Don’t see many recommendations on restaurants or coffee shops in Hsinchu
or Zhubei. Anybody have any recommendations?
Heard about a Mexican place and some chill coffee shops but can’t find any information about them.
How about this one?
Another Tango42 topic saved from zero-reply-hell
Hey that’s my line! 
In my neighborhood in Hsinchu’s East District. The owner is an Indian employed in the Science Park. His family owned restaurants in Northern India, and he grew up working in them. Evidently a man of enormous energy, he tells me his dream everywhere he has lived is to offer the best Indian fare possible. I asked him about who is cooking in back, and he told me that he brought a chef from Northern India over (I asked if the chef was a relative of his, but he insisted that’s not the case).
I’m hardly an expert on Indian food, but I am an expert on delicious food. The fare here is excellent.
Haven’t tried that one. I’m amazed by the number of new Indian restaurants popping up around Hsinchu.
As for Mexican food, Quantum Taco is probably the best of the bunch. Not like there are a lot of options though.
They now have two locations, one is near the train station, the other is located at the new shipping container night market.
Tried Quantum a couple months ago. Terrible.
The only other option you have is Taco house, which is more like Taco bell.
I just google again and there’s a new one called The Wand.
Judging by the photos online, I’m guessing it’s at the same level as Taco House.
That store was just opened earlier this year too… I guess there isn’t much of a market for Mexican food in Hsinchu.
That Indian food looks ace!
I like the Peking Duck at the restaurant in Sheraton.
I strongly recommend “Ca’Bianca” pizzeria in Zhubei, for pizza, pasta, etc. Excellent true Italian food, reasonable price.
Duan Chun Zhen near the Mackay Hospital is hands down the best beef noodles I’ve had anywhere in the country. In spite of it being a chain the taste in Hsinchu doesn’t compare to that in Taipei. Prepare to queue.
He’d better bring the ingredients too.
Ca’Bianca is pretty great.
As long as we are talking about hole-in-the-wall establishments with an actual Italian chef, this place has great pasta
Quantum and Tacos in the same line doesn’t really work.
Yeah, I suspect his menu is somewhat limited by what ingredients he can source here. Compared to Indian restaurants in, say, Bangkok, his menu is much smaller.
I’ve seen him several times in the nearest PX Mart (always empty-handed) looking over produce and meats. Just next to this PX Mart is a large parking lot where a night market is set up every Friday night. I’ve seen him there as well, always chatting with stall owners. I suspect he’s always on the hunt for suppliers.
Even so, every dish I’ve had has been really delicious. Any time I’ve gone, I think if my brain had been wired up for electrical activity it would have looked like a Fourth of July show on the monitor. All major pleasure centers were firing like mad. Really good food.
Following the expansion of Michelin’s reach into Hsinchu, I came across this long form video in which a friendly white guy named Austin Givens is flown in from Korea to eat his way around Hsinchu City and parts of Hsinchu County, trying some pretty hard core working class fare in Zhudong as well.
My personal opinion is that this part of Taiwan does not get enough respect for the things they do well. This video does point to some of those things and showcases some of the pride that people in the oldest city in northern Taiwan take in their hometown.
A geographic note: This dude wisely stays the hell away from the Science Park area and the university zone, and instead zeroes in on the old Hsinchu City adjacent to the historic Taiwan Rail train station and roughly bounded by Xida, Beida, and Dongda Roads. This is where the good stuff, generally speaking, is located.
A final note: this guy was here, apparently, for two days only, and he already did some pretty heavy lifting for such a short visit. But I do wonder if and when Indigenous Hsinchu will appear on any culinary map? There’s some pretty amazing Indigenous culinary developments in Pingtung and Taitung. Will Atayal cooking in Hsinchu eventually follow? For now, at least, the answer appears to be “no.”
Guy
For this, the consensus choice in Hsinchu is currently here:
Note that this is not in the old city, but closer to the National Tsing Hua University / Mackay Memorial Hospital area.
Guy
I mentioned it elsewhere, and maybe this place needs no more introduction, since I always see expats there, but the best pizza in Hsinchu (it’s in Zhubei, so the greater Hsinchu area) for the past 4 years is this place.
Hole in the wall, so it’s mostly a take out place.