Start with a bowl of Hsinchu rice noodles and a meatball soup, and you've eaten the two things the city is known for across Taiwan. Then add smoked duck rice by the City God Temple, and drive into the county for the Hakka food: flat rice noodles, stir-fries, sticky rice buns and, in autumn, Xinpu's persimmon cakes. Everything below has at least one place we checked in November 2026, most of them listed in the 2026 MICHELIN Guide Taiwan or on the county's own tourism site.
- The two classics Rice noodles (新竹米粉) and pork meatballs (貢丸), often in the same meal.
- Old city Most snack shops are a 10 to 20 minute walk from TRA Hsinchu Station, around the City God Temple and Dongmen Market.
- Hakka food Beipu, Zhudong, Xinpu and the other county towns, by car from Zhubei or Hsinchu City.
- Season Persimmons are dried in October and November, when the Jiujiang wind blows.
Rice noodles (新竹米粉)
Hsinchu's rice noodles are thin, white and dried, and the city's own tourism office puts it simply: the local Jiujiang wind (九降風) dries the famous rice noodles and persimmon cakes. That strong, dry northeasterly blows through autumn and winter. You'll meet them two ways: as soup, in a clear stock with pork or fish, or stir-fried (炒米粉) with shallots, pork and cabbage, which is the version for home and for festivals. Rice noodles are also the classic thing to take back to friends in Taipei, sold dried in packets.
Where to try: Dongmen Rice Noodle Soup (東門米粉攤), a Bib Gourmand stall inside Dongmen Market (東門市場) in the old city, makes thick rice noodles in chicken-bone broth; its signature is the seafood and taro version. Out in the county, Yi Ge Rice Vermicelli (一哥炊粉) in Qionglin (芎林), new to the Bib Gourmand list in 2026 and over 40 years old, is named for its fine rice vermicelli, stir-fried or in soup.
Pork meatballs (貢丸)
The other half of the classic Hsinchu meal. Gongwan are springy pork balls: the name comes from kòng (摃), Taiwanese for pounding, which is what gives them their bounce. Have them in a clear soup next to your rice noodles, or buy them chilled to cook at home. The shops around the City God Temple sell them by the bag.
Where to try: Lao Chen Chia (老陳家) has been at Zhong Yang Market (中央市場), off Ximen Street, for over 70 years, serving pork meatballs, wontons and dumplings in pork-bone broth. It's a morning place: the hand-torn pork ribs aren't ready before 9am and run out soon after, according to the MICHELIN Guide, which lists it.
Smoked duck rice (鴨香飯)
Hsinchu's take on duck rice: shredded smoked duck over steamed rice with a savoury sauce, usually with a duck or meatball soup on the side. It's the one dish most people from elsewhere in Taiwan connect with the City God Temple.
Where to try: Miao Kou Ya Xiang Fan (廟口鴨香飯) on Zhongshan Road, right beside the temple, has served it for over 30 years and is on the MICHELIN list. Expect a queue at mealtimes. For smoked duck with rice noodle soup or fried noodles instead, Yuan Wei Duck Noodle on Shengli Road is a Bib Gourmand.
Ba-wan (肉圓)
A translucent dumpling of rice and sweet potato starch around a pork filling, served in sweet and savoury sauce. Taiwan's regions argue about whether to steam it or fry it.
Where to try: Ying Wang Meatball (鷹王肉圓) has sold its oil-blanched ba-wan from a tricycle cart since 1962, with red-yeast pork filling, garlic and sweet chilli sauce. It's on Yanping Road in Xiangshan (香山), on the way to the coast. The grilled sausage is the other thing to order.
Spring rolls (潤餅)
A thin wheat crepe rolled around vegetables, egg, pork and peanut powder, eaten cold and fresh. Spring roll stalls are part of the City God Temple food area, alongside oyster omelettes and braised pork rice. Our guide to the City God Temple area and the night markets covers how the food area works and when to go.
Hakka stir-fry (客家小炒)
The dish you'll find on nearly every Hakka menu: dried squid, pork belly, dried tofu, celery and spring onion, stir-fried hard with soy sauce until salty and fragrant. It was built to go with rice. Order it with braised pork and preserved mustard greens (梅干扣肉) and a plate of greens, and you have the Hakka family meal.
Where to try: Hung Chin (鴻金食堂) in Zhudong, a Bib Gourmand in a century-old house, cooks a seasonal Hakka menu from nearby farms, and the MICHELIN inspectors single out its Hakka stir-fries. Call ahead: there's no set menu, booking is recommended, and the county lists it as closed on Tuesdays. In Beipu, Mud Brick House (泥磚屋) has served its family's Hakka recipes since 1999 in an old courtyard house; its signature is poached free-range chicken with kumquat sauce. The county lists it as closed on Wednesdays.
Flat rice noodles (粄條)
Wide, soft rice noodles, the everyday Hakka lunch: in soup with pork and bean sprouts, or dry, tossed with shallot oil. Every Hakka town has its noodle shops, many open from early morning.
Where to try: Bebu (春嬌粄條) in Beipu, a Bib Gourmand, is a family that has sold flat rice noodles for over 20 years, now in a modern concrete house with a bigger Hakka menu; the braised pork is the family favourite, and popular dishes run out. In Zhudong, Zhudong Fried Sparerib Noodle (竹東排骨酥麵), near the station since 2021 and started in a market in 2003, is a MICHELIN listing for fried sparerib noodle soup; try it with the local flat noodles.
Lei cha (擂茶) in Beipu
Pounded tea: tea leaves, sesame, peanuts and grains ground in a ceramic bowl with a wooden stick, then mixed with hot water into a thick, nutty drink. In Beipu it's as much an activity as a drink, and the shops around the old street let you grind your own.
Where to try: No. 39 Beipu Lei Cha (三十九號北埔擂茶), on the square in front of Citian Temple (慈天宮) at 39 Miaoqian Street, serves salty and sweet versions and runs a DIY session of about an hour that includes grinding the tea and snacks. The county lists it as open 09:00 to 18:00 on weekdays and 08:30 to 18:00 at weekends. Combine it with a day in Beipu and Emei.
Hakka sticky rice buns (菜包) and rice cakes (粄)
Hakka cooks make a whole family of snacks from glutinous rice dough, known as ban (粄). The best known is the cai bao, a soft, chewy bun filled with shredded radish, dried shrimp and pork.
Where to try: Tsou Chi Cai Bao (鄒記菜包) on Zhongzheng Road in Beipu, a Bib Gourmand, makes savoury buns with radish and pork and sweet ones with taro or red bean, the sweet dough coloured with mugwort. In Hengshan (橫山), Noon Turnip Cake (晌午粄食), a Bib Gourmand in a riverside warehouse, makes steamed rice cakes from scratch with seasonal taro, red bean, mugwort or pumpkin. It's a good stop on a day on the Neiwan Line.
Persimmon cakes (柿餅)
Xinpu (新埔) is the county's persimmon town. In Hankeng (旱坑里), a valley runs northeast to southwest, and in autumn the Jiujiang wind blows straight down it, so the air is dry enough to dry fruit outdoors. In October and November the farms set out peeled persimmons on racks to dry, and the orange drying yards are worth seeing in themselves. The finished cakes are dense, chewy and sweet.
Where to buy: A Mei Jie Persimmon Cakes (阿梅姐柿餅) is a family stall at the entrance to Xinpu market, 357 Zhongzheng Road, selling three kinds of persimmon cake; the county lists it as open daily from 06:00 to 15:00. For the drying farms, go on a dry, windy weekend in October or November; see Xinpu and Guanxi.
And three more worth knowing
- Beef noodle soup: Jiu Tian Fu on Xida Road in the old city, a Bib Gourmand, makes a clear soy-based beef broth without the usual chilli bean paste.
- Braised pork rice (滷肉飯): He Jih Hsiang (禾日香) on Minzu Road, a Bib Gourmand, tops it with a fried egg; in Zhubei, Happy Hwa (黑皮驊) is the MICHELIN-listed one. See eating in Zhubei.
- Gua bao (刈包): Hai Kou Guabao (海口刈包) in Xiangshan, a MICHELIN listing, fills its lotus-leaf buns with pork belly slow-cooked for three hours.
Good to know: Small shops change their days off, and some close when the food runs out. Check the Google Maps listing or the shop's Facebook page on the day, especially before a drive into the county.
→ Eating in Hsinchu City · Eating in Zhubei · Night markets · Beipu and Emei
Sources: Hsinchu City tourism site (the Jiujiang wind, rice noodles and persimmons); Hsinchu County tourism, festivals (persimmon drying in Xinpu, October and November); Hsinchu County tourism listings for No. 39 Beipu Lei Cha, A Mei Jie Persimmon Cakes and Mud Brick House; MICHELIN Guide Taiwan pages for Dongmen Rice Noodle Soup, Yi Ge Rice Vermicelli, Lao Chen Chia, Miao Kou Ya Xiang Fan, Ying Wang Meatball, Hung Chin, Mud Brick House, Bebu, Zhudong Fried Sparerib Noodle, Tsou Chi Cai Bao and Noon Turnip Cake; Taipei Times on the 2026 Bib Gourmand list. Checked November 2026.