Entree Kibbles: Flower / Garden Night Market (花園夜市) @ Tainan City in Taiwan

Sunday, February 01, 2026

Flower / Garden Night Market (花園夜市) @ Tainan City in Taiwan

What do you think are the three biggest night markets in Taiwan? According to a saying, it would be Shilin in the North, Fengjia in the Center and Garden / Flower in the South. Today, we shall touch on Flower / Garden Night Market at Tainan City!

Compared to Shilin and Fengjia night markets, Flower / Garden Night Market would be the kind of night markets I prefer; where a large, empty space was taken over at night by markshift stalls.

It gave a vibe of unpredictability, where things might change at any one time and given the tightness of space with a deeper concentration of stalls right next to each other; there appeared to be a lot of things to see. Not a setting that relaxed-inclined individuals would like though.

With a cooling temperature of 17 degrees celcius, however, it was a breeze to slow down our footsteps, and enjoy every moment as we browsed through each stall. How should I categorize the over 100 photographs for this post?

Well, pictorial it shall definitely be, and in segments of food, games and others! Quite similar to the sections as depicted in the sign above, where it would be food, entertainment and goods.

Food

As typical of night markets in Taiwan, there would be a wide variety of food available for selection and the only thing to complain about was the limited capacity of our stomach space! Trust me, I wanted to try everything, yet I can't.

It's international cuisine and you can even find Singapore laksa which seemed to be quite popular judging from the customers digging into the meal!

Other familiar food included roti prata and teh tarik! Well, my intention of travel was to check out food that doesn't originate from Singapore and its close neighbours like Malaysia, unless I had a very bad craving.

There were regrets of course although I was mindful of how much I should and can eat. One of them was roasted chestnuts; not that I couldn't find them in Singapore but eating warm roasted chestnuts is like so blissful in cold weather.

Sweet potato balls for just NT$30 a bag! My first taste of it was on the same trip and although I can find them in Singapore, the dough was thicker and priced to almost three times more expensive!

Fried milkfish; I have had them in soup but never in fried version, and that's a surprise given how much I love deep fried food. Anyway, do you know milkfish is high in calcium, protein and collagen?!

Churros; one for NT$40, three for NT$100.

Sadly, this was starch heavy! Control.

Stinky tofu is a must-eat in Taiwan and I had like one serving almost every day in this trip! Would have loved to try the above but the quota was already met a few hours earlier at Fucian Stinky Tofu!

I remember seeing this fruit before at Permas Sunday Night Market in Johore! It's called Gac fruit and its benefits were said to be for our eyes! A question I always like to ask my friends is; if you have to choose, would you prefer to give up your sight, or your hearing?

Braised clams!

You can also have them grilled in another stall, and that also included oysters and fish; pricing ranges from NT$150 to NT$250. I don't know about you but I would so want a bowl of hot soup to warm the tummy.

Nope, I wouldn't want to try it although there were like a few stalls selling this "item"; chicken feet! They were boneless and came in various flavors like garlic, spicy etc.

Small lobsters which were more like crayfish than lobsters! I saw them so often on my social media feed that it's amazing I have yet to try any, especially given my love for most crustaceans!

Charcoal grilled fish looked so tempting! A male fish cost NT$100; female more expensive at NT$150 as they contained roes. If my mom were with us, I bet I would eat a lot more fish here. Furthermore, more persons, more tummy spaces for sharing!

Raw bamboo shoots?! Now, I can accept most smelly stuff. One that I find hard to accept, and couldn't acquaint a liking to would be bamboo shoots. I have eaten before, but never find it worth ingesting; stinky, and unappetising.

You know a stall was popular when they had already sold out two large pots! Small, fried crabs in various flavours; looked like soft shell crabs.

Seeing this wok filled with clean, glistening golden oil was just so alluring! The product was pork ribs and I knew it would be hard to get Alex to share with me. A note to remember, Alex has a very small stomach.

Garlic abalones!

One portion for just NT$100!

Fruits encased in sugary glace! A younger me would have whacked them like nobody business but now that calorie count is important at my age; I had to resist. I think one of the stalls sell strawberry jam too.

Stone biscuit?! Would eating one crack all my teeth?

Out of sheer curiosity, I squeezed in to take a look.

Turned out to be min jiang kueh that I can find in Singapore!

Why were they called stone biscuits / pastries?!

Tainan was hot in the daytime so I didn't expect night to be quite cold; hence, I didn't bring a jacket when I visited this night market. The almond milk was a lifesaver! At NT$60 a cup, it was richly thick, and stomach warming! Not overly sweet too.

Another thing I can't resist having at night markets would be the Taiwanese guava! Priced usually at just NT$50 (about S$2), I would have them in their original flavor. The above was more expensive at NT$80 a pack and well, normal tasting.

Other food we had at the market included the Century Egg with Garlic Sauce (港式皮蛋燒), the Boiled Muah Chee from 董家烧麻薯 and the Aromatic Garlic Bread from 禾马烘焙. Click the links for my reviews!

Should you require seatings, there were ample to choose from even though it can be hard to find a table! p.s. don't think we can chope using our tissue paper, so don't be an embarrassment!

Games

While games in Singapore night markets are more for children, with exceptions given due to the rise of claw machines in recent years, the situation in Taiwan is reverse; concentrating more on the adult market!

Sadly, it didn't quite appeal to us as tourists since we do have limited baggage space and I always remember the time I was in Genting Highlands, and Alex won a gigantic plushie which was a torment to bring back to Singapore.

Some winnings were not toys though; we saw the above where the prize could be candy or even sausages! Points of above 500 would result in 20 sausages! Gosh, how to have the stomach space for them!?

You can also catch fish or go for a session of prawning (popular in Singapore as well). The aroma of freshly grilled prawns was really no joke; thankfully, I am by nature impatient and would prefer to pay money to have grilled prawns served to me, rather than having to catch and cook them myself.

This ring toss game was one major setup, with so many prizes! The ones at the back were the expensive items like alcohol drinks; no wonder so many uncles were playing too!

Supposed to be a 30-year old store and the pricing was like per basket at NT$100 / NT$200. The more you purchase, the more worth you get; like NT$1000 (about S$50), you get an extra NT$300 worth.

With so many rings, the operational challenge would be how to take all the thrown rings from the bottom of the rack?! While I was thinking about it, a loud noise gave me the answer.

That's ingenious!

Others

The kind of products for sale at Flower / Garden Night Market. In comparison to food, a lot lesser, although the stalls were also bigger compared to food stalls.

Quite tempted to get this Crayon Shinchan God of Wealth.But NT$300?! That's like similar to the pricing for such blind boxes in Singapore. Do I want it? Yes. Do I need it? Nope, and being pragmatic means I would give this a miss.

I always wonder why Singapore cannot allow such vibrant colored motorbike helmets to be sold as some are really nice! Guess it has to do with safety standards etc.

Friends who have cats and dogs would love clothes and accessories for our furry friends! Some designs were cute, like the ones for lion dance, or even pokemon characters. I am so glad I am petless!