This guide covers the best restaurants, street food, and dining experiences in Taiwan.
For more recommendations, see the full guide.
When it comes to Yilan's indigenous cuisine, you may have heard of the Atayal people, but do you know how many stories their dining tables hold? The Atayal villages in Yilan's Datong and Nan'ao Townships have preserved a remarkably complete traditional food culture—from mountain vegetable foraging to stream fishing, from stone-baking techniques to bamboo tube cooking, every dish carries the wisdom of their ancestors.
Key Highlights:
The core spirit of Atayal cuisine is "coexisting with the mountains and forests." They do not use agricultural chemicals or fertilizers, instead following the seasons to gather wild ingredients: mountain asparagus fern in spring, bracken fiddleheads and angelica, summer's lemon pepper and ginger grass, autumn's persimmons and walnuts, winter's yams and fern fronds. Particularly noteworthy is the Atayal "stone-baking" tradition—placing heated stones into ingredients to steam them through, similar to the prototype of stone oven cooking. This method preserves the most original sweetness and moisture of the ingredients.
Another特色 is the "salt-cured meat" fermentation culture, where hunted pork or Formosan sambar deer meat is salted and then hung to dry, stored for months before consumption. The flavor is rich, making it an excellent accompaniment to wine. Additionally, bamboo tube rice is a classic—glutinous rice is placed inside bamboo sections and charcoal-roasted, with the bamboo's fragrance seeping into the grains, providing energy for mountain treks.
In recent years, Yilan's indigenous restaurants have gradually moved toward "ingredient transparency"—many establishments have started collaborating with local small-scale farmers, supplying traceable wild vegetables, and modernizing traditional techniques, such as using low-temperature cooking instead of direct roasting for more delicate flavors. This trend is also reflected in pricing—transitioning from the past average NT$200-300 buffet-style format to NT$400-800 individual specialty dishes.
Recommended Locations:
"Taiya Flavor House" is located in Leishui Village, Datong Township, and is one of the few restaurants operated personally by Atayal people. The owner learned traditional cooking from her elders from a young age. The "stone-baked wild boar" here is the signature—wild boar meat is cooked together with wild vegetables among heated stones for three hours, resulting in tender meat with a subtle charcoal aroma, with saltiness coming from natural salt rather than processed seasonings. Signature bamboo tube rice is NT$80, mountain asparagus fern stir-fried with bamboo shoots is NT$150. Ideal for visitors wanting to experience authentic home-style cooking. Hours: AM10:00-PM17:00, closed Wednesdays.
"Sayunala Flavor Kitchen" is located on Nan'ao Road in Nan'ao Township. The owner is a returning youth who combines traditional Atayal dishes with creative plating. The "lemon pepper steamed fish" uses same-day caught Taiwanese bream, seasoned with mountain lemon pepper, resulting in delicate flesh with a subtle lemon aroma, NT$350. The "salt-cured meat platter" offers three different cuts of salt-cured meat, accompanied by ginger slices and millet wine, perfect for sharing, NT$280. The wild vegetable soup here is complimentary, made with six types of wild vegetables collected that day—it's recommended to drink a bowl first to experience the mountain forest's essence.
"Kitchen in the Valley" is hidden along the access road toward Taiping Mountain, with no obvious sign and advance reservation required. The cooking style here is very "raw"—preserving food in its most original state. The "garden salad" is made with field wild vegetables simply washed and served with sesame sauce, while "roasted mountain chicken" is slow-roasted for four hours using acacia wood, with all the juices locked beneath the skin, starting at NT$500. Here, the emphasis is on "tasting the seasons"—the menu changes monthly, and autumn visitors can enjoy dishes featuring persimmons.
"Grandpa's Kitchen" is located in Hanxi Village, Datong Township, a family-style restaurant with an eighty-year-old grandfather as the head chef and his daughter-in-law helping with service. The "millet wine pork trotters" here is a exclusive dish—pork trotters are simmered for six hours with millet wine, ginger slices, and lemon pepper, resulting in rich collagen that doesn't feel sticky, NT$300. The "stir-fried rice noodles" use brown rice noodles instead of white, combined with stir-fried salt-cured meat and cabbage, full of that home-cooked aroma, NT$100. It's recommended to visit at lunch; dinner service is by reservation only.
"Mountain Wild Flavor Vegetarian Restaurant" is located near Nan'ao Station, one of the few establishments offering an all-you-can-eat format, NT$350 per person. Its advantage lies in having nearly thirty types of wild vegetables—lettuce, bracken fiddleheads, black nightshade, mountain asparagus fern are all available, along with freshly grilled sweet fish and salt-cured meat soup. Suitable for groups or family outings, and leftover vegetables can be taken home.
Practical Information:
Getting There: From Yilan Station or the transit center, take the Guoguang Bus routes 1751 or 1764 to reach the villages in Datong Township; for Nan'ao Township, take route 1766. Self-driving or hiring a private car is recommended since bus frequencies are limited and traffic congestion is common on weekends.
Cost Reference: Traditional family-style restaurants are approximately NT$150-400 per person, specialty restaurants are NT$350-600 per person, and some private chefs requiring reservation are NT$800-1200.
Business Hours: Most restaurants are open AM10:00-PM17:00, with many closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It's recommended to call ahead before visiting.
Best Season: Spring (March-May) offers the most tender wild vegetables, summer and autumn (July-October) provide abundant fruits and fish catches, and winter (November-February) is ideal for savoring salt-cured meat and yam dishes.
Travel Tips:
1. Be sure to make reservations in advance—many restaurants have limited seating and ingredients need to be prepared ahead of time, especially at "Kitchen in the Valley" and "Grandpa's Kitchen."
2. Bring enough cash—some small establishments do not accept credit cards or mobile payments.
3. Respect food taboos—The Atayal traditionally have a communal eating culture. Do not place food directly in the center of the table; food should be served by elders.
4. Nearby attractions: Taiping Mountain National Forest Recreation Area and Jiuzihze Hot Spring in Datong Township; Chaoyang Trail and Nan'ao Farm in Nan'ao Township.
