Eating Local

Taiwan, being as small as it is geographically, offers one the advantage of eating locally. Here is a small stand in Beipu selling the dried stalks of Mesona chinensis to make your own grass jelly drink at home. I am pretty sure that these were harvested within or just outside the city limits.

Hello Kitty

Not much needs to be said. If you love Hello Kitty, Asia is the place to be. Here is a bakery that's entirely Hello Kitty-themed, located in Taipei.

The Taoyuan Airport also has one boarding area that's Hello Kitty-themed, and there's a hotel in Taichung...

One doesn't even need to mention PuroLand, even though that isn't in Taiwan...

Look for the lines

Taiwan is a food-centric country. The density of restaurants/food stalls is unbelievable, and this makes eating at any time of day or night super convenient. Of course, this also makes weight gain super convenient as well...

There are countless programs on TV documenting where and what to eat, which is how we found this doughnut stand in the Jhongli Township of Taoyuan County. This stand sells only doughnuts (and only sugar coated raised, at that) and sandwiches (fried, of course) from opening time (around 12 noon) until they run out of items (usually doughnuts sell out within one hour of opening). Some of the popularity comes from the price ($8NTD/doughnut), but the doughnuts do taste pretty good fresh from the fryer. My favorite fried desserts are still the ones at Leonard's of Honolulu, but for the price, these fellas are pretty good.

So besides watching local TV, one can usually find the best eats by seeing which places have the longest lines. That's usually my rule of thumb when trying to see what to eat at one of the many night markets here in Taiwan...and that's a whole 'nother can of worms to open.