I've always been vaguely aware of the existence of this place but now I deeply regret not coming here until now :'). This meal was SO good. Their menu was huge and after eating here I feel like I can confidently say that everything on it is probably a great bet. Or at least I wanted to try everything. Ultimately based on pics I saw on Yelp, we went with the crispy chicken in spicy sauce and the king oyster mushroom in salty egg sauce. Final verdict: 1000/10. I'd personally never had a dish like the mushroom one but I loved how the texture of the mushroom vibed so well with the flavor of the salted egg yolk (which was more of a batter than a sauce). And the texture of the crispy coating with the mushroom was phenomenal. The chicken was what I expected which is to say, fantastic. Not spicy but once I took a bite, I didn't care. Didn't realize at first that the sauce was at the bottom but once that discovery was made it was even better. I also love the option to make a dish a meal to add rice and side dishes. I've never been provided with corn and tomatoes & eggs as a side before but now that just seems natural. The tomato & eggs was a lot sweeter than I'm used to. Maybe it's taiwanese style? All and all this place was wonderful and in my personal opinion probably the best Taiwanese place on eastside read more

Looking For Chai - Crispy Chicken with Special Spicy Sauce and King Oyster Mushrooms with Salty Egg Sauce - made it a meal with rice and sides - Taiwanese Near Me - Bellevue, Washington

Looking for Chai Seattle offers a mixed dining experience. The shredded pork with bamboo shoots was really delicious, and the sliced lamb with Taiwanese satay was also satisfying. However, the sautéed pork kidney in sesame oil sauce was disappointing; it wasn't cleaned well and had a slight fishy smell. Overall, our visit didn't meet our expectations, but we might give other dishes a try next time as they have a wide variety of options! read more

See all

a cozy casual taiwanese restaurant located in a small shopping strip. what a gem! it's comparable to hardwok cafe but more upscale, with better quality food. we were all stuffed after eating and even had leftovers (due to large portions, not because it was not delicious) we got the: - tomato seafood hotpot -- a mild taste with nice, sweet dipping sauces. i didn't expect there to be so much cabbage or vermicelli, but the soup was yummy (3.5/5) - pea vines and mushroom with garlic sauce -- this was so good! really nice flavor and texture (5/5) - shrimp and egg tofu -- this was the star of the meal. delicious broth, tender tofu, and though there wasn't much shrimp, it was still so good. (5/5) - brother got the sizzling platter with steak, which he devoured. honestly, we were just happy that he ate the vegetables - mom got the pork cabbage hot pot -- also a mild flavor, pretty good but didn't like how big the cabbage leaves were. read more

See all

I am always a little disappointed here as I'm not used to Taiwanese cooking. The place is packed though and everyone seems happy So it's just me. The ginger clams was tasty and the eggplant was meaty and a generous serving. read more

Food was great, glad you are able to sit down and not only get to go food. The crispy chicken, pig ear salad and wood ear mushroom salad were really tasty. Don't forget to get to the sauce at the bottom of the chicken! That took it over the top. read more

Came in 9p on Sat night and two servers keep telling me that I can not bring outside drinks even I told them I WILL NOT DRINK.

the best Asian food I had in the area while I was there a few months ago. My group got the clams in special sauce, popcorn chicken and pork blood. I liked the clams and pork blood dish. I thought pork blood would be fried like they do in Taiwanese night markets, but it was the soft kind. It was different but still good. Typical casual Asian style restaurant-- go for the food and company. read more

Looking For Chai - Pork Blood and Intestine Sauteed in Spicy Chili Sauce, Clams with Chef Special Basil Sauce, Popcorn Chicken - Taiwanese Near Me - Bellevue, Washington

Located in a small strip mall, Looking For Chai aims to serve inexpensive Taiwanese favorites in a quick / casual environment. Like many boba tea places, they offer the snacks like popcorn chicken... but they also offer a diverse menu of sizzling plates, rice plates, and even hot pot! SERVICE My family and I stumbled upon here for a late night dinner 30 minutes before closing. They sat us quickly and gave us a heads up that we had 10 minutes to order, since it was last call. A bit rushed, but I appreciated that they still took us in and took our orders. Even when we were still eating and they were starting to prep for closing... we never really felt rushed to leave. FOOD Fried Pork Chop Over Rice: Simple but delicious - the pork chop is has a crispy outside and tender inside. You hardly need a knife to cut into it. It's very juicy, but a little greasy... still tasty though. I thought it went well with the minced pork rice and marinated boiled egg that came with it. Sizzling Steak w/ Mushroom Sauce over Noodles: This surprised me! I've gone to some high end steak places where I go for medium rare to keep it nice and juicy. But this steak was moist, tender, and had a lot of flavor! I think the mushroom sauce and the trim of fat on the steak helped with this. The sizzling plate kept it warm and tasty... and it went really well with the noodles. I recommend getting this dish with the noodles instead of rice. Roasted Oolong Milk Tea: If you've never had a roasted oolong milk tea, I highly recommend it. Their roasted oolong is comparable to other places I've had it, with a nice toasted flavor. Really comforting in the cold weather. Had this with grass jelly as they were out of boba - made for a good combination. Mango Passion Fruit Tea: A tad sweet, but quite refreshing and fruity. The last of their boba was used in this drink, and the pearls were cooked well and had the right amount of chewiness. VALUE Everything was reasonably priced (under $15 for plates) and the portions were large! The three of us were able to share two entrees, and we were full/satisfied afterwards. Coming from the Bay Area, these sorts of cafes are common... but I'm glad they're starting to pop up around the Seattle area. It's the kind of place where there's something for everyone. A great option for the indecisive group who may not know whether they want steak, boba tea, snacks, or a hot pot! I'll definitely be back if I'm in the area. read more

See all

Wow just wow. We were in the neighborhood and yelped this place last minute. Reviews looked so we decided to try it for ourselves. Everything is so freaking good & fresh! Our food was steaming hot & the fried chicken steak was cooked to perfection. I love how it's paired with an egg and bok choi. Then underneath the chicken are little pork pieces, which was a nice surprise. Also, the portion size is hugeee. Cannot wait to order from this place again. Definitely a must try & this is coming from a fellow Taiwanese-American. read more

Looking For Chai - Deep Fried Chicken Steak over Rice - Taiwanese Near Me - Bellevue, Washington

This is THE best Taiwanese restaurant on the entire Eastside! Have no idea why it's taken me this long to write them a review, but we've been customers of Looking for Chai for YEARS and have always enjoyed their food. Wide variety of items available, but if you're new to Looking for Chai, below are the must-get items: - Crispy spicy chicken (ask for extra chilli!) - Braised pork rice (also known as 卤肉饭） - String beans with pork (四季豆） Their boba tea selection is great as well- they do tend to be on the sweet side to make sure to ask for less sugar if you want to be healthier! Highly recommend trying their grass jelly option if you want a switch-up from regular boba sometimes. COVID safety update: Staff seem to be taking precautionary measures with masks and gloves, and the cashier counter has a glass panel to minimize any contact with staff while customers are making payment. Ordering takeout is super easy over the phone, and they will tell you the estimated time it takes to get your order ready so you can time your trip accordingly and pick it up soon as it's done! Highly recommended! read more

Really solid Taiwanese spot for a quick meal. Tucked away in Bellevue with a very unassuming front, looking for chai has a great variety of staple Taiwanese dishes paired with various milk and fruit tea drinks. My pork and rice was delicious and was the perfect amount of food for lunch. Happy I stopped by! read more

Looking For Chai - Pork and Braised pork over rice - Taiwanese Near Me - Bellevue, Washington

Great service. Popcorn chicken and cucumbers are great appetizers. Spiced pork over rice, Taiwanese fried noodle, egg tofu. Yum.

Loved almost everything we ordered. The hot pot was the least favorite. The boba drinks were surprisingly really good. Service and cleanliness are excellent. We are from out of town and we will definitely be coming here on future visits. The Sakura shrimp fried rice was really good. The shrimp and crabmeat sauce with egg tofu was also really good. read more

See all

The name restaurant is looking for chai. In Chinese is looking for tea. I like the name. It is actually attractive. Catch the attention of consumers. With start with their famous chocolate cookie milk tea. The cookie is powdering and sprinkles over the milk tea. Very delicious. The next dish is the five spice chicken nugget. I think we have dish dish better at elsewhere. The third item is the water spinach with lamb meat. This is a good dish. It has the good flavor. The fourth dish is the Bao with pork belly meat. Like this dish because it ha the harmony pork belly. Our next dish is a soup. It is the preservation mustard green and the pork intestine. Very nice dish to have. The last dish is I like the most. It is the sautéed pork kidney with sesame oil. I like the chef cook it not long and maintains the softness kidney slice. Good experience here. read more

See all

This is one of our favorite places to order delivery from during COVID. I can't believe not more people know about this amazing spot. They offer a wide variety of food so there's always something to choose from. We have never been disappointed. Here are some of my favorite: Cold chicken noodles. A classic Chinese dish. Their sesame sauce is light but it blends everything together very well. This is the perfect dish on a hot day and I find myself always craving it even when the weather gets cold. Crispy chicken with special spicy sauce. A must have! The chicken skin is so crispy and I absolutely love their sauce. A combination of sweet, sour and spicy, this is such a unique dish at Looking for Chai. Lamb with Taiwanese satay sauce. We are lamb lovers and this dish is so flavorful. Also lets you eat more veggies. I just wish there's more lamb for the price. King oyster mushroom with salty egg sauce. Huge mushroom wrapped in delicious salty egg sauce. I promise you will love this dish. We order it everything. The best part is that they also have milk teas and fruit teas to accompany your meal. We love the house special milk tea (comes with boba) and passion fruit or grapefruit green tea. Remember to adjust sweetness if you don't like it too sweet. read more

Looking For Chai - Find me on Instagram @laurajaynoms for more food recommendations! - Taiwanese Near Me - Bellevue, Washington

See all

I came here thanks to a recommendation of a Taiwanese friend, and it was a good rec. With another friend, we ordered: - popcorn chicken: made well, crispy and not too much breading, but it lacked any sort of flavor so I asked for spicy oil which made it better - oyster mushroom with salted egg sauce: light, crunchy breading with an awesome salted egg sauce, came with small bell peppers which unfortunately still had seeds - sizzling steak with black pepper sauce and noodles: meat was a dry, not very flavorful; noodles were chewy and the egg was good, wanted much more sauce though Teetering between 3 or 4 stars for the food. Service was good as we were asked many times how we were doing. Prices were a bit high, came out to be around $45 post-tax total, portions were pretty good. read more

Came for take out this summer and the food was pretty good. Prices are reasonable. Get the braised pork rice - it's a classic Taiwanese dish. Popcorn chicken is also pretty popular as are their boba teas. Cost is reasonable for wha you get (definitely cheaper than DTF). A good place to get a to go meal during Covid times. read more

Great Taiwanese food at a decent price. There is always a line here, so try to get your name on the waiting list as soon as possible! My favorite dish was definitely the C4 Slice Lamb. It was really tender and well seasoned, and came with a generous amount of leafy greens as well. The Chicken Steak was great too -- it comes on a sizzling platter and includes rice or noodles. I'll definitely come here again! read more

See all

Yummy authentic Taiwanese food ! Oyster pancake is as good as in night market Taipei . Huge menu to choose lol open till 10pm and it's near Downtown Bellevue area . Attentive fast service . read more

Eden has been our waiter multiple times. We always ask for the egg tofu deep fried no sauce and he delivers. I find the dishes here drowning in sauce. However, if you ask for less, u get it. There are delicious dishes here. I recommend the honey chicken wings. They come out piping hot. Popcorn chicken is a no brainer. It isn't the best I've had but it is consistent and the popcorn over rice platter is huge. Lots of veggies, slice pork over rice, an egg and the chicken. Split it. Rice cakes are good. Pea vines and sautéed beans are always tasty. Hot pot is decent. I'm not of fan of their noodle soup. Noodles are not chewy enough and meat is just ok. Enjoy! read more

Crispy Chicken is great! Yummy Egg Tofu goes great with rice! Staff has given great service whether you eat in or take out!

This Taiwanese food establishment is very authentic and affordable for Seattle and Eastside. The menu is very vast and they have all the fun milk tea drinks too (hot and cold!) I recommend getting the hot plate dishes. We like the chicken with black pepper sauce. I would come here again and probably bring any friends and family for a casual and delicious meal. read more

Absolutely the best Taiwanese food in the area. Service is always fantastic. We usually get the same handful of dishes to share (minced pork over rice, eggplant in basil sauce, crispy chicken with spicy sauce) and occasionally try something new when we have more people to share with. My kiddo loves the bao buns and they always make a plate of just the buns for him. We also get the oolong milk tea with salted cream and aloe. It's amazing! Even if we eat dinner somewhere else we'll swing by here for the tea to go. read more

Second time here and tried more new items off the menu. Located on Northup way by the old Lowe's hardware. The service is great, people are very friendly and helpful if you are stuck trying to decide what to order. I haven't been disappointed yet. I don't think they use msg as my feet did not swell! Save room for their delicious hand shaken teas! We will be back again for sure! read more

See all

My mom is coming to visit from Taiwan. She says their food tastes the best among all of the restaurants we have taken her.

Looking for chai is one of my favorite restaurants! I go there a lot and the food there is consistently good and there is always lots of options to choose from the menu. I would definitely recommend it to people who love Taiwanese food and for people who have never tried Taiwanese food before and want to try it for the first time! But the only reason I'm leaving a 4 star review is because it's really crowded and hard to get a table. read more

If you're looking for Taiwanese food in Bellevue, Looking for Chai is a solid option. Personally, I like it better than HardWok, and I'm so glad they finally got rid of those giant clunky menus attached to paddles! I've come here with my family a few times and they are extremely consistent and friendly. Portion sizes run a little on the small side, but prices seem pretty fair. We've tried most of the menu at this point and I have zero complaints. Everything is tasty, though I would personally pass on the gua bao (pork buns). In my opinion, the ones at Facing East are the best. The chicken wings are super tasty, the hot pots are great, and I really like their string beans. Since it's located in a random strip mall, there's always ample parking and the place is usually packed during dinner time. They also have a large variety of teas/milk teas, including the cookie milk tea. read more

tl;dr - good Taiwanese dishes, good milk tea drinks This place is great for some good Taiwanese food and milk tea. For a large party the wait might be a little bit because of the size and layout of the place. The service was good and friendly and the food came out relatively quickly. I tried the sizzling steak platter with noodles and black pepper sauce. It had a really good flavor and was quite filling. It was a little salty by the end of the dish but luckily I had a milk tea to wash it down! I also tried the Spiced Pork over rice and it was not bad. The rice to pork ratio was a bit too high and the flavor was not as strong as I like it. I had the egg tofu with vegetable dish and that was really tasty. The gravy was flavorful and the tofu was nice and soft. The flavor of the milk tea is good and the boba is a good texture and flavor. My only complaint was that some of the boba was clumping. I also tried the pudding and which was pretty consistent with others I've had. read more

Looking For Chai - Sizzling steak with noodles and black bean sauce - Taiwanese Near Me - Bellevue, Washington

See all

We ordered in-person, but it seems like most people call ahead. We only waited for 5 minutes though! The people there were really friendly and house bubble tea/crispy chicken was great. FYI the $13.75 crispy chicken comes without rice! Felt a bit silly eating without it. read more

I love food from looking for chai. We have been coming back and getting to-go most of the time. Also I talked to friends about this place a lot. One comment in which I agree from my friend is that even though food is good they don't bring out-of-town guests due to the seating set-up. It's too close to each other and quite packed most of the time. My fave are crispy chicken with spicy sauce. Sizzling pork chop with noddle and mushroom sauce. read more

New go to spot! The portions was very generous and tastes great. The price is very reasonable for a nice meal. I love to get a hotpot, a popcorn chicken and a sizzling platter. I find that there's usually seating and service is very quick. read more

Been here a few times now, food is always pretty decent. Staff is always nice and food comes out pretty quick. Cookie Milk Tea: Pretty good, not too sweet. Chicken Wings with House Honey Sauce: Pretty good. Crispy and sauced well. Wish the sauce was bit more savory and a little more flavor, like maybe add some garlic? Sizzling Platter Steak with Pepper Gravy Sauce: Dish is pretty big. Comes with steak, noodles, egg, some broccoli with pepper gravy sauce all over. Steak is well seasoned and very soft. Cuts really easy. Pepper sauce is good and not too salty! Lamb Hot Pot (Served on the weekends only): Very large and broth is very tasty! Lots of stuff in it, lamb, tofu, veggies, corn, tofu skin, and more! Oyster Omelet: Only okay. I would skip this. read more

See all

I ate here on a Saturday at noon just before the big lunch crowd. Had the braised pork over rice, and popcorn chicken. They were so good! I love that nothing is overly salty, it's seasoned just right to me. Also tried the house special bubble milk tea. Another winner! Not too sweet, very delicious. Definitely coming back. read more

Kind of mediocre. Pop corn chicken is best, and the bubble tea is decent. However others are kind of disappointing. The beef noodle is plain and just a few slices of beef. Not enough blood and intestines in the hot pot for sure. The pork chop is quite dry, hard and lack of flavors. read more

See all

This place have limited parking, but a great place for an inexpensive meal. If you like Taiwanese food and boba tea then check this place out. I had the popcorn chicken over rice and it was delicious. It only costed me $8.95 plus tax. read more

Looking For Chai - Taiwanese Near Me - Bellevue, Washington

Great food and their service is great too. The place is small and can get crowded real fast. Portions are a great size for the price too.

We used to really like this place because of their authentic Taiwanese dishes, used to come lot for dine in. Something changed. They started deep frying ingredients/meat in Taiwanese dishes that should not be deep-fried! The taste in the dishes are also off! Like there three spice chicken. And the veggie we got today is tasteless as if they omitted salt. There King always stir mushroom with salted egg not only look different from the picture, it tasted horrible! Never happened before 2021. There was a Taiwanese waitress whose husband was the chef there, but we haven't seen her. The difference in how the dishes were made made me wonder if they had changed their chef! Really sad because we really loved this place before 2021! read more

Looking For Chai - King oyster mushroom with salted egg - Taste it horrible - Taiwanese Near Me - Bellevue, Washington

Very pleased with the menu options at this restaurant. I ordered a seafood hot pot, my husband the veggie one. Both were really delicious. Restaurant was modern and clean. Service was great. They were more than happy to explain how a hot pot works. We had done it a couple of times before, but were not regulars. Just one comment on the burners. If you keep them on, even low, the soup is much too hot! I ended up burning my mouth pretty badly, even after I waited a while. This was after we asked them if we should turn them off, and they turned them on low for us. I think they were worried that if we had shut the burners off right away, some of the ingredients wouldn't be cooked properly. We ended up turning them off anyway. The soup stayed really hot until the end of the meal. We definitely need to come back to try some of the dessert options. read more

Looking For Chai - Taiwanese Near Me - Bellevue, Washington

I really love coming here for lunch. It's usually pretty busy and you will have to wait 15 minutes at a busy dinner time. My favorite things to get are the mapo tofu, lurou fan, and squid with chives. The tastes are very good and keep me craving them. I have also tried their hotpot with the slightly sour broth which I really enjoyed. The boba is also very good. I like the 3 brothers boba. Overall very reasonably priced good food. I come here a lot. read more

Looking for Chai is one of my fav places to eat on the eastside! Serving classic dishes like popcorn chicken and braised pork rice, Looking for Chai always hits the spot when you have taiwanese cravings. Some of my fav menu items: - Homestyle egg tofu - Chicken steak w/ black pepper sauce - House special friend rice The staff is always friendly and service is fast. Also a great place for takeout! read more

Looking For Chai - Chicken steak with noodles - Taiwanese Near Me - Bellevue, Washington