My dining companion had recently come here with some other folks and said the food was worth checking out. I agree, but think a few adjustments could be made. We tried a variety of dishes, from their pork buns, to the wonton in chili sauce, and the stir fried pork with vegetables with spring pancakes. That last one was my favorite of the three. The stir fried pork dish was generous and hearty. The pork was cooked well and you could tell they didn't try to prolong the life of it by marinating it in baking soda to tenderize it. I really am not a fan of restaurants that do that. It's lazy and you can literally taste it. They also showed restraint by not over-saucing the dish. When you include the cucumber and scallions...yum! The pancake that you use to wrap it all in is nice and thin, completing the dish perfectly. The only thing that mars that dish and the others is that they're a bit over-salted. Not to the point of being inedible, but you definitely need a heaping amount of rise to temper it. If they can tone that down, it would be one step closer to being 5 stars. That is one of the main reasons I would say to stay away from the wontons. The salt overpowers the dish so much you can't taste anything else. Din Tai Fung is hands down the winner with that dish. I think they've changed owners at some point and you can tell with the food and the staff. The servers are pleasant and efficient. The restaurant is nice and clean. The price point seems to be higher than most, but at least the dishes a proportionate to the cost so that you don't feel cheated. If they can dial down the salt factor, I'll happily come back. read more

One of the best Chinese restaurants I've had in OC! Growing up in SGV I've grown up with some of the best Chinese food, and was struggling to find a good spot in OC. Most places I've found were overpriced and underwhelming. This spot is the first spot I've found that has truly authentic Chinese food that I grew up with at fair prices. Not only do they have your normal dumplings and buns, they have some of my favorite childhood dishes that were harder to find as well. We ordered the braised pork, wintermelon spareribs pot, kung pao chicken, pork and shepards purse bun, pork and cabbage dumplings, sautéed potato & green pepper & eggplant, and fried udon noodle with beef, and wok fried spicy pot cauliflower and let me tell you there was not a SINGLE bad dish! Everything was incredibly flavorful and delicious. My favorites were the eggplant and the wintermelon spareribs pot. I can understand some of the comments on the service, sometimes a reminder was needed, but the food makes up for it twofold and the waitresses were overall very kind and friendly. The restaurant itself is cozy, but spacious and not too hectic which made is a perfect space to catch up with friends. Highly recommend! Will definitely be my new go to spot for Chinese food. read more

Even though there's absolutely no shortage of trendy and popular eateries in Irvine (and OC at-large), there was something about Tai Chi Cuisine that just called out to us. In part because it reminded me of so many of the eateries I come across in in the Bay Area, but also because we love places like this. Of course, it didn't hurt that the photos of their Braised Pork Rice Bowl looked so good on Yelp! Inside, the restaurant doesn't look all that special, but I love how relatively new and clean everything felt. What's more, even though we saw a steady stream of folks walk in ahead of us both times we came here, we've never had to wait for a table, as they have a good amount of seating to offer. As for the menu, it's on the simple side, but there's a good mix of dishes and options to choose from - breakfast options, buns, dumplings/wonton, appetizers, soups, noodle soups, dry noodle dishes, rice bowls, cold dishes, stir-fried dishes, and a bunch of Sichuan-Hunan specialties. They also might have a hot pot offering as well, but we didn't see it/try it since we were here for a late breakfast. -- SOY TOFU PUDDING This looked terrific when it came out, but it tasted more solid than spectacular. Although the portion size was great and the tofu part was good, I wish there was more meat in this and it had a stronger savory element. -- CHINESE CURELLER/DONUT To be honest, this looked almost artificial when it first came out, but it was actually great. The donut was a nice, golden brown, the dough wasn't dense, and the texture was great - crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Plus, it wasn't the least bit oily! -- CHINESE SAVORY CREPE Pretty solid overall. Although a few of the slices of beef were a touch dry, they tasted great and were complemented well by the eggs, hoisin sauce, and the seasoning on it. Plus, the crepe had a nice texture to it - crisp with a slight chew. -- FRIED PORK BUN Ehh...these were fine, I guess. Sadly, the bottoms looked more burnt than browned and the buns themselves felt a little bready. Still, I liked how soft they were and the filling had a nice bit of porkiness. -- WONTONS IN CHICKEN SOUP While it may not be an exciting dish, this was actually my favorite thing here. There was a generous amount of wontons, which were juicy and had a lot of shrimp in it, and the soup was so warm and comforting. -- PORK & SHRIMP DUMPLINGS Pretty standard, but not necessarily in a bad way - it tasted the way it should. Every dumpling was plump and I liked that the skins weren't very thick. As for the filling, it could've been juicier, but it was largely fine otherwise. -- BRAISED PORK RICE BOWL Just like most of the dishes we've tried, this wasn't bad, but it amaze like we hoped it would. At a glance, this looked great and came with a lot of braised pork. That being said, most of the chunks were super fatty and I wish there had been more of the sauce. Based purely on the food, Tai Chi Cuisine is decent enough of a spot, but it's hard to look past the service issues we've had. The first time we stopped in, the servers were efficient, but we have had to ask multiple times for things that don't always get delivered. For example, during our most recent visit, they never gave us the white pepper we asked for nor the Stir Fried String Beans we had ordered. Thankfully, we didn't have any problems getting the latter taken off our bill, but it was ironic that the one who did it for us at the register was also the one who told us twice that she would come back with our dish. All in all, I can certainly see why folks might like some of the dishes we had, but I can't say that anything that we tried really set itself apart from what you can find elsewhere. As such, THREE AND A HALF STARS for the food feels about right, but easily rounded down for the service. read more

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This restaurant is one of my family and I's go to and we always rotate back to it! Whether it's for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it always hits the spot ! The atmosphere of the restaurant is chill and specious with good service. The food is consistent and flavors are good as well! The menu has many items so we are able to try a new dish each time! read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - Breakfast - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

This place is not it. I took my mom here because she was craving asian food and she did not like the food at all. We had the fried rice and beef noodle soup which were bland. Also, the utensils are a cheap plastic which I would not recommend be used in hot soup. The restaurants itself is located in a plaza near the entrance with a lot of other restaurants and an Asian supermarket. Parking can be difficult around lunch and dinner so if you do come, please plan accordingly. For this particular restaurant, there are booths along the sides with tables in the middle. When seated, you can see the menu and order via a QR code located on each table. Besides the food, the service was pretty much nonexistent. The staff are all standing around the kitchen talking loudly to each other and it's impossible to get any service unless you walk up to them and then wait for them to finish their convo. The only time any staff approached our table (besides dropping off food) was when they brought the check. Then they are all smiles and compliments as they have you pay and give tip on a electronic device that they hold onto. It wasn't a good experience dining here and I wouldn't come back to this location again. read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

A Chinese food spot that has all the good items. I would definitely come back to try their other dishes! I had: 1. Pork buns 2. Shrimp dumplings 3. Fried rice 4. Winter melon soup with vermicelli 5. Fried pork meat 6. Orange chicken 7. Green beans with pork 8. Mochi soup 9. Steamed fish read more

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The food here is 10/10!!!! My favorite dish is braised pork & fermented veggies & this is one of the first spots I've tried that has it on the menu! It took a little time to come out, but I know how intricate this dish is so I understand. The pork was so tender, juicy, & flavorful! Paired with rice is my favorite meal! The pork buns were good! They came out fresh & hot! Scallion pancake was ok - a little oily. Spicy Wontons were great! I loved the Sichuan sauce it was in! I would definitely come again! There was so much seating too! read more

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We came here for breakfast this morning and was pleasantly surprised by the early morning hours. Seated ourselves at a booth and ordered: 1) intestine stir fry with bell peppers and onions - this was tasty and would recommend to others 2) pork belly stir fry with peppers - good flavor 3) pork buns - decent 4) 2 bowls of rice 5) beef noodle soup - good enough Well lit and fast service. Clean restroom. read more

Wow way better than expected no wonder they've survived in that competitive plaza for so long. We got the two dishes labeled (must try) and (chef recommend) and that was a good idea. Vibe gives random chinese entree paired with rice. The twice cooked pork was so crispy and sweet and went really well with rice. The pork and pepper stir fry was also surprisingly good, I don't usually like that dish but it was executed amazingly the pork perfectly cut through the spicy peppers so it wasn't too spicy. As of this style of restaurant, don't expect good service, and you probably want your best chinese speaker doing the communication. read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - Sautéed pork and chillis - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

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Establishment is busy and clean. Staff was professional and courteous. We ordered the 1. Braised beef rice - flavorful, rich meaty 2. Beef and onion bun - fluffy, juicy bun 3. Beef burrito - good flavor with beef, could use more sauce 4. Braised beef noodle soup - mildly spicy, tender beef, soft noodles 5. Cucumber with garlic sauce - refreshing, lightly spicy 6. Winter melon spareribs pot - tender spareribs, soft winter melon with a clean, rich soup flavor 7. Fried rice noodle with beef - soft, oily noodle with some flavor 8. Chinese savory crepes - sweet and salty fried dough sticks, very filling TLDR: Excellent service, good food, great establishment, good value. Would recommend! read more

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First the good things about this restaurant. We had the shrimp dumplings and the orange chicken. The dumplings were very good although there could have been more seasonings in the broth. The orange chicken was the best orange chicken dish we have ever had! It was very delicious. The interior of the restaurant was clean and attractive. Now for the bad. While we were eating one of the workers was mopping the floor. As long as there are customers in the restaurant, that should not happen. Also, the women were very polite, but it was very hard to communicate with them since they didn't understand English much. I know a lot of customers who frequent this establishment probably understand their language, but they really should take a class in English before they are able to work. They did seem very nice. read more

definitely found a hidden gem in Irvine for northern chinese food! they have all day breakfast items, noodles, stir fried dishes, dumplings, etc! what i ordered: * stir fried pork with chili peppers * steamed fish fillet * sichuan style boiled beef in chili * shredded dried tofu the fish was super tender and the spice level for the beef wasn't overpowering. portion was also pretty nice, i would come to try some of their other dishes next time read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

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Food was decent. The egg fried rice was my favorite dish out of everything. Service was pretty much non existent, we had to ask for water at least 3 times. The worst part had to be the worker who probably took 5 smoke breaks in the timeframe that I was there. They left the door open each time so the restaurant smelled of smoke REALLY badly. It was awful. Trying to eat food and you get a taste of an ash trash. read more

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Man the dumplings with mustard greens are insane. Also had pork jowl with peppers and black beans. Terrific. Easily my fave OC Chinese. read more

Love coming here. One of my go to spots to get dumplings and noodles and rice dishes. Wish I could come more often. Service is great and people are friendly. The restaurant is well lit and clean. read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

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Went to this place craving for some dumplings. Ordered take out through their kiosk and I got a text indicating our orders will be done in 20 minutes. 30 minutes passed and I still don't have my orders so I went to the counter. Long and behold, our orders were done. I was waiting for my number to be called but I guess they don't do that. I ordered pork buns and they were good but the beef burrito was the best. I also ordered a deep fried dough sticks but that was ok It was worth a try read more

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Flavorful Buns & Friendly Service - A Hidden Gem! I stopped by Tai Chi Cuisine and was pleasantly surprised by how good everything was--especially their beef and onion buns! These are a must-try--super soft, flavorful, and the perfect size for a snack (my kids loved them too!). The service is warm and welcoming--you can tell the staff genuinely cares. The restaurant is very clean, which I always appreciate, and the takeout process is smooth and efficient--great for busy days when you want something tasty on the go. Whether you're a fan of classic Chinese snacks or just looking for something new, this spot is worth checking out. I'll definitely be back to try more from their menu! read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - Need &Beef And Onion Bun(6 Pcs) 6, Egg Fried Rice, Beef And Onion Dumplings and Ira - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

The food was good as always. We ordered takeout for the family and had a great time. When I was waiting in the store, the workers Chinese aunties were chatting up with me, it made me feel like home! They seemed pretty overwhelmed with the online orders, so I did have to go up to them and ask about my order. This could be an even better place is service is improved! I've been here numerous times and they are always very down to earth, but I can see why people have a problem with the service, they don't really come up to you, or seat you, or check in on you, that could be a problem if you are running a restaurant instead of a food court. I hope the owner sees this. Overall, it's a great spot if you are craving for some dumplings and noodles. My fav is the grilled cold noodles! read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - 烤冷面，煎饼果子，包子，牛肉面，牛肉卷饼 - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

服務態度不好。小費不是要看服務好壞來決定給多少嗎？這家店不是。 當我付現金店家自己扣20%小費。我覺得這家店不老實。 This store service is not good or I should say there are no service . When I try to pay cash they automatically deduct 20%service tips out of my bill . Very disappointed read more

I just love dim sum. I found myself in Irvine needing to go to a Chase bank around lunchtime. As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw two Chinese restaurants and one Japanese restaurant. I yelped and decided to go to this restaurant. It absolutely did not disappoint. Firstly, the fact that I was the only Caucasian English speaking Customer in this restaurant for the hour I was there with everyone else being Chinese made me know I had hit a great spot. Following a Yelp reviewer, I ordered the cold cucumber salad, vegetable steamed buns, and hot pork dumplings. Everything was excellent. Servers were eager to please. Having ordered those three dishes. I am of course taking home at least half of every dish for another meal. Pricing is similar to other dim sum/Chinese restaurants. It is very clean looking inside. read more

Great food and excellent service! Everything was fresh, flavorful, and came out quickly. The staff were friendly and welcoming, and the restaurant was clean and comfortable. I'll definitely come back again! read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - Jian bing - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

We've visited Tai Chi Cuisine in the past and not only was the food unmemorable, but the service was lousy even by Chinese restaurant standards. It's no surprise that we haven't returned in years so we were pleasantly surprised during a recent visit by all the changes - a new and much more extensive menu and improved service from different servers. Described on Google as a "casual eatery offering authentic Chinese favorites including buns and pancakes", we quite enjoyed their scallion pancakes, leek cakes (although my recommendation would be to cut the chives smaller), the dumplings and the fried pork buns. Unfortunately we will never be ordering the Wonton in Chili Sauce and an overly sweet shredded pork dish ever again. The biggest wins were the Sautéed Matsusaka Pork with Chili Peppers which was bathed in oily goodness and all the cold dishes we tried - pig ear with chili sauce, shredded potatoes and shredded beans. With so much more to try off their expanded menu, we'll def be back! read more

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I live in the Bay Area and there's really no good Chinese food there. Coming to LA and OC area is truly a nice experience for my stomach. Food so good here. Tai Chi has all the food I grew up with and every dish we ordered was so good. We had soy milk and the sugar level was perfect. We had sesame mochi ball soup and it was very delicate. We had spring roll with meat dish and the spring roll was perfectly made. Finally we had the Chinese donut and tea eggs and both were very authentic. Thanks for giving me a piece of motherland here in California, Tai Chi. read more

Breakfast options are good and nice that you can also order off the lunch items. Really enjoyed the pork buns, and pork and eggplant noodles (was hesitant to order at first). Food was 4.4 stars and service was about 4. Would recommend for a tasty and casual meal read more

I'm sooo Surpised to find such an authentic Chinese restaurant that has all kinds of food of Northern China! The Steamed Small Bao's! , The Spring wrapper -Wrapped with Bei-Jing Sauce pork strings , Sweet and Sour pork spareribs ! Fresh Soybean Milk , Fresh Soy Curd :" ToFu Nao"! Ground Beef Fried Pan cake ! Stewed Lamb's Sprine! Szechuan Style Mungbean starch sheetSalad! Beef wrapped fried cake ! North Eastern style Sour Cabbage Hot pot ! It is too delicious for me to describe anymore I'm so satisfied to speechless! I think this is a Mazda if you like Western from China! It is just authentic and delicious! Inexpensive as well! read more

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The food tasted authentic northern Chinese. Their waitress worked very hard, explaining each dish to us, even though English is their second language. We thoroughly enjoyed it. read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

This is my family's go-to spot for northern Chinese food. You have the option to either order in person or through a QR code/online menu that you scan at the table. The dishes come out fairly quickly and are all very good. Their food is made up of a lot of simple ingredients that are put together into very tasty and satisfying dishes. As a side note, if you order anything with leeks in it, they will give you a generous amount of them in the dish. The restaurant is for the most part clean and they use disposable utensils. There have been several occasions where I've gone and either parts of the table or the chairs were sticky. This last time that we went, there was a family with a dog sitting on one of the chairs and the dog was eating off of the chair which didn't seem the most sanitary. read more

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A simple order made me so stressed out. I accidentally made an order for today rather than this weekend and needed to cancel it. The person on the phone couldn't speak English, and I somehow got an agreement that they would wait until Saturday to cook it, but that I would have to call again. I didn't know how to cancel it via the website, but she reassured me that they could make it when I needed it. Later I received a confirmation that it is ready for pick up via text message. I called again later tonight to double check that it wasn't made today. This is where the customer service was terrible and now I'm worried that I'm out $71 because nobody on their staff speaks English. I tried to explain why I was calling, and after some time of me talking, she hung up. This was probably a different person because I could tell she had a Southern Chinese accent. I will not be ordering from here again. This entire ordeal was so stressful and I am going to contest this charge with my credit card company. It's not worth the hassle if the staff can't communicate in English or at least try. read more

Love love love ¡La comida aquí es muy riquísima y los meseros son muy agradables! También el restaurante es muy bonito. read more

Delicious food here! Large selection of dishes. Food was brought out quickly. Lots of seating. Stand out dishes for me were the braised pork and the golden soup with fish. Really nice staff and management as well. They were very attentive. (English is not their first language, so there may be some trying to understand each other.) Lots of parking in a large lot shared with other businesses. read more

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Excellent customer service, and clean restaurant. Great selection of food. Highly recommended.

Service here is crazy.. tons of people in the restaurant early in the morning and it's impossible to flag down an employee and lines wrapped up the front with no clear indication of where or what to do next. We placed our order via QR code which was sufficient but after your order arrives, good luck finding a worker to help you. Ordered the shrimp fried rice which bland, spicy wontons was mediocre (the skin was too thick), but the pickled fish soup was ginormous and quite tasty. This restaurant is loud as heck with employees yelling and overall abundance of customers. Overall I can see why reviewers complain about service because it's definitely lacking read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - Shrimp Fried Rice was bland and needed more flavor - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

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Here's a clean, natural, and well-structured English version of the full bad review, incorporating all the points you've mentioned so far (confusing phone ordering, no staff help, system failures like no verification text/can't place order, cheap plastic disposables, and overall poor experience): Recommended English review (for Yelp, Google Reviews, etc.): The food was just okay--nothing special, but edible. However, the entire dining experience was extremely frustrating and poorly executed. They rely completely on a phone-based ordering system (scan QR code or app), with basically zero staff assistance. Servers are nowhere to be found during the meal--they only appear at the very end to take payment and collect tips. It feels like self-service with extra steps and no real service. Even worse, the system is unreliable. I had issues where I couldn't receive the verification text/SMS code, and at other points I simply couldn't proceed with placing the order. When that happens, you're completely stuck--there's no backup option, no staff to help troubleshoot, and no one seems to care or know how to fix it. It turned what should have been a simple meal into a stressful ordeal. On top of the tech problems, they use the cheapest plastic disposable utensils and tableware everywhere. It looks and feels low-quality, makes everything taste cheaper, and is blatantly wasteful and not eco-friendly at all. For a Chinese restaurant, this level of cost-cutting really cheapens the whole vibe. I would not recommend this place to anyone. Between the confusing/unreliable ordering system, total lack of service, and low-end disposables, it's a hard pass. There are plenty of better options out there. Shorter version (if you want it more concise/snappy): Food: average at best.Ordering system: confusing and broken--no staff help, have to do everything on your phone. Couldn't get verification code multiple times and couldn't even place the order. No support when it fails.Service: nonexistent except for collecting payment + tip.Utensils: cheap plastic disposables--feels low-end and super wasteful.Overall: strongly do not recommend. Avoid. read more

The food here is so yummy! The service here was very friendly and we were seated very fast. The place itself is clean with lots of seating.their chicken soup wontons were my favorite.i love how you can see them making the egg pancake crepes in front of you. Thjs plave also has a large parking lot in front that makes it convenient. I can't wait to be back to try the rest of their dishes (: read more

Tai Chi Cuisine - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

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Great food and good service. I like the leek dumplings cause they are very savory and easy to eat.

Great food and ambiance. We were here for work and stopped for dinner. Very nice experience.

We ordered a pork bone and baozi, they all very yammy, especially the huixiang pork baozi are soo good, very juicy and delicious. Haven't had huixiang for years, feel back to town in China. Self order service through the phone. The dinning environment is clean over all. Will be back when we visit Irvine again. read more

The food is either too salty or too sweet. As a native of Northeast China, I found the Northeastern dishes here highly unauthentic and poorly executed. On top of that, the prices are quite steep. Definitely not worth it！ read more

Great place for breakfast featuring authentic dishes from the Tianjin region of China. We went to this plaza because we thought Yu's would be open but the Yelp hours were wrong - they were closed Sunday morning at 8 am. We saw Tai Chi open across the way though and decided to try it out. Hubby was very happy with the soy milk and how it wasn't overly sweetened. He enjoyed the wraps as well. My noodle soup was phenomenal and was seasoned extremely well. The weakest item were the tea eggs, which were nowhere marinated enough on the inside. Service was pretty accommodating and we like the ordering process. No fuss, no muss. read more

The fried cruller was really delicious, but a bit overpriced for a piece of fried dough lol. Their signature jianbingguozi is yummy and pretty authentic. The porridge came out cold, and the tea egg wasn't marinated for long enough. read more

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