The 10 Best Restaurants In Wanhua, Taiwan

The name is a play on the combination of the hotel name, Amba, and the Chinese phrase ‘chi’, which means ‘to eat’. Chiba is a restaurant that describes itself as a place for the creative nomads. Recently opened, this trendy space, flooded with natural light, contains large communal tables among shelves upon shelves of books, plants and other collectibles. Chiba is more than a pretty restaurant though. It also has an open kitchen serving up breakfast, a buffet lunch, an all-day menu and afternoon tea. There is a focus on fresh produce. Salads, pastas, Asian specialties, breads and freshly squeezed fruit juices make up just a sample of the menu.

This is a clear favorite for those with an appetite for the unusual, and with stronger stomachs. The inspiration for this rather novel spot came to the owner when he was reading the manga cartoon Dr Slump while sitting on the toilet. They began mainly selling fluted piles of chocolate ice cream in containers shaped like white ceramic squat toilets. Modern Toilet is all about the visuals rather than the taste, but is still worth a visit. They even have both styles of the sit or squat toilet so no one feels left out.

Although not technically a restaurant, this small street has been operating as a food market for longer than many of the surrounding restaurants have been in operation. The unusual, but delectable, choices on offer range from hot cheese potato with various toppings, sweet potato fried balls and ice cream and buns. There is also the ingenious creation of grilled mochi on a stick which you can eat savory or sweet. The black sesame flavor is highly recommended.

This aquatic-themed buffet and hot pot restaurant may be lesser known than grander competitors in the area, such as the enormous Mala Yuanyang Hotpot on Sining South Road. It contains fun, original decor complete with portholes in the walls. If this isn’t enough to entice you inside, perhaps the convenience and improved hygiene offered by individual hot pots will tempt you. Also, the father and son working at Mala No Guo will make every effort to provide the friendliest service that’s hard to be matched elsewhere. Choose your soup base from spice, curry, kimchi, soy milk or herb, and gorge yourself on fresh fruit and vegetables, all for NTD 280/330.

As a dessert to finish off a day of gastronomic experimentation, or perhaps as a palate cleanser between all the other samplings, head to Yu’s for a bowl of their famous almond milk shaved ice. Taiwan is well known for its popular shaved ice and cool desserts in general. However, the almond milk version is different and vegan-friendly. It comes atop almond tofu and with a sachet of their almond milk to pour over the top. It’s silky, nutty, cool goodness. Although this is in the Zhongzheng district, boundaries are quite vague in Taipei. The restaurant is next to Ximen station, so it’s a close place to eat at when in Wanhua.