Tainan is a seafood-and-pork city, but you can eat well here without either. The trick is knowing one character, 素 (sù), which marks vegetarian food, and knowing which local classics hide meat or fish in the broth. For halal food, Taiwan's Tourism Administration keeps an official list of certified restaurants and hotels, and Tainan has its own mosque. Here is how it works, with places to start.
What 素 means, and the five labels
素 (or 素食) means vegetarian, and you will see it on menus, shop signs and packets. Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare sets five labels for packaged food that claims to be vegetarian:
- 全素 or 純素 (vegan): purely plant-based food, with none of the "five pungent plants".
- 蛋素 (egg): vegan food plus egg products.
- 奶素 (dairy): vegan food plus dairy products.
- 奶蛋素 (dairy and egg): vegan food plus dairy and egg products.
- 植物五辛素 (plant-based with pungents): plant foods that may include the five pungent plants.
The five pungent plants (五辛) in the ministry's list are green onion (蔥), garlic (蒜), Chinese chives (韭), Chinese onion (蕎) and asafoetida (興渠). Buddhist vegetarian food leaves them out, so a 全素 dish can taste milder than you expect. If you are vegan for other reasons, 全素 is still your word: it rules out eggs and dairy too.
One catch: the labelling rule covers packaged food. In a restaurant or at a stall, the menu is the cook's word, so ask if you are unsure.
Tainan classics that are not vegetarian
Some of the city's famous dishes look light and simple, but the flavor comes from meat or fish.
- Danzai noodles (擔仔麵): the noodles sit in a shrimp broth under braised minced pork.
- Savory congee (鹹粥): TVBS reports that shops simmer the broth from milkfish bones, some with oysters added.
- Garlic rice at milkfish breakfast shops: at A Xing Milkfish, a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand, the rice is drizzled with lard.
The same goes for most of the city's top dishes, from beef soup to shrimp rolls. → The dishes Tainan is famous for
Where to eat vegetarian
Mao Su (毛蔬) is the city's vegetarian pick in the MICHELIN Guide, added in June 2024. It cooks plant-based Asian food with Southeast Asian, Sichuan and Korean flavors, in a relaxed, modern room of light wood and arched windows. MICHELIN describes the menu as lacto-ovo vegetarian, so vegans should ask about eggs and dairy. The dish to try is the stir-fried king oyster mushroom with basil (塔香脆腸): the city government says the mushroom is hand-torn, skewered, blanched and grilled until it has the crunch of the pork original, then stir-fried in the house sauce. No. 43, Fudong St., East District. 11:00 to 14:00 and 17:30 to 21:00, closed Tuesday and Wednesday (from MICHELIN). Book online. Cards accepted. → Tainan's full MICHELIN list
Chikan Xilou Vegetarian Restaurant (赤崁璽樓蔬食餐廳) is in the old city near Chihkan Tower, in an early postwar Western-style house with balconies and old wooden windows. Travel Tainan lists it as a vegetarian restaurant. No. 10, Ln. 372, Sec. 2, Ximen Rd., West Central District. Phone 06-224-5179. Hours are not published by Travel Tainan: check Google Maps.
Changchun Healthy Vegetarian Buffet (長春健康素食自助餐) is a local chain of low-priced vegetarian buffets, with dishes that change every day. Travel Tainan lists several branches. It also does takeaway and delivery. Minzu branch: No. 274, Sec. 3, Minzu Rd., West Central District. Phone 06-224-9332. Check Google Maps for hours.
Market stalls. In April 2025 the city's Markets Office published a vegetarian market map with 31 vegetarian stalls in 24 public markets, from a vegetarian buffet at Huweiliao Market (虎尾寮市場) to fried rice and tube rice cake (筒仔米糕) at Bao'an Market (保安市場) and handmade bowl rice cake (碗粿) at Jinhua Market (金華市場). The map is on the Markets Office website and its Facebook page.
For a wider choice of restaurants at every budget, many with vegetable dishes on the menu. → The best restaurants in Tainan
Sweets and fruit
Dessert is the easy part. Tofu pudding (豆花) is soft soybean curd in syrup with toppings such as red beans, mung beans and tapioca pearls. Tongji Anping Douhua also makes soy milk and fresh milk versions, so vegans can skip the fresh milk one. Shaved ice and the city's old fruit shops are worth a stop too, and in summer Tainan's mangoes are the star. → Tainan's desserts and shaved ice
Halal and Muslim-friendly food
Halal certification in Taiwan comes from certifying bodies. Taiwan's Tourism Administration publishes a list of certified restaurants and hotels, with the certifying body for each, such as the Chinese Muslim Association (中國回教協會), the Islamic Association of Taiwan (台灣伊斯蘭協會) and Taiwan INHART Halal Certification Authority. Each place carries a code. The main ones:
- MR: Muslim restaurant.
- MFR: Muslim-friendly restaurant.
- MFT and MFA: Muslim-friendly dining and travel, and Muslim-friendly accommodation.
- AH and HCI: an all-halal shop, and a shop with a halal section.
- MFE: Muslim-friendly environment. Many Tainan entries note washing facilities and a prayer space.
In Tainan, the list includes Private Chef Kitchen Tainan (烏司答土耳其居家料理), a Turkish restaurant with MR certification from the Chinese Muslim Association, at No. 129, Kaishan Rd., West Central District (phone 06-213-9960). Several hotels have Muslim-friendly restaurants: Silks Place Tainan (台南晶英酒店) and The Place Tainan (台南老爺行旅) both hold MFR and MFA, and Wei-Yat Grand Hotel (臺南維悅酒店) in Anping holds MFR and MFT. Other entries include hotels with Muslim-friendly breakfast, a tea shop, and farms and cafés out in Yujing and Dongshan. Certifications change, so check the live list before you go.
Tainan Mosque (台南清真寺) is in East District. Travel Tainan, the city's tourism site, lists it with its address and phone numbers, and publishes a Muslim-friendly travel brochure in English and Indonesian. No. 12, Aly. 34, Ln. 77, Sec. 3, Zhonghua E. Rd., East District. Phone 06-288-1686 or 0960-652-569.
Words that help
- 我吃素 (wǒ chī sù): I'm vegetarian.
- 我吃全素 (wǒ chī quán sù): I'm vegan (no meat, fish, egg or dairy, and no five pungents).
- 不要肉 (bú yào ròu): no meat, please.
- 不要蛋 (bú yào dàn) / 不要奶 (bú yào nǎi): no egg / no milk, please.
- 有素的嗎？(yǒu sù de ma?): do you have anything vegetarian?
- 湯是素的嗎？(tāng shì sù de ma?): is the soup vegetarian?
- 有豬肉嗎？(yǒu zhūròu ma?): does it have pork?
Show the characters on your phone if your tones are shaky. They work just as well at a night market stall. → Tainan's night markets
Good to know
- Look for 素: on a sign or menu it means vegetarian. For vegan, look for 全素 or 純素.
- Broth is the trap: noodle soups and congee are often made with shrimp, fish or pork. Ask about the soup, not only the toppings.
- Vegan at Mao Su: MICHELIN calls the menu lacto-ovo vegetarian, so ask which dishes have egg or dairy.
- Closed days: Mao Su closes Tuesday and Wednesday. For the others, check Google Maps.
- Halal: use the Tourism Administration's list, which names the certifying body for each place, and check it is current.
- Allergies: a vegetarian label is not an allergy guarantee. If you have a serious allergy, ask the staff directly.
More on eating your way around the city. → The Inside Tainan food guide
Sources
The five vegetarian labels and the five pungent plants from the Ministry of Health and Welfare's guide to vegetarian labels and the Food and Drug Administration's labelling rule for packaged vegetarian food. Danzai noodle broth and toppings as on our danzai page, from the Taipei Times (2011). Congee broth from TVBS (2021). A Xing Milkfish from its MICHELIN Guide listing. Mao Su from its MICHELIN Guide listing, the MICHELIN Guide's vegetarian feature, Travel Tainan (June 2024) and the Tainan City Government. Chikan Xilou and Changchun from their Travel Tainan listings (Chikan Xilou, Changchun, Minzu branch). The vegetarian market map from the Tainan City Government (April 2025). Tofu pudding as on our desserts page, from SuperTaste. Halal codes, certifying bodies and Tainan entries from the Tourism Administration's list of Muslim-friendly restaurants and hotels (and its Chinese version). Tainan Mosque and the brochure from Travel Tainan's Muslim-friendly travel page. Checked November 2026.