Taipei Date Nights After RAW Closed
Chef Andre Chiang’s two-Michelin-star RAW served its last plate on December 31, 2024, before folding into a culinary academy, so drop it from the date-night list now and build a better one from what Taipei actually has running.
Start high, end warm. The stone staircase up Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan MRT, Exit 2, Red Line) takes 20 to 30 minutes and around 600 steps to reach the Six Giant Rocks viewpoint, timed right you watch Taipei 101 and the Xinyi towers switch their lights on as the sun drops. The stairs stay lit after dark, so a late climb works too. Come down into Xinyi for dinner rather than eating at the top; there’s nothing up there but the view.
Ride the gondola into the clouds. The Maokong Gondola leaves from beside Taipei Zoo (Wenshan District) and climbs 4.03 km into tea country for a flat NT$180 fare, with crystal glass-bottom cabins running an extra NT$50 a head. Get off at Maokong and settle into a cliffside teahouse: Yao Yue Tea House stays open around the clock, and Camellia Tea House pours Muzha Tieguanyin oolong on an open terrace over the city basin. Go Tuesday through Sunday only; the gondola shuts Mondays for maintenance.
Drink by the river. Dadaocheng Wharf’s PIER5 container market, on the Tamsui River in Datong District, fills at sunset with shipping-container bars pouring craft beer alongside gelato carts and taco stalls. Rent a bike afterward and ride the riverside path, or just walk the boardwalk.
Book a private tub, not a public one. Beitou’s tangwu culture means renting a private room with a natural sulfur soaking tub for about 90 minutes, no swimsuit small talk with strangers required. SweetMe Hot Spring Resort runs roughly NT$800 to NT$1,200 a room, while Grand View Resort Beitou’s cedar-lined stone rooms overlooking the thermal valley run closer to NT$2,300 to NT$2,800.
Eat with your hands, together. Ningxia Night Market’s Michelin Bib Gourmand oyster omelets and deep-fried taro balls, or Raohe Night Market’s black pepper pork buns and herbal pork ribs, make for a shared meal that costs less than one course at a formal restaurant. Raohe ends at the illuminated Ciyou Temple, a good final stop.
For a sit-down replacement for RAW, look at Mountain and Sea House, a Michelin-starred take on vintage Taiwanese banquet cuisine inside a 1930s mansion, or the sky-dining floors of Breeze Xinyi (45th to 48th floor), home to spots like C’e La Vi Taipei. Both take reservations that RAW no longer can.
Verdict: skip the sunset-hike-then-fancy-dinner cliche and swap in the gondola and a private tangwu instead. It reads as more effort and costs about the same as one round of cocktails at a rooftop bar. Book the hot-spring room ahead on weekends; walk-in slots vanish fast at both SweetMe and Grand View.
For an overnight version of this same idea, our romantic getaways guide covers Beitou and Wulai’s resort-scale options.