Garden Night Market
Garden Night Market
4
The area
Neighborhood: West Central District/ North District
The West Central District is the most populous and the busiest area. A lot of shops and hotels crowd the district, and the long-standing history results in a variety of street food. In addition to that, this district also has the highest number of temples. This is how it got the name “Tainan’s Pantheon.” Historic buildings are literally ubiquitous. For example, Hayashi Department Store, National Museum of Taiwan Literature, Confucius Temple, Chihkan Tower (formerly Fort Provintia), Sacrificial Rites Martial Temple, Tainan Grand Mazu (name of a goddess) Temple, etc. Recently, the tourism in Tainan has laid emphasis on alleys and lanes. Examples include Fujhong Street specialising in creative handicrafts, as-you-stroll desserts on Jhengsing Street, Shennong Street lined with hundred-year-old ancient houses, Sinyi Street on which the old city gate stands, Sinmei Street where old and new cultures fuse together, and Guohua Street and Baoan Raod famous for all the savoury food. All the traditional and delicious food and flavours are about to burst in your mouth. The North District, on the other hand, is a quiet secret hideaway. Lane 321 on Gongyuan Road used to be a Japanese soldiers’ dormitory. Now a few artists have set up their studios here. There are diversified art styles in each old Japanese-style house. The Garden Night Market on Haian Road is one of the famous night markets in both Tainan and Taiwan, and was the top 12 Facebook check-in location worldwide in 2013.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.

4.0
439 reviews
Excellent
139
Very good
200
Average
82
Poor
12
Terrible
6

vincxl
Singapore, Singapore237 contributions
Dec 2013 • Family
Known as Garden Night Market (花园 / 花園), it is one of the earliest and biggest night market in Tainan. The night market opens only on Thur, Sat and Sunday from 6pm till 1am, depending on the weather, it tends to get very crowded after 7.30pm. The night market is set at a giant carpark with each store having their own mobile carts. Some of the vendors actually have permanent store elsewhere in Tainan. The night market is laid out in a grid, thus it is easy to navigate. There is also 4 clearly marked entrances/exits, where you can find bins to throw your thrash.

We were there in Dec, and it was cold, thus the crowd wasn't too bad. The mix and layout of the night market is definitely better that that of the likes of Shihlin. However, it looks a little bit too "orderly", thus the exploration experience of it is slightly diminished. Prices are much much lower than in Taipei, I would say by about 30%. There's a fair mix of food and store selling merchandise like clothes, electronics etc. There were also game stores. The different type of stores are nicely split up in different areas of the night market.

There is a informal taxi queue at one of the exits, I believe it's exit 1. We do see a lot of locals and I'll say tourists probably makes up about 30% of the crowd ? We bump into mainly Singaporeans, Malaysians and a spattering of China tourists (those who travel by themselves and not with a big travel tour buses.).
Written January 4, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

V L
New York City, NY96 contributions
Dec 2011
Taipei's Shi Lin night market is well-known to many visitors to Taiwan, but in fact, I believe the Garden night market in Tainan is even more interesting. It is completely outdoor, and HUGE! We walked from one end to another when we first arrived, checking out all the food stalls and noting all the yummies we wanted to try. There were 4 of us, and our strategy was to buy one order of each thing to share, so that we could try as many items as possible. We ended up trying 16 different "dishes". All were simply scrumptious!! But we had a few favorites. The oysters grilled on a rack was absolutely heavenly!! While the line wasn't particularly long, we had to wait about 10 minutes because of the slow process. That was one item we kind of felt like we should have ordered double-portion and we would have ordered another if not for the wait and the fact that we still had many other items to sample. Another stall we'd recommend was one grilling what was advertized as steaks from Australian. It was done just as we had ordered, while not thick (about 3/4 inch), it was full of flavor and juicy, really delicious!! There was also one selling salted fried mushrooms that was amongst the top for us. There were different types of mushrooms one could choose; we chose a mix and they were all fabulous. At the end, my son decided that, even though he was already full, he had to try the one stall where everyone sitting on the long benches seemed to be enjoying the huge pile of food. His order came with a piece of steak on the side of a plate of udon noodles topped with a fried egg, all for the equivalent of US$5! The entire dinner for 4, plus desserts, drinks, and fruits to go, came to US$30! A word of warning: it was pretty crowded, which added to the festive mood we were in, but we were there during "cooler" season (temp around 75F/24C). I imagine it would probably be unbearably hot with the big crowd and all the cooking going on during summer months. So, if you can make it there during cooler time, I'd highly recommend giving it a try. Garden night market only opens on certain nights so check with your hotel when making booking. We changed our plan to go on a Wed to Thurs. There are other night markets open on other nights, but Garden is the largest one.
Written February 5, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Joshua Seth Liew
Singapore, Singapore80 contributions
Aug 2018 • Couples
this market doesn’t open every night. check out the weather before coming as they do not open if it rains.

when you’re here, feast onto what taiwan has to offer. the best beef soup, seafood, and bubble milk tea.

there’s a free bus you can take on days where the market opens. bus operation timing might differ.
Written October 6, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

maryyeo
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam2,324 contributions
Oct 2016 • Family
Taiwan is famous for its night markets... so we were excited to visit one of its oldest night markets here in Tainan, the 花园夜市. Compared to the ones in Taipei, this night market is much easier to navigate, as it's just parallel rows lined up nicely in a huge carpark space probably a football field big. Overall atmosphere was good and fun. Go earlier around 7-8pm if you have young kids and want to avoid the larger crowds coming later.

Being foodies, we went on a search for the famous items such as Coffin Bread 棺材板, Silky Tofu 豆花, Shrimp Roll 虾卷, Scholar's cake 状元糕 (like tutu kueh), Smelly fermented tofu, Chicken wings and intestines cooked in 卤味. Sadly, we were only able to find the last two... perhaps it's getting more commercialized and those items easier to sell are repeated more. We were able to try the hotplate dishes and multi-flavoured starchy corn which were tasty too.

TIP:
This market doesn't open every weekend. Do check with your hotel receptionist or the airport staff when you arrive whether it's open that weekend before making the trip down!
Written April 21, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

郁婷 黃
Tainan, Taiwan1 contribution
Feb 2016 • Friends
Tainan Flowers night market is located in the north district of Tainan City
And the flowers night market is biggest night market in Tainan city
There have many delicious food and novel necessities
If you want to try local food for Taiwan you should go to night market
You can eat stinky tofu 、Candied fruit、Intestinal rice、Taiwan sausage、Fried chicken、Oyster omelets many local delicious food in here
When you feeling boring in the night I recommend you go to night market
You will Experience different culture and unforgettable memory in your trip
You can take the bus or taxi to night market but you should take care business hours for night market
The night market just open on Monday 、Thursday、Saturday and Sunday
Hope you will good memory in Tainan
Written March 31, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ryan Y
Tainan, Taiwan101 contributions
Jul 2015 • Friends
This night market, which opens only on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday has everything you would expect from a traditional night market and then more. There are lot of parking spaces for motorcycles and cars and also accessible by bus. It's also a short distance from the train station if you want to take a taxi.
Written August 12, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

cindyjan14
Houston, TX271 contributions
Jul 2014 • Family
If you are looking for a place to go have fun and food during the night, this is the place to go. This night market was bigger than I thought. It has a lot of Taiwanese foods/snacks, traditional games to play, and things to shop around for. This night market is bigger than the regular night market I usually go. It will probably take you 1 and half hour to go through it. It is usually very crowded during the weekend.
Written August 11, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

mekongguest
singapore230 contributions
Sep 2013 • Couples
Different people different impression and expectations of each country night market.

Having been to countless night markets all over Asia my expectation of night markets
differ from first timers.

Garden NM is the biggest and most popular with both locals and tourists.

Most of the local hawker food are found here esp the popular fried oyster egg omelette.
This fried dish can be found all over SE Asia the Tainan omelette is rather oily and too sweet.
Just my personal opinion different people different taste ..

The place gets very crowded by 7pm and best to go there early take your time to look around and enjoyed the food.

Soaked in the atmosphere as it gets crowded , this is what Taiwanese culture is all about.

Overall a nice experience soaking in the local culture and food
Written October 8, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

lwkeng
Malaysia243 contributions
Sep 2011 • Couples
This is so far the most crowded and big night market that I've went in Taiwan. It was located in Tainan City center and it occupies a large area with different stalls from food to clothing, accessories each.

Do not have your dinner else where, you must go here and try all the special Tainan snack food that you can get here. Of course you need to be prepared as this night market is so crowded with people. You'll easily spend around 2-3 hours looking and surfing around this night market.
Written December 15, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Clefairy80
Homebush West, Australia3 contributions
Excellent night market bursting with busy vendors and locals enjoying the diverse range of foods available. Highly recommend the papaya milkshake, skewers, coffin toast,
Written January 5, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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