Must-see restaurants in Kaohsiung

This upmarket restaurant where locals and expats bring their guests offers some of the best seafood dishes anywhere in Taiwan. The menu has no prices, but…

A hip restaurant with Eames-inspired, futuristic paraphernalia, plus an oldies playlist, beaming you to the late-Japanese-colonial era. The set meals here…

Kaohsiung's largest and arguably best night market. Stalls cater to locals rather than big tour groups, and they're concentrated in one area, which makes…

The flagship store of the Taiwanese baker who won top prize (bread category) in the Bakery World Cup in Paris. And he did it with a wheat loaf that he…

A casual 1km stroll from Pier-2 Art Center through a charming neighbourhood brings you to this neat little place that serves up tasty and affordable soup…

A laid-back restaurant known for well-executed Taiwanese dishes and above-average pricing. At lunch, it's full of middle-class families and couples. At…

An elegant teahouse that makes refined versions of classics such as braised pork and panfried milkfish. Pore over a book or watch the world go by as you…

This wonderful street-corner shop with an iron roof whips up delicious soups and congee with fresh local seafood. The signature seafood congee (招牌海產粥,…

Sanmin St heaves with cheap and cheery stalls brandishing all kinds of deliciousness. One of the most famous is Chou's, for its duck cooked in angelica…

Great place for breakfast or a late-night snack – it's open all the time. At a glance it's just a regular street shop that specialises in milk tea, but…

At this small, 60-year-old stall, place your order and watch the lady assemble the rolls, her hands darting over huge plates of Chinese cabbage, sprouts,…

A clean, crisp-looking bistro that prides itself on using local produce as much as possible. Greens and seafood from Kaohsiung, pork from Pingtung and…

Milkfish is associated with Tainan, but Kaohsiung has its own version, too. Instead of serving the meat as is, slivers of meat are wrapped in fish cake…

For fresh seafood, locals recommend Ya Jiao on Cijin Island. It's the kind of place for eating sautéed clams or local fish sashimi, drinking cheap beer,…

A chilled cafe in an old Japanese-Taiwanese house (c 1900s) that's nostalgic and elegant without trying too hard. You can spend a relaxing hour here under…

If you're into fine dining, Taiwan's own Thomas Chien does good contemporary French using imported meats and local ingredients like mullet roe and flower…

This market is famous islandwide for its 100-plus food stalls offering everything from squid on a stick to fresh chicken wraps. You’ll see a convoy of…