The thing I look forward to most on any overnight trip is browsing a night market. Night markets are one of my kids’ and my favorite activities — food, drinks, games and shopping all in one place!
In 2019 Tainan got another new night market: Xinyonghua Night Market in Anping, Tainan. We thought we’d check out the new night market if the timing worked out, but it only opens on Thursdays and Sundays, and we were in Tainan City on a Saturday night. So we went to one of Tainan’s two biggest night markets instead — Garden Night Market. The other big one is Dadong Night Market, and their opening days don’t overlap, so you can just check what day of the week you’ll be in Tainan and pick accordingly!
This time we planned a three-day Tainan trip from Friday to Sunday. On Friday night our accommodation was a bit far from downtown, so we had dinner nearby at Xinshi Old Street!
At Garden Night Market we just picked a few stalls at random. We used to eat at the Lasa Noodles stall fairly often, but this time we arrived late and played too long, so by the time we started eating they were already packing up!
First, here’s a schedule of some of Tainan’s larger night markets for your reference:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Dadong Night Market | Dadong Night Market | Wusheng Night Market | Garden Night Market | Dadong Night Market | Wusheng Night Market | Garden Night Market |
| Xiaobei Chenggong Night Market | Xinyonghua Night Market | Xiaobei Chenggong Night Market | Garden Night Market | Xinyonghua Night Market |
Garden Night Market opens every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and there are other night markets to choose from on the other days! It’s a really big market with plenty to eat and plenty to play. We’d had beef soup in the afternoon, so we weren’t very hungry when we arrived — we let the kids go wild in the games area first, then browsed the clothing and goods section, and only ate at the end, when the crowds had thinned out a lot.
Surprisingly, there were far fewer visitors that day than on our previous trips. I remember last year, or whenever it was, the crowds were absurd — so bad that we gave up on having dinner at the night market.
Right next to Garden Night Market there’s a free parking lot, and surprisingly on a Saturday night we didn’t even have to line up — we drove straight in and parked. In the past we always had to park far away and walk over!
Free parking location: Intersection of Hai’an Road Section 3 and Hewei Road Section 3, North District, Tainan City
Bringing kids to a night market means your wallet is doomed — play here, play there… the games alone burned through quite a bit of cash. I’m not sure if I just never noticed before, but this time I spotted some even more fun games, and watching my son play got me itching to try, so I ended up joining in too.
I have to say, this stall owner seemed pretty honest? He clearly wasn’t out to squeeze extra money out of us — he wouldn’t even let Jun Jun, who’s almost five, play! The game takes controlled strength, and he was worried little kids can’t control it and just throw wildly, so it’s off-limits for them. Even adults aren’t allowed to play along with them!
But this one is genuinely fun and feels really challenging! Besides that, we played another game I’d never seen anywhere else: roll a ball onto the black square and you can pick any medium-size stuffed toy you like — NT$100 for 70 balls (because it really is hard). In the end I actually fluked it and won a doll, and not a small one either. The little guy was thrilled!
Claw machines are everywhere these days, and the night market has plenty of them too — but the most unusual one was this: grabbing live oysters! Next to it there was one for crayfish, with a grill right beside it so you can cook and eat whatever you catch on the spot. Pretty amazing…
Ah Tu Bo NT$10 Sausage Game
We’d played something similar before at Lukang Old Street — Grandpa’s Sausages. Honestly, it’s hard to win, but everyone gets a prize — at minimum a piece of candy. We played about five times and got candy, candy, candy… and I think after five plays you get a free draw, and we did win a sausage. By then, though, we’d already bought two to eat.
If you just buy one outright it’s about NT$20, and it’s pretty tasty — good flavor, and there’s garlic to go with it!
Xueqi ice
It seems like lots of places in Tainan sell this xueqi ice — we bought some at Anping Old Street the next day too. This ice is full of childhood memories! It’s not shaved snow ice; it’s the old-fashioned banana flavor, and one bite brings all the memories flooding back.
Buckets and buckets of xueqi ice — plenty of people will have seen this as a kid!
A big scoop of xueqi ice in black tea or winter melon tea is a fantastic match. I got a cup of xueqi ice black tea — cheap, tasty and so refreshing. Perfect for Tainan’s heat, and loaded with nostalgia. Remember to grab a cup next time you’re in Tainan.
Chiweixian Crispy Fried Chicken
I already love fried food, and when we walked past Chiweixian and saw the crowd we couldn’t help stopping. It mainly sells crispy fried chicken, but like any salt-and-pepper chicken stall, there’s a dazzling spread of fried items to pick from.
Wow — everything in sight looked delicious! So hard to resist!
In the end we got this bag fried up: squid, crispy chicken, tempura fish cake, cocktail sausages and more. We were already stuffed from the night market, so we took it back to the guesthouse and polished it off as a late-night snack. Seriously fattening, but worth it.
Home Run Steak
Since my son loves teppanyaki noodles, we decided to go for steak. There are several steak stalls in the night market, and we just wandered over to this one — Home Run Steak — and sat down since there were seats free.
Night market steak is famous for being cheap. If you want affordable steak and aren’t too fussy about texture, this is the place — a steak plate comes with noodles and an egg, plus all-you-can-drink beverages and corn chowder, all for just NT$100. Great value!
I have to give credit to their corn chowder — it doesn’t look like much, but it’s really good! Great texture and flavor!
Steak
This is the regular steak for NT$100 — a thin slice, but with the noodles and soup it still fills you up.
Thick-cut steak
It really is thick! It’s NT$50 more than the regular steak, and we’d recommend ordering this one — the texture is so much better than the regular steak. It normally comes with the sauce poured on, but for this one we asked for the sauce on the side.
Chen Da Min Hong Kong-Style Fish Balls & Duck Blood Curd (陳大民港式魚蛋鴨血)
Formerly Chen Ji Fish Balls, it has a new name now, but the sign is still the same color. This is also one of the foods we eat most often at Garden Night Market, and business is very good.
Chen Da Min Hong Kong-Style Fish Balls & Duck Blood Curd menu and prices
It’s basically three ingredients in different combinations: fish balls, duck blood curd and pork intestine. Fish balls or duck blood curd on their own are just NT$40.
The mixed bowl is NT$80 and comes with fish balls, duck blood curd and pork intestine — packed full. You can choose the spice level; I ordered mild spicy and it had a really satisfying kick. Their duck blood curd is simmered until full of flavor, soft and tender and so tasty — just remember to grab a drink to go with it!
Garden Night Market has plenty of food and plenty of games, making it a great spot for the whole family to eat, drink and play.
Copyright notice: The text and photos above are provided by blogger 靜怡&大顆呆の親子.旅遊.美食 (Jing Yi & Da Ke Dai’s Family, Travel & Food) and may not be reproduced without authorization!
Original post → Tainan’s most popular night market ▶ Garden Night Market five-stall guide ▶ Nights in Tainan are made for night markets, and you can browse to your heart’s content every day
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This article was translated by AI from the original Chinese version.