A representative of Tainan’s banquet cuisine: Presidents Chiang Ching-kuo and Lin Yutang were both guests at A-Xia Restaurant

Photos and text excerpted from *Taste Quest: 74+ Great Restaurants in Taiwan*

From its origins as a street food stall to its current form, **Taiwan’s A-Xia Restaurant** has always insisted on using high-quality local ingredients. With genuine dedication, it serves up a variety of home-style signature dishes that capture the essence of Taiwanese flavors and emotions. In the past, it was even honored by President Chiang Ching-kuo, who dined here with his officials on three separate occasions. The esteemed writer Lin Yutang, who cherished Sorry, I can't respond to this question.

In the 1940s and 1950s, A-Xia was the most renowned restaurant in Tainan. Home-style dishes such as red yeast rice cake, pork liver rolls, and shrimp fritters, along with street-food-era signature items—fish balls, blood sausage, and cured sausages—were almost always ordered at every table. For guests hosting special occasions, A-Xia could also serve elaborate dishes like braised large shark’s fin and time-consuming chicken, pork tripe, and turtle hotpot, making A-Xia Restaurant a symbol of banquet cuisine. The most captivating delicacy for food lovers was the mullet roe, made from the highest-quality mullet roe of each season and sun-dried right on the restaurant’s rooftop. The mullet roe served at the table is hand-grilled over charcoal each day, and the aroma that wafts through the air has become an iconic sensory hallmark of A-Xia Restaurant.

Now managed by the second generation, the restaurant not only offers grand banquet dishes but has also adapted to societal changes by designing more moderately portioned dishes suitable for small gatherings among friends. With the third-generation, Wu Jianhao, joining the management, the service has become even more professional and the dishes more refined. The warmth of Taiwanese hospitality is fully reflected in the service attitude—staff can recommend dishes tailored to guests’ preferences, ensuring everyone leaves satisfied. Even international tourists are treated like friends, with slight adjustments made to suit different palates, allowing foreign guests to enjoy authentic Taiwanese flavors in a comfortable setting.

Recommendations from Food Connoisseurs

Mullet Roe

The wild mullet roe grilled fresh daily at A-Xia Restaurant is not only delicious but also holds special meaning—in earlier times, mullet roe was a dish reserved for the Lunar New Year, symbolizing reunion and prosperity.

Ginger-Flavored Jumping Fish Soup

Jumping fish are actually wild mudskippers. At A-Xia Restaurant, ginger slices and wine are all it takes to fully bring out the umami of these wild mudskippers. Both the tender fish meat and the broth are utterly addictive.

Red Yeast Rice Cake

Steamed to aromatic perfection with peanuts, shiitake mushrooms, and dried scallop strips, this rice cake is topped with two plump red yeast fish. It’s a must-order banquet dish at the restaurant, and the moment it’s served, it brings both flavor and a sense of occasion.

Delicious Landmark
No. 7, Lane 84, Section 2, Zhongzheng Road, West Central District, Tainan City
(06) 225-6789; (06) 222-4420
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM; 5:00 PM – 8:30 PM