2.9 Uncle Chen’s
Posted on March 3, 2008
Filed Under Best of the Best, Chinese, Taiwanese | 7 Comments
Uncle Chen’s place has a pretty incredible 5 star rating on Yelp — soon to be lowered, I suspect — who knows what some bozo would do to sabotage a great place — but I had to try this place while it was still golden! And indeed, I found some excellent Taiwanese food, and was surprised at how fine the food was. Let’s get this show started…
To start things off I ordered a mango milk. To my very pleasant surprise, this thing is FRESH, not from chemicals, not from canned mangos, FRESH! Very pleasing and wholesome, delicious and sweet. $2.75.
Next, I was very excited to try their Koah Bao. Literally: Cut Buns, as the pork filling is stuffed into a bun that’s been cut. But nowadays we have the advanced technology to make the buns that are made like a Pac-Man, ready for the fillings. The last time I had a great Koah Bao was in Taiwan in 2003, and that place had this insane system: 5 levels of fattiness of pork to choose from, from ultra-lean to uber-fat. But here, things are a little toned down. Still, great braised pork with a good amount of fat and a good assortment of pickled cabbage and sweet peanut powder. Tasty and a good value at $1.95.
Bamboo Cup Rice. Well, I didn’t really taste the bamboo (bamboo rice is INCREDIBLE if you can find any around here. The best I’ve had was at an aboriginal reservation / park in Taiwan. So amazing. But this is normal pork and mushroom with peanut sticky rice, topped off with some dried pork. The flavor is good but I was a bit thrown off by the dried pork, the textures collided for me, although the pork flavor was a huge plus. $2.95.
Salt & Pepper Crispy Chicken. Very well made, not too much pepper and spices, they struck a good balance so you can taste the chicken. The basil is great, as usual. $3.50.
Taiwanese Sausage. I was surprised at how refined this was, and not very greasy at all. I found a chance to ask and it turns out they make their own sausage. It’s on the mild side, but if you’re a little hard core, toss in a chunk of raw garlic and light it up. Excellent. $3.50.
Tainan Shrimp Roll. This was REALLY great. Fresh ground shrimp mixed with spices, coated with some breading and deep fried. The best thing about this is that it’s not heavy nor greasy, with some water-chestnuts thrown in for a light texture. Fantastic. $5.50.
OF COURSE I HAVE TO HAVE THE STINKY TOFU!!! Well, here the stinky tofu is labeled Organic. I asked them to claify and they said that it’s not made with modern chemicals but made the old school fermentation way. Well, it doesn’t stink very much, but the texture and the taste of the tofu is distinctively homemade and wholesome. $3.50.
We went around 11am on a Saturday and the place was empty, thus the service was excellent. The place is clean and neat and had nice photos of Taiwan street scenes on the wall. I’d say this might be my new favorite Taiwanese place, I gotta come back for their more substantial offerings such as the noodles and the pork rice.
Uncle Chen’s
529 E Valley Blvd
(Inside Sunny Plaza)
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 288-5778.