Shida Night Market

History and Atmosphere: Originally a very popular and expansive night market, its growth led to complaints from local residents regarding noise and crowds. Around a decade ago, the city government enforced stricter zoning and licensing laws, causing the market to shrink significantly from its peak. Today, it maintains a more compact, relaxed, and less crowded atmosphere compared to some of Taipei's larger markets, keeping its roots as a vibrant student hangout. What it's Known For: Unlike traditional night markets focused solely on food, Shida is famous for its trendy and affordable fashion, featuring many small boutiques and vintage clothing stores often run by young entrepreneurs. It also offers a variety of classic and unique street food and is considered one of Taipei's most English-friendly areas due to the nearby university's international student population. Much smaller and quieter than many of the more popular tourist night markets. Stopped in to gran some Oyster Omelette, a Taiwan staple.

Random…found my long lost shawarma here. Still alive and kicking after 30 years? This night market has definitely gone downhill. It’s not crowded at all. Funny thing is, the stalls that I’ve been looking for were still around here. Felt less of a tourist trap and more of what once was the standard for night market foods. Hope it gets better…otherwise it might not be here next time I visit. Wouldn’t recommend visiting if you’re from out of town. Go to a larger one so you can have a raider experience.

Shida Night Market hasn't fully recovered its former lively atmosphere post-Covid. Many night markets in Taipei have changed, with some shrinking or shifting focus from shopping to dining. Ask a cafe staff she said shida night market has 没落了（not as vibrant as before). For a more vibrant experience, consider visiting these bigger and livelier night markets in Taipei instead: Ximending (food & shop) more touristy, Ningxia & Raohe (Food), Shilin Night market(food, games & shop)the biggest so far but also not as lively as precovid.

Nice market area, decent shopping options for clothes and food.

So the nice thing about this market is that it’s not very crowded and the food is more complex and not the simple stuff at the tourist trap night markets. The bad part is that it’s kind of small and much of the night market is clothing and stuff and less food options.

This is my favorite night market in Taipei. It offers a great selection of delicious food, numerous boutiques with creative Taiwanese fashion, and a collection of some of the best cafés in town. At the same time, Shida Night Market doesn't feel overwhelming. Try to visit it on a weeknight, when the lanes are less crowded. Definitely a must visit place if you are in Taipei!

In typical Taipei fashion it's ok. But every major night market in Taichung, Hualian, Tainan, or Kaohsiung are way better. The best advice I have for anyone in Taipei is to get away from Taipei to the good parts of Taiwan.

As has already been noted on here, this night market has had previous issues with zoning and resident complaints which have negatively affected the vibe. Frankly it's not the best night market in Taipei so if you're looking for a tourist experience go to one of the bigger ones.

I have been to this market a few times; while it's not as big as Raohe, Shilin, and the other night markets, I still enjoy coming here. There are lots of stores near the night market that's open during the day and a number of breakfast spots. If you are staying near this night market or simply want to grab something quick without the huge lines, I think this is a good night market. There are also lots of good stalls and restaurants in alleys near this night market as well. At Shida or nearby, I can get great desserts, beef noodle soup, stinky tofu, gua baos, oyster noodles, etc. My daughter also enjoyed shopping at the clothing stores.

Shida Night Market a fallen star. Night Markets are a must in Taiwan. Food stalls and small shops occupying an alley street. This was once a happening night market even though it's one of the smaller ones. Food choices were abundant and people are filling in chairs as soon as they are available. Due to the sanitary and noise control reasons, a lot of restriction and closure of stalls happened and what is remain are some of the OG owners. Clothing boutiques are still plenty to see but food selection has diminished to half of what it was 10 years ago. One of my favorite to eat that still exist is the Japanese Boat Takoyaki and LuWei that is customized broth poached food. Sad to say but this isn't my most recommended Night Market to see.

This was the first market I went to after landing in Taipei. It's super small compared to the other markets. What they have to offer is not bad at all. With their selection you can find almost everything. There was a long line for popcorn chicken that I tried out and it wasn't bad. I feel like the prices here are wallet friendly. Lots of places to drink boba/tapioca for cheap. The amount of foot traffic was decent, but there were some booths that seemed like they haven't had customers in hours. The streets surrounding the market are not well lit and seem a little shady. If you are in the area definitely check it out, but don't make a trek or any effort to check out this market.

I've heard tell that Shida used to be much busier, but thanks to the government's zoning efforts, it's now only a few streets (though, don't fret if you're a stinky tofu lover, you'll know that pungent aroma as soon as it hits your nostrils). If you're in the mood to play carnival games or want a much broader array of food-stuffs, I would suggest Shilin instead. I wasn't feeling particularly hungry after two days of traveling, so we went with one of the few sit-down shops that offered home-cooked Taiwanese dishes. My beef with bok choy and fried crispy egg over rice was perfect. And I couldn't leave well enough alone with just that, so we also had the oyster omelette (ou a jian or 蚵仔煎) and fried pork buns (sheng jian bao or 生煎包) as dessert. I'm not a fan of the oyster omelette (something about the black blueish lumps poking out in the egg skeeves me out), but the fried pork bun hit all the right notes and was 3 for less than a dollar. I'm extremely envious of how cheap and delicious the late night eats are in Taipei. GOOD FOR: students of the nearby National Taiwan Normal University; jet-lagged tourists who don't feel like hauling themselves up to Raohe, Keelung or Shilin; parents with a phobia of crowds

Awesome night market. There were soo many stores that offered different food options. I had trouble making up my mind...

Not the most happening night market in Taipei but still has a great variety of first. Tried douhua here for the first time and loved it!

Decent night market but not my favorite. The food was fine, the night I was there it wasn't too busy, so that was nice. Stopped in a restaurant to eat instead of eating at the food stalls. Got some take out as well. The market is not very large, easily walkable if you want to see everything the market has to offer. Overall an OK place for a dinner.

I feel I need to do another review of this night market, because quite a number of changes have taken place since my last visit (2 weeks ago). When I reached the entrance, I was amazed by the crowd, it seems this market has finally made its comeback and it did. Along Shida Road, a new cafeteria style open air restaurant and a mini night bazaar selling accessories was spotted at this used-to-be vacant land. Finally, there are more things and eating places to hang out. I went to my usually beef noodle restaurant (25 years old), will do a separate review on that. The food taste as good as before and then grabbed some light snacks along the way, it was crowded with mostly youngsters, so that kinds of make me feel a bit younger. :) Overall, I am delighted to see the crowd back at this market. Of course it can't compete with Shilin and Raohe but to me, it holds a place in my heart for memories. So if you have time, do drop by this market.

Small but great market for food. Though there are fewer options than many of the other night markets in Taipei I actually found this one to be quite favorable. Many of the food stalls had something I wanted to try and they did not disappoint. As I found out later it's also less pricey than some of the other more touristy markets like Shinlin. If you are getting a hotel around here to be close to some of the attractions like the Chiang Kai-shek memorial I would most definitely pay Shida a visit.

It's the night market in my neighbourhood so I'm literally here all the time! There's a good amount of food selection so I don't have to worry about starving though I've heard in the past there was a lot more sl. Compared to other night markets, this is considered quite small, you can walk through the whole night market within 40min - 1 hour. Lots of boba shops and fruit juice shops, which I like. Shida is primarily known for its large number of clothing shops, which you can find the latest Korean/Taiwanese fashion at pretty reasonable prices!

A pretty good night market in Taipei -- smaller than some of the others (I.e. Shilin) but great if you just want to have some decent night market foods without the crowds. They have your typical a (I.e. Oyster omelet) but my only qualm is I feel like the clothing shops greatly outnumber the food stands. I don't think I'm the only one who goes to night markets for food rather than clothes/trinkets. Sometimes, it felt like I was walking down a whole alleyway of clothing shops only before I would arrive at a food stand. In general, I think Shida is a great night market if you know exactly where you want to go for food items (rather than being a place where you can wander and try a bunch of things).

Pretty nice and convenient night market for students of ntu. It's pretty small compared to the other markets. This place has more clothing stores than food or other accessories. Definitely try the mini pan fried pork buns. They have a crusty bottom with soft steamed top and juicy pork filling. You can buy 1 for 13 nt or 5 or 12 of them. Add spicy sauce etc on the counter. Yum Also across the way is a guy who prepares food you pick in a special sauce. He has an array of options from Veges to meats, fish balls, pig blood cake, etc. you load up your basket and he will boil them in a soup base then add the sauce. He places it in a bag and you get to eat out of a bag, walk and shop all at the same time.

As someone that doesn't read Chinese or speak Mandarin really well, this night market was a bummer. I would say 98% of the stalls did not have English. Some stalls did have pictures so you knew what they were selling but the majority of them did not. So that was disappointing to not be able to fully know what was being sold. Some stalls that had English on the menu, the workers didn't speak English so ordering was still difficult. But we were able to buy some delicious buns for about 15NT each, flavorful jasmine milk tea for 40NT and the greatest pineapple bun with butter for 35NT. This was my first night market experience and I was left slightly disappointed.

Nothing compared to Shilin Night Market. I heard in the past this market used to be good, but because of noise complaints from the surrounding neighborhoods, the market needed to cut down on its liveliness... but I'm not sure how it affected the market. Anyways, this market has lots of shopping, which is good if you need to shop. However, there is not as much selection of food as Shilin. It could be because we went on a weekday, but my experience here wasn't as cool as other night markets.

It's the biggest and arguably the best, but I find it hard to give it a high score because of the packed, touristy crowds and sometimes grumpy stall staff. Prices are also relatively high. Most of the food can be found in restaurants around the city for lower prices and better quality. Skip that basement food court. Ventilation is disastrously poor and prices are even higher than the street stalls.

Shida Nightmarket used to be an excellent destination both for food, clothing and nightlife. Sadly pressure from landlords in the area looking to increase their property value and various shady dealings mean that many of the small bars and restaurants that made it thrive were fined out of existence. It is still worth going there to browse the small clothing shops and there are pockets of good food still going strong, though now these tend to be of the stall variety. There will always be cheap good eats to be found here as it is right on the University doorstep, but if you're looking for a proper nightmarket experience I'd head to Raohe Street Nightmarket instead.

Its a decent night market and way less crowded than the popular ones such as shilin or raohe. It's an alternative night market experience that has almost everything any other night markets do. It goes through several streets. A great place to shop, grab food, and just hang out. Definitely an alternative night market to go to instead of the popular ones. Hardly smells of stinky tofu except one street.

This used to be a lovely night market with a ton of cool shops and good eats. Now, however, it's gone a little lame. If was the epicenter of night market reform (especially closing earlier) and it was hit hard. There are still a few good restaurants scattered around the market and a few nice clothing shops, but nothing approaching former glory. I will still occasionally go for a change of scenery, or a poke around if I'm already in the neighborhood, but I prefer the Tonghua St Night Market for clothes and Shilin for practically everything.

a little disappointing compared to the other markets. a lot smaller and did not enjoy the food there, especially since there was a stinky tofu place that had a PUNGENT smell!