Kaohsiung Milk King: Where Cow Meets Papaya

The Southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung is known for its commitment to ports, solar power and technology, and it’s also famous for a peculiar culinary specialty, papaya milk. The best known outlet is Kaohsiung Milk King, which has been an institution since 1966, located on a Kaohsiung traffic circle on Kaohsiung’s main drag.

Milk Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung Milk King sells milk teas, breads and milk sticks. The establishment also has two fake cows overlooking customers, which made me oddly self-conscious. Okay, not really.

Papaya Milk (NT$ 60 ~ $2) was a smooth blend of fresh fruit, milk and simple syrup. For variety’s sake, we also ordered Watermelon Milk (NT$ 60), which had a pulpier texture that wasn’t quite as satisfying.

Milk tea has become popular worldwide thanks to its frequent companion, boba, but rarely does it contain papaya, or fresh fruit, so Kaohsiung Milk King was a surprising treat.

Address: 65-5 Chungwa 3rd Road, Chianjin District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Phone: 886-7 561 5656