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Alleycats
This dark and swank basement pizzeria not only serves the best stone-oven pizza in Taipei, but is also the only place we've found so far to get hard cider on tap.
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Amigo Mexican Food
Got a hankering for Mexican? Amigo has tacos, burritos, home-made soups and other 'south of the border' favourites. Dishes are served with flair matching a genuine taco-stand ambiance.
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Beitou Squid
It isn't in Beitou (though we're told there's another one there), and there's no squid. But we like this funky little eatery in Tianmu because, aside from the eats - great pork and seafood dumpling soup and tasty Taiwanese side dishes such as cold cucumber salad and tofu with thousand year eggs - the place is just way cool.
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Bongos
Have a hankering for poutine (French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy) and pasta, or perhaps some salad served with a second-hand science-fiction paperback? Bongos, then, is undeniably the place. In addition to serving good Western-style lunches and dinners, including the aforementioned Canadian favourite, Bongos also has a comfortable reading area, outdoor seating, and a huge collection of second-hand paperbacks for sale.
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Capone's Lounge Bar
Named after noted Italian-American gourmand, merrymaker and racketeer, Capone's serves Italian food at prices you can't refuse. A popular watering hole with upscale expats, especially after when the house band plays.
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Celestial Restaurant
Lovers of Beijing-style cooking have been coming to this restaurant for generations. In addition to Peking duck (expensive but meant for sharing), try the elegant, comforting 'green beans (actually peas) with shredded chicken'.
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Chiantan Food Court
Avoiding food in Shilin is a bit like avoiding casinos in Las Vegas; you really need to be committed to manage it. Until recently the centre of the night market had a food court with teppanyaki booths, noodle stalls and milk-tea joints, but after many artery-clogging decades, city elders deemed the place a fire risk, and moved most of the food court's purveyors of tasty grease to their new home in the Chiantan Food Court, located just across from the Jiantan station.
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Cosmopolitan Grill
An upscale Western-style eatery offering dinner, business lunches and delicious weekend brunches the type that have helped make people round the world corpulent people. Check their website for specials, map, and even an online menu.
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Cottonfields
Need something to balance out the night markets' stick-meat, fried tofu and assorted artery-clogging goodness? Taipei has a number of places to get organic fruits, vegetables and other healthy products. Our favourite place is Cottonfields, which sells the sort of stuff you'd find at a farmer's market in places like San Francisco. They also sell salads and have a great juice bar with upstairs seating.
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Dintaifung
With Taipei's most celebrated dumplings, Dintaifung is deservedly popular for Shanghai-style treats made fresh to order. Try the classic xiǎolóng bāo (steamed pork dumplings). Very popular with locals and visitors alike, so either phone in reservations (they speak enough English) or prepare to queue up.
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Doggy & Yummy
One of the latest trends in Taipei is pet-friendly restaurants, that is, places where pet-loving city dwellers can take the pooch (or pot-bellied pig for that matter) out for a good meal. Though most tourists tend not to bring their own pets, doggy restaurants are fun places, especially for travellers with children (besides, we couldn't resist listing at least one of these odd eateries).
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Escargot
Check out Escargot for some of the best cakes in the neighbourhood.
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Fang's Restaurant
You can find excellent plates of Jiangzi-style (Shanghai regional) cooking at this local favourite that is well regarded by both long-term expats and locals alike. Just about every table also seems to order a tray of 'mini-mall steamed buns', tiny soup dumplings.
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G'day Café
A popular hangout for local expats. A good place to go for burgers, tacos, steak, Western-style brunches, apple pie with ice cream and a bottomless cup of coffee.
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Geneva
We were saddened to learn that Ticino's (our old favourite Taipei Swiss restaurant) had closed its doors, but happy that Geneva has picked up the flaming fondue torch. Though pricey, Geneva uses only the finest cheese to make its fondues and the best home-baked breads and imported meats for dipping. Leave room for desert, an amazingly decadent chocolate fondue served with fresh strawberries. And of course, don't forget to order the sparkling wine.
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Golden Dragon
Popular with politicos and visitors alike, the Golden Dragon is the gorgeous Hong Kong-style restaurant inside the Grand Hotel (which is possibly one of Taipei's best known landmarks). Excellent dim sum and other Cantonese favourites are served in style. Diners have a panoramic view of the Keelung River.
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Grandma Nitti's
A mainstay of Taipei's Western community, Nitti's serves comfort food such as waffles, burgers, Philly-cheese steaks, Mexican dishes and family-size pastas. Breakfast is served until dinner time. There's a comfy street-side terrace and the windowed space upstairs is a great place to mull over newspapers. There's a long bookcase on the first floor with an excellent selection of second-hand books for sale, and the restaurant's owner is a mainstay in Taiwan's animal-protection community.
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Green Leaf
This local favourite literally serves everything Taiwanese from dumplings to full plates in vintage 1964 décor. Pluses are its friendly service and the well-translated menu. Some more expensive seafood options cost up to NT$1288 , so unless your wallet is deep as the ocean you might want to steer clear of the lobster.
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Haibawang
The speciality at this multistorey restaurant is Taiwanese hotpot. Expect an elegant setting, eight storeys above ground and overlooking the Taipei Arts Park and the Fine Arts Museum. If you're not up for hotpot (or some lovely Taiwanese seafood plates), some floors feature Italian or buffet-style dining.
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Hatsuho
Just steps from the Emperor Hotel is where you'll find this country-Japanese-style place for sashimi, grilled fishes, yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) and okonomiyaki (savoury pancakes). You can choose hori-kotatsu seating, with your feet in a well under the table.
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Haw Kuang Vegetarian Restaurant
Words can't describe how much we love this vegetarian buffet just a few blocks northwest of the Shilin Night Market. The chef is a genius, with an eye for both colour and flavour. Imagine yourself a painter and the white cardboard tray your canvas. Arrange your meal from dozens of beautifully prepared vegetarian dishes and enjoy. If you visit one vegetarian buffet during your time in Taipei, make it this one.
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He Xiang Delicious Food
A long-standing favourite street-side eatery in Tianmu, He Xiang has kept the same tiny menu for decades (The picture menu on the wall behind the counter has almost totally faded). The specialty of the house, and a local must-try, is the bamboo-steamed sticky rice with red pork and vegetables, wrapped in a lotus leaf and served with hot sauce. Look for the faded picture of this dish above the entrance.
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Hooters
The opening of Hooters in Taipei caused quite a stir. If you've ever been to a Hooters in America, you know that the women who work here are chosen for their looks, outgoing personalities, and willingness to join in spontaneous hula-hoop performances. The ladies of Hooters Taipei live up to the franchise's expectations. Food and decor is pure Americana - how you feel about that depends on your personal bias.
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Ice Monster
It's hard to imagine anything more refreshing on a hot summer day or after a big winter-time dinner than shaved ice topped with chunks of strawberry, kiwi fruit or (most famously) mango and a scoop of mango sorbet.
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Joy Yuan Taiwan Buffet
Always busy, this perennial favourite offers a cafeteria-style buffet with dozens of selections, encompassing a fairly wide chunk of the omnivore dietary spectrum. As a general rule, high turnover at a buffet ensures fresh food, making this among the best bang for buck buffets.
