You will never go hungry in Ximending, with restaurants, eateries and food stalls to suit all tastes and budgets.
Where to eat in Ximending shouldn’t cause you too much of a problem, as there are a whole range of Ximen restaurants including long established eateries like Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodles, King Pork Wan Nian Store and Tian Tian Li.
This post may contain affiliate links to tours and hotels. These help us earn a small commission at no additional charge to you.
Try some traditional Taiwanese breakfast in Ximen at Yong He Soy Milk, Taiwanese flour rice noodles or fried chicken or if you fancy a change, international chains like Saizeriya, SUKIYA or inexpensive sushi at Sushiro.
For a big blow-out, try Ximen buffets like Mala Hot Pot (complete with free flow alcohol or the best beef BBQ cuts at Power of Meat.
The great thing about Ximending restaurants is that many are open until late but please note a LOT of Ximending restaurants are cash only so ensure you have some money on hand before dining.
From breakfast to late night bites, here is our guide of where to eat in Ximending and the top Ximen restaurants in Taipei.
Taiwan checklist
We love using agoda.com (use the code TAIWANDERERS for a discount), expedia.com and booking.com for researching and booking all our hotels.
For booking tours, transfers and buying SIM cards/eSIMs we recommend Klook, Get Your Guide, Viator or KK Day.
For booking rental cars visit Discover Cars. For private drivers and taxis, check out our Transfer guide >
Find safe storage spaces across Taiwan with Bounce (and get 5% discount).
For more recommendations, check out our Taiwan travel booking resources page >
All set for Taiwan? Do one final check with our Taipei first timers guide and our packing list guide. Travelling with kids? Check out our Taipei For Kids eBook >
Yong He Soy Milk
A good Ximending breakfast restaurant and a great way to start the day, call in at Yong He Soy Milk 西門町永和豆漿.
Although the reviews are a little mixed, we thought we’d try it out ourselves and it was good!
We spent NT$185 on a few pancakes, plus a hot sesame soy milk and iced coffee.
These are the pancakes we ordered (and rated in order of our favourites) – a ‘Grab cake egg cheese’ (NT$65), biscuits egg ham (NT$53) and bacon omelet pancake (NT$45).
We rocked up at 10.30am and managed to hit a quiet period where there was no queue, but about 20 minutes later a long one had formed!
Find Yong He Soy Milk on Google Maps >
Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodles
Possibly the best beef noodles in Ximending, we love Lao Shandong Homemade Noodles and slurp them up every time we stay in Ximen. They are famous for their wide and al dente hand-pulled ribbon noodles and slow-cooked beef bone broth.
This 70 year old handmade noodle restaurant has Michelin recognition and is located in the basement of the Wan Nian building in Ximending (it is right in the corner and could be easy to miss).
Large bowls of beef noodle soup are $220 NTD (only $20 NTD extra than the smaller bowl). Please note the restaurant is cash only.
Find Lao Shandong Homemade Noodles on Google Maps >
Taiwanderers Tip – Our favourite Taipei beef noodle place is still the nearby Liu Shandong Beef Noodles >
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 195,000+ members and ask the experts!
Click here to join our group >
Or if you just want to see more of our Taiwan photos, follow our Taiwan Facebook page or our Taiwan Instagram account
SUSHIRO
Sushiro is one of Japan’s most famous sushi conveyor belt restaurants, and is also a popular chain restaurant in Taiwan serving budget friendly sushi, ramen, fried side dishes and desserts.
You can pick up dishes directly from the conveyor belt or order from a tablet.
This flagship-style branch is always packed, often with long waiting times at peak times of the day and weekends (when the restaurant is full they generally enforce a 1 hour dining limit).
You can download the official Sushiro Taiwan app to make a reservation / get a virtual queue ticket, or pick up a physical queue number ticket in the restaurant and wait in the small seated area.
Find SUSHIRO Taipei Zhonghua branch on Google Maps >
MONGA
Now that Ximending’s famous Hot Star Chicken has closed down (we aren’t clucking around), the current contender for Ximending’s best fried chicken has to be MONGA.
Monga serves up delicious juicy fried chicken, including boneless chicken nuggets which we rave about – place your order, grab a ticket and your chicken is cooked fresh to order.
They have several branches around Taipei and more across Taiwan plus overseas in the UK, Canada and China. Who needs a Hot Star when you can munch on MONGA?!
Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodle
A very popular and iconic stall with long queues of hungry locals waiting to purchase a take away tub of Taiwanese flour rice noodles (served with gravy and pig intestines!).
The queues at Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle 阿宗麵線 move pretty quickly as they only sell the one dish. We were not huge fans of the dish but the price is so cheap at NT$60 for a small tub that you may as well try it!
We’ve talked about this dish in our Taiwan Travel Tips Facebook group a few times and the strong taste is quite divisive with some saying it is overrated.
Skip the queue with this discounted Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle at Ximen voucher from Klook >
Find Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle on Google Maps >
Mala Hot Pot
You might have already heard about this popular Taiwan hot pot buffet chain – there are several Mala Hot Pots restaurants in Taiwan with many branches in Taipei, including Mala Hot Pot Ximen Branch.
We’ve dined at several Mala Hot Pot and enjoyed two hours of tasty buffet hot pot with free flow alcoholic drinks (self pour beer, wine and cocktails), plus Häagen-Dazs and Movenpick ice cream al for $NT798 each (£19 / $25USD).
Note the lunchtime deal at Ximen Mala Hot Pot (11.30am to 4pm) is slightly cheaper at NT$698
There are three different hot pot packages you can choose from – each table has a split pot and can choose from seven different types of soup base.
We went for the basic option, but the more expensive ones include shrimp and wagyu beef. However, there are plenty of other seafood items to enjoy as part of the regular menu.
Find Mala Hot Pot Ximen Branch on Google Maps >
Find out more about Mala Hot Pot in our Taipei’s best buffets guide >
Fuhong Beef Noodles Restaurant
We also love the nearby Fuhong Beef Noodle shop 富宏牛肉麵 – the queues can be big but it is worth it. We go here every time we stay in a Ximending hotel and most locals slurp away at their noodles whilst watching the news on the big TV and peeling garlic cloves.
As it is quite a small space inside Fuhong Beef Noodles, it can get very cosy in there as you share tables – on one occasion, the chap next to us was very friendly telling us to add pickled cabbage to our beef noodle soup.
He also mentioned that the soft drinks were free from the vending machine at the front (bonus!) and that you can get free soup top-ups. So we did both!
The beef noodles at Fuhong are melt in your mouth marvelous, with handmade noodles and soft, super juicy slices of beef – and it was only around $70 NTD for a medium sized dish, no wonder it is so popular.
Find Fuhong Beef Noodle shop on Google maps >
Tian Tian Li
A classic Taiwanese restaurant in the heart of Ximending walking street (close to the street performers), Tian Tian Li 天天利美食坊 serves up all manner of local hearty food from braised pork rice (Lu Rou Fan) to excellent oyster omelettes, fish ball noodle soup and radish cake.
As the area is tourist central, this is one Taiwanese restaurant foreigners flock to and we dined here on one of our very first visits many years ago but have yet to go back.
It is a great way to try local food and avoid the international chains but there is menu is big so they don’t specialise in one particular dish (so the results are mixed).
Find 天天利美食坊 Tian Tian Li on Google Maps >
King Pork Wan Nian Store
Heard fellow travellers talking about an amazing pork chop rice place in Ximending? Welcome to King Pork Wan Nian Store 金園排骨萬年店, one of Ximen’s longest established restaurants, serving up perfect Taiwanese fried pork chop rice since 1973.
For over 50 years, this famous pork chop palace has been a firm favourite of locals and travellers – other dishes include crispy fried chicken and rice or shrimp rolls and sides like cabbage and agedashi tofu plus drinks like milk tea, soy milk and aiyu jelly.
As of summer 2026, King Pork Wan Nian Store prices are NT$150 for their famous pork ribs rice or noodles, NT$180 for curry chicken leg rice, NT$80 for fried tofu or shrimp rolls and NT$40 for most side dishes.
Find King Pork Wan Nian Store on Google Maps >
Saizeriya
A little bit of Italy in Taiwan (via Japan), Saizeriya is a cheap and cheerful Italian chain restaurant which is popular with younger diners, families and tourists (possibly not Italians though).
Amazingly, there are over 1,100 Saizeriya Italian restaurants in Japan and Taiwan has a few too including a popular one next to UNIQLO in Ximending, Taipei.
We’ve probably eaten at this particular Saizeriya Ximen 薩莉亞 西門店 half a dozen times over the last 10 years and it is always insanely busy (particularly with local student), especially at night.
The food quality is OK (great if you are craving Western style food) and the pizzas, pasta and wine are ridiculously cheap. The Taiwan Beer here is inexpensive too!
Find Saizeriya Ximen on Google Maps >
Matsuya and Matsunoya
Another cheap and cheerful Japanese chain restaurant in Ximen, we ate here one National Day when a lot of other restaurants were closed down. It is also open from 8am to midnight which can come in handy.
This Taipei restaurant is a bit different than what you’ll find in Japan as it combines two famous chain restaurant brands under one roof – Matsuya and Matsunoya.
Matsuya serves gyudon (meat bowls) and Matsunoya serves tonkatsu dishes.
Basic Gyudon bowls start from just NT$95 or curry and rice from NT$130.
Set meals here are very cheap and you can order a tonkatsu main dish that comes with rice and miso soup from only NT$230.
Find Matsuya / Matsunoya on Google Maps >
SUKIYA
Similar to Matsuya, welcome to Japan’s biggest gyudon / beef bowl restaurant chain, now in Taiwan and with a Ximending branch.
Big beef bowls are their signature dish plus you can eat cheap curry rice and inexpensive set meals. Some branches of Taipei Sukiya are open 24 hours but this branch remains open until 2am week nights and 11pm at the weekends.
We have eaten at Sukiyas before but not this particular branch – at the time of writing, the average Google rating is 2.9* so some people clearly don’t like it.
Find Sukiya Xining S. Road. Branch すき家 SUKIYA 西寧南路店 on Google Maps >
Ximen Liangshanbo Xiaolongbao
An excellent xiao long bao restaurant in Ximending, 西門 梁山泊小籠湯包 is famous for its soupy dumplings, best washed down with black soy milk. With big lines but brisk service, the line up is so worth it.
Their menu is simple so they are good at what they do – pork xiao long bao NT$135 for 6), soup (hot and sour or corn) NT$40 plus black soy milk / soft drinks for NT$25 or a Taiwan Beer for NT$80 (prices correct as of summer 2026).
Find Ximen Liangshanbo Xiaolongbao on Google Maps >
Red Alley Bistro
A highly rated Taiwanese ‘mom and pop’ style restaurant in Ximending, 紅巷 Red Alley is a cute and cosy eaterie located in a side street near to Ximen MRT Station Red House.
Signature dishes and set menus include the sweet and sour chicken, steamed basa fish, Taiwanese salted pork and 3 cups diced chicken.
Set menus cost between NT$240 to NT$300 including radish soup, bamboo shoot pickles, cabbage and tempura. Note it is cash only to be paid when ordering.
Find 紅巷 Red Alley Bistro on Google Maps >
Power of Meat (肉次方 – Ximen Emei Branch)
A popular all you can eat BBQ Buffet with self serve sections and grill your own meat, the Power of Meat Ximen 肉次方燒肉放題 台北峨眉店 is a joyful Japanese-style all-you-can-eat yakiniku experience – seafood options are available too.
Similar to Mala Hot Pot, Power of Meat includes a self-serve bar with salads, side dishes and unlimited Häagen-Dazs ice cream.
Prices vary depending on what you order starting from NT$698 and up.
Find Power of Meat on Google Maps >
Sato Curry Ximen Branch
One of the highest rated japanese curry chains* in Ximending, Sato Curry 佐藤咖哩 西門店 is iconic for its curry, katsu and hamburger based dishes, and now has around 5 branches in Taiwan including 3 in Taipei.
As of summer 2026, dishes and prices include chicken curry for NT$270, beef curry for NT$310 and hamburger curry for NT$330.
*Note the high reviewing rate might be because they offer free cheese to anyone who gives them a 5 star review – a bit cheeky we think!
Find Sato Curry Ximen on Google Maps >
Just Amazing Inside
You have to admire a Ximending restaurant with so much courage and conviction in their title!
Just Amazing Inside (JAI宅 義大利麵 西門店) is an Italian eatery serving up prime pasta dishes like Mexican Butter or truffle risotto.
Choose your protein like chicken thigh, pork neck, prawns or clams and then your choice of sauce like orange (!), cream cheese and truffle with most pasta plates costing around NT$300.
Just Amazing Inside Ximen also serves an extensive Italian dessert menu including their famous take on the classic pudding tiramisu.
Find Just Amazing Inside on Google Maps >
Lane 50 Food Market in Ximending
Looking for some late night snacks or street food in Ximen?
Head on over to Lane 50 Night Market next to the Emei Street ABC Mart footwear store (map) serving up everything from beef noodle bowls ($NT120) to fresh cheese corn ($NT100) and candied strawberries.
This popular street food market on Ximen’s Lane 50 is open day and night (between 12pm to 11:30pm) and has around 20 or so stalls.
The steam billowing from the hot food stalls is very enticing and as well as Taiwan food like radish cake, fried chicken and soy milk, you’ll also find several Korean food stalls selling everything from spicy tteokbokki rice cakes to Korean hotdogs.
Please note the food quality here is quite mixed (and expensive) but if it’s late and you are hungry…
Still hungry and want a small dessert? Our final Ximending place to eat
Ximending Crispy Milk Donuts
2026 update – there are now several Ximen crispy milk donut stalls including Lia Lia Crispy Milk Donut, YiCui Crispy Milk Donut and Curly Mama’s. The original was YiCui Crispy Milk Donut but the landlord and operators allegedly had a dispute so the creators started a new crispy milk donut brand called Lia Lia Crispy Milk Donut. Read more in our Facebook group here – we will try the new one when we revisit!
We found the ‘Crispy Milk Donuts’ little stall beneath Shinjuku Plaza totally by chance – we saw a huge queue of young school kids lining up so we just knew we had to try it.
The hot donuts are served straight from the fryer and made in small batches (hence the long queues).
Crispy on the outside and fluffy inside, these sweet treats are then covered in sugar and milk powder. Damn, they are addictive and only $NT40 a go!
Find Crispy Milk Donuts on Google Maps >
Found our Ximending restaurants article helpful?
Did you enjoy our Ximending restaurants article? Let us know in the comments or by sharing it on social media.
You can follow Taiwanderers on:
Instagram
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
Pinterest
