The food extends far past Taiwan, taking in Italy, Mexico and Thailand, with an accent on local fish. Places to eat and drink are clustered along the highway just east of the Chinese-style national park gate. Here are six choices within walking distance of each other.
 

With a nightly crowd of diners to easily fill its 200 seats, this popular restaurant specialises in a wide range of local seafood.

There are lobsters for NT$700 (HK$186), giant prawns, sea snails and Kenting's native snapper. For an extra blast of flavour, the house recommends fish slices fried with onions. Prices start from NT$100 per plate, and much of the fare is chosen from tanks outside the door.

When Lu Nan opened 33 years ago, it seated just four people. It has grown as Kenting's popularity has surged since 1990, says restaurant owner Zhang Chiao.
 

206 Kenting Road, tel: +8 885 6758

This Thai-style restaurant also goes by the English names Musk Restaurant and One Night in Kenting. It dims the lights for diners, bringing out the reds and blacks of the two-storey, 180-seat dining area with a Southeast Asian decor.

The 50-plus dishes on the menu cost between NT$160 and NT$280. A Thai chef does his best work on the shrimp cakes and a curried crab that's soft enough for inexperienced seafood eaters. "It's suitable for foreigners, something they can eat bite by bite," says owner Yang Chien-hua.

Also worth trying is the chicken wrapped in orchid leaves and the dark beer.

A Filipino cook hired by Taiwanese owner Amy makes Italian-style 20cm pizzas plus a range of pasta dishes at one of the few places serving Western food.

Dishes at the 10-year-old, two-storey venue start at less than NT$100 and go up to NT$300 for the pizzas or spaghetti with clams.

A tea master from Tainan opened this micro-cafe in February as part of a small local chain that sells only black tea drinks. This outlet has a list of about 20 drinks, priced between NT$30 and NT$70 per cup.

Teas come from the mainland, India, Kenya and Sri Lanka as well as Taiwan, collected by the owner over the past 40 years. Tourists stand around - there are only five seats - quenching their thirst with iced teas while learning about the brew, says Itso Tea product manager Hsu Hui-chuan.

"Black tea is not so common in Taiwan," says Hsu, as Taiwanese are partial to green and oolong varieties. "We have opened a window for them."

Also owned by Amy, this is a Mexican-Western blended theme restaurant with Spanish seafood paella, ominously spicy taco salads and a list of fruit-based cocktails.

Putri is like a little taste of Bali. After travelling three times to the Indonesian resort island, the owner of this restaurant-bar and guest house has lined the 100-seat first floor with wood panels, bamboo-caged lanterns and Hindu icons.

While the Balinese theme is continued in the seven guest rooms, the food is mostly Thai. The drinking will keep you here from 5pm to 11pm. About 40 tables occupy a spacious, landscaped outdoor veranda. Taiwan Beer is sold by the pitcher for NT$300, and bottles of other lights or lagers go for about NT$100 each. The cocktail list is short but solid.

Sober drinkers can order freshly made coconut juice, an odd find in can-crazy Taiwan, or Thai-style milk tea, both priced at NT$70.