Kirbie's Cravings

Tamsui

photo of the view of the water near Tamsui

Tamsui, also known as Danshui, is a small city in northern Taiwan that is a popular tourist attraction because of its historic importance (in the 19th century it was the center for shipping).
photo of a street in Tamsui
During my last trip to Taiwan, we spent an afternoon there. The sleepy village doesn’t have too much going on, but it has some nice views of the water and a lot of tourist shops and food stalls.
photo of a gigantic soft serve ice cream cone
I had to get one of the gigantic soft serve ice cream cones. There are many vendors that sell them, so you can’t miss it. They come in several different flavors, though we chose vanilla. It’s pretty amazing how high they can stack the cone.

Unfortunately, this is more for show than anything. The ice cream itself melted quickly and was very icy.

Red Bean Filled Pancakes
photo of Red Bean Filled Pancakes cooking
One of my favorite treats to get when in Taiwan. You can sometimes find these in the US, but they never taste quite right to me. The pancake itself is very crispy on the outside with a good amount of sweet filling on the inside (usually red bean or custard).
overhead photo of a Red Bean Filled Pancakeclose-up photo of a Red Bean Filled Pancake

We passed by a lot of cute shops, like ones making these macarons
photo of a plate of macarons

There were a bunch of cute Hello Kitty stores. I purchased a few of the pastries as gifts for friends.
photo of a Hello Kitty statuephoto of boxes of Hello Kitty pastriesphoto of hello kitty shaped pastries in a display case

We passed on the giant fried squid, but I found the sign amusing.
photo of a display of giant fried squid
I always like getting sugar cane juice in Taiwan. The sugar cane in the US isn’t as sweet and the juice I’ve had in the US always tastes watery, but the ones served by the vendors in Taipei are sweet, refreshing and concentrated. No water added.
photo of a vendor selling sugar cane juice

We passed by this very enthusiastic Turkish Ice Cream stand. We didn’t get any, but there was cheerful music playing and the owner was full of energy.
photo of a Turkish Ice Cream stand

One of my favorites were these quail egg skewers. Fresh quail eggs, lightly battered and cooked and then put onto skewers and drizzled with a sweet and sour sauce. We ended up getting a few orders of these.
photo of a woman making quail egg skewersclose-up photo of a quail egg skewersphoto of quail eggs cooking photo of a quail egg skewers
After walking around a bit, we went to have lunch at a restaurant by the water. We got to sit in these pretty booths which directly overlooked the water. I’ll post about the food from the restaurant another day.
photo of the outside of a restaurantphoto of a view from the restaurant

I found this giant Starbucks amusing. Obviously, a sign that this is a touristy area.
photo of a Starbucks

If you’ve never been, Danshui is a fun place to visit at least for an afternoon. In addition to eating, you can also ride bikes or take a boat ride. It’s very convenient to get to Danshui because there is a MRT line that takes you directly there.

 

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10 comments on “Tamsui”

  1. I might be going to Taiwan in January so this post was helpful. I can’t remember if I’ve been to this city though. I so love eating all the street vendor foods! The squid tag is too funny. 

    • I’m surprised if you haven’t been! I feel like it’s the first place people always want to take me too and it seems to be in every drama/movie.

  2. Wow, that is a pretty tall soft serve but too bad it melted easily.That’s not fun trying to eat it fast and trying to prevent a big mess.

    Those macaron are so cute! They remind me of Rilakkuma.

    • It might also have to do with how hot it was outside. so maybe if it was served indoors in an AC place it would melt slower. oh well, still fun to try!

  3. Wow! I’ll take that cone! Your photos are lovely:) a friend’s daughter is studying abroad in Taiwan. I keep sending her your blog link;)

  4. How very cool. That soft serve looks unreal, and of course, a Starbucks. LOL. Love all your pics. 

  5. Awesome looking ice cream cone!  Bummer you couldn’t eat it all…  Where do you go for red bean pancakes locally?  They sound great!

    • the only place I’ve seen them in SD is inside Ranch 99, but I don’t really like those. the batter is more gummy and dense and not nearly as crispy