Keelung Night Market is one of Taiwan’s top night markets, with hundreds of superb street-food stalls and open 7 nights a week.
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As visited by such famous food shows such as Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix and the late, great Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover, Keelung Night Market is a fine foodie foray so make sure you arrive on an empty stomach!
Also known in Taiwan as Miaokou Night Market / 基隆廟口夜市, Keelung night market is a destination in its own right and less than one hour away from Taipei (although we’d recommend staying here as there are so many things to do in Keelung).
It is one of the most iconic night markets (and most photographed in Taiwan), always busy and located close to Dianji Temple.
From prices to all the Taiwanese food and street eats available, here is our ultimate guide to Keelung Night Market in 2024.
You might like – Netflix’s Somebody Feed Phil in Taipei and Keelung locations guide >
Taiwan checklist
We love using booking.com for researching and booking all our hotels, and Hostelworld for booking hostels.
For booking tours, transfers and SIM cards we recommend Get Your Guide, Viator or Klook.
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Keelung Night Market opening hours
Keelung Night Market (MiaoKou Night Market) is open from around 6pm until midnight daily – the two main streets that make up the night market close to traffic from around 5pm and reopen after midnight.
Despite what you may see on Google maps, the proper Miaokou Night Market doesn’t open until after dusk / around 6pm – it is not open at lunchtime as some suggest but the nearby permanent food shops and stalls are open earlier.
We last visited Keelung Night Market in early 2024 and these times are correct as of them.
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How to get to Keelung Night Market
Keelung Night Market / 基隆廟口夜市 has grown over recent years and is now located across two main streets – Rensan Road and Aisi Road.
It is an easy 10 minute walk from Keelung Train Station or Keelung Bus Station.
If you are visiting Keelung Night Market from Taipei, trains from Taipei Main Station to Keelung depart very regularly. We also found that the buses from certain parts of downtown Taipei (such as Nanjing and Zhongshan) were in fact a quicker way of getting to Keelung Night Market than the train from Taipei Main Station.
You can easily combine Keelung Night Market with a day trip to Jiufen or Shifen too.
So definitely check Google Maps or the official Go! Taipei Metro app to see which is the quickest and best route for you to Keelung if you are staying in Taipei or Jiufen.
Taiwanderers Tip
Grab a Taiwan EasyCard as a convenient way to use buses and public transport in Keelung (plus across Taipei and Taiwan). They can be easily topped up at stations and convenience stores and come in lots of cute designs.
Read more about how to use a Taiwan EasyCard, including how to top up >
Try this – Keelung food tours with local guides >
The best time to visit Keelung Night Market
Our recommendation would be to visit Keelung Night Market on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday as this is when the main yellow lantern lights are switched on (so it looks incredible on camera), plus most food stalls are open. We’ve visited on a weekday too and a few stalls were closed but it is still busy.
If you don’t like crowds, it is best to visit Keelung Night Market early around 6pm on a weekday (Monday to Thursday). You may also want to check whether any overseas cruise ships are docked in Keelung Port as the market is busier with tourists then.
Our tip would be to go to the nearby Keelung Tower for sunset views (free admission) then walk the 10 minutes to Keelung Night Market for an evening epicurean experience. Check out our guide to Keelung Tower with photos here >
Try this – Keelung Islet Island Landing, Lighthouse, and Elephant Trunk Rock Experience >
Arriving at the market
Keelung Night Market has become incredibly popular over the years, especially with overseas tourists who have seen it on foodie TV programmes like Netflix Somebody Feed Phil in 2024 or in tourist travel guides.
The Keelung Night Market takes originally started just outside the nearby Dianji Temple in the mid 1940s as a few street food stalls, gradually expanding over time.
Miaokou Keelung market has now expanded to a huge L shaped, across two streets. Whilst open to traffic in the daytime, the streets close just before 6pm with hefty metal barriers to keep the cars and mopeds at bay (although lots of dogs in prams still make their way in!)
Other than the hustle and bustle of people and hundreds of food stalls with steady streams of smoke and BBQ smells, the first thing you’ll likely notice is the huge array of yellow lanterns that light up the area.
These lanterns make Keelung Night Market such a characterful and photogenic market – remember though the lanterns are usually only switched on Friday to Sunday.
Many of the stalls are numbered at Keelung Night Market so if you want to visit a particular stall or have been given a vendor number by a foodie TV programme or blog, they are very easy to find.
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Food at Keelung Market in Taiwan
There are hundreds of food-stalls at Keelung Night Market so we can’t mention everyone in great details.
Based on our own experiences, we found it best to rock up with a couple of back-up foodie suggestions or firm favourites we’ve tried in the past – but ultimately, follow your nose (very easy with stinky tofu eh!) or see where the locals are eating or queuing up.
PS If you’ve arrived at this article or are going because of the recent Netflix Somebody Feed Phil Keelung and Taipei episode, find out all the Keelung Market stall numbers featured here >
Some of the best Taiwanese food at Keelung Night Market includes:
‘One Bite Sausage’ (stall 45)
We visited ‘One Bite Sausage’ at the intersection after seeing it featured on Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix.
Each mini sausage costs just NT$8 and was packed full of flavour – it was also less ‘gristle’ than other Taiwan sausages we’ve encountered. We had to queue about 5 minutes on a mid week evening but it was so worth it.
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Stinky Tofu
Just follow your nose! This is not for everyone but you should try fermented stinky tofu at least one time during your trip.
Sweet Potato Balls
Deep fried balls of fun in two different colours.
Scallion pancakes
Made from a doughy mix using flour, oil, water, salt and usually green onions / scallions (although you can have it without).
There are several Taiwanese scallion pancake stalls at Keelung Night Market but in our opinion, nothing beats Taipei Tian Jin Scallion Pancakes in Yongkang Street – read our review here >
Nutritious sandwich (stall 58)
A deep fried sweet bread filled with meat, vegetables and mayo costing 60 TWD. Expect BIG queues. Again, this featured on the Taiwan episode of Somebody Feel Phil on Netflix.
Fried Chicken
Clucking hell, there is a lot of fried chicken at Keelung Night Market. We would recommend stall 35 as the chicken was succulent and the owner very nice.
A small bag of fried chicken pieces at Keelung Market stall 35 costs 60 TWD and a large bag costs 100 TWD – prices correct as of our last visit in spring 2024.
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Taiwanese shaved ice from Pao Pao Ice (stall 37)
Something to keep you cool after spicy food or a hot summer’s day. Pao Pao offers several flavors of shaved ice and each cup costs 60 TWD.
It genuinely just tastes like ice-cream but is somehow more refreshing – a pleasant surprise!
Keelung Ha Luo Clams
Clam-tastic street food at Keelung Night Market – available in original, garlic and basil sauce and cooked fresh to order. A small clam set costs NT$100, medium NT$150 and large NT$200.
Buns with pan fried braised pork and leek
Delicious soft buns filled with chinese pork and leek for NT$80 . A box of pork sausages, leek and potatoes are also available for NT$150 from the same stall.
Shacha Squid
This is a squid ‘steak’ Taiwanese style with a special sauce, usually consisting of anchovies, soy, dried shrimp and more. Stall 164 offers shacha squid at NT$100 a portion.
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Root Juices
Yes, not fruit juice but root juice – many stalls offer up lotus root juice along with tea drinks.
Pig’s Blood Soup
There are various meaty soups to buy including liver soup for $NT60 and the special sour pork blood soup.
Try this – Keelung: Night Market food tour to explore culinary delights >
Crab Soup / Fish soup
Lots of fishy and fermented soups to savour like crab soup – one of the oldest stalls here has been selling crab soup and ‘ancient’ taste oil rice since 1950.
Roast duck burritos
This was one of the dishes we were intrigued by and it was really good – effectively a slightly different take on a duck pancake with various sauces available, costing $NT85 per wrap / burrito.
Braised / Roasted Sweet Corn
One of the highlights is watching the sweet corn sellers roast their corn kernels on skewers over charcoal racks – a very distinctive taste and one of the best vegetarian options at Keelung Night Market.
Candied Fruit
Sugar coated vegetables and fruit on skewers like candied tomatoes (NT$30), sugar plums (NT$35) or candied strawberries (very popular) for NT$40.
Fruit stalls
For dessert, there are lots of small street-carts selling diced fruit (or fruit juices). We are slightly addicted to guava with salt when in Taiwan – you’ll find several guava and fresh fruit stalls at Keelung Market.
You might like this Keelung Night Market food tour on Klook >
Other things to see at the market (other than food)
95% of the stalls at Keelung night market are seriously good street-food but along the far edge of Aisi Road, there are also lots of carnival style games and fairground attractions which are always fun to take part in or watch others.
Popular games include getting basketballs in hoops, bursting balloons with darts plus hoopla, where you can win prizes by throwing rings over toys (or beer and wine bottles for ‘big kids’).
The games do seem pretty loaded in favour of the stall owner and we didn’t see many winners – so buyer beware!
Many local blind / injured street performers (or students trying to raise tuition fees) also sing and play music in the crowds – this is a very regular occurrence in all of Taipei’s night markets.
We also spotted toy stalls and a few fashion / sock stalls at Keelung Night Market too.
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Other practical tips
- Keelung Night Market is closed to traffic from around 5.30pm to approximately midnight.
- Crime is low in Taiwan compared to other countries but it can be very busy very quickly so keep an eye on your belongings.
- If the queue is big and it isn’t all western tourists, it is likely a very good stall!
- Some Keelung Night Market food stalls offer seating but not all (like the popular ‘One Bite Sausage stall number 45) – so you may need to walk and eat.
- A lot of the stall holders have pictures of Anthony Bourdain eating at their stalls, should you need a shorthand way to retrace in his foodie footsteps (RIP).
- Some of the stalls close / sell out early so if you want a specific dish from a specific stall, don’t risk it and go early.
- Watch out for skewers – given the close proximity, be aware of visitors with empty food skewers in their hand as they can be quite sharp.
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Keelung Night Market address
Keelung Miaokou Night Market, 基隆廟口夜市 200, Taiwan, Keelung City, Ren’ai District, 玉田里仁三路
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