Taiwan is a country known for its diverse and delicious food with a focus on small eats traditionally enjoyed in the numerous night markets. While its not the most popular cuisine option in Auckland, we do have a solid selection of authentic and homely places offering up Taiwanese dishes across our city. Try out a few of our favourites from the list below.
Hsiu Yuan Food Co 59 Carr Rd, Mount Roskill
Hsiu Yuan tops the list for its affordable build-your-own plate options. Diners select their favourite ready-made foods such as lion’s head meatballs, stewed beef and fried pork cutlets to top their rice along with multiple stir fried and stewed vegetable options. Portions are generous (even more so if you eat in). If you’re not feeling like a mixed plate, the hot pot meal sets and beef noodle soup are also popular. This place has been feeding the community for thirty years, so you know it’s good!
Neighbours’ Café芳鄰小館 113 Meadowland Drive, Somerville
Another institution of a Taiwanese restaurant, Neighbours’ used to have a branch in the CBD but today only serves its tasty food in East Auckland. This popular eatery dishes up Taiwanese set meals with lu rou fan (stewed pork belly rice) and three mini side dishes such as tomato egg and broccoli from its large menu. It also has a great range of snacks on the menu including tasty stinky tofu, fan tuan (stuffed rice balls) and Taiwanese sausage.
Royal Horse 駿馬快餐 523 Mount Albert Road, Three Kings
Royal Horse is a slightly less authentic Taiwanese restaurant that leans a little more into Kiwi tastebuds, but tasty nonetheless. While none of the options on this list are fancy, Royal Horse has perhaps the least frills but very good value. To locate the most authentic Taiwanese food on the menu, look for the side order menu which features plenty of fried Taiwanese snacks like popcorn chicken and tapioca meatballs (ba wan), or anything on the menu with “Taiwanese” in the name.
Max Kitchen 12 Oteha Valley Road Extension, Albany
Another place to get Taiwanese-lovers tastebuds singing, this time over the bridge. Max’s Kitchen draws in crowds for its tender beef noodle soup and great selection of fried options like pork and chicken steak and stinky tofu. Like most other Taiwanese restaurants in Auckland, the main dishes come with several small side dishes as well as lu rou fan. Other recommended dishes include their hot pot and san bei ji (three cup chicken, sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine chicken).
