The Inside Scoop on Summer Dessert Spots In Taiwan

It’s time for summer desserts in Taiwan! I just came back from a trip to Taiwan, and it gets SO HOT there. While I was visiting for business and family emergencies, I’m really glad I had time to share some of these treats with my family. If you’re visiting in the summer, you’re going to need some delicious frozen Taiwanese dessert recommendations. Come with me to taste test all the summer desserts I’ve tried in Taiwan on this trip, from ice cream to shaved ice!

Ice Cream – From Traditional To Fusion

Taiwan had their own “ice cream” made of mixing natural flavors and juices and starch slurries to produce a fluffy, yet icier texture. Later on, ice cream made with milk as we’re familiar with entered the Taiwanese dessert market and quickly became popular as well. With such hot summers, ice cream is always a well-loved way of cooling down in Taiwan. Local artisans have learned to either expand their traditional methods, or start incorporating Taiwanese flavors into new techniques like gelato!

Creative All-Natural Gelato – 田中央義式冰淇淋 (7.5/10)

We ran into the most colorful fruit gelato store as we were strolling down Daxi Old Street: 田中央義式冰淇淋. From bright yellow to magenta, the rainbow of colors in their gelato freezer definitely catches your eye walking by. With flavors like whiskey, pineapple, bittermelon, and more, their flavors are just as whimsical as their colors.

These yummy fruit gelato are freshly hand made with all natural ingredients. We got bright magenta dragon fruit gelato, and a light yellow litchi flavor. You can really taste the real fruit chunks in these frozen treats! It’s perfect for these hot summer days!

Taiwanese Ice Cream Burritos – 阿宗芋冰城大溪分店 (10/10)

If there one thing that I will always get whenever I visit DaXi, it is the iconic, must try Taiwanese ice cream burrito at 阿宗芋冰城! It consists of a super thin flour crepe, mounds of freshly shaved peanut candy, traditional Taiwanese ice cream, cilantro, and even more peanut candy shavings. I’ve tried many ice cream burrito stalls, but this one was hands down my favorite.

I know you may be thinking, “dessert with cilantro???” It really really works! With the peanut candy, it’s a perfect balance. A little bit salty, a little sweet, really really refreshing! We like to call the texture of this traditional Taiwanese ice cream 綿綿的, which means soft, and a bit fluffy.

If you go to Taiwan in the summer, you should be able to find these at 阿宗芋冰城大溪分店, or any other night markets or day markets. make sure to give it a try, and make sure to add cilantro! 

Old Fashioned Taro Ice Cream – 腳踏車芋泥 (9/10)

Along Hukou Old Street, we found ourselves a frozen treat at Bike Taro 腳踏車芋泥. Bike Taro basically offers 2 things: Hot Mashed Taro, and Traditional Taro Ice Cream. Traditional Taiwanese Ice Cream isn’t made with cream, but rather mixing natural flavors and juices and starch slurries to produce a fluffy, yet icier “ice cream”.

I don’t normally like taro, but this ice cream is so creamy and yummy, I couldn’t stop myself. Every spoonful delivers a velvety smooth texture and a hint of nutty richness. It really is almost like eating spoonfuls of frozen pure taro! It makes brain freezes ABSOLUTELY worth it!

At 50 NTD per cup, this ice cream is delicious and affordable. Next time if I come in winter, I’m going to try the hot taro mash too!

Soft Serve – The Trendier Frozen Dessert

Because of it’s increase in popularity in Japan, Taiwan has also jumped on the soft serve bandwagen in the last 5-10 years. In fact, many Taiwanese convenient stores like Family Mart also sell soft serve! Soft serve has become a grab-and-go sweet treat at popular shopping areas, encouraging a casual stroll while cooling off with a sweet treat.

Popped Rice Soft Serve Cone – 正豐食品行 (10/10)

We came across 正豐食品行 in Daxi Old Street, a little store selling grain and nut-based products like almond powder, popped rice, and more staples. The store was full of nostalgic goodies, but what really caught our eye was their popped rice soft serve. Basically every person we walked by was holding one of these ice cream cones!

They offer 2 different flavors: roasted black sesame and rice bran, both traditional Taiwanese dessert flavors. Swirled high, the soft serve cone are then covered in popped rice, giving it an extra toasted, nutty flavor. It was so good, we had to get seconds!

If you want a taste of simple classic Taiwanese flavors – this ice cream is definitely the way to go! It’s 50 NTD per soft serve, a perfect way to grab a snack to-go during your Daxi Street Food walk!

Super Creamy Vanilla Soft Serve – 蜷尾家 甘味処 (9/10)

蜷尾家 甘味処 is another one of those ice cream shops where everywhere you go, you see someone with a cone! Designed for eating while walking, 蜷尾家 甘味処 offers the classic vanilla soft serve as well as 2 other unique flavors that changes every day.

This vanilla cone so incredibly creamy – the quality of their ingredients really comes through! Next time I’d really like to try their other daily unique flavors too! At 100 NTD a cone, the price may be a little on the higher side, but you can really taste the love they put into each cone!

This small, unassuming street-side stall in Tainan is actually the soft serve location of the Iconic Taiwanese-owned 蜷尾家 ice cream empire. Their ice cream was so popular with Japanese tourists that they’ve opened two Tokyo branches. They also have a separate location in Tainan called Ninao, specializing in gelato.

Shaved Ice – A Choose Your Own Adventure Dessert

Taiwan’s favorite way of cooling off has to be shaved ice. Flaky snow-like shaved ice topped with syrup and a variety of homemade toppings means you can add anything you’d like into your bowl. With such high ingredient variability, each shaved ice shop has figured out its own signature ingredients for their desserts that their customers love. From fruit flavors to traditional brown sugar, every shaved ice place has got it’s own unique flavor combo. I love trying all the different ingredients they have to offer!

Traditional Tofu Pudding – 賴媽媽傳統豆花 (8/10)

For dessert we had to get Mama Lai’s Traditional Tofu Pudding 賴媽媽傳統豆花, a sweets shop that has been opened for 50 years. Tofu pudding is made from soy milk and is silky, smooth, and soft. It is often served with any sweet toppings and syrup of your choice, cold or hot. It’s a great dessert for both hot summer days AND cold winter nights!

For 50 NTD a bowl, you get a soy pudding base, and 3 added toppings. I especially love mine cold with red bean, taro balls, and of course QQ, which is chewy tapioca balls. The desserts here have generous portions, so we like to ordered 2 bowls to share between 4 people.

Star Fruit Ice – 成都楊桃冰 (6.5/10)

Star Fruit is one of those Taiwanese fruit that’s harder to find in Canada or the US. With the popularity and variety of boba, traditional star fruit ice is even harder to find in Taiwan! Star Fruit Ice 成都楊桃冰 is one of those rare shops that still offer these traditional treats in the center of Taipei’s hotspot – Ximending.

The fruit in this icy drink was pickled with salt, giving it a slight salty taste that really boosts the sourness and sweetness of the fruit. Your lips will pucker with every sip! It can take a little getting used to in the beginning if you’re not into a salty-fruity flavor,

They offer pineapple, star fruit, or salted plum ice for 50 NTD a cup, and it’s super refreshing for a really hot summer day of walking around Ximending!

Almond Jelly Shaved Ice – 懷舊小棧杏仁豆腐冰 – 9/10

This little shaved ice shop is our first destination every time we get to Tainan. 懷舊小棧杏仁豆腐冰 specialize in Almond Jelly desserts. If you’ve never had almond jelly before, it tastes just like a jelly version of sweetened almond milk. It’s soft, jiggly, and healthy, too!

There’s a variety of ingredients for you to choose from: matcha pudding, peanuts, boba, mochi balls, and more. Paired with sweet red beans, mochi balls, and creamy condensed milk over crunchy shaved ice, you get a full bowl of toppings. At about 30-50 NTD a bowl, you get all sorts of amazing flavors and texture in one spoonful.

It’s so popular with locals as well, so expect a line when you visit. A bowl of their almond jelly shaved ice is always the perfect way to start a trip in Tainan!

Mango Shaved Ice – Yu Cheng Fruit Store (9/10)

If you’re ever craving something refreshing in Tainan, you need to visit the fruit stalls – especially Yu Cheng Fruit Store 裕成水果冰店. They offer a rotating menu of seasonal fruits, but it’s guaranteed that they always have the best qualities here. We tried a delicious plate of cut tomatoes dipped in plum sauce, which works so well since the tomatoes were super sweet.

An must-try, irresistible dessert you’ll never forget is for sure Taiwan’s mango shaved ice: fluffy finely shaved ice covered with fresh mango chunks, a generous drizzle of condensed milk for the extra creaminess, and finished off with a large scoop of fresh mango ice cream. This is FOR SURE the perfect way to enjoy these plump, juicy mangos!

Optional pro tip: I love topping mine off with Tainan’s famous pudding to add even more creaminess!

裕成水果冰店 also offers strawberry shaved ice, mixed fruit shaved ice, and more, as well as fruit plates, juices and smoothies. The mango shaved ice is 200NTD, while the other shaved ice options are more within the 100 NTD range. For the amount of mangos they pile on, it’s definitely worth it!

Homemade Tapioca Shaved Ice – 阿川粉圓 (8.5/10)

We visited 阿川粉圓 3 times and it was never open until our last day in Tainan, so we couldn’t miss out. They offer a variety of drinks and sweets in traditional flavors – from wintermelon to lemon aiyu jelly, ranging from 30-50 NTD. They hand make their tapioca pearls in-house, so it’s always super fresh.

We ordered the most popular – brown sugar shaved ice with chewy mochi balls for 50 NTD. This simple bowl of shaved ice is PERFECT – the home cooked brown sugar syrup is nicely caramelized, giving it a bit of a smoky flavor. Combine with the crunchy ice that melts in your mouth and the chewy mochi, it’s a ridiculously satisfying bowl of dessert.

Grass Jelly Shaved Ice – 岩森仙草 (8/10)

It was so hot we had to come in for a quick dessert break at 岩森仙草, a dessert and drink shop specializing in grass jelly. Grass jelly is a healthy herbal jelly that’s very popular in Asian desserts, especially shaved ice and cold drinks. We ordered the taro ball grass jelly shaved ice, and my parents each got their own grass jelly drinks.

The ice here is a little different than the usual shaved ice: they use frozen grass jelly “snow ice” instead of just normal ice. The base comes out a little more like a slushy, with all the great flavors of grass jelly. You won’t have to worry about your dessert being diluted during the hot summers! Their taro balls have a nice chewy texture with the perfectly nutty taro flavor. It’s a pretty big bowl, so it’s great for sharing.

Assorted Fruit Shaved Ice – Changhua Papaya Milk King (7/10)

We took a quick break on our roadtrip in Changhua to grab some more shaved ice. Here at Changhua Papaya Milk King, they’ve been serving fresh fruits and fruit drinks for over 60 years, the most popular being their signature papaya milk and avocado milk.

We ordered the papaya milk, of course, as well as two different shaved ice: Pineapple shaved ice and Almond Jelly Plum shaved ice. Their papaya milk is super refreshing, yet smooth and velvety. It’s no wonder it’s their signature drink. Their shaved ice was packed with nostalgia, offering creative fruit flavors you rarely see elsewhere.

It’s a small store, so there will always be a line. Their options range from 50-80 NTD, so it’s a fairly affordable option on a super hot day in Changhua. Don’t miss out on this iconic Taiwanese treasure!

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