Beigang Tangyuan Soup

Review

Beigang Tangyuan Soup is on Zhongshan Road in Beigang, right in the Chaotian Temple district. A blogger's Yunlin food roundup, Supertaste's Beigang list and its Yunlin snack guide all include it. Zhongshan Road is the main pilgrim street, and a bowl of sweet soup after the temple and a plate of duck rice is how many visitors wrap up a Beigang trip.

The signature, as the name says, is tangyuan soup made with handmade rice balls that are chewy and springy. The hot version warms you on cool days, while in hot weather you can order it iced with red beans, mung beans and jelly, so each bowl combines rice balls with several toppings. The blogger's photo caption gives NT$35 a bowl, a friendly price.

Diners praise both the hot and cold versions, the chewy rice balls and generous toppings, calling the iced bowl very refreshing in summer, and some regulars order one every time they visit Beigang. The most common reservation is that it is a traditional sweet soup without much variety, so anyone wanting novel flavours may find it ordinary; weekends and festivals bring crowds and short waits.

It opens from around 11 a.m. into the evening; the blogger says until 11 p.m., Supertaste says midnight, and recent map listings show 10 p.m. Sources differ, so check before going. It is close to Chaotian Temple, so add it to a walking route with other old-street snacks and use paid parking nearby.

It suits visitors who come to pray in Beigang and want a traditional sweet soup, and anyone out for an evening stroll. In summer order iced tangyuan with red and mung beans; in winter choose the hot soup. If you have just had duck rice or noodle paste, share a bowl between two and save room for more Beigang snacks.