Jiufen Food: What to Eat, Taro Balls and Old Street Snacks
Half the reason to visit Jiufen is to eat your way along its lanes. The Old Street of Jiufen, a former gold-mining town in Ruifang District, New Taipei City, is one long ribbon of snack stalls, and the food is cheap, local, and best eaten standing up. This guide covers what to eat in Jiufen: the dish it is famous for, the snacks worth queuing for with rough prices in New Taiwan dollars, how to plan a food walk, and what to know about sit-down meals.
What food is Jiufen famous for?
Jiufen is famous for taro balls (芋圓, yùyuán), its signature dessert: chewy hand-rolled balls of taro and sweet potato, served hot in syrup in winter or over shaved ice in summer.
You will see them everywhere, but two shops draw the queues: Grandma Lai’s (賴阿婆芋圓) and Auntie A-Gan’s (阿柑姨芋圓), the latter famous for a seating area with a sweeping sea view out the back. A bowl runs about NT$50 to NT$100. The texture is the point: soft but springy, faintly earthy from the taro, with green-tea and sweet-potato variants if you want to compare. It is the one thing almost every visitor tries, and the one most people remember.
Expert tip from Daniel Reeves, our food and travel photographer: “Order your taro balls hot in cool weather and iced when it is warm, and eat them at Auntie A-Gan’s back terrace, not on the move. You are paying the same NT$60 either way, but the sea-and-mountain view from those plastic stools is the best free seat in Jiufen.”
Daniel Reeves
The best food and street snacks in Jiufen
Beyond taro balls, the Old Street is a parade of Taiwanese snacks. These are the things to eat in Jiufen worth saving room for, with rough prices.
| Dish | What it is | Approx price |
|---|---|---|
| Taro balls (芋圓) | Chewy taro and sweet-potato balls, hot in syrup or over ice | NT$50 to 100 |
| Peanut ice cream roll (花生捲冰淇淋) | Ice cream and shaved peanut brittle wrapped in a thin crepe, with cilantro | NT$50 to 60 |
| Fish ball soup (魚丸湯) | Springy fish balls in a clear, peppery broth | NT$50 to 70 |
| Red-yeast meatball (紅糟肉圓) | Pork in a chewy red-rice batter, steamed then lightly fried | NT$50 to 70 |
| Taro and herb rice cakes (芋粿, 草仔粿) | Steamed glutinous cakes, savoury or lightly sweet | NT$20 to 40 |
| Grilled skewers (squid, conch, sausage) | Charcoal-grilled seafood, conch, and sausage off the lane | NT$50 to 100 |
All this Jiufen Old Street food is found along the covered Jishan Street section, the snack lane locals nicknamed the “Dark Street”. For how it fits with the rest of the town, see our guide to Jiufen Old Street.
How do you plan a Jiufen food walk?
Go hungry, eat small, and pace yourself. The trick is to share single portions so you can taste widely without filling up at the first stall.
- Start savoury near the entrance with a bowl of fish ball soup or a red-yeast meatball to line your stomach.
- Graze as you walk: a skewer or a deep-fried prawn ball here, a rice cake there, splitting each one between you.
- Save the taro balls for last, ideally at a shop with a view, as your sit-down dessert.
- Finish with a peanut ice cream roll on the way back out, made fresh while you watch.
Are there sit-down restaurants in Jiufen?
A few, but Jiufen is a snack town more than a restaurant town. Most eating is street stalls and teahouses rather than full sit-down meals, though small eateries do serve simple rice and noodle dishes.
If you want to sit, you have two good options. Duck into one of the small family restaurants off the main lane for a plate of braised pork rice or fried noodles, or settle into a teahouse, where the tea set comes with snacks and the best views in town. The teahouses are an experience in themselves, covered in our guide to Jiufen’s tea houses.
Expert tip from Daniel Reeves, our food and travel photographer: “Do not plan a big lunch reservation in Jiufen and then graze the stalls; you will end up too full for either. Treat the whole Old Street as your meal. The stalls are the restaurant, and the bill for two grazing well rarely tops a few hundred New Taiwan dollars.”
Daniel Reeves
How much does eating in Jiufen cost?
Not much. Most snacks run NT$50 to NT$100 each, so two people can graze the whole Old Street happily for a few hundred New Taiwan dollars between them.
- Budget per person: around NT$200 to NT$400 covers several snacks and a dessert.
- Bring small cash: many stalls are cash-only and prefer small New Taiwan dollar notes, though some take an EasyCard.
- Teahouses cost more: a tea set is a separate NT$300 or so per person, on top of any snacks.
For wider Taiwanese food background and regional travel basics, the Taiwan Tourism Administration and the New Taipei City travel site are useful starting points.
Common questions about eating in Jiufen
Is there vegetarian food in Jiufen?
Yes. Taro balls, taro and herb rice cakes, and many sweet snacks are vegetarian, and Taiwan is broadly vegetarian-friendly. Ask before ordering soups, as some use a meat or fish broth.
Can you have a full meal in Jiufen?
You can, but grazing suits the town better. Small eateries serve rice and noodle dishes, yet most visitors are happiest eating across several stalls rather than sitting for one big meal.
What is the best time to eat in Jiufen?
Late afternoon is ideal. Stalls are all open, you beat the lunch coach crowds, and you can roll a food walk straight into sunset and the lanterns coming on.
Do food stalls take cards?
Mostly no. Bring small New Taiwan dollar notes for the stalls, as cash is king on the Old Street, even though some larger shops accept an EasyCard.
Written by Daniel Reeves, our food and travel photographer. A Bristol native based in Taiwan for a decade, Daniel chases street food and blue-hour light through the Old Street’s lanes.