The grilled street food alley on Nan’an Road in Tainan — enjoy clams grilled to perfection, bursting with juices inside their tightly closed shells!

Text & Photos by /Viviyu

Nan’an Road in Tainan can truly be called a grilled street food haven, lined with numerous vendors selling all kinds of grilled delicacies. This time during our trip south, we didn’t plan to go to any specific restaurant. Instead, we spontaneously met up with friends halfway between our accommodations to hunt for some good food. This Clam Grill Shop has been on my list of must-try street eats for years. Since it’s so close to our homestay, how could we miss the chance? We decided to come here for a night of delicious street grub.

There are quite a few parking spaces along Nan’an Road, so finding a spot isn’t a problem. There are also plenty of shops along the street.

The shop doesn’t have a standard menu or menu card. Instead, you order based on the daily offerings. It was actually my first time here, so I wasn’t sure how to order at first. I just went with what I felt like eating and followed the recommendations of the lady boss, ending up ordering a full round of dishes.

Next door is Er Ge’s Fried Eel, which shares the same roots as A Jiang’s Fried Eel. I’ve always loved fried eel pasta in Tainan. When I saw that they served fried eel and the boss looked familiar, I immediately went over and ordered two plates to bring over to the Clam Grill Shop to eat.

They use freshly caught eel from the day, served in bamboo baskets. The sight of the bright red eel and pasta looked absolutely delicious~

Dry-fried eel pasta – NT$120

Tainan really cured my fear of eating eel. In the past, I thought eel had a sickly sweet taste and found it scary, but now I feel like I’d be disappointed if I didn’t have eel pasta while in Tainan. Er Ge’s frying skills are pretty impressive too — the eel meat is super Q (chewy) and tasty, and the pasta is well-seasoned and flavorful. It was so good that even the kids fought over it.

Grilled beef short ribs

I didn’t have high expectations for the grilled beef steak at first, but as soon as the beef short ribs were served, the quality and doneness of the meat made it clear that it was going to be delicious. The tender, juicy meat retained all its juices — truly yummy. Half of this plate was polished off by Anita, who loves beef.

Grilled chicken gizzard

Usually when I eat chicken gizzards, they’re drenched in sauce. But at the Clam Grill Shop, they serve them plain, cut into smaller, more bite-sized pieces that get more fragrant the more you chew.

Fish roe salad

With the no-menu ordering style, you just pick whatever ingredients catch your eye. I don’t usually get the chance to eat fish roe, so I ordered some to let the kids have a sniff. I didn’t expect them not to be fans — I thought anyone who liked salmon roe would like this too. No worries, the adults got to enjoy it all...

The outer layer is roasted to a slightly crispy and fragrant finish. It’s not too dry when dipped in salad dressing — still pretty tasty.

Grilled clams

Normally when we grill clams at home, we wait for them to open. These clams are a must-order dish here, and they actually arrive at the table completely closed. Turns out the shop preps them beforehand and provides a small knife for you to open them yourself when you’re ready to eat, preserving the clams’ natural juices.

Just look at these plump, juicy clams — wow, it’s almost making my mouth water!

The clams are huge — ANITA and VINCENT, who love clams, immediately started slurping them up the moment they saw them. This grilling method is something I’d love to learn. It keeps all the juices in, and it’s seriously delicious.

Fried squid balls

Another dish I got for the kids. They taste just like the squid balls from Penghu — you can even taste bits of squid in them.

Grilled oysters