A guide to Keelung Night Market - Miaokou and what to eat

Imagine you’re sitting at an outdoor table at the Keelung Night Market in Taiwan: red and yellow lanterns swing in the mild breeze above the narrow lane, the pungent, delicious smells of crab broth and grilled squid mix with smoky incense from the Dianji Temple, with the numbered food stalls stretching in both directions from the temple gate. You feel at once entirely at peace and entirely intrigued by this remarkable experience. Keelung Night Market is one of the few night markets in Asia where the food is the main point… but the sights, sounds and smells are part of what makes it memorable.

Miaokou (literally “temple mouth” or “temple entrance”) sits minutes from the Keelung cruise terminal, making it one of the most accessible night market experiences from any port in the region.

Miaokou market takes its name from the Dianji Temple, Keelung’s patron temple dedicated to Kaizhang Shengwang (“Sacred King, Founder of Zhangzhou"). The temple is not adjacent to the market, but rather integral to it. The market grew from the temple gates outward over centuries. Some of the vendor stalls are held by families who have kept the same numbered position for three or four generations. There’s a palpable sense of history and pride in food preparations here—the same family name above the stall, recipes refined across decades. Eating at Miaokou is eating at a table that has been set for literal generations.

Here, they use a numbered stall system: each vendor holds a permanent numbered stall, and this makes navigation straightforward and return visits reliable. This is a user-friendly feature for fans of a particular vendor or for cruise guests navigating the Keelung Night Market without a working knowledge of Mandarin. Unlike nearby Taipei’s night markets, Miaokou is almost entirely devoted to food, and most guests come here specifically to try the various delicacies.

The standout dishes at Miaokou reflect the port city directly behind it. The harbor’s daily catch shapes what’s on every menu.

• Crab soup (螃蟹羹) is a thick, savory broth built from crab stock, filled with glass noodles and tender crab meat. The richness comes from the long boiling and concentrated flavors. This is a Keelung signature dish.
• Taiwanese-style tempura is distinct from Japanese tempura. Here, tempura refers to battered fish paste, golden and crispy outside, soft inside, served with a sweet sauce. Due to the familiar name, this is one of the most misunderstood dishes by first-time visitors, but those who try it with an open mind love it.
• Oyster vermicelli is composed of thin wheat noodles (misua) in a thick, slightly gelatinous broth with oysters and vegetables. Food in this part of the world often highlights textures as much as flavors, and this sticky, unctuous dish is a highlight.
• Grilled seafood is everywhere, including fresh squid, prawns and fish cooked over charcoal at open stalls. The smoky, savory smell of fresh seafood charring perfectly over coals is immediate and unforgettable.
  

• Nutritious sandwich (營養三明治) is a distinctly Keelung creation not found elsewhere in Taiwan: a golden, deep-fried bun sliced open and filled with egg, mayonnaise, cucumber, ham and sometimes tomato.
• Guabao (刈包) is a steamed bun filled with braised pork, pickled mustard greens and peanut powder. It’s soft, rich, sweet and savory simultaneously.
• Chicken rolls, despite the name, are traditionally made with minced pork and vegetables wrapped in bean curd skin and fried crispy (similar to egg rolls or spring rolls in other cuisines) — the name comes from an old Taiwanese term for using up meat scraps, not the poultry.

• Pao pao bing (泡泡冰): Another Keelung original, this is a shaved ice dessert that’s airier and lighter than typical Taiwanese shaved ice. The shavings are finer, the texture almost weightless and it’s topped with condensed milk and fruit or beans.

The Princess Sky Lantern, Keelung Night View & Miaokou Market at Night excursion is a great way to see the local highlights. You board a motorcoach and travel to Shih-Fen, a 100-year-old mining town. Sky lanterns were originally invented during the Three Kingdoms period in the 3rd century, but Shih-Fen's own tradition of releasing them is a much later custom, dating to the area's settlement in the early 1800s. You can write a wish on an oiled rice paper lantern before lighting the fuel block inside and releasing it into the night sky.

Then, after a 40-minute motorcoach ride back to Keelung, you visit Zhongzheng Park, the hilltop viewpoint above central Keelung offering sweeping night views of the harbor and city skyline. Finally, you arrive at the bustling Miaokou night market, with the images of the sky lanterns and hillside views fresh in your mind, and you can sample the various flavors here before returning to the ship.

Guests who spend a Princess day in Taipei can experience a different night market: Raohe Street Night Market is 600 meters of stalls with its own signature dish, the black pepper bun, accessible via the Splendid Night View from Taipei 101 & Raohe Street Night Market.

From the Princess cruise terminal in Keelung, the market is approximately a 10-15 minute walk along the harbor front or a very short taxi ride. No prior transport arrangements are needed, making this one of the most accessible night markets from any cruise port in Asia.

Most Miaokou vendors accept cash only, in the local currency of New Taiwan Dollars, so be sure to arrange for local currency, as card acceptance is limited at market stalls. 

Arrive hungry. The Keelung Night Market is designed for sampling many different foods across many stalls, a small portion at each. You can work through the seafood, then the savory snacks, then the sweets, however you prefer.

Most stalls are open from mid-afternoon and the market is most active through the evening hours, as the name implies.

If you’re traveling from Taipei, such as guests combining a Taipei shore day with an evening at the market, you can reach Keelung by train or bus in approximately 40-50 minutes.

You can learn about any of the other curated Princess Keelung excursions here. 

The temple and the food are the two inextricable layers of the Keelung Night Market. The temple that gave it its name still stands at its heart, with the numbered stalls still held by the same families, the crab broth still made from the harbor’s daily catch—this is one of the places in Asia where the food and the location are genuinely inseparable. Explore cruises to Keelung as part of your ideal Japan cruise.