Yonghe’s night has no main street. It has a center.
MRT Dingxi, No. 168 Yonghe Road Sec. 2, B1. This piece uses it as the first slot on the index card and draws three rings outward: 300 meters, one kilometer, across the district line. Addresses, review counts, price bands, in card format.
Ring one: 300 meters from the exit
Yonghe Road Sec. 2.
A few steps north is 永和豆漿, No. 284 Yonghe Road Sec. 2. The name is on Chinese breakfast shops around the world; the original is still lit late at night, posted hours apply. At 2 am, a bowl of savory soy milk and a shaobing for under NT$100. It is the last line of a Yonghe night, not the first. Keep that in mind.
On the same road, 黛寶拉SPA 頂溪館 is at No. 26-1 Yonghe Road Sec. 2, 12th floor, 100-odd reviews, right at the station. 逗Doll Spa 新北永和店 is at No. 81 Zhongshan Road Sec. 1, 900-plus reviews, about five minutes on foot from the exit. Both are booking-only oil massage, not walk-in foot massage; reserve before you go.
No alcohol in this ring. To drink, go to ring two.
Ring two: within one kilometer
Three directions, three kinds of night.
Yongzhen Road: the izakaya strip
From Dingxi, follow Yonghe Road Sec. 2 and turn onto Yongzhen Road, ten to fifteen minutes on foot. Yongzhen Road has the highest izakaya density in Yonghe, lined up within 200 meters: 老串角居酒屋-永和店 at No. 299, 4,800-plus reviews and a 4.8 rating, the signature of the Shuanghe area; 什串居酒屋 at No. 324 and 捌千代永和店-永和人氣串燒 at No. 328, next door and next door again. Walking back toward Dingxi, 逃生入口Exit Bar at No. 75 and 1992 bar at No. 66, darts and cocktails; changing the mood does not mean changing the road.
Skewers with draft beer, NT$500-700 a head. Friday and Saturday after 8 pm the strip is nearly full and the place at No. 299 means a wait without a booking; Tuesday to Thursday you walk in.
The full list is in Yonghe bars and bistros.
Ren’ai Road and Dehe Road: bistros
Not in the mood for a long table of skewers, head south. Doze Gi杜菇餐酒館 at No. 213 Ren’ai Road, 1,700-plus reviews and a 4.9 rating, cocktails and small plates, a date venue. 醉衍居 居酒屋いざかや_永和店 at No. 17 Dehe Road, 3,200-plus reviews; The 41 Bistro 英式餐館 at No. 41 Dehe Road, same street, the English pub route. About fifteen minutes on foot from Dingxi, five by scooter.
Yongping Road: Lehua Night Market
Lehua Night Market is on Yongping Road, about fifteen minutes on foot from Dingxi, a little closer from Yong’an Market station at about ten. Main stalls run to around midnight, later on weekends. NT$200-300 a head. Peak crowd is 8:30; to avoid the crush, go in after ten.
Two things next to the market on the same road: 錢櫃KTV永和樂華店, No. 129 Yonghe Road Sec. 1, 3,800 reviews, singing till dawn with the tariff posted at the desk; 永和太原養生會館旗艦店, No. 57 Yonghe Road Sec. 1, 1,600-plus reviews, sore feet get pressed before the ride home. How to walk Lehua by the clock is laid out in the Lehua Night Market guide.
Ring three: across the line into Zhonghe
Shuanghe is one living circle, and the MRT stitches it. From Dingxi, Yong’an Market is one stop, Jing’an two, Nanshijiao three.
On the Zhonghe side: 酒聚居酒屋 at No. 175 Jing’an Road, 1,600-plus reviews, about five minutes on foot from Jing’an station; 醉衍居 居酒屋いざかや-中和店 at No. 53 Yi’an Road. Huaxin (Burma) Street is a different kind of night, but the kitchens wind down after dusk; for fish-soup noodles arrive before 8 pm, or you will find shutters at supper hour. 好樂迪KTV at No. 338 Jingxin Street is where Nanshijiao sings. How Zhonghe and Yonghe split the work is covered in one piece, the Shuanghe nightlife map.
Price card
- Soy milk with shaobing: under NT$100
- Night market supper: NT$200-300 a head
- Izakaya skewers and drinks: NT$500-700 a head
- Spa and massage: booking-based, tariff per shop
- Taxi from Dingxi across Fuhe Bridge into Taipei: a little over one meter drop
Yonghe is New Taipei pricing, next door to Taipei. That is its quiet advantage.
Three things to talk you out of
Driving. Yonghe Road is narrow, the lanes are dense, parking is scarce and the paid lots around Lehua fill fast. MRT or a cab.
Looking for an izakaya on a Sunday night. Plenty take Sunday off; check before you go.
Browsing Korea Street after midnight. It is a daytime shopping street; the shutters are down at night.
Closing out
If you drank, taxi or designated driver, one meter drop across Fuhe Bridge into Taipei. If not, the last train from Dingxi is at roughly a quarter past midnight; check station notices.
Back to the center. That bowl of soy milk on Yonghe Road Sec. 2 is still there in the small hours. The district index is the Yonghe nightlife guide, the late-night massage list is Yonghe massage, and Yonghe’s late night beyond soy milk has its own piece.