Nantun’s night departs from the MRT Green Line.
Two stations: Wenxin Forest Park, and Nantun. Each opens onto one road, plus one branch, and most of the sixty-odd shops on file in Nantun sit along those three. This piece walks the lines; every name and number comes from this site’s registry.
Wenxin line: departing Wenxin Forest Park Station
Exit and walk Sec. 1 of Wenxin Rd.
No. 530, 1F, 容燒居酒屋-南屯文心總店, 4.9 stars, over 16,100 reviews. The most-reviewed shop in Nantun; the runner-up, 沐晨足湯會館 at Daye Rd 294 with 8,020-plus reviews, has less than half. That volume says one plain thing: do not come on a Friday or Saturday night without a booking, phone 04 2322 3070, two or three days ahead.
No. 208, 1F, 穆德餐酒館, 120-plus reviews, 4.6 stars, the fallback when Rongshao is full.
No. 46-3, 泰晶殿皇家養身集團-文心會館, 4.9 stars, over 2,050 reviews, walk over after dinner for a session. Wenxin South Rd 289, 4F, 鬆鶴 張力平衡專家 文心秀泰店, a perfect score and over 2,100 reviews, does tension adjustment rather than relaxing oils; go there for a sore back.
The rhythm of this line: eat at seven, massage at nine, back at the station before eleven.
Gongyi line: departing Nantun Station
Exit and walk Sec. 2 of Gongyi Rd. Numbers climb, and eat, drink, massage fall in that order. The earlier Gongyi Rd dining belt walked it number by number; here only the stops.
No. 88, bistro88義法餐酒館, over 3,050 reviews, 4.2 stars, fill up first. No. 241, 泰晶殿皇家SPA莊園-公益會館, over 2,600 reviews, 4.9 stars, and No. 271, 2F, 月荷足體養生會館(公益館), over 1,020 reviews, the massage belt in the middle. No. 637 A-1, 萬舌居-居酒屋, a thousand-plus reviews, 4.8 stars; No. 699, Luxy Vivid Bistro, over 1,600 reviews, 4.9 stars; No. 526, 將軍府日式居酒屋 黎明店, 800-plus. The west end is for drinking.
From 88 to 699 is about twenty minutes on foot, passing the stretch where the parking is gone. Friday and Saturday from seven to nine, street spaces on this road are scarce, and MRT riders win.
Dadun branch: no station, taxi instead
Dadun Rd runs parallel to Gongyi Rd with no MRT station, five minutes by taxi from Nantun Station.
No. 78, 熱點人文餐酒館, over 810 reviews, 4.8 stars. No. 171, 十方足體養生會館, 180-plus reviews. No. 502, 御仙堂大墩會館, over 910 reviews, 4.7 stars. No. 588, 2F, 蘇釋女子精油SPA養生館-按摩 紓壓 放鬆, over 430 reviews, women only.
Dadun 14th St 151, 1F, Bar Twist, over 440 reviews, 4.9 stars, one of the few pure bars around here, for cocktails without dinner.
Singing
Three regular venues on file in Nantun. Daguan Rd 38, 享溫馨 KTV南屯向學店, over 1,180 reviews, 4.7 stars, chain rooms, book Friday and Saturday, phone 04 2380 6655. Fengfu Rd 151, 超級巨星自助式KTV 文心南屯店, over 560 reviews, 4.5 stars, self-service and a notch cheaper per head. Dadun 4th St 575, 麗都KTV, 330 reviews, 4.1 stars.
How chains and self-service differ is worked out in the Taichung KTV price guide.
Who should not come to Nantun
Club-goers. Nantun has none; the 7th Redevelopment Zone is ten minutes by car, and 7th Zone clubs vs bars sorts that out.
Old-street strollers. Nantun Old Street and Wanhe Temple are daytime-to-dusk sights, quiet at night.
Last train
Green Line last train around midnight. After that a taxi, mostly under NT$200 within the city.
Izakayas, bistros, rooms: all three lines pour drinks. Open one and call a designated driver, leave the car, fetch it tomorrow. The full district list is at Nantun.