A-Ju Restaurant

Review

A-Ju Restaurant's story starts in 1949. According to Mirror Media, founder Chen Chiu-chu's father took over a cooked-food stall at the Mamiao Village market in Guiren selling pork sausage, fried meatballs and tripe soup. She learned from him and assisted banquet chefs, then built a catering business that at its peak served two to three hundred tables per event. In 1991 she opened A-Ju Catering across from the market, and in 1998 bought land for today's Japanese-garden-style building, now run by the third generation. Supertaste's 2025 Tainan snack list also named it Guiren's representative.

The signature is the cold-cut platter of pork sausage, fried meatballs, tri-colour egg and smoked shark, about NT$650 for a large plate, which reports say most guests order. Almost every table also has scallion-braised crucian carp, priced by weight at NT$30 per tael, rich with scallion and well-seasoned. The menu runs from side dishes under NT$100 to banquet classics like braised noodles, crab sticky rice and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, so a family can recreate a full banquet.

Diners praise the old-style Tainan banquet cooking, fresh seafood and fragrant fried rice, and some recommend three-cup pork heart and rice-wine chicken pots; ample parking makes it family-friendly. Complaints mention prices that are not cheap, slower service at peak times, and a kitchen that stops taking orders around 8:30 p.m.

Hours are 10:00–14:00 and 17:00–21:00, closed Mondays. There is a spacious car park outside. Because the building looks like a Japanese restaurant or café, first-timers often think they are in the wrong place, but the food is authentic Taiwanese. Weekends draw many families, so phone ahead for larger groups.

It suits family gatherings and anyone wanting Tainan banquet food without waiting for a wedding. Three or four people can order a cold-cut platter, a scallion carp, a stir-fry and a soup pot; larger groups can add crab sticky rice or Buddha Jumps Over the Wall for the full banquet feel.