Accommodation & Food in Tainan
As one of Taiwan’s foremost tourist destinations, it’s hardly surprising Tainan has seen a range of new hotels and homestays open in recent years.
Hotel Cozzi
A central lodging option aimed at families with kids, Hotel Cozzi has themed rooms and amusement facilities designed to keep youngsters happy. Together with excellent shopping and dining choices within five minutes’ walk, those who stay here need never get bored.
Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel Tainan
Combining international standards with south Taiwan’s genuine hospitality, the Tainan Shangri La occupies a steel-and-glass cylinder a stone’s throw from Tainan Railway Station. The five-star rooms are well regarded, and the views from the higher floors are excellent. The heart-shaped outdoors swimming pool is heated on cooler days, which in Tainan are rare.
Silks Place Tainan
A sister hotel of the famous hotel within Taroko Gorge, Silks Place Tainan provides tasteful modernity within walking distance of several attractions such as Tainan Art Museum, Tainan Judicial Museum, and the warrenous lanes known as Snail Alley. With a reputation for proactive service, spacious rooms, and a top-notch breakfast buffet, this is Life of Taiwan’s preferred accommodation option in the island’s former capital.
Eating Out in Tainan
Among Taiwanese, Tainan is almost as famous for its snack foods as it is for traditional culture. Westerners find some of these delicacies rather odd, but the brave and the gluttonous will have a field day in the city’s night markets. The two most popular evening bazaars are Huayuan (Flowers) Night Market and Dadong Night Market. Every taxi driver knows how to get there.
One tasty dish long associated with Tainan is danzaimian, also called danzai noodles or dandan noodles. The fisherman who popularised this dish back in the Qing Dynasty used shoulder poles to carry his noodles to the temple courtyards where he hawked them; danzai means ‘carry on one’s shoulders’. The noodles are served in small portions with minced pork and a single shrimp. Much-loved danzaimian specialist Du Hsiao Yueh Peddler’s Noodles has two branches in central Tainan.
Being very near the ocean, Tainan folk eat a lot of seafood, especially clams and oysters. Chen’s Oyster Rolls in Anping epitomises Tainan cuisine in the sense that it’s utterly without pretension, surprisingly inexpensive, and rambunctious during peak periods. The oyster omelette, fish-ball soups and other items are consistently excellent. Go around the corner to Chou’s Shrimp Rolls for similar food featuring different shellfish.