A-Cun Beef Soup (Bao'an Road)

Review

Founded in 1968 at No. 41 Bao'an Road in West Central District and now run by the third generation, A-Cun is one of the beef soup shops Tainan locals name most often. The MICHELIN Guide's round-up of West Central must-eats includes it and the 2026 guide still lists it, but sources disagree on whether it still holds a Bib Gourmand, so check before you go.

The broth is simmered from beef bones with fruit and vegetables, giving the sweeter profile typical of Tainan. Same-day fresh beef is hand-cut by cut, laid in the bowl and cooked by a pour of boiling broth, then dipped in the shop's own sweet soy paste with ginger. The signature cabbage and beef stir-fry is light with a gentle tang, while the cold offal salad mixes tongue, tripe and liver in one plate.

Praise centres on fresh, tender meat that never turns stringy; many single out the liver and the stir-fry, and some note the beef is served rarer and beefier than elsewhere. Critics find the broth under-seasoned and the prices on the high side, saying it is not worth a long wait, and some have seen popular cuts sell out early.

It opens in two shifts, 4 a.m. to noon and 6 to 9 p.m.; closed Mondays, evenings only on Tuesday and mornings only on Sunday, and it shuts early once sold out. Cash only. Supertaste listed beef soup at NT$150 small and NT$200 large and both the stir-fry and offal salad at NT$120 small in 2018, so prices may have risen. Parking around Bao'an Road is hard, so walk if you can.

Good for anyone who wants breakfast beef soup without a middle-of-the-night queue, and you can come back in the evening too. First-timers can order a bowl of soup with rice plus a plate of cabbage and beef; offal fans should add the liver or the offal salad, and sharing among two or three people works best.