Taipei’s tastiest neighborhood, Yongkang Street is one of the yummiest things to do in Taiwan, packed full of cool cafes, decadent desserts and oodles of noodle shops and delicious dumplings.
From the terrific Tian Jin Scallion Flaky Pancakes to xiao long bao and beef noodles, there is something to suit all tastes (and budgets) along Yongkang Street – and don’t forget tofu pudding for dessert!
And it isn’t just food, as there are cute gift shops, craft beer bars and gorgeous green spaces.
One of Taipei’s top food destinations and best neighborhoods to visit, here is our ultimate guide to the things to do along Yongkang Street, Taipei.
This article was originally published in June 2024.
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How to get to Yongkang Street
The closest Taiwan Metro station to Yongkang Street is Dongmen MRT station, exit 5. This is on the red Tamsui – Xinyi line.
To get to Yongkang Street from Taipei Main Station, take the red Tamsui-Xinyi Line towards Daan from platform 2 – it is an approximate 7 minute journey.
Yongkang Street also includes Lishui Street, part of Jinhua Street as well as the Xinyi Road intersection.
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Where to eat and drink on Yongkang Street, Taipei
1. Tian Jin Scallion Flaky Pancakes
Hungry and looking for a hidden gem of a hawker stall on Yongkang Street? Then try Tian Jin Scallion Flaky Pancakes.
As you exit from Dongmen Station, head down Yongkang Street and you’ll see Tian Jin pancake stall on your right, usually manned by several older ladies (or Taiwan ‘aunties’).
Given its popularity and as it features on numerous Taipei food tours, there can be long queues at Tian Jin (we’ve seen as many as 40 people in line) but not always.
The queue also goes quite quickly as the staff know how to serve up flaky scallion pancakes super fast!
Pancakes start from NT$30 at Tian Ji for a plain flaky pancake through to NT$60 for ‘everything’ / the works or corn, cheese and egg.
Tian Jin hawker stall is open daily from 8am to 10pm – all times and prices are correct as of our last revisit to Yongkang Street in January 2025.
Read our full guide to Tian Ji Yongkang Street pancakes here >
Find Tian Jin Scallion Flaky Pancakes on Google Maps >
Try this – The award-winning private food tour of Taipei with 10 tastings >
2. Smoothie House Yongkang Street
See that massive queue across the road from the flaky Taiwan pancake stall? That’ll be Smoothie House, known for its refreshing fruit smoothies and ice desserts – it is hard to miss as it is painted in bright yellow!
One of the top Yongkang eating spots with tourists, Smoothie House serves up Tshuah-ping / Chhoah-peng which is Taiwanese shaved ice.
There are lots of flavours including lychee and strawberry but most people go for the melon – melon shaved ice costs $NT250.
They describe themselves on a sign outside the shop as ‘world renowned mango snowflake shop’ – so modest about their marvellous mangoes!
This is a really n-ice thing to do on Yongkang Street (sorry not sorry). Smoothie House is open daily from 10.30am to 10pm – expect big queues at lunchtime and when the local schools finish.
Find Smoothie House on Google Maps >
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3. Ciao Ciao Scone Cafe / 悄悄好食永康店舖
So what to enjoy on Yongkang Street, Taipei’s tastiest trendy neighbourhood?
On a recent Yongkang Street visit, we discovered Ciao Ciao, a super cute coffee shop that serves up English style scones with cream and in a variety of flavours – like a little bit of Britain in Taipei!
Cosy inside with just a couple of tables, the scones here cost between NT$65 to NT$80 and we opted for the earl grey tea scone and the milk chocolate scone, served with an American (NT$80) and white coffee ($NT100).
If we had more room in our bellies, we’d have also tried the green matcha tea scone as it looked amazing!
Please note the name ‘Ciao Ciao Scone’ doesn’t show up on Google Maps so you may need to search for 悄悄好食永康店舖 – it is open from 9.30am to 8.30pm daily.
Find Ciao Ciao Scone on Google Maps >
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4. Hao Kung Tao Chin Chi Yuan
As featured in the Bib Gourmand / Taiwan Michelin Guide, Hao Kung Tao Chin Chi Yuan is an excellent xiao long bao restaurant that serves fried chicken and delicious soupy dumplings (best accompanied with an ice-cold Taiwan Classic Beer).
Your Taipei foodie adventure starts as soon as you cross the restaurant threshold as you walk through the kitchen downstairs where they are steaming dumplings and kneading fresh dough – so far, so fantastic.
Upstairs at Hao Kung Tao Chin Chi Yuan, there is a large dining room and every table has a paper notepad to place your order.
We’ve been here several times and the food here is very hearty and whilst not the best xiao long baos we’ve had in Taipei, this is definitely a nice place to sit down and eat.
Example dishes include shrimp shumai, meat and vegetable dumplings plus you can help yourself to vegetable sides from the fridge. Dumplings come in portions of 8 and usually cost around $NT200 – please note the restaurant is closed on Wednesdays.
Find Hao Kung Tao Chin Chi Yuan on Google Maps >
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5. Zhang Men Brewing Yongkang
Taipei is never short of craft beer bars, and one of the best breweries in Taiwan is Zhangmen Brewing – ganbei to good beer!
Zhangmen Craft Brewery is a cracking craft brewery in Taiwan with over 10 brewery taprooms, including five in Taipei.
Just off Yongkang Street hidden along Lane 4, you’ll find Zhang Men Brewing Yongkang, a cute and compact brewery bar and taproom with a small outdoor terrace.
We tried their 6.4% cherry sour 6.6% American IPA but they usually have over 20 different craft beers on tap – so you won’t go thirsty!
Find Zhang Men Brewing Yongkang on Google Maps >
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6. Din Tai Fung
If you haven’t heard of Din Tai Fung before, where have you been? One of the most popular chain restaurants on the Taiwan dining scene, there are branches all over Taipei and Taiwan plus has outposts as far afield as Australia and the UK.
It all started back in 1958 with their Din Tai Fung branch at the end of YongKang Street, near to Dongmen MRT – this is their very first shop and still doing big business today.
Best known for its xiao long bao soup dumplings, Din Tai Fung is affordable and generally very good (we’ve been to several branches in and around Taiwan and always had first class fodder).
Din Tai Fung Yongkang is open from 11am to 8.30pm on weekdays, and from 10.30am on weekends.
2025 update – This Din Tai Fung Yongkang / Xinyi branch is now takeout only. So grab some xiao long bao and go eat them in Da’an Park or Yongkang Park. Alternatively, there is a sit in Din Tai Fung Restaurant just down the road, when walking towards Da’an Park.
Find Din Tai Fung on Google Maps >
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7. Yongkang Beef Noodles
Yongkang Beef Noodles is one of Taipei’s most famous beef noodle stores with melt in the mouth beef. We had to queue up for about 10 minutes before getting a table inside, right next to where they serve up the noodles – talk about a chef’s table!
Having been open over 50 years, it doesn’t feel like the seating area inside has changed much since it first opened – the tables were packed with a mixture of locals, business people, families and tourists.
We opted for the classic Yongkang beef noodles and the cold Taiwan peanut noodle dish, Liang Mian.
For us, Yongkang Beef Noodles was OK but not as delicious as Liu Shandong Beef Noodles (which for our money, are the best beef noodles in Taipei).
Yongkang Beef Noodles is open daily from 11am to 8.30pm.
Find Yongkang Beef Noodles on Google Maps >
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8. Dongmen Dumplings
Having been around since 1963, Dongmen Dumplings in Yongkang is something of a local institution.
Indeed when we last visited on a Saturday morning in January 2025, its two floors were packed with hungry diners and large family groups, all clamouring around to share big hot-pots and bamboo steamers full of fresh dumplings.
Famous for their pot-stickers, dumplings and incredible selection of side dishes (seriously, one of the biggest we’ve seen in Taipei), Dongmen Dumplings is an inexpensive place to eat authentic dishes in Yongkang Street.
We ordered steamed pork dumplings, scallion pancake plus a HUGE bowl of hot and sour dumpling soup with shredded chicken (served with free tea) and the whole meal only came to $NT385 (around £9 / $12 USD).
Find Dongmen Dumplings on Google Maps >
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9. Saturn Landing Turkish Coffee
One of our Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) group members recently recommended this beautiful blue cafe in Yongkang.
A little different from the usual tastes of Taiwan, Saturn Landing is a Turkish coffee shop in the backstreets of Yongkang known for its sand brewed coffee and home-made sweet treats like baklava.
Full meals are also served like curry and kebabs plus they have a variety of different brews to try including pistachio coffee, which sounds ‘nuts’ – Saturn Landing is open daily from 11am to 7pm except Wednesdays.
Find Saturn Landing Turkish Coffee on Google Maps >
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10. 8%ice CAFÉ 永康公園店
One of Yongkang’s coolest cafes and pizza places, 8%ice CAFÉ overlooks Yongkang Park and is a pleasant spot to enjoy some sweet treats and very strong coffee.
One of the main reasons that people flock to 8%ice CAFÉ and return time and time again is the live music.
We first spotted the place after we could hear the sounds of a violinist drifting across Yongkang Park. Several times a day, you can enjoy your cold brew with a clarinet or piccolo and pizza with a piano.
Music performances are 12.30pm to 2.30pm, 3pm to 5pm and 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
8%ice CAFÉ 永康公園店 is open from 11am to 10.30pm Sunday to Thursday, and until 10pm on Friday and Saturday.
Find 8%ice CAFÉ on Google Maps >
11. Bai-Shui Douhua
A delicious dessert and tofu pudding shop, Bai-Shui Douhua combines silky smooth sweet tofu, peanuts and ginger syrup into one blissful bowl.
Choose from different topping like taro or red bean or even go with the mango tofu pudding. The secret of their silky smooth tofu is apparently using spring water from Taiwan’s Xue Mountains, making this the ‘peak’ of Taiwan’s dessert scene.
Please note that if you want to sit inside, it is a minimum order of one dessert per person.
Bai-Shui Douhua is open from 12.30pm to 9pm at weekends,and 1pm to 9pm weekdays, closed Thursdays.
Find Bai-Shui Douhua on Google Maps >
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12. James Kitchen
As visited by the late great Anthony Bourdain (RIP) as part of his Layover TV series, James Kitchen serves up delicious Taiwanese comfort food in a small place, reminiscent of a Japanese izakaya, chock full of flavour and fresh ingredients.
From General Tso’s Chicken to clam loofahs and three silk lamb tripe, James Kitchen is a joyful dining experience and one of Yongkang’s yummiest restaurants to eat at.
James Kitchen is open from 5pm to 11.30pm daily.
Find James Kitchen on Google Maps >
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13. MATA Tofu Pudding
Away from the busy Yongkang main road and nestled in the quieter back-streets, MATA Tofu Pudding is another popular tofu pudding spot with a cute seating area outfront (and just four seats so get there fast).
MATA Tofu Pudding’s signature dishes are Taiwan red bean tapioca with peanuts and Japanese Tokyo spicy tofu pudding with peanut crisp – they also have other branches in Taipei and across Taiwan.
MATA Tofu Pudding is open daily from 1.30pm to 9pm.
Find Mata Tofu Pudding on Google Maps >
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14. CAT.jpg cafe / Yongkang Cat Cafes
There are several cat cafes around Yongkang Street including The Who Cafe but we opted to try CAT.jpg cafe which is more of a small coffee-shop than full blown cat cafe.
CAT.jpg cafe is home to Beibei the cat, who sadly didn’t seem to be around when we visited one saturday morning (possibly he was off for Lunar New Year) – but there were lots of cute pictures in the cafe plus free stickers.
The cafe seems to be popular with students and laptop lurkers plus hosts regular events like jazz evenings – very laid back, this is a nice place for a chilled coffee and to escape the Yongkang crowds.
Find CAT.jpg cafe on Google Maps >
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Yongkang Street stores
Although Yongkang Street is mainly known as a foodie destination, there are also lots of nice fashion, craft and gift shops – in fact, we include it in our best places to buy souvenirs in Taipei guide.
15. ORINGO Dongmen
As well as lots of foodie places, the Yongkang Street / Dongmen area is also a very fine and fashionable Taipei neighborhood, as demonstrated by ORINGO Dongmen.
Located in Yongkang’s sleepy side-streets, ORINGO’s epic emporium of handcrafted shoes is a treat from start to finish and great place to shop if you are looking for stylish souvenirs to take home or for a special occasion in Taiwan. ORINGO is an award winning Taiwanese handcrafted footwear and lifestyle brand that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
Inside ORINGO Dongmen, you will find a wide variety of sublime shoes to choose from (men and womens) plus beautiful accessories like handbags, belts and socks – their handmade shoes combine local artisan craftsmanship with high quality materials like luxe leather.
Check out the full ORINGO Taiwan shoewear range here >
16. Jumeng Creative Market
Hands down this was the cutest gift shop in Yongkang Street when we last visited (and there are lots to choose from) – it is Taipei souvenir central!
We could have spent an absolute fortune here – from Taiwan Bear badges to red panda matches, there are ‘sew’ many nice things here.
There are lots of Taiwan specific presents that can easily be taken home, including tote bags, bookmarks and purses – Jumeng Creative Market is one the best gift shops in Taipei.
Find Jumeng Creative Market on Google Maps >
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17. Ma Ma Umbrella
A gorgeous gift shop overlooking Yongkang Park, this is a super place for souvenirs, cute stationery and colourful umbrellas.
Find Ma Ma Umbrella on Google Maps >
18. Chain stores on Yongkang Street
Although we’ve tried to focus on independent restaurants, cafes and shop in Yongkang, there are also several chain shops and eateries that maybe of interest including:
- 7-Eleven convenience stores
- 50 Lan – a popular bubble tea shop that is also known as Koi and FIFTYLAN in other countries
- Neals Yard Remedies – a Yongkang branch of the British based skincare supplier
- Owndays – fashionable Japanese optical store.
- Birkenstock – Taipei branch of this popular 250-year-old German shoe brand.
- Daiso Yongkang – Daiso is a Japanese discount store that has around 6,000 locations worldwide including branches in America and Australia. This one is two storeys with most items around the NT$60.
19. Yongkang Park
Whilst exploring all the stores and restaurants along Yongkang Street, you may want to grab some takeaway and eat alfresco in Yongkang Park, a gorgeous green space and a brief respite from all the hustle and bustle of the main road.
Yongkang Park has several shady spots and lots of park benches – it is a popular spot for families as there is a big playground here.
Also keep an eye out for the cute and kawaii chef cartoon characters at the main park entrance, a playful reference to all the incredible food and drink places in Yongkang Street.
Find Yongkang Park on Google Maps >
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20. Yongkang street food tours
Yongkang Street is easy to explore yourself but if you’d like some local experience and authentic Taiwanese food, try these Yongkang foodie tours:
- Food walking tour at Yongkang Street in Taipei with Klook >
- Taipei food tour: Yongkang Street for foodies with GetYourGuide >
- See Yongkang Street at night & Shida Night Market on this Taipei bicycle tour >
21. Da’an Park
A green oasis in a very busy city, Daan Forest Park is a sprawling open space popular with families and walkers and a short stroll from Yongkang Street.
It has an outdoor auditorium, numerous fitness facilities and running tracks plus lots of flora and fauna including an eco-pond which is home to hundreds of birds (it is incredible to see).
If you are in Taipei in March, be sure to visit the Daan Park Azalea festival in Taipei where the park blooms into life with colorful floral displays of awesome azalea attracting thousands of visitors (and butterflies!)
Find Daan Park on Google Maps >
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