This place is dark, old, and boring. I ordered a fried rice noodle dish and a oyster pancake. Both dishes were lukewarm, bland, and small. Even the tea was just warm. The rice noodle dish had very little pieces of pork. Total was almost $30, and we left feeling hungry. I feel like a fool. Yes I know all about the ongoing inflation. If you're going to cut corners here and there to save, you're going to drive away your customers. I'm eating out and paying big bucks for quality food, not just to fill up my stomach. read more

Who needs to go to Taiwan when you have the real Deal here?! I must concur with other Yelpers...this place has the most authentic sauces west of Taiwan! Trust me their chef has matched every dipping sauce to match the cuisine! Service was efficient and servers were friendly- another plus when you take into account how busy it was for a Sunday! Next time I will come with a larger group so we can try more of their selections! A "must return" from even my picky hubby! read more

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Service, Food and Cleanliness 5 stars Our first time here was a great experience. Will definitely come back to try other dishes. read more

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This is my family's go-to spot for Taiwanese food when we dine out. My relatives go a little bit too often, but when I'm invited I can never turn this place down! The food is authentic and the service has never failed. Before I stuff myself to the brim, I have to make sure I save space for at least a couple bowls of the shaved ice! read more

Taiwan Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Milpitas, California

Taiwan Cafe has gone through multiple location and name changes, but somehow I always find my way back to this place by some odd twist of fate. When I was little, they used to be located in the Milpitas Plaza with Lion's, McDonald's, Moongate Garden, etc. It was in the space that is currently occupied by Top Cafe. The food here is a Taiwanese/Hakka Fusion. Having a little Hakka in me, I know exactly what is considered authentic and surely this restaurant knows what they're doing. All the waiters, waitresses, and chefs are related so it's the epitome of family style. I have so many favorite dishes from this restaurant, but just to name a few are the Cherry Shrimp Fried Rice, Beef Noodle Soup, Green Onion Pancake, Stirfried Mi Fen (Vermicelli), and the Milk & Red Bean Shaved Ice. 1. Cherry Shrimp Fried Rice: So what exactly is "cherry shrimp"? It's the direct translation of the larger dried shrimp that Taiwanese usually eat as snacks. It's not the usual dried shrimp or xia mi that you use in Chinese cooking. Cherry Shrimp packs a lot more flavor, making the fried rice fragrant with every bite even if there's no shrimp. I am really picky about my rice, I don't like it too hard or mushy. It has to be the perfect consistency so that every grain of rice can be detected when you're eating it, or as the chinese would say "Q". What I like best about their fried rice is that it tastes like it came off a teppanyaki grill, not too oily or dry and packed with a slight grill flavor. 2. Beef Noodle Soup: The broth is excellent here and perfectly paired with the right amount of mustard greens. I usually don't care much for the beef that's in beef noodle soup, but their beef is so tender and melt-in-your-mouth with a balance of lean and fatty meat. A good beef soup isn't clear, but instead opaque because of long hours of brewing the meat so that the nutrients have steeped into the broth itself. 3. Green Onion Pancake: Like I always tell my mom,"Green onion pancake is supposed to be golden, not sickly pale. I came for green onion pancake, not some Asian rendition of a pale tortilla." This place makes sure that the whole pancake is golden yellow so I'm not happy during some parts of the pancake and disappointed during other parts. Delicious! 4. Stirfried Mi Fen (Vermicelli): You know that a restaurant knows what they're doing with vermicelli when it's not dry and packed with flavor. Most likely, they soak their vermicelli in broth rather than water before cooking. With a dash of chili sauce, this dish is pure perfection. 5. Milk & Red Bean Shaved Ice: In my family, my mother is notoriously picky about her red bean shaved ice. She loves a restaurant that takes the time and energy to actually cook their own red beans rather than pop open a can of store bought red beans that is usually sickeningly sweet. Taiwan Cafe opts to use a mixture of large and small red beans in their cooking process to ensure a balance of sweetness that's not overpowering when topped with brown sugar sauce and condensed milk. I usually ask them to hold on the condensed milk, just because I'm not a fan of condensed milk and they are happy to serve it the way you want it. If you don't know what you're doing when you come here, ask for recommendations. It's better to be safe than sorry with random ordering! read more

Taiwan Cafe - beef noodle soup - Chinese Near Me - Milpitas, California

We were here couple weeks ago with friends. Place was pretty busy, we were seated within 10 minutes. Taiwanese Style 3 Cup Chicken - a little disappointed because chicken is not bone-in, lost its authenticity. Chicken was tender, but not as flavorful as the one from Red Hot Wok. Fried Crispy Oyster - instead of the omelet, we opted for this Crispy Oyster. It was pretty good. Oysters were served hot and crispy, also came with a side of salt and pepper to enhance the flavor, oyster Portion was a bit small, its more like an appetizer size for $7.95. Beef with Green Onions - dish was a little on the salty side. Beef was a bit tough. Squid & Veggies in Salted Duck Egg Stir Fry - probably my favorite dish of the night. Right amount of salted duck egg, veggies were crisp, squid was perfect. Black Pepper Fish - fish was tender, definitely sizzling hot served on sizzling plate. Nothing special about this dish. Overall experience was good, I would probably come here again to try other dishes and their shaved ice. read more

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Wow, finally found an acceptable Taiwanese restaurant around where I live! I came here upon a friend's recommendation, and we came with a group of 6 on a weekend night. It was around half to two-thirds full when we arrived, and we got seated pretty quickly without a way. Our table shared the pig feet appetizer, which was okay. Honestly, the pig feet at Marina's food court is better than this, as the one at Marina more flavorful. They served a very garlicky soy-sauce based sauce here, but the meat itself didn't have much flavor. For the main dish, I got the pork chop noodle. The pork chop was pan-fried, and it was good! Not too much breading, and the meat was flavorful. The soup was also quite flavorful, as there were small meat pieces floating around in the soup. Also, there were enough vegetables, yay! For the noodles themselves, I would prefer more al dente noodles, but it was acceptable as was. For desert, we all shared the fen guo shaved ice. I don't really know what fen guo is, but it's clear and chewy; I thought it was tapioca, but my friend said it's not. It's covered in shaved ice and black sugar, and overall a very Taiwan-tasting dessert. The pricing is pretty fair as well; at $8.25 for my pork chop noodle, it was a lot of food and fairly priced. Wouldn't really recommend the pork feet, but the fen guo shaved ice (it's the first one listed on the menu under "Shaved Ice") is unique and tasty. Would recommend, and I will be coming back! read more

Had a pretty unsatisfying dinner at Taiwan Cafe tonight. It was our first time doing family style and kinda just ordered everything with a thumbs up symbol on the menu. Fried mantou: good but not amazing. Can't really go wrong with this dish and I liked it. Pork blood, intestine, and tofu hotpot: surprisingly the most flavorful and yummy; I didn't eat the pork blood but the tofu and intestine were good! Pork blood rice cake: didn't taste like pork blood and tasted more like radish cake which was a plus for me. Chow mien: pass on this. Tasted like your standard, $5 Chinese takeout. Oily and flavorless. Oyster omelette: sounds better than it tasted. 85% of the dish was cornstarch...you barely get any egg OR oyster Fried rice: kinda dry and didn't really stand out Sticky rice: pretty good and surprisingly flavorful Bittermelon dish: ok. Not too bitter and flavored with salted egg which counteracted some of the bitterness Bokchoy: Can't go wrong. A OK! Their dishes are kind of hit or miss :/ they do have a pretty extensive menu but overall, I wasn't too impressed with any of the dishes I tried. read more

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For this location, you expect reinforced steel bars married to each window and door. Which is why stepping in is such a surprise to see a well decorated and friendly atmosphere. But I'm not going to ramble on about design or decor. The menu is apt and service is quick. The food is better than most. I grew up eating Chinese food so it's rare now that as an adult for me to seek out Chinese food. And when that urge does strike, I usually never frequent the same Chinese restaurant again. In this case, I will be back to sample what else is on the menu. I chose two very conservative dishes. Pork fried rice and beef with green onions. The fried rice was fluffy and tasty. The beef (almost wrote beer) with green onions came out quite tender and surprisingly delicious. Strips of ginger were cooked into this meal making adding an addition of flavor that was unexpected, but nice. The only down side is they currently only accept cash. read more

Taiwan Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Milpitas, California

I like most of the food here although they are definitely not healthy considering how greasy and salty they are. To some extent they are quite authentic! My only complaint is that I ordered the desert soup (mi tai mu w/ green bean) and it tasted really weird. I realize they mixed BEAN SPROUTS up with mi tai mu.....I hope they watch carefully what they put in the desert soup next time..... read more

Taiwan Cafe - Mi-tai-mu (the thicker white noodles in the bowl) and one of the bean sprouts I found in the soup...... - Chinese Near Me - Milpitas, California

The service attitude is very good, it tastes like real Taiwanese food, and the price is approachable

Delicious and authentic Taiwanese food! Prices are reasonable, and the restaurant has a great atmosphere! (The outside doesn't look like much, but once you go inside, you'll be wowed. They really did a great job with the decorations.) Some recommendations (SEE PHOTOS): - Fu-zhou Fish Ball w/ Meat in Soup ($6): four gigantic meatballs made from fish paste and filled with flavorful meat. I think these are handmade; they taste WAY better than the fish paste w/ meat balls you get at Asian supermarkets - Five Spiced Roll ($6): chicken & other yummy stuff wrapped in dried tofu sheets and deep-fried. Eat with sweet chili sauce. YUM. - Mi Tai Mu ($6): handmade rice flour noodles. You can get these with or without soup; we got it with soup (came with meat and a boiled tea egg as well) and it was pretty good. - Egg w/ Basil ($6): crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. Plus BASIL! Tastes really good; might not be worth the price though. - Braised Pork Feet ($8) - Glutinous Rice w/ Meat in Bowl ($4): I actually didn't like this very much, but my dad (who is Taiwanese) said it reminded him of the kind my grandma used to make - so it must be pretty authentic Taiwanese - Squid Thick Soup ($6): squid & fish paste, along with carrots, bamboo, mushrooms, etc. in very thick soup. Good for squid lovers! I'll definitely be coming back to try their other dishes! Might bring along my grandma too :) read more

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Long lines! The wan luan pork hock is delicious but super sinful with all the fats. Sauteed vegetables are good, but you can't really go wrong with that. I liked their house special mi tai mu and the noodle with preserved eggs and ground pork sauce. Prices are reasonable. Service is slow :( read more

Have being craving for a properly cooked pork hock dish since I found Taiwan Cafe on Yelp. We came here for a Saturday lunch and it was a very pleasant experience. We shared the following food among three of us:- Wan Luan Pork Hock - added vermicelli Basil Large intestine Oyster Pan Cake Ground pork over rice Basil eggplant All what we ordered were flavorful, properly seasoned. Highly recommend. All the food came shortly after our order, the service was very smooth. read more

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As someone born in Taiwan, I love this place for authentic Taiwanese vibes. My family has very fond memories eating here. Food is delicious.

This is truly a Gem in the area. The food is exceptional and the service is top notch. If you love Taiwanese food... you owe it to yourself to give it a try!!! You will be amazingly surprised... read more

Beware that this restaurant charges you an additional 5% if you want to pay by credit card. Food is OK, a bit overpriced for Chinese food. Probably tried it once and that's enough. read more

My Mom was craving a quick Taiwanese snack before our movie date and we found Taiwan Cafe on the top of the Yelp list. The place was full of excited and hungry patrons, "people mountain people sea." There were beautiful Taiwanese mural paintings on the wall and authentic wooden benches. Despite being really hectic, the staff did their best to be welcoming and patient. In addition to having traditional Taiwanese food, we were pleasantly surprised to see this place offer Hakka (客家) dishes. The Taiwanese Style Rice Noodle (台式炒米粉), Hakka Delight (客家小炒), Fried Tofu and Simmered Pig's Ear brought back nostalgic memories. Although the dishes are not exactly identical to the homeland, it does have some resemblance. I look forward to visiting Taiwan Cafe again whenever I am in town, and will try some of their stir fry and noodle selection. read more

Taiwan Cafe - Pre-movie Taiwanese snack! Tofu tastes best when hot! - Chinese Near Me - Milpitas, California

A very clean place. Both of us like the service and decorations here. We are satisfied with the food. Will come back Cash only before $20. read more

Taiwan Cafe - Pork hook over rice. Love it - Chinese Near Me - Milpitas, California

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This restaurant has very good and authentic Taiwanese food! The servers are extremely friendly and nice to work with. Highly recommended

This place has delicious Taiwanese food! I highly recommend the meatball dish. There is a chewy gelatin layer surrounding the meatball, and it is doused in a red sauce. One meatball can be shared between two people. Service is OK here. After all the food is served, the waitresses stop coming to your table. You will have to flag them down to get the bill. read more

I enjoyed this place with coworkers, they all loved it. we ordered: fried bread with condensed milk mi tai mu noodle soup fried tofu with salted egg basil chicken, squid, large intestine fried chicken, squid, pork blood, string bean oyster pancake Everything we ordered was delicious. Their food is consistent each time I come. They must have a really good fryer and the fried tofu with salted egg is a crowd favorite. The mi tai mu in soup is such a good comfort noodle soup. if you pay cash, it's extra 5% off. so for 6 dishes, with tax and tip without the discount it's about $14-15 per person (5 people). read more

If you love three-cup intestine with basil, you have to try this dish. There are many reasons that Taiwanese food is so delicious! read more

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I was recommended by a family member. So, I stopped by for a really quick snack before my flight. The food was tasty but the atmosphere was missing the genuine Taiwanese touch. The blood pudding soup tasted good but it was buried in shredded ginger. The house-special "Wan Luan Pork Hock" looked fat, but it was not greasy at all. I wish I could find something like this in Houston. After reading majority of reviews here, I think the best time to go is after the lunch rush. Just thinking about the tasty dishes, it made me want to go back. read more

Delicious Taiwanese food at a remote plaza in Milpitas. Great service and the price is reasonable. Recommended dishes: Pork hock - juicy and tender Taiwanese style oyster pan fry Beef noodle soup Sure will go back for the rest of their menu. read more

Taiwan Cafe - Soft and juicy pork hock. Delicious. - Chinese Near Me - Milpitas, California

Pork hock: this dish is delicous!! Tender and well marinated meat. Goes well with the pork fat. Oyster pancake: too much flour and too little egg and oysters read more

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Food to eat as snack or a meal: - Pingtung meat ball - Taiwanese style oyster pan fry - Fried rice with dried shrimp - Fried pork chop over rice - Beef noodle soup Food to eat with steamed rice: - Basil fish fillet - MIT beef stir fry - Black bean oyster tofu - Pork blood, intestine and tofu in hotpot Dessert - Fen guo in brown sugar with shaved ice on the top All in all, the dishes were more authentic Taiwanese and they were well-prepared and delicious! My favorite would be the oyster pan fry, fried rice with dried shrimp, basil fish fillet, MIT beef stir fry (MIT? = Made in Taiwan... lol) and the fen guo dessert. No matter how full we get, there's always room for this dessert! For getting non-snack like foods to eat with steam rice, the MIT beef stir fry and the basil fish fillet were great! The dishes were fragrant, flavorful and really appetizing. and Although the pork blood, intestine and tofu hot pot is one of my favorite items to order from Chinese restaurants but it was just okay here. Looking forward to my next visit to this great local Taiwanese restaurant! read more

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Came here expecting some authentic Taiwan food. Ordered a beef roll, dry noodles, and other traditional Taiwanese plates. The food that they brought out was cold and not fresh. My mom told them to give us a fresh plate and they refused, even tried to argue with us. We tried to stomach what we got but ended up leaving the food basically untouched. There was too much MSG, salt, and oil. Bad service and equally terrible food. Would not recommend to a friend read more

I always come here for lunch with my coworkers, and we all pretty much love this place. My coworker usually orders for all of us, and his choices usually hit the spot. The first thing I have to get here is their hot and sour soup! I love it!!! One of our must-haves also includes the salt and pepper sizzling fish plate and their chow mien. 2 fish plates if we must! Everything has been good so far, even their simple fried garlic tofu was delicious. We frequent this restaurant at least once a month if anything. Fast service, and affordable prices! Also 5% off if you pay with cash! read more

Not bad, service was pretty fast but the wait staff doesn't smile :( Food was pretty good, their noodle soups were really good actually. Their small dishes were OK. We got pig's ear, pig's feet, five season chicken, tofu, blood soup and something else. They were all decent and nothing really stood out to be spectacular. Their facade is very antiquated and looks like a conversion from a Mexican restaurant that was previously in that spot. But they've changed the decor enough so that it has an Asian feel for it... out in the dessert. Their prices are very reasonable and it's a good place to go if you're into that Taiwanese cafe type of food. What they do lack is the selection in drinks, boba, tea or coffee. It'd be nice if they had a more extensive selection of drinks. Their Thai Tea was pretty good, not overly sweet. Their menu is very confusing. Most of it being in Chinese, obviously, but what was there in English was a poor description and indicator of what the dishes really were. I'd go again but I wish I had a better idea of what I would be ordering rather than having the wait staff explain everything to me. They also have no air conditioning, I think, because they have a big fan blasting all day. Overall, pretty good experience and I'd go back... read more

I saw the review and went with my in-laws today for the first time. Love the deco of this place, very rustic and tastefully done, with benches and fake exposed brick art on the wall to simulate the eating experience in Taiwan. The food was pretty good. We ordered braised pork rice (Lu Rou Fan) for the children, and the both LOVED it, and my children are hard people to please! Unfortunately, the portion was too small for 2 kids to share, and they didn't like anything else that we ordered: Fried oyster cake (pretty good but sauce was too sweet for my taste), house famous hog feet (excellent), seaweed (way too salty), dry hakka bantiao (tasty and light), dry hakka mitaimak (unchewable), deep fried pork with bean thread noodle (ok), and fried A veggie (good and fresh). My in-laws liked it and said that it's quite authentic. They know what they're talking about because they are from Taiwan. I will definitely come back again. read more

My coworker brought me to this taiwan restaurant. He recommends gaomi pork feet, cold bamboo roots, beef noodle and one more dish (I can't remember). The pork feet is my favorite. I like the skin part especially. The bamboo root doesn't have any flavors. The beef noodle tastes like other restaurant. read more

Taiwan Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Milpitas, California

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The food was okay... The waiter recommended all of the dishes. I felt like there was not enough taste in any of the dishes. In one of the pork intestine dishes, there were lots of ginger but I couldn't even taste them. The shaved ice dessert was also meh. read more

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Had the "PIG's FEET w RICE" and was very happy with it. The pig's feet was crisp, and the sauce was so good. The bamboo shoot side was also very good. The service and interior decoration was also very nice. read more

I really wanted to like this place, because it's so hard to find a good Taiwanese restaurant. Must've been what I ordered. I've tried it before they moved their location, but their menu has changed somewhat. It's been years. I tried their pork hock, which I assumed to be their signature dish since that's what their restaurant is named in Chinese. It was good, and I appreciated that it wasn't too fatty. I don't know why but I ordered the beef noodle soup. Don't get it. I highly advise against it. The beef was kind of tough, nothing special about the noodles, and the broth was meh. It does feed 2-3 people though. I absolutely love oyster pancakes, but I was very unsure if I should even attempt to try it here. I should probably keep it simple next time and order items that you can't possibly mess up. Then again, I didn't think beef noodle soup was that complicated. I really wish they had stinky tofu (or did they, and I missed it?). read more

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I ate here last night with my family, this is a great restaurant for traditional Taiwanese food. I've been here a few times and this place never disappoints, a few dishes I recommend is the oyster panfried egg, popcorn chicken, chicken twists, beef shank rice combo. The service was terrific and they know what ingredients are used in a dish. I tried the sticky rice mixed with pork blood for the first time and it was very tasty (the thought of pork blood really turned me off initially). They accommodate larger parties as well as small parties, there are booths as well for privacy. My family and I ordered a about 12 dishes and the total was about $140. But for the taste and the quantity it was well worth it. Must try the apple cidra soda, I've never had this soda before in the Sacramento location so it was nice to experience something new. I've also attached some photos of things to show the server when you order, as well as the renown sticky rice pork blood dish. read more

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Tough to get good authentic Taiwanese food around here. This place gets close with the oyster pancakes and mince pork over rice.

I was really impressed with the selections on the menu, but the quality of food was more than disappointing. We got: 1) 3-cup 3-flavor. Supposedly duck tongue, squid and intestines. For $12.95, I'd expect it's at least the portion of a shabu-shabu. Guess what, not only is it just a mid-size bowl with really scarce distribution of intestines, there also wasn't any duck tongue. I was told they ran out of it. But what was I recommended this dish in the first place if you don't even have all the ingredient. Does duck tongue taste like chicken to you? 2) Wan Luan pork knuckle. Again, it's a huge disappointment considering it's the "house special". I'm 200% sure the knuckles are not fresh, and was heated up to lukewarm when ordered. The gelatinous knuckle was definitely on the hard and chewy side, tasting like it could use another hour of slow stew. The garlic sauce that came with the meat had an overwhelmingly high doze of sodium. It numbed my tongue. If you are a fatty pork fan like me, look somewhere else. Cause this place is not going to give you that creamy texture and explosively meaty orgasm on your taste bud. 3) Fried egg with oyster. Honestly it's above average among Taiwanese restaurants that I've tried. Pretty decent portion of oyster and right amount of starch. It's probably my favorite dish tonight. 4) Garlic A veggie. Very refreshing considering how much salt were used in the rest of the dishes. In general, all the dishes I had were for some reason extremely salty. It could be there off night but definitely doesn't live up to the hype. read more

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Awesome Taiwan-style restaurant. Their pig feet is a must-try. You can tell the owner put a lot effort on decoration. Stuff are very friendly. Just a little bit expensive for such small dishes. read more

Taiwan Cafe - Pig feet, pig ears and Taiwan sausage - Chinese Near Me - Milpitas, California

1pm on Sunday, they don't let customers take the seats and ask people to wait when there are tones of seats open. The reason is that you don't have enough people to make the 4, 6 persons table. We are not talking about a 12 persons table. And it's not busy around the time. Yep, keep up with ur unreasonable rule and we will never visit again. read more