The Ultimate Guide to Midnight Snacks at Zhongyuan Night Market: 10 Hidden Gems for a Foodie Feast

Text & Photos byDaku

So, although Daku is a true-blue Taoyuan local, he’s a huge fan of the night markets in Zhongying District — simply because the density of delicious street food is just off the charts there. One day after a meal with his high school friends Xiaoming, Xiaoyu, and Abao, the conversation naturally led to planning a trip to Zhongyuan Night Market. Everyone pulled out their personal must-eat lists, ready to indulge big time.

Xiaoming and Xiaoyu, a married couple, actually live near the night market and have exceptionally high standards and discerning palates when it comes to street eats — especially Xiaoyu, who insisted on going even though she was nine months pregnant. Another key member of our crew, Daku’s badass friend Abao, is actually a fellow comrade-in-arms who once joined Daku on a road trip to Taitung on a “mission,” sampling all kinds of regional cuisines. He has clear food preferences and an impressive appetite, and Daku has relied on him to get through many tough challenges. Add in Daku’s other friend Koumou, and somehow this powerhouse squad came together.

This time around, the foods we challenged ourselves to try included Mr. Queen, Shixiangke Chicken Station’s flame-grilled chicken cutlet, Bird Egg Master, Frog QQ, Sausage Fried Rice Sausage, Scallion Buns, Good Luck Sweet Potato Balls, Yuguanyuan Soup Dumplings, Great Zhongyuan Braised Snacks, Longfa Uncle’s Scallion Pancake, and French Crème Brûlée. But since taste buds are always subjective, everyone of course had their own top three favorites. This list reflects just our group’s preferences — take it as a reference. Here’s our unfiltered top three from each of us:

Abao: Flame-grilled Chicken Cutlet, Bird Eggs, Sausage Fried Rice Sausage
Xiaoyu: QQ Balls, Flame-grilled Chicken Cutlet, Scallion Pancake
Xiaoming: Scallion Pancake, Fried Rice Sausage, Soup Dumplings
Daku: Flame-grilled Chicken Cutlet, Sausage Fried Rice Sausage, Bird Egg Master
Koumou: Bird Egg Master, Flame-grilled Chicken Cutlet, Scallion Pancake

%际紫认任?蠹一嬷屏艘环菡獯蔚闹性?故忻朗吵缘奖サ赝迹?渲斜憷?痰瓿?耸械乇曛?猓?彩呛芎玫男菹⒅屑陶距　We first met up at the well-known Mr. Queen, kicking off our wild night of non-stop feasting.

1【Mr. Queen】
%蓟屎笙壬?闶窃谥性?故幸倭⒉灰〉拿?耆牵?每卫凑饫锏昝媲白苁桥帕寺??肆?

%家?涎≡癫凰闶嵌嗖识嘧耍??彩怯τ芯∮腥恰If you’re visiting for the first time, check out the top 10 list to the left, but Daku’s top recommendation is definitely their milk tea series — a must-try.

%急?由舷伦笥叶加新??屎笙壬?奶OGO，我们点了乌龙奶茶、柠檬养乐多，奶茶类的 really didn’t disappoint — rich and smooth, slightly sweet but not cloying, with a nostalgic aroma that’s super tasty. Their Yakult series is also pretty good and very popular with the ladies.

%冀幼啪屠吹矫?说氖?致房谌牵?驹谌?冶憷?痰昵埃?颐歉孟却幽囊惶蹩?寄乜不如就先右转大仁四街来去吃鸡排好惹！

2【Shixiangke Chicken Station】
Shixiangke Chicken Station Chicken Cutlet & Drinks, Zhongyuan Branch, Taoyuan
Phone: 0978625181
Address: No. 86 Shijian Road, Zhongying District, Taoyuan City (turn onto Daren 4th St.)
FB Fan Page:Click here
%肌笆诚憧图?嵴尽逼涫稻驮谌?遗员叨?眩?易?僮呒覆铰肪偷饺恰It’s super easy to find.

%即蠹一辜堑么罂谧钕舶?男岸窦ε拧笆诚憧图?嵴尽弊艿暝谔?习　We’d been dying to come back ever since our last visit, and now there’s finally a branch close to where Daku lives. It maintains the same clean presentation and wide selection of menu items.

%疾偷愠?擞懈魇酱匆庑岸窦ε胖?猓?褂械サ恪⒉枰?妊≡瘢?钐乇鸬氖谴嗥ぜε拧⒒平鸫嗥ぜε偶翱蒲?娲嗥ぜε哦蓟箍梢蕴砑佑冶吒魇娇谖兜牡魑斗郏?眉ε诺姆缥陡?佣嘣?

%记缴瞎易攀谌ㄊ椋?饫镆彩褂酶?艿暌谎?牡鹿?RITA纯净专业滤水器，在食材与品质上也都有同样的要求。 But when we got to the chicken cutlet shop, my buddy Abao wasted no time — the moment I took a photo, he immediately ordered a Science Noodles Crispy Chicken Cutlet and started chowing down. That was fast. The Science Noodles Crispy Chicken Cutlet has a crispy outer layer and tender inside, with juices locked in between the batter and science noodles. The double-crispy texture — crunchy and juicy — had even Abao raving.

%冀酉吕淳褪谴罂诜浅Ｏ舶?幕鹂鞠慵ε湃恰The flame-grilled chicken cutlet is a fried crispy chicken cutlet brushed with a secret sauce, sprinkled with white sesame seeds, then grilled, and topped with cucumber and corn chips.

%冀粗??鹂竞舐???附?嗥つ冢??蛭?挥锌咎?盟?曰故潜Ｓ惺?蟾校?嗥さ拿嬉乱栏铰??聪阄⑻鸬慕粗??徽?龀?杖说陌　

%Ji Yu had the grilled chicken steak in her belly even before the baby was born, voting for it too!

%And then there's the super delicious grilled chicken steak, how could Ji Yu not love it? Eating it makes you wonder if there's any meat inside, but it's actually that grilled chicken steak from earlier, right? The set of grilled chicken steaks also comes with a bunch of other stuff. Of course, there's also Da Kou's favorite lava sweet bun slide—crispy deep-fried silver thread rolls drizzled with condensed milk and chocolate sauce. They're crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and when you take a bite, the sweetness of the chocolate and condensed milk bursts out one after the other. It’s really unique and also one of the popular items!

This is where we have to talk about the powerhouse A-Bao, who is seriously pretty strong. He quietly finished the Science Noodles Crispy Chicken Steak all by himself, and that’s not all—he also ate the grilled chicken steak and the lava sweet bun. And he participated in every single stall that day, wow, totally awesome!! A-Bao is absolutely in love with the Science Noodles Crispy Chicken Steak—the chicken inside is super tender and thick. You can tell he was really enjoying it!

When eating chicken steak, you’ve gotta pair it with tea, of course. Their legendary tea isn’t your ordinary flavored tea—it’s brewed to order, so it has a rich, fragrant tea taste. This time we got Assam black tea and the “Grade Five” black tea. Among them, Da Kou’s favorite is still the Grade Five black tea. The black tea with brown sugar has a strong old-fashioned flavor, which pairs perfectly with chicken steak!

%After eating the grilled chicken steak, we headed toward the direction of the night market entrance, and just a short walk from there, we saw a 7-Eleven. This 7-Eleven can serve as our rest stop-up!

%After finding the 7-Eleven near the night market entrance, there’s a restroom and seating area inside, so you can buy a bottle of water and take a little rest here before heading out to push on again!

3【Bird Egg Master】
%Next, we crossed over to the “Bird Egg Master” right across from the 7-Eleven to eat bird eggs. There’s often a crowd gathered around this tiny stall!

%The boss of the place is super friendly and even gave us some helpful tips: first, put one egg in the bag, then add one sausage, then one quail egg, and finally a little bit of chopped scallions. You can also mix and match however you like.　

%Each serving of egg here only costs 20 NT. A-Bao showed his creativity again when seasoning, randomly adding mustard sauce, spicy satay sauce, plum powder, and nori. And the highlight? He gave pregnant Xiao Yu something so spicy to eat!! I can only say that the bird eggs are actually really delicious—crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a slightly charred aroma. Pairing one or two normal toppings would probably be pretty good!

%Next, we headed toward what Xiao Yu said was a great place, turning left at the recently opened Hualian supermarket and heading toward Beixing Street, and we arrived at this “Cheap Go Expired Goods Specialty Store.” There are a lot of cookies, snacks, drinks, etc., that are about to expire but can still be eaten for a while, as well as some special imported snacks. For example, we bought these Japanese Furano melon milk candies here—they’re quite a bit cheaper, and most importantly, they’re sweet and delicious!

%There are also pocky sticks here, including the famous jelly-filled chocolates that friends talk about, like Meiji’s Dew Drunken Fruit Morning Dew Heart Chocolate. Plus, all kinds of pocky flavors are sold here too!! (Right picture: A-Bao)

%Next, we walked back toward the entrance of the 7-Eleven, where all the stalls are super lively. Everyone was buying lots of delicious food. We’ll head over next to challenge the next stall on the right side of the road—the “Sausage Fried Rice Sausage”!

4【Sausage Fried Rice Sausage】
%This is the highly recommended “Sausage Fried Rice Sausage” stall. You can choose either rice sausage for 50 NT or sausage fried rice sausage with rice blood pudding for 70 NT. As for flavors, you can pick one from basil, black pepper, or satay.

%What we got was the rice sausage. The rice inside is still warm, and the aroma is amazing. There are also pickled radish, dried tofu, dried mustard greens, and dried radish—just add whatever you like. There’s also a bit of kimchi, which is refreshing and sweet, really cutting through the greasiness. The whole box of the bento quickly got filled up!

%The sausage and rice sausage are topped with chopped scallions, pickled radish, and dried mustard greens. The taste is super rich, and the aroma is amazing. When you open it, the fragrance wafts out, making your mouth water. There’s also a layer of pork floss and pickled radish inside, which adds even more flavor. This stall is seriously awesome!

5【Frog QQ】
%Next, we went to the super famous “Frog QQ,” which is also a favorite of pregnant Xiao Yu, so of course, we had to check it out!

%The drink we got here is also super good. It’s not too sweet, and there’s a moderate amount of caramel flavor. It’s a pretty good Frog QQ drink!

%Next, we checked out this theater, which is also pretty famous in Zhongyuan Night Market. Even though it shows second-run movies, you can watch two movies for just a little money, which is super worth it. And the coolest part is that the movie posters are all hand-drawn, looking incredibly vivid and super retro. It’s actually pretty hard to find hand-drawn movie posters like this in Taiwan!

6【Lucky House Sweet Potato Balls】
%Heading further in, near the entrance of the night market, there’s a long line at a stall called “Lucky House Sweet Potato Balls.” Of course, we had to check it out.

%We ordered one small pack of the original flavor and one medium pack of the nori flavor. My buddy A-Bao has an inexplicable obsession with nori, so he added nori again this time!! Their handmade QQ eggs are repeatedly massaged while being deep-fried, so they turn out super round and big, with a particularly springy texture. The outer crust is slightly crispy, and the chewy inside paired with the seasoning powder is absolutely delicious. They also add purple yam balls and “NG version” QQ eggs so customers can try more variety. No wonder there’s always such a long line!

7【Yuguan Garden Fresh Meat Soup Dumplings】
%Opposite the QQ eggs, at the intersection of Shijian Road and Dasiren Fourth Street, is “Yuguan Garden Fresh Meat Soup Dumplings.” This is also one of the highly recommended shops. There must be a reason why it’s stood firm in Zhongyuan Night Market for so long!

%We got one steamer basket, and the soup inside is super flavorful. The dumpling wrappers are thin, and the filling is juicy, fresh, and delicious. There’s also a little bit of ginger inside, which is really nice. It’s super tasty, but remember to eat it while it’s hot for the best experience!

8【Bao Hao Jia Scallion Buns】
%Next, we headed in the direction of the night market exit and soon saw a small but not crowded stall called “Bao Hao Jia Scallion Buns.” This is also a popular spot among locals.　

%We got one freshly baked scallion bun (it’s super hot!!). Even though there were quite a few people buying, they worked pretty fast too.

% The baozi here have a relatively thick skin, somewhat similar to that of steamed buns or pan-fried buns. They have a rich, fragrant dough taste and a very chewy texture. The leek-stuffed baozi replaces the scallions with chives, and the filling is also braised—perfect for chive lovers to try. As for the plain dough balls (without filling), they’re like steamed buns, offering a chewy texture and strong dough aroma. It’s all about getting a hearty, filling bite here!

9 [Changfa Ah Bo Scallion Pancake]
% If you walk past Bai Luo and keep going straight, you’ll see an RT-Mart nearby. From there, just head toward Hong Yang Road, and you’ll find it!

% It's quite lively here. You’ll see signs saying “One Scallion Pancake” or “Two Scallion Pancakes.” Some people even ask for “One Pancake with Two Eggs” or “Two Pancakes with Two Eggs.” Though the pancake is thin, it’s really tasty because it’s made fresh on the spot. But you have to get your own change from the cash pile in front of the stall!

% We tried one scallion pancake with egg and one without. The one without egg was crispier and had more layers, while the one with egg was softer and smoother, with a fragrant yolk flavor.

% The ones with egg on top look fluffier and glossier. They have a bit of a crispy edge, and we felt the ones with egg were tastier. You can also add chili sauce to enhance the flavor!

% Although we arrived late and almost missed the best time to eat, the stall owner still made them super hot and fresh for us. There were also many side dishes at the side of the stall. It’s perfect for enjoying with porridge.　

10 [Da Zhong Yuan Braised Snacks, French Caramel Flan]
% Lastly, the last stop we could fit in is right next to Yu Guan Yuan Fresh Meat Soup Baozi — Da Zhong Yuan Braised Snacks. It’s Xiao Ming’s favorite spot. Every time he comes, he usually brings home a pack of braised snacks. It’s said to be quite affordable, super flavorful, and has a faint aroma of traditional Chinese herbs. We’ll have to come back next time to try it!

% There’s also a French Caramel Flan stall located at the entrance of the night market and near the RT-Mart. It’s also a highly-rated dessert by everyone. But seeing the line that takes at least 40 minutes to get through—and considering we were all stuffed to the brim—we decided to save it for another day. However, friends who are interested can try coming during weekdays when the lines might be shorter!

% After eating so many stalls in one go, we have to say that Zhongyuan Night Market is truly full of hidden gems. The students here are so lucky—they can enjoy so many delicious foods right outside their school. Especially now that there’s “Shi Xiang Ke Chicken Station,” which became famous in Tainan and has expanded internationally. Their delicious grilled chicken cutlets are a huge hit among our foodie group—even the baby in Xiao Yu’s belly loves it. Our friend A-Bao is also a big fan of their Scientific Noodles Crispy Chicken Cutlet. He finished an entire chicken cutlet by himself, plus some other chicken cuts and fried items. That’s just amazing. There are also freshly brewed teas served at high temperature to pair with the meal, making eating chicken cutlets a fun and enjoyable experience. That’s our super crazy guide to stuffing ourselves silly at Zhongyuan Night Market. Of course, taste is subjective, so this is just for reference. It seems like you’d need to visit Zhongyuan Night Market multiple times to try everything. Looks like we’ll have to plan another food trip soon (burp)!

Big Mouth Teacher’s Adventure Academy!
% Spin around with Big Mouth and Koumei under the colorful neon lights.