Shetou Garlic Noodles

Review

Shetou Garlic Noodles is at No. 568, Section 2, Yuanji Road in Shetou, an old noodle shop where locals start queuing from dawn. Supertaste places it near the top of its round-up of cheap Shetou eats and notes its recognition in the third 500 Bowls awards in 2025; an earlier blog post described a shop with no sign and no menu that lived on word of mouth. It used to stand near the junction of Yuanji Road and Sanmin Road, and the current premises, a converted factory, offer far roomier seating and parking.

The key to the signature garlic noodles is the secret garlic sauce in the bottom of the bowl, topped with a clear pork-bone broth that tastes sweet and clean rather than greasy. Freshly crushed garlic and house chilli sit on the tables to add as you like, so the garlic grows stronger the more you add. The menu is simple, mainly yellow noodles and rice noodles, in soup or dry, plus sides of assorted cuts such as pork belly, pork intestine and pork trimmings; a board at the counter shows which sides are still available.

Praise centres on the fragrant garlic sauce, the light broth and the depth the chilli adds, and many locals call it their first choice for breakfast in Shetou. Critics say it is a bit hard to find, the rice noodles often sell out before 9 a.m. so latecomers have fewer options, the garlic is strong for those who dislike it, and closing at lunchtime makes it hard for visitors to catch.

It opens Wednesday to Sunday from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., closed Mondays and Tuesdays. A 2019 blog recorded garlic noodles at NT$25 and oil tofu soup at NT$10, but the shop was at a different address then and prices may have changed, so go by what is posted. The current site has parking, making driving easy; come early if you want rice noodles, as outdoor seats often fill at peak times.

Good for anyone who wants a local breakfast and loves garlic, and as a first stop on a day trip to Shetou's Qingshuiyan area or guava farms. First-timers can order dry garlic noodles and a bowl of soup noodles to compare, plus a side or two of assorted cuts; add garlic paste a little at a time and top up halfway, and use chilli to taste.