A-Li Seafood Congee

Review

A-Li Seafood Congee is on Anbei Road near Anping Market, a brunch spot popular with locals and featured in round-ups of Anping breakfast places. The shop is small with a strong market-side snack-stall feel, specializing in milkfish dishes and seafood congee. It opens at dawn and closes before noon, relying on regulars and word of mouth.

The seafood congee has a clear, sweet broth with milkfish skin, fish fillet, clams and oysters, and every bowl is cooked to order, with even the fish skin cut fresh. Diners mention the seafood congee at about NT$65 and fish skin congee at about NT$60, with large pieces of skin that still carry fish flesh underneath; the oyster soup and braised eggs also get recommendations, and many add a bowl of braised pork rice.

Praise focuses on fresh fish, a clean broth and prices well below seafood congee in tourist areas, and you can see locals bringing their own containers for takeaway, so it is seen as a neighborhood favorite. Complaints are few, mainly that toppings are less lavish than at famous shops with no shrimp, and some find it ordinary enough not to return; there is also no air conditioning.

Hours run from about 5:30 a.m. to just after noon, with Sundays and Mondays off, and it may close early as midday approaches. Expect a short wait at peak times because each bowl is cooked individually. Scooters often crowd the entrance, so drivers should park on nearby streets. Sources do not mention payment options, so cash is the safer bet.

It suits anyone wanting affordable Tainan seafood congee for breakfast while avoiding tourist-famous shops, and visitors staying in Anping can combine it with a stroll through Anping Market. Order seafood or fish skin congee with braised pork rice and a braised egg, add oyster soup if you like oysters, and go earlier in the morning.