The main stall area of Shilin Night Market closes around midnight.
But for people who live around here, supper often starts at eleven. Where they go is not the stalls but the izakayas and small bars in the lanes on the edge. This piece is sorted by three MRT stations, south to north. The earlier Shilin beyond the night market covered the whole evening’s route; this one covers only what to eat after eleven.
Jiantan station: Daxi Road, Dabei Road, Jihe Road
Jiantan station is at No. 65 Zhongshan North Road Section 5; the night market’s front gate is straight across.
Do not queue at that gate. Most people, highest prices, fastest turnover. Walk west into Daxi Road: at No. 34, 月里小酌 串燒居酒屋 has nearly five hundred reviews and a 4.8 — skewers and a drink, one of the latest-running places on the market’s edge. North to No. 29 Dabei Road, 杺日式餐酒館 has three hundred-odd reviews and a perfect score, counter seating, no awkwardness eating alone.
The Jihe Road side is quieter. At No. 16, 金手套Golden’s Bar has a hundred and sixty-odd reviews and a 5.0, cocktails first — for people who are not hungry and only want a glass. At No. 255 Jihe Road, 大村武串燒居酒屋-士林店 has more than six thousand reviews and a queue; after eleven it is easier to get in, provided the kitchen is still open, so check the notice at the door.
Prices on this stretch: stalls under NT$300 a head, izakayas NT$600 to NT$800 including a drink.
Shilin station: Wenlin Road and Fuguo Road
Shilin station is at No. 215 Zhongzheng Road; Wenlin Road behind it is the spine of the local supper.
At No. 194 Wenlin Road, 大鶴青田 炭火居酒屋 士林店-Orion暢飲中 has seven hundred-odd reviews and a 4.8 — the “free-flow” in the name is not decoration, and if you want draught beer until you are done, this is the place. South at No. 53, 肆林Bistro has a hundred and thirty-odd reviews and a 4.7, the menu a little more Western than an izakaya; at No. 72, second floor, Ole Rum Bar 2F has four hundred-odd reviews, rum-led, suited to a second round when you are full and only want to sit.
Fuguo Road is on the other side of the station. At No. 32, 三根居酒屋 has three hundred and fifty-odd reviews and a 4.8; people who live nearby go on weeknights, without competing with tourists.
Past midnight, the most practical move on this stretch is toward a massage. 森SPA足體養生館 - 士林館 at No. 102 Wenlin Road has nearly four thousand reviews, 夯足足體養生會館 Hang Foot Massage at No. 135 more than three thousand three hundred; forty minutes of foot work runs NT$600 to NT$800. Shilin massage and spa lines the whole road.
Last trains run around midnight. This is the easiest thing to misjudge around Shilin station: the lights on Wenlin Road are still on, and the train has already gone.
Zhishan station: Fuhua Road, Dexing West Road
Zhishan station is at No. 70 Fuguo Road; north of it is the edge of Tianmu. This stretch is residential, thin on shops, quiet.
koji bistro 麥匊小酒館 at No. 26, Lane 141 Fuhua Road has fifty-odd reviews, a new place, usually with a seat on weeknights. 安鳥居酒屋 at No. 103 Dexing West Road has six hundred-odd reviews and a 4.5, the steadiest room on the Shilin–Tianmu border — five minutes by scooter for residents, fifteen minutes on foot from Zhishan station for everyone else.
多桑串燒居酒屋 at No. 185 Yusheng Street has nearly five hundred reviews but a 4.1, low for this area; to put it plainly, with other options around, there is no need to go out of your way.
There are no night-market prices around Zhishan: NT$300 to NT$500 a glass, about NT$700 a head to eat well. To keep drinking further north, the Tianmu rooms in Shilin bars and bistros run later than downtown — but that is no longer supper, it is another evening.
Getting home
All three stations are within walking range, which is the best thing about a late supper in Shilin.
If you drank, board before the last train; after it, taxis can be flagged along the whole of Zhongshan North Road and designated drivers can be booked. If you drove, the Jihe Road multi-storey car park charges about NT$30 to NT$60 an hour and parking further out and walking is faster — but having had a drink, the car stays where it is.
Shilin is colder at night than downtown in winter; from December to February, bring a jacket for the ten-minute walk from Wenlin Road to Jiantan station. Summer is the opposite — in July and August, supper hours are the most comfortable part of the day. For the district’s whole night, the Shilin guide is one page.