars of the seemingly endless menu of snack, delicacies are chicken steaks, stinky tofu, pig-blood cakes, pepper cakes, oyster omelets, and seafood congee. Whatever you desire is almost surely available, and a sated tummy is guaranteed. This is the gourmet dining of everyday folk, high-quality, wide-ranging, and inexpensive.

Information

Yonghe Soy Milk King

永和豆漿大王

Tel: 0919-222-652

Mama Huang’s Rice Noodle Soup

黃媽媽米粉湯

Tel: 0922-238-529

Taipei Hero House 台北國軍英雄館

Tel: (02)2331-9722

JSP 呷尚寶中西式速食連鎖店

Tel: (02)2729-2783

My Warm Day 麥味登幸福餐點

Tel: (02)8789-4758

Qingmei Buffet 靖美全自助餐

Tel: (02)8773-9133

Minder Vegetarian 明德素食園

Tel: (02)2707-6753

Taiwan Railway Bento Box 臺鐵便當

Tel: (02)2361-9309

Wu Tau Lunch Box 悟饕池上飯包

Tel: (02)2755-5530

Saba Hotpot 沙巴風味鍋

Tel: (02)2632-2360

Oh Oh Yes Stinky Pot 大呼過癮臭臭鍋

Tel: (02)2726-9499

Bafang Yunji 八方雲集鍋貼水餃專賣店

Tel: (02)2705-9140