【Riverside Restaurant】is located inside the Golden Tulip Fab Hotel in the Huwei Art & Leisure Zone (Google Maps link). It runs a buffet-style restaurant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and its signature draw is the seafood spread — Japanese snow crab legs, horsehair crab, and plenty of other fresh seafood, alongside a wide range of hot dishes, a generous salad bar, hand rolls and sushi made to order by the chefs, plus assorted desserts and drinks. The overall polish is solidly above average.
If you're visiting Tamsui, or happen to be staying at this hotel, and you want a beautiful, comfortable spot with a great seafood spread, you should add Riverside Restaurant to your itinerary. Just remember to call ahead or book online first.

More from Taipei: Taipei Food (Chinese), Taipei Travel (Chinese), Taipei Hotels (Chinese)

  • Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Dining atmosphere: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Food quality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Typical spend: around NT$1,200–1,400 per person
  • Google rating: 4.5 stars

Riverside Restaurant (Golden Tulip Fab Hotel)

The Golden Tulip Fab Hotel itself is a four-star hotel facing the sea in Tamsui, sitting inside the Huwei Art & Leisure Zone. Its all-white exterior is quite easy to spot. When I visited on a weekend, I noticed a lot of tour groups checking in — many people clearly treat this place as a sightseeing stop in Tamsui in its own right. It sits on slightly elevated ground with a view over the entire mouth of the Tamsui River, so it's worth stepping outside before or after your meal to take in the scenery.

Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲The Golden Tulip Fab Hotel's exterior design really fits the local sightseeing vibe
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲The Riverside Restaurant entrance is on the 3rd floor of the Golden Tulip Fab Hotel (the same floor as hotel check-in)

Location

This restaurant is a fair distance from Tamsui MRT Station — it's quite a long walk — so driving is more convenient, or you can take a bus if you're just visiting for the day.

How the buffet works

Riverside Restaurant is a self-service buffet priced at roughly NT$1,200–1,400 (service charge included). There's also a cheaper child pricing tier, giving families with kids more flexibility on budget. (The following info is taken from the official website price list).

Riverside Restaurant, Golden Tulip Fab Hotel
▲Riverside Restaurant price list (screenshot from the hotel's official site)

【Child pricing】

  • Ages 0–5: free
  • Ages 6–11:
    Breakfast: Monday–Sunday NT$350 +10% per person
    Lunch: Monday–Friday NT$490 +10% per person
    Dinner: Monday–Friday NT$540 +10% per person
    Lunch/Dinner Saturday & Sunday: NT$640 +10% per person
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲The restaurant is very spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows right beside it — you can see the outdoor lawn view during the day
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Even though it was Saturday night, it wasn't very crowded — maybe everyone was out at Tamsui Old Street instead

Signature dishes

The most popular signature items are the snow crab legs, horsehair crab, and a variety of seafood and sashimi. The rest of the spread is fairly comparable to other buffet chains like Sagano or Hanlai Seaport — the ingredients are all very fresh, and the shrimp shells peel off easily. However, the sashimi selection is a bit limited; for example, they don't have tuna, which I personally love, so that's a slight letdown.

Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Featuring a wide variety of fresh seafood
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲The signature snow crab legs — the meat quality is really good, this is probably what most guests come for
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Fewer sashimi choices, but still fresh
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲An assortment of nigiri and sushi slices
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Salad lovers will be thrilled seeing all this fresh produce
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲A huge selection of greens
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Assorted cold dishes
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Hot dishes, grilled items, and fried food
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Stir-fried dishes
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Chilled appetizers
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Hand rolls made to order by the chef
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲There's also a made-to-order nigiri sushi station
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲The hand rolls were really good! We ordered a ton of them
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲The fruit selection was fairly average
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲They even had tableside candied strawberry skewers!
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Movenpick-style ice cream, not Häagen-Dazs
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲The fruit popsicles were another highlight — very light and refreshing
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Elegant desserts
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲A variety of drinks, plus Heineken draft beer
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Desserts and drinks
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲An espresso machine that can make lattes and cappuccinos
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲We genuinely enjoyed piling on the snow crab legs
Golden Tulip Fab Hotel Riverside Restaurant
▲Dining with the outdoor scenery in view was quite relaxing too

Restaurant info