Shilin Night Market is a Must Visit

 I was in Taipei for a quick 3 day getaway. It was more of a sightseeing excursion but we did manage to squeeze in a few culinary adventures along the way! This is the 6th of 10 parts.

One hasn't fully explored Taipei without visiting the mother of all night markets, Shilin! 

Shilin Night Market is the biggest and most famous night market in the city with hundreds of kiosks and stores selling food and  non-food items (clothes, shoes, accessories, etc.). Arcade arenas, karaoke joints, and theater houses also surround the area. 

Don't be deterred by the huge crowds as the frenzied and chaotic environment is part of the Shilin experience.

Our first stop was the popular chicken stall Hot Star.

Hot Star has one of the longest lines but wait time isn't bad...

thanks to a very efficient system!

Chicken Getting Floured 

Fry Station

Ready to be Served

Deep Fried Chicken Fillet

Juicy with an addictive flour coating, I could eat this jumbo chicken all day long!

A few stalls from Hot Star is Ladu Alibaba...

Making the roti in full view of passersby is a brilliant strategy as it drew us in.

Kebabs Anyone?

Curry Beef Roll

Sadly, there was nothing remarkable about this roll. Hot and filling but not much else.

A food kiosk not be missed is the stall below. It's home to the best scallion pancakes in Taipei!

Scallion Pancakes

This fried dough with egg didn't picture well but was oh so good! Salty and greasy making it perfect for midnight snack. Best eaten piping hot.

Our last food stop at Shilin Night Market was Cheng Zu.

I could not resist these buns!

Small Meat Buns

Loved the crunchy bottom bits and the very soft and flavorful meat inside. 

Curly also tried the intriguing "froggy" drink...

but got disappointed. She said it tasted weird.

We also joined the long lines of this 50 year old establishment.

Everyone was queuing for this drink....

and it tasted like grass!

Oh well, at least we also had milk tea which wasn't so bad!

Shilin Night Market is open from 4 pm to 2 am daily. Get off the Jiantan Station (not Shilin!!!) of the Danshui MRT.