Western
Halali Café & Restaurant - A large waterfront café on XìngGǎng North Street with a nautical theme that serves up good food and beverages. The prices are a little steep but this place is worth a visit for its sandwiches, pasta bakes and coffee shakes. This is one of the few places with an English menu and the family that runs the place is nice and friendly.
California Pizza - This is one of the few pizza joints in Magong. Look for the green building with a large orange/red California Pizza sign on the corner of YángMíng and WénLín Road. It’s just opposite a large temple and hard to miss. The pizza is good but comes Taiwanese style so be sure to let them know how you like it i.e. no corn or fish flakes! They have meal deals and a few of the staff speak a little English.
Panda Café - A popular place that serves pasta, rice, sandwiches and other tasty meals. They make great coffee and also sell their own roasted beans from around the world. This is the place to get your organic beans from El Salvador!
Havana Café & Pizza - Just off ZhongZhen on MingZhu Road (down the street from Panda Cafe). This was a former Jazz bar that was situated across the street. The current incarnation of Havana is a cafe/pizza house that serves up some tasty Italian. Havana still plays good jazz in the evenings and is a great place to have a meal or drink with friends. Inside there are a number of nicely decorated cozy rooms, and outside a few benches where you can enjoy the cool summer breeze.
Liquid Sports Café – Specializes in a variety of risotto and pasta and is popular with locals and visitors. Look for the big blue Liquid Sports sign across from the badminton hall on MínShēng Road. For group bookings call 06 9260361. Opening hours are 11am – 2pm, 5pm – 8pm Tuesday – Sunday (closed on Monday).
Japanese
10元 Sushi - A nice take-away sushi bar on GuāngFù Road that offers more than twenty kinds of sushi, all priced at NT$10. Look for the sushi sign near the corner of GuāngFù Road and CháoYáng Road.
GuāngFù Road Japanese Restaurant – Right next to 10元 Sushi is this simple little Japanese restaurant. They have a basic English menu and make good tempura and udon. The food is not expensive and the place is popular with students.
MínShēng Road Japanese Restaurant - It seems over the last few years Japanese restaurants have been popping up like mushrooms. This little place makes good sushi, miso, tempura and egg soup, amongst other things. It’s in a convenient location downtown and has a nice simple design.
Taiwanese
Yummy - This restaurant is on GuāngFù Road, next to the 10元 Sushi. Look for the big orange ‘Yummy’ sign. The food here is very reasonably priced and tasty. There’s a large menu which ranges from various rice or noodle dishes with meat, to tofu and vegetables. The owners are very accommodating and although there aren’t vegetarian options on the menu they will happily make something for you.
Breakfast Street - This is not an actual restaurant, rather a narrow lane of random shops and hole-in-the-wall style eateries, serving a whole range of local breakfast food.
Jing Wang Vegetarian Restaurant - Situated downtown at the intersection where GuāngFù meets SānMín Road. Look for the vegan 2011 banner and green and orange sign behind the lone tree on the interesection. This little restaurant serves up its trademark thick soup, alongside a variety of noodles, rice, greens and tofu skin. The thick noodle soup and sesame noodles are pretty kick ass, and everything on the menu is dirt cheap. All the food here is MSG-free and full of goodness.
Loving Hut Vegetarian Cafe - Formerly ‘Good Friend’ vegetarian restaurant. A slightly strange aura emanates from this place and it probably has a lot to do with the fact that it’s an affiliate of the so-called Supreme Master Ching Hai. There are pictures on the walls, books and even a TV streaming uninterrupted Supreme Master TV. Besides this most obvious veneration, the food is all vegetarian, MSG-free and made with healthy green living in mind. They have an English menu available and one of the chefs can speak a little English.
37 Dao Ping Vegetarian Restaurant - Right near the corner of YángMíng Road and GuāngFù Road is 37 Dao Ping. The atmosphere in this restaurant is nice and relaxed and decor takes it a step above the rest. They serve tasty rice and noodle dishes, such as pumpkin noodles and 3-cup-tofu (tofu cooked in a special sauce with fresh veggies) as well as a nice selection of teas. The food is MSG-free and a little pricer than the standard.
