Xiangshang Dumplings

Review

Xiangshang Dumplings is tucked away on Zhongmei Street inside Xiangshang Market in Taichung's West District; you will not spot it from the main road and need to walk into the market. Reports describe it as a shop of about forty years, and locals see it as a landmark of the market area. The appeal is simple: cheap, freshly wrapped and boiled to order, and only one filling, pork and cabbage.

The dumplings are smaller than usual, one bite each, filled with pork, cabbage, scallion and pepper for a savory-sweet, juicy bite inside a chewy skin. One writer reckoned a grown man needs about thirty to feel full, and regulars usually start at twenty. The hot and sour soup is the other dish writers keep naming: thick, loaded and fiercely peppery. Prices keep creeping up: a 2018 post lists NT$2.5 a dumpling, a 2022 report NT$3, and a 2026 article about NT$3.5; soup prices also differ between sources, so go by the board on the day.

Praise centers on the generous prices and fresh wrapping; some say a meal costs less than a bubble tea, and regulars treat dumplings with hot and sour soup as the standard dinner in the area. Other voices find the soup too peppery for mild palates and the dumplings small enough that big eaters must order a lot.

Lunch and dinner are crowded for both dine-in and takeaway, and it is still busy around 10 p.m. Soy sauce and vinegar are on the tables, but garlic paste may need to be requested, and braised sides such as pig-head skin round out the meal.

A good pick for students, office workers and anyone wanting a filling meal for pocket change. Solo diners can start with twenty dumplings and a bowl of hot and sour soup; if strong flavors worry you, sip the soup first before adding vinegar.