ChiayiEat Recommendations

Songzhu Creative Japanese Cuisine in Chiayi's West District blends Japanese techniques with Western plating. The shop offers omakase-style set meals priced around NT$668-698, featuring 8 to 9 refined courses - less than NT$90 per dish. The decor is Japanese Zen with an upscale VIP feel, suited to dates, business hosting, and family dinners. Ingredients focus on fresh seafood and meats, using whole cuts, and the chefs present diverse flavors with true craftsmanship. Paid parking is available for guests' convenience.

Lin Cong-ming Sandpot Fish Head is one of Chiayi's most iconic queue-up foods. The shop is famous for traditional clay-pot cooking, featuring tender dragon-tiger grouper heads paired with vegetables, preserved winter vegetables, dried shrimp, and more - the broth is rich and refills are free until you're full. Though crowds and waits are the norm, the high-quality fish and broth make tourists and locals willing to line up. Dine-in and takeout are available, with multiple branches to suit different needs. To taste authentic Chiayi tradition, this is a must-try.

Tao-cheng Old Flavor Restaurant at No. 121 Youxiao Road, Chiayi West District, was once a venerable shared-plates shop inside the Tourist Fish Market before relocating near the train station. The kitchen focuses on traditional Taiwanese banquet cuisine, with mostly shared-dish set menus at friendly prices - often banquet-grade dishes at hot-pot prices, an exceptional value. Dishes are fresh and the wok-work is spot-on; capelin, salt-and-pepper chicken, and sakura-shrimp rice cakes win particular praise. Portions are generous, takeout is available, and it's great for family dinners or travelers wanting local home-style flavor quickly.

Deep-Mountain Free-Range Chicken House in Chiayi's West District is a Chinese restaurant specializing in free-range chicken shared dishes. The signature San-xian Stove (Three Immortals Pot) combines frog, eel, and soft-shell turtle in a sweet, herbal broth with no gamey taste, alongside tender shredded chicken rich with shallot aroma. The space is spacious, with a variety of shared-dish combos; the NT$3,000 set can be customized to preferences, and the owner often warmly offers chilled steeped tea, making it great for family dinners and group meals.

Yuan-xing Yu-xiang-wu is a long-standing hand-shaken drink shop next to Cultural Road Night Market in Chiayi's West District, famous for freshly squeezed fruit juices - its signature grapefruit green tea is adored by locals and tourists. The storefront is small and lines are often long. Hours are weekdays 10:00-20:00 and holidays 10:00-21:00 (closed Mondays and Tuesdays), with phone pre-orders accepted. Beyond the grapefruit green tea, the orange green tea and Dong-ding lemon are popular too - a must-try cooling drink in Chiayi.

Robin's Nest Fresh Fruit Tea is a hidden gem Chiayi locals rave about, founded in 1997 with two branches in the city. The Guohua branch by Cultural Road Night Market is open 09:30-20:00 (closed Sundays); the Minzu branch near 228 Memorial Park is open 10:00-20:00 (closed Mondays). The house specialty is hand-cut grapefruit green tea - drinks come in large sizes with friendly prices and shorter lines than elsewhere, loved by locals and visitors alike. Beyond the signature grapefruit green tea, options like roselle lemon and assorted green teas make it a quick recharge stop for travelers in Chiayi.