台東。Taitung.
Back to Taitung, for a more temperate spring stint.
Slow Food Festival, reunions with old friends and a travel itinerary that showcased the local food production methods and the people that keep them alive.
Taitung Blogs.
Taitung Travel Stories.
The Wave House is one of Taitung City's landmark structures. Made of 50 shipping containers stacked under a light blue wave-shaped roof, it hosts several shops ad restaurants.
Taiwanese flags hanging. We're so back.
A new outlet for Meet Marlin (旗遇海味), the main restaurant by Chenggong harbour, 魚悠-波浪屋4號店 is a new fish restaurant that opened its doors in 2025 in Taitung City. A relaxed atmosphere right by Tiehua Village.
Brown sugar swordfish, Meet Marlin's signature dish. In the new downtown location at 魚悠-波浪屋4號店, the fish chunks are meaty and plump and the sauce is as complex as ever.
A special at 魚悠-波浪屋4號店, this was a black skipjack cheek, barely touched by the grill and prepared as if it were wagyu beef.
Flipping stools.
Some things are just a bit confusing to me.
Walking through the traditional central market in Taitung (台東市中央市場) to get breakfast, some of the sights are a bit gruesome for an early-morning stroll.
Peanut tofu at 台東有知鳥 (Hii Birdie) in Taitung. A small café in the old sugarcane factory, run by a lovely couple that settled in Taitung and decided to open their own café after years of hustle and bustle in Taipei.
Leaves and rainbows.
Chenggong Fish Harbor (成功漁港) is still home to a lively fishing scene, with a local fish auction taking place around noon.
Yellowfin tuna is a prized catch in Chenggong Fish Harbor (成功漁港).
The fish auction in Chenggong (成功) takes place right on the pier.
Chenggong Harbor (成功漁港) is famous for its high-quality marlin and swordfish.
Shades of blue and purple against the backdrop of blood during the fish auction.
Fishermen resting after their shift at Chenggong Harbor (成功漁港).
The locals have, throughout the years, kept the fishing knowledge alive in Chenggong, and you'll often see them going around with a probe to testthe quality of the flesh before purchasing the best catch.
The 2025 spring edition of the Taitung Slow Food Festival took place at the Chenggong Coast Park (成功鎮海濱公園). Events, tours of the town, producers and restaurants welcomed visitors from all over Taiwan and abroad.
Millet has historically served as the staple food in the region, either steamed or served in porridge form as it was in this case, topped with smoked bonito flakes from Chenggong, roselle buds and edible flowers, all wrapped in a foraged leaf used as a bowl.
Local ingredients and spices, like 火蔥 (fire onion), a small onion characterised by a very pungent taste, and 刺蔥, prickly ash, whose seeds and leaves are both used as seasonings.
A one-off dish from 拾事·食室｜fourteen x food, a newly opened restaurant in Longchang, close to Donghe. A worthy detour just a 5-minute drive South of Paul Chiang Art Centre. They focus on locally produced and foraged ingredients, with grilled rice balls being their signature dish.
I often find myself thinking about the fried rice ball with roselle which was the first dish from GraceKitchen (私廚& 蛋糕預定) that I tried 3 years ago. This time it was dessert, a carrot cake with prickly ash cream cheese frosting that was a perfect mid-afternoon pick-me-up sitting by the ocean.
Pebbles and gentle waves on the Pacific Coast.
After meeting in 2023 in Taitung and 2024 in Turin, Italy, seeing Yu-Pin was as lovely as usual. He's a local seafood expert and the owner of Meet Marlin, the fish restaurant right on Chenggong Harbour.
Goose barnacles prepared by Yu-Pin and his wife. You're supposed to snap off a corner of the shell and dig through it with your fingers to pry off the morsel of flesh from within. A sweet hybrid of crab and mussel.
Green plums and soy beans, just one fermentation step away from greatness.
日出禾作 is an organic farm in Guanshan that focuses on organic short-grain rice and coffee. After a period away from home studying agriculture, the owner came back to his village and started to focus on Amis traditional dishes such as siraw, strips of pork belly that are fermented in rice wine lees.
Patterns and local bags in downtown Taitung.
The market in Chenggong, with perky taro amongst other produce.
Siraw can be made with more than just pork, and fish is an obvious choice in a harbour town. The red lids are a common sight.
Roadside lounging.
The salt takes a toll on a car that's parked by the ocean.
At Bar Osmanthus (木犀) the owner, Man, takes great pride in using local ingredients to bring her visions to life. She likes to experiment with French ad Italian techniques to cook what the local forest and the ocean have to offer.
A delicate mahi mahi steak, lightly torched, with local sautéed greens at Bar Osmanthus (木犀).
Between the mountain and the ocean, Paul Chiang Art Centre in Taitung.
Looking out towards the ocean from Paul Chiang Art Centre in Donghe.
Another reunion, and my first time visiting Sho and Jonannes's restaurant in Luye. Chubby Rabbit (恰比兔子), with its lovely logo.
Johannes at Chubby Rabbit (恰比兔子) likes to smoke his swordfish in-house, using it as a topping for a Taiwanese-inspired pizza that combines the smoked fish with fresh cheese and magao, a local spice from the litsea family.
愛玉 is native to Taiwan. A vine in the same family as figs, its fruits need to be dried in the sun before removing the seeds that will later be used to make jelly thanks to their high pectin content. Handling the freshly harvested fruit requires caution since the sap that leaks out of the skin makes your skin burn.
癡愛玉 is a café in Guanshan (關山) that focuses on aiyu jelly. They make it daily and serve it cold with their own homemade pineapple syrup, another product that's typical of the region.
Luye (鹿野) is known for its vast plateau that is perfect for growing a variety of crops, with pineapple being one of the most prized.
Pineapple fields in the night.
Just outside of Luye, Imagine Taitung is a hub where tea and food producers in the area can showcase their products.
A specialty of Luye (鹿野), taitung red oolong ( 野紅烏龍) goes through a heavier oxidation process than regular oolongs, getting close to black tea territory. It's then rolled and pan-fired like an oolong. Amber red in the cup. with an aromatic profile that combines deep floral and fruity notes.
Pineapples are sheltered from the birds using paper bags in Luye (鹿野).
宏昌客家菜館 is a Hakka restaurant in Chishang. No menu and only open upon reservation, the restaurant represents the Hakka community in Taitung, concentrated mostly around the Chishang and Guanshang areas.
Hakka braised chicken, served whole as a symbol of respect to the guests, on a bed of seasonal local vegetables.
Braised pork belly and steamed aubergines at 宏昌客家菜館, Hakka restaurant in Chishang.
Asparagus beer. Taiwan has a thing for asparagus, with asparagus juice being readily available in the fridge section at most convenience stores. Here, the juice is combined with locally produced beer for a combination I would've never come up with on my own.
Hats and hugs.
Pig blood soup and scallion pancakes at 徑廣東路蔥油餅 on Guangdong road in Taitung City. The pig blood soup is light and surprisingly refreshing.
Mitaimu (米苔目) is one of the traditional dishes in Taitung. Chewy noodles made with rice and sometimes tapioca starch, served in a savoury soup or dry with just a dash of bonito broth. Usually topped with minced pork and bonito flakes. Rong Shu Xia Rice Noodles (榕樹下米苔目) is one of the staples in Taitung.
Improvised semi-homemade dinner, with instant noodles and some dressed silken tofu.
Hamtaro. Just that.
When you want to visit a restaurant specialising in duck meat (四方鵝肉), make sure you get there early. The sweet potato noodles, minced pork rice and the braised milkfish heads were a worthy fallback.
Heads at the market.
Guts at the market.
Peugeots from a bygone era.
A touch of rust.
Poster marks.
Exploring Taitung has never been easier. Discover the rich traditions of the region, its history and the gastronomic events to showcase local products. Build your itinerary and choose to travel slow to appreciate all that Taitung has to offer.