Since I wanted to go somewhere else besides Simbala and Sinbala, we came to Uncle Chen's. Located in a strip mall with tons of parking, this restaurant was a pleasant surprise.
We were greeted warmly by the waitress and sat down at one of the many tables. It was around 8:30 pm so there weren't that many customers. More food for me!
Since we were starving, we ordered way more food than we could eat. But, got a decent selection.
Sticky bamboo rice with dried pork sung. Hmm.. not really either of our faves, but it had an interesting texture. I liken it to sticky rice, but in a different shape.
Stewed tofu and seaweed: This was good, but you really gotta like seaweed and tofu. Otherwise, you'll probably be like ehhh.. not so much. I liked it, as did he, but we didn't love it.
Ong choy: Yeah! We both liked the veggie dish. How can you screw up Ong Choy? It's basically spinach, but with a much lighter flavor. It's just so damn good with a touch of garlic and stir fried in oil.
Wonton Soup: Huge wontons, good broth. I liked the lettuce in the broth. It was good, but not the best wonton soup I've had.
Pumpkin Rice Noodle: Yep, my favorite dish of the evening. Oh come on. You faithful readers know I'm a sucker for pumpkin mifun. Huge portion with good pieces of pumpkin, cabbage and tiny bits of shrimp. Bravo!
All this cost around $30. Cash only. Tell me where you can get all this food on the westside for the same price. McDonald's does not count!
I'd definitely come back. And the service was nice, so even better! A bit slow at times though, but I'll forgive that since my friend finally knows the difference between Chinese and Taiwanese food.
Verdict: Taiwanese food rules!
Uncle Chen's Taiwanese Cusine
529 E Valley Blvd, #178A
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 288-5778
7 comments:
this place says they use organic ingrediens and no MSG? Iunno. I kinda like MSG sometimes...
have you tried the oyster pancakes here?
no, not a big fan of oyster pancakes. too gooey for me.
too bad this place did not have scallion pancakes.
Do you like Uncle Chen's or Sinbala better?
And I just realized something -- I have never eaten at a Taiwanese restaurant other than DTF. That's got to change
I'll be in SGV area twice this holiday weekend, and hopefully I can make a run for Sinbala or maybe this place. I really want to try some pumpkin rice noodles.
Sinbala for sure! you have to try their pumpkin noodles. way better than uncle chen's. but, there is no wait at uncle chen's.
Pumpkin-anything is the bees knees!
I tried Uncle Chen once, and although the service was good and place clean, the food didn't totally do it for me. I think the food is what they call "healthy" Taiwanese food, but sometimes I gotta get some grease and MSG in my food.
I agree though, Sinbala is better, and try Liang's next time you're in the SGV, or dare I say...Indian??
I will have to try Indian.. this is like a bar place right?
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