Unique Tainan Breakfast Spots You Have To Try

Try a ton of Unique Tainan Breakfast Spots with me! If you’re ever visiting Tainan, you know you have to try ALL of their fun breakfast options. From traditional steamed rice cakes to guava coffee from a champion barista, Tainan has a ton to offer in the morning. Whether it’s sweet or savory, these breakfast spots have what you need to start the day right. Come have breakfast with me in Tainan!

Tainan: Taiwan’s Food Paradise

Tainan is one of my favorite place in Taiwan! Home to many of Taiwan’s most unique foods, like the room temperature beef hot pot, eel noodles, and coffin board toast, Tainan is a foodie’s must visit city. Tainan also has so many key historical and cultural relics and destinations, from Anping Old Street to super popular dessert places, you can’t explore them all in a day.

How To Get To Tainan

There are many ways to get to Tainan:

Driving: My parents drove about 4 hours down Highway 1 from Taoyuan to meet us in Tainan
There are bus routes that will take you as well, so you don’t need to rent a car to make this trip.
By local train, it takes about 3.5 hours.
Taiwan High Speed Rail, the FASTEST way

Be sure to check out my High Speed Rail post on my trip from Taoyuan to Tainan.

Crispy Golden Potstickers – 幸福鍋貼

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite breakfast spots in Tainan: 幸福鍋貼永福店. Every time I come to Tainan, this is a must visit location. They’ve got a few items on the menu, but tons of different flavors to choose from. If you love carbs in the morning like potstickers, egg pancakes, and veggie pancakes, this is the spot for you!

Their specialty is of course the crispy golden potstickers. These little dumplings are are like flavor bombs wrapped in a crunchy shell. They explode in a crispy, juicy bite, so be careful, it can be hot! The wrappers are slightly chewy, and blends right in with the perfectly seasoned pork. We also ordered their egg pancake and a few classic breakfast shop drinks. It’s such a great way start to the day.

幸福鍋貼永福店 has the friendliest aunties, and the most delicious potstickers. They sell out really quickly every day, so I recommend coming at least 2 hours before closing to make sure you can try everything on the menu. They’re open every Monday to Saturday from 5:30 AM to 12 PM.

Creative Guava Coffee – Barista Ray Coffee

If you’re a morning coffee person, and Barista Ray Coffee is easily one of the best coffees in Tainan. The owner of this cute little to-go coffee stall is actually the 2018 TISCA World Latte Art Champion, so they know coffee! Barista Ray is unique for their fruit coffees, combining local Tainan fruits with iced coffee.

We ordered the guava coffee, which was their specialty. I wouldn’t think that guava fits that well with coffee, and it blew my mind! At first sip, you get the tart guava chunks first, then the americano comes in with it’s smooth aroma. The coffee’s not so strong or bitter, and the flavor of guava and coffee lingers. It’s an easy 100 out of 10!

Their drinks range from 90 to 120 NTD, and have a wide range of variety for different flavor. If you’re in Tainan, this is a great coffee shop to stop by! They’re open everyday from 10 AM to 6 PM.

Steamed Sticky Rice Scholar Cakes – 泉記米行

We came across the tiniest, most unassuming rice shop, 泉記米行, selling traditional Scholar Cakes. Made with freshly milled sticky rice flour directly in the store, these traditional rice cakes have to be good. Named because they look like the scholar hats of ancient China, these steamed rice cakes are also called “Scholar Cakes” 狀元糕.

Made by filling molds with sticky rice flour and sesame or peanut sugar, these cakes are steamed and come in packs of 6 for $96 TND or 10 for $160 TND. Because of it’s association with scholars, many students come to eat this traditional dessert before exams for good luck.

These scholar cakes were so good, we actually ended up going back for seconds on our trip to Anping Old Street! Fresh off the grill, they’re steaming and soft, filled with sesame or peanut powder. If you let it cool a little, the texture changes completely into a chewier, bouncier, mochi-like bite. I daresay it gets better after it cools a bit! Don’t miss out on these scholar cakes, because it’s harder and harder to find in Taiwan now.

Steamed Sticky Rice 米糕 – 保安路米糕

Every time I come to Tainan, I have to come to 保安路米糕 at least twice. In fact, we walked 30 minutes in the rain this time to eat here this time. Micheline Recommended (2022 AND 2023!) 保安路米糕 specialize in 2 main items: steamed sticky rice 米糕 and Chinese 4 herb soup 四神湯.

The sticky rice is first packed into a bamboo cup, then steamed to perfection and moved to a bowl. On top, they stack braised pork belly, picked cucumbers, cilantro, fish floss, and boiled peanuts. It’s the perfect balance between fatty and light in one bite. They also pack their to-go steamed sticky rice in bamboo leaves, which is so eco-friendly!

The Chinese 4 herb soup is a soup made with pork intestines and 4 traditional Chinese herbs thought to have circulatory and gut health benefits. It can also ben an intimidating dish, but it actually has a light savory broth flavor that’s perfect to wash down the more substantial sticky rice. Come try this combo!

Lotus Wrapped Sticky Rice Dumpling – 黃家菜粽

My mom was craving lotus wrapped sticky rice dumplings, a classic Tainan breakfast, so we headed to 黃家菜粽. Here, you can get sticky rice dumplings, cold noodles, and miso soup for no more than 45 NTD ($1.50) per item.

The sticky rice dumpling is wrapped in lotus leaf and stuffed with a bunch of savory fillings. I wish I could have this every single day for breakfast. The fillings are fragrant from mushrooms and rich from pork belly and salted eggs. They’re quite filling, so if you have a small appetite, it’s best to share.

In Tainan, the classic way of eating sticky rice dumplings is surprisingly with miso soup. Their Taiwanese style miso soup has the classic tofu, seaweed, and anchovies, but also chunks of freshly fried Chinese doughnuts to add some substance. It’s super simple, and in fact I’m pretty sure you can recreate it at home with my miso soup recipe. It’s savory but light, and washes down the sticky rice bites perfectly.

Here at 黃家菜粽, you can grab and cheap and filling breakfast that the locals love for $3 a meal. They also have fully vegetarian options if you have dietary restrictions as well. It’s a delicious way to live like a local.

Room Temperature Lamb Soup – 包成羊肉

It was still pouring outside, so we decided to go across the street for some fresh mutton soup at 包成羊肉. This place definitely caught me by surprise, because although unassuming, they’re actually super popular in Tainan. They serve lamb the same way Tainan usually loves to serve their beef in the Tainan room temperature style, where the meat is butchered daily and never refrigerated.

The menu is simple: choose simply lamb meat or add any lamb parts you’d like in either original soup, herbal soup, or dry with sauce. We got an original and and herbal soup to share.

The original soup is just pure mutton. I don’t know how they do it, but there’s no gamey taste in the meat or soup. Instead, it’s just the most comforting and pure meat-infused broth paired with tasty tender mutton. Made with the angelica root, the herbal lamb soup is much darker in color, and has a deeply medicinal savory flavor.

They have 4 self-served condiments you can use to dip your mutton in: bean sauce, sweet and spicy, white vinegar, and thin sliced ginger. It’s so fun trying different combinations of the 4!

All items are 120 NTD for small and 180 NTD for large orders. They open every day of the week except Monday, starting at 5 am, and close when they sell out, often by 11 am. We were lucky to come on a less busy day since it was so rainy. If you’re looking to try some super fresh lamb soup, get here early!

Jay’s Handmade Omelet Pancakes

Before heading to Anping Old Street, we grabbed some omelet pancakes at Jay’s Handmade Omelet Pancakes 阿杰手工蛋餅 for breakfast. Jay’s pancakes are handmade from batter, so everything is super fresh and made to order.

They’ve got TONS of creative egg pancake fillings, from Cheesy Pad Kra Pao (70 NTD) to Popcorn Chicken (60 NTD). Today I got the double cheese and bacon, and it’s oozing with cheese! It’s one of those Tainan breakfast spots where you can come with a group of friends and all try a bunch of flavors together.

Make sure to order first at the kiosk, then hand your order slip to the kitchen to get your food started. Jay’s is open from 7 AM to 12:30 PM Wednesday to Saturday. They share the space with a coffee shop, so if you’re a coffee person you can have both!