ding yuan soy milk
鼎元豆漿

a no-fuss breakfast joint loved by tourists and locals alike

Soy milk in America might be dismissed as a fad, but in Taiwan if you ever see a storefront with 豆漿 (aka soy milk) in its name, that means you’re at a real local breakfast joint. Ding Yuan Soy Milk has been around for decades, and continues to churn out piping hot Taiwanese breakfast pastries each morning, serving a loyal clientele from the wee hours of the morning (no seriously, they open at 4am every day). In recent years, they’ve gotten recognized in Japanese tour books, so many Japanese tourists also flock over for breakfast before heading to CKS Memorial Hall.

Ding Yuan covers all the usual suspects when it comes to a Taiwanese breakfast. There’s the shaobing 燒餅 (flakey sesame breads that are often cut in half and made into sandwiches of sorts), and then there’s the scallion bing 蔥花餅, which is a fluffier bread that is stuffed with scallions (pro tip: add an egg). They also have soy milk 豆漿 (hot, cold, sweet, savory), rice milk 米漿, rice balls 飯糰 and various baos, including xiaolongbao 小籠包 (aka soup dumplings). The line may be snaking out the alley, but you can get a full breakfast spread spending only coins, it doesn’t get any better than this.

the details

AddressNo. 30-1號, Jinhua Street, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
Tripadvisorhttps://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g13808853-d7008070-Reviews-Dinyuan_Soy_Milk-Zhongzheng_District_Taipei.html
Hours04:00-11:30 every day
Price$ – most things are 20 – 40NT (~$1-2), xiaolongbao is 100NT (~$3) 
Aestheticno-frills hole-in-wall

good to know

Go here for: a traditional Taiwanese breakfast (at traditional Taiwanese prices)

Order this: scallion bing with egg 蔥花餅夾蛋 (cong1 hua1 bing3 jia2 dan4), sweet soy milk 甜豆漿 (tian2 dou4 jiang1), black sesame pastry 黑芝麻酥餅 (hei1 zhi1 ma2 shu1 bing3), youtiao 油條 (you2 tiao2 aka Chinese donut, for dipping into the soymilk)

Amount of time to spend: you can be in and out in 30 min or less, but also great for grabbing things to go

When to come: if you want to beat the breakfast rush, try to get there before 8am on a weekday, but generally the line moves fast (a lot of people are just getting things to go) so head over as soon as you wake up

Getting here: it’s easily accessible from the CKS Memorial Hall MRT station (red, green), use exit 3 and continue on Jinhua street.

Other things to note: 

  • They do often sell out of pastries, so if you’re heart is set on something, it’s best to get there before 10am.
  • They also deliver via UberEats.

Last visited: October 2019

Last updated: October 2020

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