July 27, 2026
Published
Table Notes rounds up the week's Taiwan food and travel news from Chinese- and English-language sources. Dates, prices, and promotions change quickly; check the linked source before planning around one.
The 2026 Michelin guide landed with nine new one-stars and Taiwan's first two-star debut; Carrefour quietly became two different grocery chains nobody calls by name yet; and the 1992 shop that helped invent takeout bubble tea just reopened in Yongchun.
This week in brief
- Michelin 2026: nine new one-stars, Mizue debuts at two, 頤宮 holds three for the ninth year
- Carrefour is now 萬家福 and 樂家康—same stores, new names, everyone still says Carrefour
- 休閒小站, the 1992 bubble-tea pioneer, relaunched as Easy Way in Taipei
- Starbucks opened inside Yilan's century-old Luodong lumber yard on July 23
- Taiwan's pushing for 10 million visitors a year; hotel prices aren't moving
News & Openings
Carrefour became 萬家福 and 樂家康 家樂福改名「萬家福、樂家康」
Effective July 1, 2026
The Carrefour brand license expired June 30; hypermarkets are now 萬家福 (Prosperity Plaza) and supermarkets 樂家康 (Uni-Prosperity), though almost nobody calls them that yet. The stores, layouts, and imported-goods aisles are supposed to be unchanged, other than Carrefour branded items, yet people have noticed some of their favourite imported items have disappeared. Signage rollout continues through mid-2026 across close to 400 locations. Costco is now the only foreign-owned hypermarket operator left in Taiwan.
Starbucks opened in Luodong's century-old timber yard 羅東林場星巴克進駐開門迎賓
opened July 23, 2026
Five Japanese-era buildings from the 1930s at Luodong Forestry Culture Park reopened July 23 as a Starbucks after eight years of restoration—tatami guest rooms became café seating, and 75% of materials are salvaged or domestic Taiwan cypress. Queues formed from opening morning. A small natural-history exhibit inside recreates naturalist Tadao Kano's 1926 butterfly encounter at Taipingshan, and the store sits on the main road into Luodong, an easy stop before the night market.
休閒小站 relaunched as Easy Way in Taipei 台灣「手搖飲始祖」宣布回歸
soft opening July 24–Aug 2; grand opening Aug 3 · 20% off everything July 24–Aug 2; free 米香青茶 Aug 3; 復刻珍奶 BOGO Aug 4; 啤兒綠茶 BOGO Aug 5
休閒小站, one of Taiwan's original takeout tea shops from 1992, essentially vanished after 2010 and just reopened as Easy Way in Yongchun. The menu leads with a creamer-based 復刻珍奶 bubble milk tea using the old recipe, plus a Heineken 0.0 beer-green-tea and two new toppings—grass-jelly strands and buckwheat jelly. It's a genuinely good history lesson in a cup.
Taiwan Tourism Institute launched, 10 million visitor target
launched July 22, 2026 · NT$10 billion route promotion budget
Premier Cho Jung-tai opened the Taiwan Tourism Institute on July 22, a semi-official think tank modelled on ITRI, and restated the target of 10 million international visitors a year (Taiwan drew 8.57 million in 2025). The transport ministry has budgeted NT$10 billion to promote two signature routes—a Tropic of Cancer corridor through Alishan, Sun Moon Lake and the East Rift Valley, and a Kaohsiung–Pingtung–Taitung loop—alongside a long-term around-the-island rail plan. Institute chair Winston Shen was pressed on high accommodation costs and framed it as a service and staffing problem, not a pricing one, so don't expect hotel prices to move.
Awards & Lists
Michelin Guide Taiwan 2026 revealed 2026台灣米其林指南完整名單
announced July 21, 2026
The ninth edition covers 434 establishments and 61 starred restaurants across seven cities, announced July 21 in Taipei. 頤宮 Le Palais held three stars for the ninth consecutive year; Mizue debuted directly at two stars and NOBUO was promoted from one; nine restaurants earned their first star, three of them—Restaurant 12, 予島 Yu Dao in Tainan, and Hābu in Kaohsiung—appearing in the guide for the first time. The Green Star list grew to nine with two additions, 澀 Sur- and 予島, both emphasizing Taiwanese ingredients and low-waste practice.
Deals & Promos
Tim Ho Wan dim sum buffet returns in August 添好運吃到飽新方案出爐
August 2026 (Kaohsiung Fumin Aug 1–31; Dazhi Miramar Aug 18–31; Taipei Xinyi and Taichung JMall also participating) · NT$699 adult, NT$333 ages 6–12, NT$200 ages 3–6, free under 3; plus 10% service
The Hong Kong dim sum chain is running its 100-minute all-you-can-eat format at four Taiwan branches in August: roughly 34 signature items for NT$699 plus 10% service, about 40 covers per day, online booking only with a one-month rolling window. Reservations are held five minutes past the slot time and no other discounts stack.
Late-July bubble tea deals running into August 拿出身分證！「對中1字」免費喝手搖飲
late July 2026; CoCo through Aug 12; TEATOP July 29–31 · CoCo two-for-NT$99; TEATOP large winter-melon green BOGO NT$50
CoCo都可's buy-one-get-one on designated items and two-for-NT$99 combos run through August 12; several chains ran ID-card matching-character free-drink giveaways in late July, but those require a Taiwanese ID or ARC and are not usable by short-stay tourists. TEATOP's running a daily discount-code game through July 31 with large winter-melon green tea buy-one-get-one at NT$50, capped at 3,000 sets per day.
大暑 fries wave and Burger King summer coupons 大暑吃大薯買1送1！麥當勞、摩斯、漢堡王
大暑 July 23; McDonald's nuggets to Aug 10; Burger King coupons to Aug 16; MOS guava drinks to July 31 · Burger King: snack + drink from NT$49; Whaler + corn soup NT$69; small Whopper Jr + fries NT$89; two burgers NT$99
The 大暑 (Great Heat) solar term on July 23 triggered coordinated buy-one-get-one fries promotions across McDonald's, MOS, Burger King and Dicos—a recurring pattern worth knowing, since Taiwan's fast-food marketing hangs off the 24 solar terms. Burger King's the best-value standing offer: the summer coupon book runs to August 16 with BOGO on small fries, nuggets, onion rings and drinks, plus snack combos from NT$49 and any two designated burgers for NT$99.
Festivals & Events
Indonesian-Thai-Filipino-Vietnamese food festival, free Rti四語共響－印、泰、菲、越文化美食音樂祭
Aug 9, 2026, 11:00–17:00 · free entry
Radio Taiwan International is running a one-day Indonesian, Thai, Filipino and Vietnamese food and music festival at Expo Park's plazas on August 9, free entry, 11:00–17:00. This is a side of Taiwanese food culture the English-language travel press almost never covers—Taiwan's Southeast Asian migrant communities and the food scenes they've built—and a free daytime event is an unusually accessible way in.