Danshui street food

I know. I teased you with some Taiwan delectables, and then I kept you in suspense for a few weeks. Le sigh. Blame it on all the litigious companies that are keeping me at the office doing doc review! (Side note: like you, I am so thankful for Han for keeping us salivating with her foodstories! I'm planning a NYC trip soon so we can paint the town hungry together.)

Walking along the old main street of Danshui, you will be inundated with food. All of it will be amazing. Here are some of my Danshui street food favs...

Black bridge Taiwanese sausage. I often dream about this storefront at night.

I cannot pass this without buying at least a couple of skewers.

Little morsels of sweet & savory pork bliss:

So fresh and hot and perfect. Just the right amount of grease. Not too salty. The garlic flavor will make you swoon. There's really no other sausage in the world quite like it. When she visits, Han will eat a million. I also ordered the winter melon tea, because winter melon tea + taiwanese sausage is a killer combo. Ymmmm.

Then there's the storefront that just sells pineapple buns.

To be honest, I rarely get pineapple buns anywhere, because they're just so common and kind of plain. But these babies? So piping hot and fresh. The buttery fluff will literally melt in your mouth. The inside is super soft, and the texture on top has a pleasant little crunch to it. Best pineapple bun of life.

Along the Danshui river boardwalk, you will find (amongst a million other delicious things) a stand that sells zhenzhu bao (珍珠包), or pearl baos.


I've never had them before, and the best way I can describe them to you is that they're basically a pan-fried version of soup dumplings. In other words, they're even better than soup dumplings. I really never thought that possible.

How adorable are they? They're filled with pork and leek, and the skin is wonderfully pan-fried and crispy on the bottom.

The same stand also sells fresh squeezed orange juice, which was so nice and refreshing.

My aunt enjoying her beautiful snack on a beautiful afternoon.

One of these times I go back, I'll have to walk up and down the main street + boardwalk with my camera to give you a proper glimpse of what Danshui street food has to offer. For now, these are some of my favs, and maybe they'll convince you to visit, too!

Danshui old main street and river boardwalk
Metro stop: Danshui
Taipei, Taiwan