Old-school chic, fresh-cooked Taiwanese home-style dishes
On Wufeng North Road, “Longlai, Little Dining Table” greets you with a hand-painted wall of Chiayi landmarks. The owners aren’t locals; they fell in love with the city beneath Alishan and moved here. The space brims with retro-Taiwan details—time-worn memorabilia for the middle-aged to reminisce over, yet hip vintage eye-candy for the young.
Longlai serves set meals that taste like home. The boss hits the market daily; almost every sauce—soy, chili oil, pickled fruit & veg—is house-made. Signature “Thai-style lemon fish” depends on ultra-fresh catch and a Taiwanese twist on Thai sauce. The “private-recipe beef stew” sells out the moment it’s simmered, and “private plum chicken” is braised with plums pickled in their own jar every year.
Tucked inside a commercial building, the interior flaunts Taiwanese street flair. Since opening in 2020, twenty-somethings came first, then brought parents—exactly the plan: a family restaurant passing on Taiwan’s flavors across generations.
Photo credit: Chiayi City Government Tourism & News Dept. | Photographer: Margaret
