Although not as well loved by locals as some Taipei night markets, Shilin Night Market is still worthy of your time if you have a few evenings in Taipei.
Yes, it is popular with tourists but hey, so are other night markets and as well as some fine food stalls, it has lots of fun carnival style games and a beautiful temple lit up at night.
It is also home to the famous Taipei tiger 3D billboard and numerous garment, gadget and gachapon stalls.
This post may contain affiliate links to tours and hotels. These help us earn a small commission at no additional charge to you.
From stinky tofu to teppanyaki, Fuzhou black pepper buns to Hot-Star Chicken, you’ll find something at Shilin Night Market 士林夜市 to suit all tastes (literally) and budgets.
We stayed in the Shilin Taipei neighborhood for several nights in early 2025 and visited the night market most evenings.
March 2025 Update – please note that at the time of writing, the large underground food court section at Shilin Night Market is still closed for renovations so we haven’t included it. It has been like this for many months so there is a possibility it might not be reopening.
From prices to the best food stalls, here is our guide to Shilin Night Market in 2025.
You might like – Our 1 day Taipei itinerary or 3 day Taipei itinerary
Taiwan checklist
We love using agoda.com and booking.com for researching and booking all our hotels, and Hostelworld for booking hostels.
For booking tours, transfers and SIM cards/eSIMs we recommend Get Your Guide, Viator, KK Day or Klook. You can also purchase eSIMs from Airalo.
For booking rental cars visit Discover Cars.
When is Shilin Night Market 士林夜市 open?
Taipei’s Shilin Night Market is open from around 4pm to midnight daily (although individual stall times may open).
Although the food stalls open from 4pm, many of the permanent shops and restaurants open all day so you can visit earlier.
As we stayed in a Shilin hotel quite close to the night market, we found the best time to visit Shilin Night Market was usually around 5pm as most of the stalls were open and it wasn’t too busy.
If you don’t like crowds, it is best to avoid the area between 6pm and 8pm. That said, as it is quite spread out, it never feels as busy as say Raohe Night Market or Ningxia Night Market at their peaks times.
You might like – Our guide to Taipei’s Gongguan Night Market (small, sublime and loved by students) >
Join our Facebook Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Group!
Need help with your Taiwan itinerary or have any questions? Head on over to the most fun and fastest growing Taiwan Facebook group with 80k+ members and ask the experts!
Click here to join our group >
Where is Shilin Night Market?
Located in the Shilin District and to the north of downtown Taipei, the nearest MRT Station to Shilin Night Market is Jiantan 劍潭 MRT on the red Tamsui – Xinyi line; leave from exit 1.
As Shilin Night Market is so sprawling, it is only a minute or so walk from the MRT station to the edges of the night market.
If you are taking a day trip from Taipei on the MRT to Tamsui, you could easily stop off at Shilin Night Market on your way back in the evening.
From Taipei Main Station to Shilin Night Market, it is a 9 minute / 5 stop MRT journey direct to Jiantan MRT then a short walk to the start of the night market.
If you’d rather visit Shilin Night Market with a guide, check out this private tour or this group walking tour of Shilin Night Market.
Shilin Hotels
Whilst busy at night, Shilin is a good neighborhood to stay in if you prefer something away from downtown. Good quality hotels are also cheaper here than say Ximending accommodation or Xinyi.
Boutech Jiantan Hotel in Shilin
On our early 2025 trip to Taiwan, we stayed at the Boutech Jiantan Hotel for 5 nights, which was just a 10 minute walk from the night market in Shilin.
The room was mid-range in price – we paid £65 a night for a standard double room without breakfast (NT$2,665 or $80 USD). We were allocated an 8th floor room with a city view.
The hotel was clean and modern and the WiFi was fast compared to other Taipei hotels we’ve stayed in. The TV in the room has Netflix and YouTube apps on.
Each room comes with a mini Taiwanese grocery bag filled with tea and coffee sachets, plus some cans of Taiwanese drinks.
The room has a Japanese toilet with a nice heated seat plus a shared spa bath area for ladies only and an onsite laundry.
Check out Boutech Jiantian rates here or other Shilin hotel rates.
Shilin Night Market – what to expect
Shilin Night Market is often described as Taipei’s biggest night market and it certainly is sprawling.
However we aren’t sure if it still is the biggest as on our latest trip in January 2025, the underground food court was still closed for renovations plus there were less stalls than on previous visits.
That said, we still ate like kings and enjoyed some tasty Taiwanese treats and traditional food – you’ll find a mixture of food stalls that open just at night, permanent restaurants plus lots of non food shops and stalls (particularly fashion, tech, shoes and children’s toys).
We’d estimate there are around 100 or so food stalls along the main strip / Danan Road and Shilin Cixian Temple 慈諴宮(士林) and Yangming Theater.
You might like – First timers guide to Taipei and Taiwan >
Shilin Tiger 3D Billboard 士林萌虎
Before you start on the food, you might want to check out the famous 3D Tiger-cub billboard located in the middle of the market, found on Google Maps here >
This playful tiger cub appears on the massive Taipei 3D billboard every few minutes in short bursts and bounds about the screen chasing butterflies or swatting a big poo – it might be a fun activity for kids before hitting the food stalls or carnival games.
Talking of poo, did you also know one of Taiwan’s most famous themed restaurants, Modern Toilet has a branch in Shilin?
Famous for its unique bathroom decor, you eat on toilet seats plus enjoy ‘cr@ppy’ food…but in a good way.
You might like – Our guide to Taipei’s Modern Toilet restaurants plus other Taipei at night activities
The best food stalls at Shilin Night Market
There is lots of choice at Shilin Night Market but there are around 5 or 6 stalls that are particularly popular, typically with long lines:
Taiwanese sausage with rice stall
See that huge line snaking all the way to the 3D tiger billboard? That’ll likely be the Taiwanese sausage stall.
We opted for Taiwanese garlic sausage wrapped in sticky rice for $70 NTD – this Shilin Market stall had the biggest queue of the night!
There are several flavours to choose from including basil, black pepper, basil, kimchi, spicy, soy sauce, honey and smoked sausage – we really enjoyed this and it wasn’t as ‘gristly’ as other Taiwanese sausages we’ve had.
Incidentally, you find the Taiwanese sausage stall just across from this stinky tofu stall here – so just follow your nose.
Fuzhou Ancestral Pepper Cake / Fuzhou Pepper Buns 福州世祖胡椒餅 士林店
One of our favourite Taipei night market foods, this is a famous pork pepper bun stall that has a few branches including one at Raohe Night Market (it is always the busiest stall there).
The Shilin Fuzhou Pepper Bun stall seems much quieter than the other branches which meant we didn’t have to queue to enjoy it!
The buns comprise of juicy pork, black pepper and green onions / scallions wrapped in a doughy bun and then baked to perfection in a cylindrical charcoal oven – just enough to give the bun a chargrilled texture and slightly crunchy exterior, but juicy and succulent center.
As of early 2025, Fuzhou Pepper Buns at Shilin cost NT$65 per bun (around £1.50 / $2 USD).
Find the Shilin pork pepper bun stall here >
Fuzhou pepper buns are featured on the Netflix episode of ‘Somebody Feed Phil’ in Taipei.
Grilled oyster mushrooms 燒烤杏鮑菇
After so much meat, we opted to try some veggies and went to this Shilin grilled oyster stall (map).
We went because we loved mushrooms plus the queue seemed to have lots of hungry locals – so we just had to go for it!
We bought 240g of diced grilled king oyster mushrooms. You could pick 2 flavour seasonings from 9 different ones. We opted for lemon pepper and seaweed. It cost $120 NTD.
You might like – Our guide to the best themed restaurants and cafes in Taiwan >
Hot-Star chicken
Possibly the most famous fried chicken joint in Taipei, Hot-Star chicken can be found on the edge of Shilin Night Market here >
We remember when Hot-Star used to be one of the most popular things to eat in Ximending at night – but that ‘wing’ closed down and now Shilin Night Market is home to Hot-Star Chicken.
Hot Star Chicken is very good at what it does so your only two choices are spicy or non spicy – the chicken is also as big as your head!
Many people say it is the best chicken they’ve ever had – that might explain the huge queue every night (although when we passed the stall at lunchtimes, it wasn’t too bad).
Hot-Star chicken at Shilin Night Market costs NT$90 per portion as of March 2025 – and it is MASSIVE!
You might like – Our guide to Taiwan’s biggest chain restaurants including Din Tai Fung
Taiwan peanut ice-cream burritos
A quick mention of all the ice-cream stalls at Shilin, a nice way to finish with dessert.
There are several – we had the peanut brittle and coriander burrito ice cream (peanut and vanilla flavoured ice cream scoops) for $70 NTD.
Other food stalls at Shilin Night Market 士林夜市
There are so many food stalls at Shilin Night Market that we can’t cover them all, but some of the other Shilin foods available include:
- Sweet potato balls – several stalls are selling this chewy coloured snack
- Flame grilled beef
- Scallion pancakes
- BBQ lamb chops
- Taiwanese style hamburgers
- Grilled snails / escargot in several flavours
- Fried milk
- Frog porridge
- Xiao long bao
- Braise chicken feet
- Yakitori style skewers
- Negimaki (scallions wrapped in pork)
- Tanghulu candied fruit snack
You might like – More things to do in Taipei at night including going to a Taiwan baseball game
Carnival stalls at Shilin Night Market
Around two thirds of the stalls at Shilin night market are seriously good street food but 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 traditional Taiwanese marble pinball machines can also be found in great numbers here.
Most of the games stalls can be found in the covered section of Shilin Night Market above the underground food court (which is currently closed for renovations at the time of writing in March 2025).
Check out these Taipei food tours with Klook, Viator, and Get Your Guide.
Shilin Cixian Temple 慈諴宮(士林)
Often referred to as the Shilin Night Market temple, Cixian Temple 慈諴宮(士林) was built in the late 18th century and ‘moved’ to its current location almost 75 years later after a fire.
Dedicated to Mazu, the deity of the sea, the Shilin temple is adorned with lanterns and free to visit day and night – it has beautiful interiors and ornate furnishings.
A few tourists seem to think it is ok to eat their night market food on the temple steps at night – don’t be that person!
You might like – Taiwanderers guide to Yongkang Street, Taipei’s tastiest neighbourhood >
Other things to do in Shilin
- Taipei Children’s Amusement Park – one of Taiwan’s top theme parks aimed at younger children. Rides can be purchased using an EasyCard.
- National Palace Museum – one of largest collections of Chinese art in the world with almost 800,000 artifacts.
- Manhole spotting – Shilin has several colourful manhole cover designs near Jiantan Station and the night market. There are 24 different Taipei Taiwan manhole cover designs spread across a dozen Taipei city districts.
Found this article helpful?
Did you enjoy our blog post? Let us know in the comments or by sharing it on social media.
You can follow Taiwanderers on:
Instagram
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
Pinterest
