Start with seafood on Cijin, a bowl of braised pork rice and a night market, then add a big dinner if you like: Kaohsiung has six MICHELIN-starred restaurants and 21 Bib Gourmand picks in the 2026 guide. The farm and fishing towns of the wider city add goat, Hakka rice noodles, milkfish and papaya milk.
- Start hereWhat to eatSeafood, braised pork rice, goat, rice noodles, black tea milk and papaya milk.
- MorningsBreakfastBraised pork rice at seven, dumplings before dawn, tea milk all night.
- DrinksBlack tea milk and papaya milkThe classics, the milk tea street and the festivals.
- Big nightsThe MICHELIN GuideAll six starred restaurants and the 21 Bib Gourmands for 2026.
- After darkNight marketsRuifeng, Liuhe and the rest, with the open days and station for each.
How eating in Kaohsiung works
- Small shops do one thing. Most of the Bib Gourmand list is specialist shops: braised pork rice, dumplings, duck rice, gua bao. Order the house dish.
- Carry cash. Restaurants and department stores take cards, but many small shops and night market stalls don't. Joes in Gangshan, a Bib Gourmand, is cash only.
- Check the day. Small shops keep short hours and close one day a week, and some night markets only open on certain nights. Check Google Maps before you set out.
Sources: MICHELIN Guide Taiwan 2026; details and the rest of the sources are on each page. Checked October 2026.