Niu rou mian is Taipei's official city dish since 2005. Spoon-tender braised beef shank in a soy-and-spice broth over hand-cut noodles, with pickled mustard greens.
Beef noodle soup is a postwar Taipei invention, born when 1949 mainland refugees combined Sichuan-style spicy beef braise with Shandong hand-pulled noodle technique. The military veterans' kitchens in Kaohsiung's Gangshan are widely credited with the first bowl, but Taipei (and Yong Kang Beef Noodle since 1963, Liu Shan Dong since 1949) built the canon. The Taipei City Government has run the annual International Beef Noodle Festival since 2005, anointing the bowl as the city's signature. Two broths dominate the city: red-braised (hong shao) and clear (qing dun).
4 editor picks for Beef noodle soup in Taipei, ranked by editorial score. All Taipei signature dishes · Beef noodle soup across every city.
Yong Kang Beef Noodle ★ 4.6
daan · No. 17, Lane 31, Section 2, Jinshan South Road, Da'an District, Taipei City 106
Yong Kang Beef Noodle has been pulling beef and braising shank since 1963. The two-floor Lane 31 counter is Bib Gourmand and the canonical visitor bowl.
Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodle ★ 4.5
songshan · No. 322, Section 2, Bade Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City 104
Lin Dong Fang's clear-broth bowl is many Taipei locals' default beef noodle, running 11:00 to 03:00 across every shift. Bib Gourmand listed since 2018.
Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodles ★ 4.5
wanhua · B1, Wan Nian Building, No. 70 Xining South Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City 108
Lao Shan Dong has been hand-pulling ribbon noodles since 1949 from the Wan Nian Building basement in Ximending. Bib Gourmand, ten-herb beef broth.
Liu Shan Dong Beef Noodles ★ 4.4
zhongzheng · No. 14, Kaifeng Street, Section 1, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 100
Liu Shan Dong has served Shandong-lineage beef noodle since 1949 from a tiny Kaifeng Street counter near Taipei Main. Bib Gourmand, clear-broth tendon bowl.