Taiwanese Street Food Stroll: Taoyuan’s DaXi Old Street

Come on a mini road trip with me to Taoyuan’s historic DaXi Old Street 大溪老街. Taste test some must-try classic street foods from steaming buns to ice cream burritos with me as we take a walk down memory lane with my parents. Next time you come to Taiwan, don’t miss out on the nostalgic streets of Daxi!

DaXi Old Street: Full of Traditional Crafts and Eats

DaXi Old Street 大溪老街 is known for their wood carvings, beautiful mountains, and lots of must eat traditional Taiwanese dishes. I used to come here at least once a month with my family on the weekend. There are tons of small shops selling traditional Taiwanese candies, toys, games, homemade souvenirs, and of course lots and lots of food. Everywhere you look there’s tons of food options waiting for you to try. 

Sipping Traditional Boba Tea From 七二涼水亭

Strolling down DaXi Old Street, we came across this cute nostalgic tea shop – 七二涼水亭 (72 Cold Tea Stand), and we had to get was something yummy to drink. I love that in Taiwan you can easily adjust your sweetness since everything is homemade.

I got a delicious wintermelon green tea that was perfect for summer. It’s a solid 7.5/10! My dad and my sister got refreshing Taiwanese lemon tea 愛玉 and grass jelly drink. There’s nothing better than exploring nostalgic shops on a hot day with these refreshing drinks!

Savory Hakka Sticky Rice Dumplings at 阿秋大湯圓

When you come to DaXi, you need to try the Hakka savory sticky rice dumplings, 鹹湯圓. This is one of my dad’s favorite dishes.  It is a gluten-free dumpling made from glutinous rice flour that is served in a hot broth. It is chewy and soft on the outside, while the inside is packed with savory pork and mushroom fillings.

Each bowl of sticky rice dumpling soup comes with 3 dumplings, at around 70 NTD per bowl. The restaurant also offers other simple dishes such as boiled veggies, cuts of different meats, and ground pork rice. 阿秋大湯圓 is a satisfyingly simple meal that warms you right up – solid 8/10!

Cool Off with Traditional Tofu Pudding 賴媽媽傳統豆花

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.

Fluffy Steamed Buns at 宜蘭86包仔 under $1

There is something so special about walking around while trying tons of yummy food, such as these fluffy steam buns. 宜蘭86包仔 sells simple little steamed buns for only 12 NTD each. They offer the classic savory pork buns as well as a few other sweet flavors.

Their most popular ones are the red bean mochi buns and the dried plum pork buns. These buns are so soft and yummy, and I give them a 7/10. They’re cheap, filling, and so delicious, These buns are absolutely worth the wait!

Soft Serve Covered in Popped Rice – 正豐食品行

We came across 正豐食品行, a little store selling grain and nut-based products like almond powder, popped rice Krispie, and more staples. The store was full of 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! This ice cream cone gets a 10/10 for sure!

Creatively Natural Gelato 田中央義式冰淇淋

We ran into the most colorful fruit gelato store: 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, and made of all natural ingredients. We got bright magenta dragon fruit gelato, and a light yellow litchi flavor. You can really taste the fruit in these frozen treats! We give them a 7.5/10!

The Best Ice Cream Burritos 阿宗芋冰城大溪分店

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! 

An Unexpected Noodle Stop 乾麵居

I don’t know if it’s just me, but whenever I’m in Asia and I see a line up for food, I immediately get so excited. On our way back to our car, we stumbled across Noodles House 乾麵居. It had a huge line outside. so we knew we had to give it a try.

It is called Noodles House, so of course, we got the Hand Made Dried noodles. Mixed with a slightly spicy, fragrant sauce, these noodles disappeared FAST. We got a little bit of everything else as well, including: Braised Tofu (20 NTD), Fried Chicken Roll (30 NTD), Braised Cold Cuts (20 NTD Each), Pork Belly Rice (30 NTD). The braised dishes are packed full of savory, fatty flavor. For us, Noodles House is a 7/10!