Visited on: multiple dates from 2012 to present
This place is okay. It's not terrible, but it's not extraordinary either. It's a good lunch spot because it's reasonably inexpensive and it's close to campus. Space is limited, though, and I always feel cramped and dirty every time I'm there. One distinctive thing about this place is that they cover their plates in aluminum foil, which is something to get used to.
I have to admit that I used to like this place more before Boba Fusion Café came along and stole its thunder by offering better (i.e., more authentic and just plain tastier) Chinese food in a much nicer environment.
Café 88 has a regular menu and daily (or weekly?) specials that are off the menu. The regular menu is, for the most part, Americanized. I've had the following:
A4 - Fried Pork Wontons - bleh
E2 - Fried Pork Chop - this was okay; it's a lot like Japanese katsu
S2 - 3 Cup Chicken - okay
S4 - Spicy Diced Chicken - okay
R3 - Shrimp Stir-Fried Noodles (with Curry flavor) - fine
R4 - Combo Stir-Fried Noodles (with Regular and Curry flavors) - the Regular was too sweet; the Curry is fine
N1 - Curry Rice Noodle - not bad; this might be the best thing on the regular menu
I've also had the Strawberry and Passion Fruit Slushies, and they're fine.
The best part about Café 88 is that they have specials, which are much closer to authentic Chinese food. For the specials, I've had the following:
- lu rou fan (braised pork over rice, a classic Taiwanese comfort food) - pretty good
- hong shao ji chi (chicken wings with oyster sauce) - it was okay
- suan miao la rou (cured pork belly with leeks, my favorite Hunan dish) - very good, but they barely ever make it and I don't think they've ever officially offered it; I think the one time I had it it was leftovers from a meal that the chefs cooked for themselves, and were nice enough to share with me
- tomato beef over rice - not bad
- ji rou plus pei gen plus dou gan plus bao xin cai - this was a hodgepodge of chicken and bean curd thrown together with some random cabbage-type vegetables; it was good
Even though the specials are more authentic than the regular fare, they still don't quite make it all the way. For whatever odd reason, the cooks always insist on using broccoli for both regular items and specials. They also like to randomly throw in fried eggs and sweet sauces. I much prefer the food at Boba Fusion.
Oh, and there's some kind of minimum total for using credit or debit cards. I think it might be $5 or $8. I recommend bringing cash. read more