Taipei Tokyo

[sekala.livejournal.com]

I ate a Taipei Tokyo for the first time last night. It was wonderful! It's not really take out Chinese but more upscale sit down. The interior is very comfortable and warm(though I imagine it could feel crowded when full) and their presentation from tea, to sushi, to their plated food was lovely. I had the pad thai (not Chinese I know, but it sounded good) which was delicious and light, my friends who were with me had a fried tofu/sauce/broccoli and a chicken/sauce/broccoli combination(I don't know exactly what they were). Both agreed that they were very tasty and better than a lot of the Chinese they've had in the area. Over all it was a great experience. We were surprised to be the only people in there around 6. Go and give it a try.

Comments

[ruxxell.livejournal.com]

you should use yelp.com

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

My roommates and I had a good experience there as well.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool! I'll have to give them a shot. I like decent sit-down Chinese restaurants, and they aren't always easy to find. Though given the name and the food you mention, it sounds more pan-Asian.

[kevin-church.livejournal.com]

I was disappointed by the sushi there, but keep meaning to go back for the other selections. Thanks for the reminder.

[theriotgrl.livejournal.com]

I was a little disappointed by it too, it didn't seem totally fresh. But to their credit, we told them what we thought, and they comped us on the sushi. So they are are quite considerate, at least. I had some sesame chicken also I believe, and that was pretty good.

[mamabunny72.livejournal.com]

I went with my family soon after it opened. Ambiance-wise, much nicer than China Sun, but the food prices are expensive for what you get. I'd just as soon go to East Asia on Broadway near Powderhouse for my Chinese food takeout fix.

I do miss Sam, who owned, and Ada, who worked, at China Sun; I wish I had a chance to say good bye and good luck!

[enhf94.livejournal.com]

me too!

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

More reviews here too (http://www.chowhound.com/topics/428778)

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i got takeout from there shortly after it opened and i was unimpressed (and the staff seemed confused that i wanted dinner to go, and the takeout menu was really short...), but i'm glad it seems to have gotten better. it's definitely pretty inside, this is true.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I found the food to be mostly acceptable. The sushi wasn't bad, the soup I had was good, the these Chinese dish I tried was so-so (not necessarily bad, but not so great, especially considering it's price).

I will say this, though: the staff was INCREDIBLY friendly. They checked on us several times, and were happy to chat with us about our first impressions of the place. They accidentally made an extra order of fried tofu and shrimp dinner when making our order, and gave it to us free of charge. This was actually the best food I ate there. It's like tofu and shrimp hush puppies. They were fun!

[tut21.livejournal.com]

I ate there a week ago and was very happy with my chicken with garlic sauce dish. Excellent upgrade from the previous restaurant in that space.

[philipph.livejournal.com]

We went there shortly after it opened.
Our impression (and we ordered a wide variety of dishes) was that almost every dish was somehow... weird. Not what we were expecting. Not bad as such, but an outlier on the spectrum of what-that-dish-is-usually-like-elsewhere.
I put it down to still working the kinks out of the menu and recipes.
Gotta go back again for a second chance.
Certainly nice to have a trying-for-more-than-takeout restaurant there now (Dragon Garden our current favorite for that), but I always find that attempts at pan-Asian cuisine leave each of the cuisines somehow underserved.

[lusciousnichols.livejournal.com]

You-really-like-using-dashes-when-you-post. It's-sort-of-like-following-the-bouncing-ball-
and-it-keeps-me-anchored-so-I-don't-lose-my-place.

Heh, I think I'm in love. ;-)

Want to go out and try Taipei Tokyo one-more-time... with me?!

[philipph.livejournal.com]

soitenly!

[sekala.livejournal.com]

was that almost every dish was somehow... weird. Not what we were expecting. Not bad as such, but an outlier on the spectrum of what-that-dish-is-usually-like-elsewhere.

For me (I did try my friends dishes as well) I was pleased by the offness because I'm normally turned off by your typical heavy chinese. I really like a light tasting, non-msg chinese place, and while it isn't the best I've had, it's refreshing to me to have something that isn't what it normally is elsewhere, if that makes sense.

[ah42.livejournal.com]

Sushi at a Chinese restaurant? Chinese at a place with Tokyo in the name? I'm so confused.

[sekala.livejournal.com]

It's /mostly/ chinese food and sushi but there are a few items(aside from the sushi) that are japanese and a one or two random other asian dishes such as the pad thai.

[ah42.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one who thinks there's something wrong with mixing these cultures together? It just strikes me as a rather American thing to do: "Well, they all look the same, so the food must be the same." Since, you know, many of us can't tell the difference between a Laotian and a Korean, they all must be the same, right?

Sorry. I just had a similar annoyance at someone at work recently. He kept telling a Laotian girl to go back home to Japan.

[sekala.livejournal.com]

Yikes, that's horrible.

I can definitely understand where you are coming from on that. But if you're really going to get into it, most, though certainly not all, chinese and japanese...or any other foreign food in the US is nothing like what you would be served in the actual country it's served in. I've had traditional version of many of the things they serve in the US, and it just doesn't taste or even look the same. We've already americanized their food right out of it's culture. There are of course always exceptions.

But anyway, your point is well taken. The pan-asian thing is strange to say the least.

[ron_newman]

Elephant Walk is a French-Cambodian restaurant. I like the idea of mixing disparate food traditions.

[lusciousnichols.livejournal.com]

I, too, have conflicted feelings about mixing asian cuisines, especially Japanese dishes. I have a hard time appreciating(what's the right word here?) "Koreanized" or "Chinefied" sushi. Conversely, I don't think I'd like having my Chicken Pan Fried Noodles made with daikon or umeboshi, either.

I went to Taipei Tokyo on my way home from class yesterday, just to give it another shot. I ordered some sushi to go and the service was very good. The cashier didn't understand Japanese, which I thought was strange, since they've printed their sushi menu in Japanese and English. I ordered negi hamachi maki and unagi, pretty common stuff. But one of the guys working tables overheard me ordering and translated it into Mandarin for her.

The eel was generous and tasty, and the yellowtail was average. (I think they're still working out the kinks with their dishes and would encourage everyone to give them another shot.)

Overall, they certainly want to please their customers and seem to compensate/make right any issues when made aware of it. Also, I think they welcome helpful suggestions for improvements.

Does anyone know a restaurant in D^2(or the closest) that serves a traditional "Japanese only" cuisine and does not have other asian dishes on their menu?

[teko.livejournal.com]

Well, besides all the places in Porter Exchange (ie, Blue Fin, Ittyo, etc), the closest thing is probably Hana Sushi on Mass Ave, next to Good Food Cafe. Very friendly, excellent food, good prices. Not 100% "Japanese only", though, as they have Korean bimbimbap on the menu (so it's likely Korean-owned).

[lusciousnichols.livejournal.com]

Wa kari mas, arigato gozimus. ;-)

[teko.livejournal.com]

Don't touch my moustache! Er, I mean do itashimashite! :>

[aquaflame16.livejournal.com]

I like Yoshi's in Powderhouse. I've generally been very impressed by their sushi; they usually have nice fresh fish with a good texture. And they do dinner boxes, which just makes my indecisive self happy. ;)
BUT, even they have a Korean section on the menu too.

Oh, and they charge for green tea and just give you a tea bag. That annoys me. Green tea should be free and free flowing. (Or at least if you're gonna charge me, give me a nice big pot of it, not just one measly tea bag.)

Overall, though, it's a nice place to go when you're looking for a calmer atmosphere. I've never seen it completely full, but also never completely empty, but it definitely tends to be pretty chill. (I think they do a lot of takeout business for Tufties.)