6 of the best fine-dining restaurants in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, for Taiwanese, Japanese, Cantonese and Huaiyang cuisine
- With the arrival of the Michelin Guide in 2018, Taiwan’s haute dining scene and quality local produce finally started getting noticed by tourists
- From perennial favourites to new discoveries, these six restaurants highlight how Taipei’s fine-dining scene is going from strength to strength
For the longest time, Taiwan was best known for its street food, cheap electronics and soap operas.
With the arrival of the Michelin Guide in 2018, the island’s haute dining scene and quality local produce finally started getting long-overdue pings on tourists’ radars.
Diverse microclimates in Taiwan allow a wide range of produce to thrive. The mountainous region of central Taiwan, for example, is famous for crunchy bamboo shoots. The north yields delicious strawberries, while durian flourishes in the south.
With the Pacific Ocean fringing its east coast, and the Taiwan Strait along its west, Taiwan is also surrounded by great seafood.
Taiwan’s history has also shaped its culinary scene. When Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Chinese Nationalists, left mainland China after losing the civil war with the Communist Party, he took the best chefs from different provinces with his supporters to Taiwan.
The legacy of these chefs endures. Restaurants serving good provincial cuisine, from Sichuanese to Shanghainese, are plentiful.
