I apologize to every Asian cuisine in Amherst, including the now defunct Arigato Sushi, because Formosa Chinese, formerly Amherst Chinese, still provides service and food that are incredible and deserve state-wide recognition. Formosa has an affordable lunch menu, and even on busy days has delivered my meal within ten minutes. Don't be astounded yet, because I would easily wait twenty minutes for this food. When their food arrives from the delicious variety of their lunch specials, you will be treated to crispy tofu, a nuanced spice for chili or jalapeño meals, or fresh vegetables that will make you wonder: who is introducing you to the best cuisine that southeast Asia has to offer? Sichuan meals, Mandarin meals, and even with a Miso soup that is vibrant and delicate in flavor, you may not have any difficulty in deciding at all because any meal you choose will be cooked with what tastes like generations of expertise, love, and wisdom. It is not possible to follow a recipe, or a video, or a shopping trip and recreate the food at the level of Formosa, nor at the price of Formosa, and I say this after years of enjoying their meals. If you are in the area and you are hungry, you will want to visit Formosa as it is an unbelievably satisfying trip for almost any person in the continental USA, and likely for international travelers from near and far. Please tip your staff generously and leave a review to share this love--there is no amount of business they can do that will do the history and delight in their food justice. Their food is accessible to the local public, and they also donate to local causes as well. Amherst has more than universities that educate people here, they have restaurants with generations of stories and wisdom in every meal. You'll be amazed at the silky luxury their hot and sour soup is, with a texture matching the fresh micro mushrooms inside. Be prepared and humble, the staff are dedicated, responsible, and attentive to the public as much as they can. I would love to read a book about the story of this restaurant some day. read more

Very authentic tasting Chinese food. Not like that Pandas stuff. Fresh and good portions size plates. Highly recommend for Asian food read more

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Food was authentic and delicious. The food came out very quickly and the portion size was good. I would give 4.5 stars but rounded up. 1. Lu Rou Fan - My son gobbled this up. It had authentic flavor coming from the five-spice seasoning. While it used ground pork as opposed to pork belly, it will satisfy anyone looking for this dish. 2. Beef Ho Fen - Good wok hei (that char flavor you get from the high heat in the wok and the tossing of the food into the flame). Rice noodles were cooked perfectly and had the right texture. 3. Beef wrapped in Scallion - the scallion pancake was a bit thick for my liking but the flavor of the beef, scallion pancake and tian mien sauce was good. I could use a little more sauce. 4. Pickled Vegetable and Pork Noodle Soup The broth was perfect and it had a good balance of pickled vegetables, beef, and noodles. The only complaint here is the noodles. Nothing special, maybe even spaghetti noodles? Would much prefer authentic Chinese noodles, fresh hand cut noodles or fresh knife cut noodles. The spaghetti noodles lacked chew (too soft). Overall would definitely eat here again and try more authentic dishes. Note: born in Taiwan but grew up in USA. read more

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My son and I decided this would be one of the restaurants I would treat him to as part of his birthday celebration. I read the reviews and most state how authentic and tasty the food was (THIS TURNED OUT TO BE A MAJOR LIE.) The service was awful-when asked server about dishes the server could not explain them properly. Server came and put water in our glasses-NO ICE!! Ask for soda-just gave me can and no glass with ice. No sauces on the table-soy, etc.; had to ask. Food-the shrimp egg roll was tasty and non-greasy. Cucumber salad little flavoring and definitely not worth the cost of 8.50. Beef in pancakes was good. Wonton soup even with soy sauce added was not flavorful. My son had dry beef pot--way too much liquid and my son had to add seasonings and still was not good. He stated they used the CHE APEST beef possible which was more like eating rubber than beef. I had the 3 cup chicken--THIS WAS BEYOND AWFUL. There were too many fine bones of various sizes in which one could have choked on or broken a tooth. After three bites, I had to stop. Server asked me if I liked-I said, no. Then, she looks at me as if I lied and said it was good. Nothing I hate more is when a server tells me that something is good when it wasn't. When a customer tells a server food is not good, most will apologize and not charge you. I tried two of their soups-chicken, shiiitake, and spinach as well as the seafood which I ate at home. I had asked the server what type of noodles--she said rice noodles. They did not use rice noodles--they used spaghetti. Soups were better than main courses but you still had to add more flavoring. The problem with this restaurant-poor service and inferior cooks in the kitchen which was shown by their cooking (food lacked flavor, one dish I had way too many small and chipped bones--restaurant needs to rethink how they handle bones in this dish, for someone could be injured; poor quality of meat, etc.) BEWARE--DO NOT EAT HERE--FOOD IS INFERIOR AS WELL AS SERVICE. I would have been better off going to McDonalds!!!! read more

I have eaten at this restaurant on a few occasions but yesterday will be my last. While the food was decent and I would have happily left a tip however, the restaurant preemptively included an 18% tip for a party of 3. Massachusetts law requires that restaurants clearly disclose the automatic gratuity or service charge to customers in advance. This disclosure must be conspicuous, typically through a notice on the menu, a sign, or verbal communication by staff before the bill is presented. If the restaurant fails to provide clear notification, adding an automatic gratuity could be considered deceptive and potentially illegal. Someone needs to report this restaurant for this deceptive and illegal practice. read more

A group of five met at Formosa for lunch. The food was delicious and the service was excellent. The restaurant is bright, airy and comfortable. I highly recommend Formosa! read more

Some of the best Chinese food! We ordered online for pickup for a group of 5. It was ready within 20 minutes. Everything came hot and really good quantities for the price. We got sesame chicken, chicken with mixed vegetables, chicken in garlic sauce, hot and sour soup, and fish fillet in a Sichuan chili sauce. All the dishes came with rice. Everything was seriously amazing, the chicken in garlic sauce and hot and sour soup being my favorites! We had a lot leftover too so it was good for at least one more meal. read more

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Mediocre food for a reasonable price, but negated by the fact that they charge a forced 18% gratuity without even telling me. I'll not be coming back as there are plenty of better choices in the area. read more

Formosa Chinese Restaurant - Lu Rou Fan that's somehow 100% lean lmfao - Taiwanese Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

Prior dining here was terrific. Today, really, really bad! Tofu with cashew entree was served almost cold. Spring roll was watery and only came after I finished the entree. There was a charge for hot tea. I had to ask for a fortune cookie as I was leaving as server did not give me one. Pretty funny - when I opened the cookie it had no fortune inside. $20 tab for a lousy experience. I won't be returning! read more

I come here every time when I'm in town. They have a variety of Chinese food from Cantonese style to Sichuan style. Last night we had mapo tofu. Black pepper ribs. Spicy chicken and beef Ho fan. I particularly love the mapo tofu. It is cooked with sichuan chili oil and pepper corns. It is very authentic. This place is one of the few only late (close at 9.30pm). We arrived at 9pm. The staff is so nice to take our order and not rushing us (last customers). The restaurant is clean. I'll definitely come back next time read more

Did a Door Dash order and the food was excellent. Dumplings, egg roll, pork fried rice, & General Tso's chicken all excellent.

We usually get our food to go from Formosa. We love their food. It is fresh and hot when we pick it up and very authentic

Great meal at Formosa. Food is excellent, large menu with lots of good stuff. Service is friendly but like others said forget about timing - all over the place but it didn't matter. Favorites were - scallion pancake, the pork bao, cold sesame noodles, crispy fried chicken with peppers. Dan Dan noodles were pretty decent but definitely the spiciest I've had. Hot and sour soup was good. Xiao long bao I wouldn't get again - these fell apart and tasted like wontons - just get wonton soup. Would for sure come back if in the area again. read more

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she had our supper delivered this evening and I have to say the first time I went here was maybe 910 months ago and it was a little bit of a disappointment. tonight, however, was a complete different scenario.. all of the food was prepared well and delicious. I don't know if they have a new cook or something, but it was really really good. The most authentic food I've had in a long time and I really enjoyed it. Thank you. read more

Spicy, authentic, and mouth watering. Always a treat when we are in town! It's good value and pairs nicely with egg drop soup. read more

Formosa Chinese Restaurant - Mapo Tofu (lunch size) - Taiwanese Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

First of all, the food is exceptionally good and absolutely traditional. You just won't find classic Chinese menu items like these outside of big cities, and the flavors can be intense and complex for the uninitiated. We were a party of 7 so got to sample a lot. It's mostly Szechuan style, not really Taiwanese. The star of the show was the braised pork mala, incredibly deep flavors, quite spicy. An other standout: eggplant in garlic sauce with an undertone of tamarind. Cold, sliced chicken in a light sauce was refreshing. But everything was on point. Highly recommended. read more

Formosa Chinese Restaurant - Pork braised mala lower left. - Taiwanese Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

Aside from being understaffed and having our dumplings come out after all the other food was delivered to the table, this was a very good experience. The food was very good, all of it. We got vegetarian egg rolls, which is very unusual. Typically you have to order spring rolls to get something without meat. It was a very welcome opportunity to have an egg roll with no meat. All of our dishes were vegetarian. The lo mein, mu shu (they call it mu shi), dumplings, and Buddha's Delight we're all excellent. The dumplings had a bit of a kick, likely from a lot of ginger, and the tofu in the Delight had red pepper flakes making it a bit spicy. Definitely glad we tried this place and would definitely go back next time in town. Pictures posted. read more

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Off the main street of Amherst town, this clean and presentable Taiwan Chinese restaurant is pleasant and friendly. Service - at least on this visit - was very slow unfortunately (COVID staffing issues maybe?) but fortunately we weren't in a rush. We just went with a couple of dim sum, wonton soup, and pork fried rice, nothing fancy, and even this simple repast took a long time to deliver (25 minutes to get even the soup! I mean, don't all they have to do is ladle it out of a big pot?). The dim sum were only okay in our opinion - the seasonings seem to be different from typical Chinese restaurants - but the pork fried rice was outstanding! That was a nice surprise for such a pedestrian dish and made up for the long wait - kind of. I'll look forward to trying this place again and sample their other more elaborate dishes and update this review. read more

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Walked in for the first time yesterday, the restaurant looked good from the outside and finding a parking spot wasn't an issue. The lunch specials looked great on the menu and it didn't disappoint. We ordered vegetarian lo mein, Singapore noodles, Kung pao chicken and eggplant is spicy garlic sauce. The lunch special comes with a side of soup and the latter two with also a side of rice. We chose hot and sour soup and brown rice for our options. The soup was served first at a perfect temperature (for me). Our entrees were piping hot and delicious. The only complaint was the flooring. There was this stickiness where the tables were set up and stepping on it with my sneakers felt weird. Rest of it was carpet. Overall, great food and portions for lunch and hence the 4 stars. read more

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1 Dec 2024: (1) hot plate beef 铁板牛(2) string beans 千扁四季豆 (3) mala fish 沸腾鱼片 (4) hot spicy chicken 辣子鸟 (5) pork pot stickers 锅贴. 1-3 are really good. If you like the numbing mala taste , the fish is really good. read more

Lots of variety and the food was great. Easy online ordering, with payment at pickup made for a convenient experience. We'll definitely be back! read more

Ordered one hour ahead on Christmas eve, they were busy, but no reason to make us wait a total of 2 1/2 hours for our food. The food definitely wasn't worth the wait. Very disappointed. read more

Pretty authentic taste and large portions! Be careful when you get a mala dish because it will be very *mala*. Would recommend the salt&pepper squid, beef in scallion pancake wrap, and fu-chi fei pian (夫妻肺片). The soups seem to have been watered down a bit, comparing to previous visits. Service is efficient and can be friendly, if desired read more

Formosa Chinese Restaurant - Beef & scallion pancake wrap, mala beef/tripe - Taiwanese Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

Awesome find! Waiter was on point an attentive given the Sunday rush. Crab Rangoon were top shelf! Kungpoa chicken, veggies and brown rice were fresh. Definitely a great lunch stop with fair prices. read more

Formosa Chinese Restaurant - Intersection of restaurant - Taiwanese Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

This review is for the online order option. The online ordering site is one of the best I've used. It is easy navigate and customizable. That's the problem: Formosa didn't execute a single order even though the owner read the notes back to my wyf when she picked the order up. For example, I ordered stir fried vegetables no tofu - we had a huge plate of...yep, tofu. Literally 2 cauliflower, 1 broccoli floret, 6 slices of carrot and a LOT of tofu. We order this way in the restaurant all the time, so it's not unusual. Strike 1. Then the hot and sour soup, which used to be great here, was neither hot nor sour. It was a thick, gelatinous thing. It was bad. Strike 2. There isn't a strike 3, yet. We will go back, but only when we eat in and can return poorly and improperly made dishes. read more

With true New Yorker snobbishness, I was prepared to choke down tolerable Chinese food out in the great wild of Massachusetts. Delighted to take myself down a peg. Truly excellent food. Dry sautéed string beans, eggplant, and cumin lamb dishes were especially good. Dumplings! Not sure I'd bother to order the steamed pork bun again. Fast friendly service for carry out. Looking forward to trying it in person. read more

Very good food and really nice people. Don't neglect the Taiwanese street food items! The restaurant has an organic farm, so vegetables are great in season. We love the rolled pancakes with beef and the noodle soup with duck! read more

Fresh, high quality, Chinese food. The best in the area. We eat here every time we visit Amherst. Highlights include very fresh Asian vegetables and authentic preparation. Not dumbed down for the New England palate read more

I wanted to live this place but service was so slow. The eggs rolls tasted funny and my husband was home sick the next day.

Checked in this week while visiting local cronies. If it says spicy or Mala or has a red pepper icon next to it on the icon, it's obviously spicy. If you ask them to do no spice or less spice, they will say that's possible and guess what you get----spicy, no adjustments. So first off, don't order spicy or the one with the hot pepper icon or the word mala unless you enjoy spice. Menus are small paper menus--not really dissing that but if you are someone that needs glasses, bring your readers and plunk them on. Waiter was weird. There are other reviews about a waiter but it's hard say if it's the same person. Ours was a bit curt in both English and in Mandarin to a Chinese friend. Waiter: "Can I take your bill?" ( we were busy packing up stuff to go ) Us: "Please give us a minute" Waiter: "Then I'll have to come back (said impatiently)" Our thoughts: Wow real skin off his back eh? Chinese friend thanked him in Chinese for having us--no reply standing 3 inches away and scampered off. Manager should read this and just tell the guy to put on a gracious demeanor at all times, work their stuff out doing shot put or talking to a therapist out of work time. On other fronts--quite a range of tasty food, lots of seating, owner/woman was there and was friendly, very welcoming. The place is kid friendly which is a plus. Others mentioned appetizers coming out after the main fare. We didn't have that happen--ours came out on time--- but the restaurant only had a few customers there when we wer there. Despite the agreement to cook spicy with no spice and very spiced red pepper decorated food, and despite the brusque waiter I'd go back. There are limited options for authentic Chinese food in the Pioneer Valley. This has many authentic items, atmosphere is pleasant and lots to do in the surrounding area. Would have been a 4 star or 5 star if the waiter was nicer and the spice thing had been clearly stated---don't order it we don't cook to order. Capiche. read more

Loved it Very good food young staff members which is a bonus . The location is great roomy and bright

Delicious Chinese/Taiwanese food! As good if not better than anything you can get in Boston. Coming back next time in Amherst read more

Formosa Chinese Restaurant - Taiwanese Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

Best chinese food in Amherst area. It also support doordash, very convenient. I would recommend it

A very pleasant lunch. Nice atmosphere, delicious hot tea, a lot of lunch specials, some are vegan, and the price is very good. The food was all delicious and well presented. The staff is very friendly. read more

The restaurant seems very authentically Taiwanese - from the restaurant name, menu, and accent of the lady taking order. However, food was not up to my expectation. I ordered the Gua Bao and raddish cake. The Gua Bao, in lack of better description, is like a Chinese hamburger, with pork belly instead of beef pattie, in a steam bun. It is topped with pickled mustard greens and peanut topping - to me, that's the perfect combination. I enjoy this dish very much - pork belly is soft and flavor full, the flavor combination is on point. - 4 Stars. The radish cake, however, fell flat. Maybe it has too much batter and not enough of everything else. It was dense and bland. Usually radish cake has bits of Chinese sausage, dried shrimp, and/or bacon in it that give more flavor. I tasted faint flavor from (I'm guessing) dried shrimp, and no radish flavor at all. The sauce that came with it tasted like regular hoisin sauce. It easily overpower the flavor of the radish cake. - 2 Star. read more

Everything was delicious, love that there's good Taiwanese food in town; the three-cup chicken is so yum (normally I'm vegetarian but I had to try it!). read more

Who would have expected tasty food in Amherst. Beef-Enoki pot (don't know the name on the menu - waitress recommended) was excellent. Xiao Long Bao much better than most. Vegetable were okay. Definitely a great stop between Boston and Tanglewood. read more

It was okay, not great, and our appetizers came after our entrees which from what I'm reading is very common here and really that's not okay! We have a table of 5 and our lo mein came out (and was very good) and we devoured it and waited for more food. Three entrees came out: General Tso's chicken (pretty good), braised tofu (soft tofu, too much goopy sauce, good mushrooms), and sizzling beef (meh). Then the appetizers came: egg rolls (they only have vegetarian, I didn't try it but it looked like pure cabbage), boneless spare ribs (was just sliced Chinese roast pork not spare ribs at all), and THEN the shrimp dish with walnuts and honey (which was good but not exciting for all the wait). Not sure I'd eat here again when back in Amherst. But not bad, just not great. read more

Great food and the owners/people working here are sooooo incredibly kind. They were extremely helpful and accommodating of ours and other kids. Food was delicious, authentic and fast. Will definitely be back. read more

Great takeout service-- quick and convenient, includes plastic silverware. The waitstaff are very polite and helpful. The food was good-- I got the pork fried rice and soup dumplings (although there was one fewer soup dumpling than I'd ordered) and it was excellent. The serving sizes for the main dishes are very generous! I plan on going back and trying something else. read more