An independent food guide to Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Eat your way through Taiwan's harbour city.
Duck rice in the old port district, fish-ball soup by the ferry, papaya milk on a hot afternoon. Here are 58 places to eat and the dishes behind them, plus a planner that knows the MRT and day trips into the hills.
打狗
Takao (打狗) is the old name for Kaohsiung, the harbour city of the south.
- Places
- 58
- Bib Gourmand 2026
- 21
- Routes & trips
- 8
- Dishes explained
- 83
Ready-made days
Itineraries
Late morning to late afternoon · about 6 hoursYancheng Old Town
Yancheng was Kaohsiung's busiest district when the harbour boomed, and many of its food stalls date from that time. Start with breakfast in a covered market and work towards the harbour by way of duck rice and old-style sweets.
6 stops · Best Wed–Sun
Full day · about 9 hoursHamasen to Cijin by Ferry
Start in Hamasen, the old harbour quarter, with three family stalls that each sell one or two things. After a morning at Sizihwan, cross on the ferry and end with a seafood dinner at the quiet southern end of Cijin.
4 stops · Best Tue–Sun
Day trip · Morning to mid-afternoon · about 6 hoursUp the Red Line to Ciaotou and Gangshan
Two Bib Gourmand rice shops face each other on one street in Ciaotou, five minutes from the MRT. Walk around the old sugar refinery, then ride to the end of the line for Gangshan's goat.
3 stops · Best Tue–SunStart here
Six bowls to know
前金肉燥飯Cianjin Braised Pork Rice
Braised pork rice comes topped with crunchy milkfish floss at this decades-old breakfast spot. Mix in a runny fried duck egg.
鴨肉珍Ya Rou Zhen (Duck Zhen)
Yancheng's famous duck rice counter has been going since 1960. Order the duck rice (rice under minced pork sauce and sliced duck) and a plate of sliced duck on the side.
港園牛肉麵Gang Yuan Beef Noodles
Queues form at opening time at this no-frills Yancheng beef noodle hall. Get the beef noodles, dry-tossed or in soup, or the braised pork-trotter noodles.
哈瑪星黑旗魚丸大王Hamasen Black Marlin Fish Ball King
This fish ball shop by Hamasen's Daitian Temple dates from the 1950s and makes its balls with local black marlin. Order the mixed fish ball soup.
黃家粉圓冰Huang Family Tapioca Ice
A small bowl still costs about NT$10 at this neighbourhood ice shop near Sanfeng Temple. Order the brown-sugar tapioca shaved ice and the house pudding.
高雄牛乳大王Kaohsiung Milk King
This 1960s Kaohsiung shop claims to have invented papaya milk. Order one, and add a thick French toast if you're there for breakfast or a late snack.
What to order
Dishes worth crossing town for
滷肉飯Braised pork rice
Steamed rice under a spoonful of pork simmered in soy sauce, Taiwan's everyday bowl.
6 places
鴨肉飯Duck rice
Sliced duck over rice, usually with a duck soup on the side. Tainan also serves duck with preserved cabbage.
3 places
旗魚丸湯Marlin fish-ball soup
Springy balls made from black marlin in a light bone broth, a Hamasen harbour classic in Kaohsiung.
1 place
木瓜牛奶Papaya milk
Ripe papaya blended with milk into a thick, sweet drink, with a disputed claim to Kaohsiung roots.
1 place
羊肉爐Goat hot pot
Goat meat and offal in a herbal bone broth, the speciality of Gangshan in northern Kaohsiung.
1 place
碗粿Wa-gui (bowl rice cake)
A savoury rice pudding steamed in its own bowl, with pork, egg and dried shrimp inside.
1 place
米糕Migao (sticky rice with pork sauce)
A small bowl of steamed glutinous rice topped with braised pork sauce, fish floss and peanuts.
2 places
燒餅Shaobing and soy milk breakfast
Flaky baked flatbread, filled with egg, a fried cruller or pickled greens, eaten with soy milk for breakfast.
2 places
Why it tastes like this
A short history, through food
Kaohsiung grew from Takau (打狗), a fishing harbour on Taiwan's southwest coast whose Chinese characters literally mean 'beat the dog' but were picked for their sound. One theory traces the name to a Siraya word for a bamboo forest, another to the Makatao people who lived here. The port opened to Western trade in the 1860s and was rebuilt as a modern harbour under Japanese rule. In 1920 the Japanese administration replaced the characters with 高雄, after a place in Kyoto read Takao in Japanese, and Kaohsiung is the Mandarin reading of those same characters.
Read the history →Stories
- Spanish Takao: the Dominicans, the Rosary and the Treaty Port
In 1859 two Spanish Dominicans landed at Takau and founded the church that is now Kaohsiung's Holy Rosary Cathedral, a few years before the harbour opened to foreign trade.
- Before 1624Makatao villages by the bay
- 1624–1683Dutch Tancoia and the Kingdom of Tungning
- 1684Qing rule and Fongshan County
- 1722–1853Two walled towns: Zuoying and Fengshan
- 1859Spanish Dominicans land at Takau
- 1863–1865Takau opens as a treaty port
Between meals
Sights near the food
打狗英國領事館Former British Consulate at Takao
A red-brick consular residence on the hill above the harbour mouth, joined by an old stone path to the former consulate office below.
駁二藝術特區Pier-2 Art Center
Harbour warehouses on the Yancheng waterfront turned into galleries, shops and event spaces.
龍虎塔Dragon and Tiger Pagodas
Twin seven-storey pagodas on Lotus Pond, entered through a dragon's mouth and left through a tiger's.