Been back for beef noodle soup and rice dishes. Delicious each time. Tried the stinky tofu and pork chop rice. Pork chop was flavorful. Sate chicken noodles was a bit greasy. The best bets here are the noodles and rice dishes.
(4)
Jen L.
I love the veggie chicken and rice combo plate that comes with veggies and a hard boiled egg. I also frequently order the stinky tofu, and a number of sautee veggies with garlic. The service is exactly the way I like it speedy and accurate. The only reason they lost a star for me is that they insist on cash; it's to the point where I feel pressured to have cash if I'm only ordering food for myself or I likely should visit another restaurant. One time they suggested it was $10 and above for credit card only, and another time they had suggested it was $20 and above. Can we be on the same page please? I understand the credit card company takes a cut, however, address the problem in your business model and lets not make it an issue for the customers.
(4)
Alice C.
This place has a huge array of Taiwanese dishes. Are they good? Um.... that depends on who you ask. I find the taste to be quite off comparing to the goodies I get in Taiwan. However, the huge menu means that if you have a craving for any Taiwanese food, you can probably find it here. While the taste is definitely just an imitation, the possibility of actually finding a restaurant that makes the dish makes this place desirable. That is, until the new, better restaurants run this place over ;) There seem to be a bunch of new Taiwanese restaurants in Cupertino now...
(3)
Claire L.
The food is very nice. The service is good. The food is served pretty fast. The place is clean, moderately crowded. Been here twice and both experience were good. Will continue visiting this restaurant.
(4)
Xander C.
Sometimes you need your Taiwanese cuisine fix, and sometimes the place to fix your fix is Southland. After numerous dines here, I can safely say that they don't have any amazing dishes, but they have a wide array of Taiwanese dishes that are good for reminiscing better meals across the Pacific. a breakdown based on my last meal there in August 2014: kelp appetizer (cold) - good flavor, cooked thoroughly and consistently. would order again, but hey, it's seaweed. it's never horrible and it's never mindblowing. stinky tofu (fried version) - good texture, although could have been slightly more crispy on the outside with better contrast versus the internal texture. was not quite stinky enough for my tastes, but i find this to be true of most stinky tofu in the US taiwanese hamburger (gua bao) - pretty good rendition of this classic, not overly sweet like some other places (ahem, i'm looking at you Mama Chen's). pork could be a bit more tender, but good ratio of cilantro, peanut powder, and meat oyster pancake (oya jen) - not that great here... far too few oysters, too thin, not gooey enough. they did add some cabbage in there for some additional texture, which I could see the appeal of, but not something I personally appreciated xiao long bao (soup filled steamed dumplings) - these are a disgrace to taiwan, the homeland. absolutely no soup in any of dumplings, with overly doughy skin. the meat filling was also lackluster, with the wrong texture and unimpressive flavor (no depth) A choy (aka - duck feed in taiwan :)) - i happen to like this vegetable, and it was prepared to standards... but how bad could it be? it's stir fried with garlic, nothing special here. this is usually my backup vegetable after morning glory / ong choy, or big pea sprouts (Southland only has small pea sprouts, which tastes like eating grass... i would recommend avoiding)
A solid 3 for this place. The notable dish here is the oyster pancake and the Taiwanese chicken, but that's about it. The beef noodle soup is nothing special and Mama Chen's beef noodle soup is much better. It's pricey here, and a dish of vegetables were the most pricey item at $8.25! It was nothing special either, just sauteed veggies over a wok probably. Eh, probably would only come here for the oyster pancake and I may or may not give other dishes a shot. We'll see.
(3)
Kitty K.
This restaurant is located in Cupertino Village Center towards the back where Fantasia is located. Parking in this center is always hard to find during lunch & dinner times. They finished building the free public garage, so it's helped a little bit but it's only two stories. A few tables for large groups but mostly tables for 4 are setup. Tables are a bit wobbly with sticky tabletops. One bathroom for each gender. Our Order: #214 Green Onion Pancake: $6.25 #216 Shanghai Dumplings: ($9.75) 8 pcs #510 Dry Noodles & Spicy Bean Sauce #629 Beef Special Noodle Soup $9.95 The XLB were decent but they didn't have too much broth in them. At least the skin wasn't too thick. The green onion pancake had crispy edges but on the thin side. There wasn't a lot of oysters either unfortunately. Loved the Beef Special Noodle Soup with the wide and slightly chewy noodles, pickled mustard greens, tender beef and baby bak choy. It was a bit spicy but not too much where I couldn't handle it. My BF liked my dish better than the dry noodles that he ordered. He actually had to add some soy sauce to his as they didn't put enough bean sauce in the dish. With such a huge menu, there's something for everyone. Definitely would come back for the Beef Special Noodle soup and to try more of their menu. Credit Cards accepted
(4)
Jodi H.
They open until 9:30PM, so that's always a plus if you're looking for a late dinner or "small eats" in Taiwanese cuisine. I've been here multiple times over the past decade at least...with my family and friends, and Southland is definitely a fixture in Cupe Village. When I used to eat meat, I had their bamboo rice and beef noodle soup. But now that I am pescatarian, I've realized that their menu is pretty lacking in affordable veggie-friendly options. When you're here...and want some legit Taiwanese food, you GOT to get their stinky tofu. It's pretty pricey at $6-$7 for one plate, and each plate has like 6-7 tofu pieces on it--so don't waste any bit of it!! My mom and I really liked their oyster pancake (also another traditional Taiwanese dish)...I'd say it's probably one of the best in Cupertino (much better than PotSticker King's that's for sure). However, with these two must-order dishes, I wouldn't say that every other food item we've had is 5 stars. Their menu is pretty extensive, but not that cheap I'm sad to say. Portion size is pretty small, unless you order a rice or noodle dish that's about entree size. They give you complimentary tea, and service is pretty quick and hometown-feely with lots of Asian mom-ish servers milling about and the lady boss who sits behind the counter and watches her patrons eat. Southland is a Cupe Village fixture here, and I don't see them leaving anytime soon...so I'll probably find myself popping back in again from time to time if I am ever looking for some late-night noms.
(3)
Ronny T.
I haven't been to this place for several years and it's been updated! Extensive menu for all palates but the appeal is to traditional Taiwanese. I had the cold noodles with spicy bean sauce and fried pork intestines on the side. Not the healthiest of options but quite tasty. Noodles were not spicy at all and intestines were kind of greasy, but what did you expect? Service was surprisingly very good given its a traditional Chinese place. I'd go back again and try different options. Appreciate the new menu too as there was a picture of everything on it.
(4)
Shanise M.
I've been coming here for quite some time now - my favorite place to get Taiwanese food in the Bay Area. I always order the minced pork over rice (rou zhao fan), cucumbers (huang gua), tofu (dou gan), and eggs (lu dan). Those are the go-to dishes, then my family and I change between other dishes like some cold chicken noodles or green onion pancakes. Minced pork over rice is soooo good, we used to share it between my family members but I had to start ordering my own bowl! Some of their dishes are a bit different now and maybe even a little smaller. I came back recently after not having been back for at least a year, and the cucumber cold dish I usually order was now spicy! (Unless I ordered something different? But I really don't think so.) Well, that was still good but the original recipe was better! Will be back again and again anyway. :) The plaza this restaurant is in has some other great places too for desserts or snacks after your meal.
(5)
Richard H.
Experience authentic Taiwanese cuisine in the heart of Cupertino. This strip mall adjacent to the 99 Ranch shopping center, has a vast assortment of eating choices: from bakery to bubble teas. This small restaurant appears to be a local favorite. Casual, Chinese comfort food, perhaps the equivalent of an American dinner. The staff was very friendly and patient with new comers. They serve several "hardcore" items; such as deep fried pig intestines. I will try that one on my next trip. For my first time, I selected the ground pork with vegetables, a shoyu boiled egg over rice. Great flavor and value for $6.25! I would be describe this item like a Chinese bibimbap.
(4)
Henry L.
Overall a decent place for some chinese food The place is actually pretty decent. The soup dumplings were pretty good--they were all intact, hot, and served fresh. We also got sacha beef, which was heavily marinated with some veggies tucked underneath--good call! Since the veggie absorbed most of the sauce on top! The wait staff are pretty nice as well. The vibe inside is ok, with normal lighting/furnishing etc--nothing special. The menu had a lot of options, and a lot of them looked really good--it was too much to comprehend! Will definitely come back to try the other stuff
(4)
Lynn C.
Holy moly choices galore. Pages and pages of taiwanese food all slammed into one single menu - the idea of it is tantalizing but the execution is meh - which is kinda expected when you dump every single taiwanese dish into one menu. My best friend, being Taiwanese himself too, asked me if I wanted some Taiwanese cuisine and i nodded a hard yes - his first choice wasn't open on a Sunday so we were relegated to Southland, which he thought was okay, but I have to admit that I probably made the bad choices. His girlfriend, who is more familiar with the place, chose a tofu dish with white fish and stewed eggs, which were great. But I picked the A vegetable, small intestine in black bean sauce, 3-cup chicken, and seaweed. Only the seaweed was good. The veggie was bland, the intestine not well cleaned, and the chicken over-fried. It might be worth a try to come back again and let my friends do the ordering, but based on the taiwanese dishes i love, this place isn't the best to be offered.
(2)
Jeffrey C.
Silicon Valley Taiwanese food review three of three. My best description of Taiwanese food is "Chinese food, but blander." Which often sounds like an insult, but it really isn't. Taiwanese food utilizes relatively simple flavor profiles. That makes it easy to cook in the States, but also difficult to master. Good Taiwanese food reminds me of David Chang talking about how important it is to cook an egg correctly. It's not as simple as it seems. My barometer for Taiwanese food greatness is one of my favorite dishes of all-times, beef noodle soup (niu rou mien). Southland's was far and away the best I had in the area, and it became my go-to Taiwanese joint very quickly. The broth is simple, tasty and perfect. As are the noodles. There's an easy simplicity to them. Toss on a hearty scoop of bok choy, pickled veggies, and beef, and I'm in heaven. I've had a lot of other Taiwanese goodies here too, but it's hard to not keep coming back to the niu rou mien. As for other snacks, the ground pork rice (lu rou fan) is also good but not as good as Tea Era. The pork belly buns (gua bao) are borderline fantastic. And the dry pork noodles (a.k.a., Taiwanese spaghetti) is something I hadn't had in a super long time. My lack of photos just shows how fast I devoured everything. Truly, this felt like a trip back to Taipei. I'm already missing it.
(5)
Bailey T.
The pork chop with tea egg plate is always my to-go dish. It's delicious and perfect for my taste bud. Beef and pineapple plate is savory, sweet, and tender. I am still not a fan of stinky tofu but it's their signature delicacy.
(4)
Rochelle 'Shella' T.
We love coming here for their oyster pancakes. This a staple dish in our order. But always try to order something new on top of our favorites. In our last visit, we ordered their Crispy Fried Intestine, which my hubby lives. Surprisingly, our two toddlers loved 'em too. It's nice to see our kids willing to explore and expand their palate. I think having tasty and crispy intestine helped in making them try something new. This place serves typical Taiwanese dishes that we've always enjoyed from other cities that we've lived in. We're glad that we found this place. We like their Fried Chicken, Pork chop, Pork Pottage Soup, and the Rice that's topped with stewed Ground Pork with Preserved Vegetable.
(4)
Susan M.
Ordered the beef noodle soup and stinky tofu. Never had stinky tofu before and boy did I get what I asked for. That shit smelled so bad. It didn't taste too bad, sort of like normal tofu. Nothing too special about it besides the fact that it smelled super bad. The beef noodle soup with their original thick noodles was just average. Also nothing too special about it. I was a little disappointed as I've been recommended a few times to come here for beef noodle soup. Don't think I will be coming back here again if in craving for beef noodle soup. It does look like they have a lot of other appetizers/small dishes on the menu that is like to try.
(3)
Linda M.
This place is not authentic Taiwanese restaurant Its pretty sad and dirty plus no AC Came here with BIG group pretty much try all the popular taiwanese dishes Nothing was good !!!
(1)
Marilyn T.
After studying abroad in Taiwan, I'm pretty picky about my Taiwanese food. One nice thing here is that they have pictures of all the items with the menus, labeled with numbers and the Chinese name. They have a lot of cold dishes, so we started with sliced bean curd (dou fu gan) and Taiwanese pickled cabbage (pao cai). Both had good flavor. The rest of the food came out super fast: - Shrimp pancake (instead of oyster pancake) - it wasn't all cornstarch, which I appreciate. I could have used more sauce - Kong xin cai (greens): ask for it with less oil - Rou zao mi fen (minced pork over rice stick noodles): the minced pork was very lean and seasoned well, but the dish needed more sauce/seasoning. Overall, they had a large variety on the menu, and it's easy to order from. I'm still looking for that perfect "reminds me of Taiwan" place, but this place will do in the meantime.
(3)
Cindy M.
Everything is yummy! I have been coming here for the past four years, and everytime I come here, they remain the taste and food. It was a bit weird at first, since they have sooooo many things on the menu. How could a restaurant make so much in 15 minutes? Don't know how, but they did it. My favorites are the beef noodles, oyster pancake, fried fish cake. The restaurants not that crowded most of the time, so if you need that quick grab and happen to be in the area, this one is a good option since it's fast, has alot of options and won't break your wallet!
(4)
Steven C.
This simple Taiwanese restaurant has been here forever, one of the staples of the Cupertino Village plaza. The original owner/chef has long since sold & remade two iterations of this restaurant, each one getting a bit better in quality & service. One of the perks compared to their competitors is that they're open all day till close, no lunch break. What to order? Depends on what you're in the mood for but you can't go wrong with bean curd or beef shank for appetizers, oyster pancake, moving onto a noodle or rice dish such as the ground pork rice or za ziang noodles. My childhood favorite glutinous rice with some oyster sauce is also here along with the "ba wan". Stinky tofu is also available if you're into that. Service is okay, it can get really busy & you might be forgotten but that's expected. Cheap & quick Taiwanese fix. You can probably order 5 dishes or so for less than $40. If you want better quality Taiwanese food there's nearby alternatives.
(3)
Judith C.
I was very very excited when my high school friend told me that there was a decent Taiwanese place near where he lived. I grew up in an area with an abundance of Taiwanese restaurants, so I was very excited. I was blown away by the sheer variety of foods in the menu. From appetizers to snacks (which are different from appetizers) to entrees with rice, or noodles, or soup -- they have all the well-known Taiwanese dishes and then some. They even have entrees with intestines, kidneys, and hearts! That's the sign of a legitimacy, if ya ask me. My boyfriend, friend, and I even tried to impress our server by ordering in our heavily English-accented Mandarin. We wanted to fit in! I got the pork shop price, a tried and true favorite. It didn't disappoint! Obviously it's not going to taste the same as the same dishes you order in Taiwan -- but has it ever been? Portions were substantial, and with reasonable prices, I can definitely see myself coming here again. I want to try the beef noodle soup and maybe I'll even get my boyfriend to try stinky tofu.... heehee
(4)
Jonathan K.
Southland Flavor Cafe is a Taiwanese restaurant in an Asian plaza with incredible variety. The food is pretty simple but familiar -- as someone else below me noted, it's basically Taiwanese comfort food. I thought it would specialize in Southern Taiwanese food, based on its name, but it's more of generic Chinese food. There are probably a few hundred items on the menu so if you don't know exactly what you want it might even be overwhelming, but the waitresses can give recommendations if you ask. The space is roomy and though we came on a weekday at noon, we didn't have to wait at all. The service is also quick but typically Chinese (meaning more efficient than friendly). Not that it was unfriendly, but just don't expect smiles and small talk. We had the green onion pancake, oyster pancake, salt and pepper fish, seafood noodles, and a-cai (what is that in English? A-vegetables?). My favorite was the sale and pepper fish, but everything else was just okay. The oyster pancakes were too thick and not very flavorful, and the green onion pancake was a bit hard. The food overall is quite cheap, with most dishes well under $10, and the portions are pretty generous too. Not bad for a generic Taiwanese place, with plenty of options on their menu, but the taste is average and not that memorable either. I'm not from the area but I've had better Taiwanese food at lots of places, but I've also had worse.
(3)
Karen M.
Eew what the hell happen to this place?!? It used to be my go to spot when I get craving for Taiwanese food so imagine my disappointment when i went back for my Taiwanese food fix and it tasted nothing like I remembered. Hubby and I ordered the beef noodle soup, spicy chicken rice dish, spicy won tons, and onion pan cakes. All are very traditional dishes and they have managed to screw it all up!! The beef noodle soup came out less than a minute we ordered. I'm pretty sure it is pre made and they just scoop it into a bowl. No way they can prepare it that quickly!! The beef was too chewy and not tender for this dish. It was also too salty and broth tasted off. Too spicy to enjoy and maybe their strategy to fool your taste buds. The chicken dish was worst. We didn't even eat this dish but the barely there service discouraged me from Saying anything to the waitress. They were too busy congregating and chit chatting with each other. I had to flag them down to order our food then she went back to talking with the other ladies only returning to bring our food to us. The chicken had weird fat parts still attached and it tasted like it was going bad...weird sour taste. Gross!! We had a bite and did not eat it . She asked if we wanted it to go and we told her no. Most places seeing a full plate would ask what's wrong but not here. She just waltz away as if it is normal people order food to only have one bite. Don't bother coming here. Food is bad, as is service so what's the point!!
(2)
Geoffrey W.
We have been here quite a few times over the years and just recently twice in one week (last week). I have to say nothing has changed. That's a good thing (except they did update the menue with pictures which is good for my boys to see what they are ordering). Other than that the food is as good as ever, the prices are true $ and I couldn't be happier eating here. We always order too much and we are forced to take home for next days meal, yum. Keep it up.
(5)
Veronica C.
I have now been here twice, and both times, I've found the food to be meh, not so great... I thoroughly enjoy Taiwanese beef noodle soups, and so every time I go to Taiwanese restaurants, I would always order it. Their beef noodle soup was just average for me, though! Flavor was kinda bland and the beef was kinda gnawy... I did, however, love their portion size; it's generous and they top it with tons of vegetables (bok choy and green pickles)! Also had the green onion pancake. Now, this was delicious - it hade a nice crispy texture and was overall very tasty! I would recommend getting this as a side dish. Overall, not my favorite Taiwanese place in the plaza. However, If you appreciate good service, the ladies were very nice and accommodating...Well, most of the time anyway :)
(2)
Christine S.
Wanting to grab a late lunch (think 3pm) with my sister, I started Yelping places and wanted to cry cause most of the restaurants in the area stopped serving lunch at 2:30pm! I saw that Southland Flavor Cafe was still open, so we headed over with empty stomaches. We've been here a couple of times with our family a few years back, but looking at the Yelp reviews, I guess they've changed management recently? It didn't really matter cause the food still tasted about the same! Surprisingly, we weren't the only ones grabbing food that late. The ladies spoke Mandarin to us right when we walked in and told us we could sit anywhere. Service here is like any Asian restaurant - they take your order, bring out your food, and you don't see them until they drop off your bill towards the end of your meal. The ladies did strike up a conversation with the family next to us though! - Oyster Pancake: they seem to use more egg in their batter so it came out to be more omelette-ish. I'd go elsewhere for oyster pancakes. - Beef Noodle Soup: I really wanted to get this dish because the menu showed that they used the really thick noodles. They told my sis that they ran out of the thick noodles, so they had to substitute with a thinner kind. It ended up tasting fine, but I still would've liked the thick noodles! The soup base was flavorful, but not overly salty. - Ba wan: didn't get to try this cause I was so full from the oyster pancake and beef noodle soup. The size may look a bit on the smaller side, but it looks like it was stuffed with a lot of meat! Prices are affordable, and they take credit card.
(3)
Ming C.
Good for a craving for Taiwanese food cravings. The service is super fast, I think it didn't take even 5 minutes for food to start coming after ordering. The pig ears was a winner, I liked that the appetizers were small plates,which allowed you to try a lot of food. I also ordered the Cold Noodles which is made with a peanut sauce with cucumbers, cilantro,and ham. It's perfect for a hot day and it is huge amount of noodles for what you pay.
(3)
Ee Vonn Y.
This is the definition of Taiwanese comfort food in all shapes, sizes, and color. Their menu has to be the greatest of all time. There are more than 400 items on this menu, each with their own picture thumbnail so you know exactly what you are getting. If the dish is spicy, it will be indicated by a chili icon on the side. However, some of the descriptions don't make sense because the spicy stinky tofu pot we ordered did not have that icon. The restaurant is cute and little. The minced pork over rice is so good and is meant to be shared. It's a giant bowl of delicious goodness. Apparently, my Taiwanese boyfriend thought this was just average for him. The spicy stinky tofu was also delicious and the sauces mixed well with whatever was left of the rice bowl.
(4)
Joy L.
Today I had ordered pork chop over rice and it was semi good. I didn't like the pork chop because they seem to deep fry the whole pork chop without the batter. I'm from NYC and the place in NY I usually go to has deep fried pork chop with the batter and the batter itself is tasty; the batter isn't too heavy. However, their cabbage, pickled veggies, eggs and minced pork on rice hit home. I'd go back trying other dishes...
(4)
Lulu C.
authentic Taiwanese food, tasty! Small restaurant, gets crowded and busy but the food comes quick & totally worth the wait!
(5)
Mike Y.
Nothing fancy but rock solid authentic Taiwanese dishes. Plus very friendly servers from the Chinese ladies / waitresses.
(4)
Avocado Donbur I.
In Cupertino Village, you can pretty much expect good Chinese restaurants and this was one of them. Southland Flavor Cafe is a Taiwanese restaurant from the city of Tainan. This was our first visit and we were happy we found this place. Hubby had the usual Pork Plate. The meat was so tender and it was delicious! I had Egg with Shrimp and it was full of flavor. I don't know what they use besides salt, but it was really tasty! The taste was very clean yet very flavorful (they must have secret ingredients). The servers were very polite and the place was clean and bright. We really liked it. Will come back!
(4)
Kristie C.
While I'm not as well versed in Chinese /Taiwanese food - this place isn't too shabby. A bit oily for my taste, and not really enough meat in their dishes. Lots of noodle soup dishes and rice dishes here.
(3)
Regina A.
My all time favorite Chinese food since i first got to US. These are the usual menu that I always order: 1. House Special Chicken 2. Garlic Sautee On Choy 3. Ground Pork Onion Roll (An appetizer menu but I always eat with rice) 4. Fried Pork Chop 5. Fried Calamari 6. Spicy Pig Ear (Appetizer) 7. Stinky Tofu (Not my favorite but My brother is really love them)
(4)
Maggie G.
The oyster pancakes were not fresh.. the stewed beef cold plate tasted bland and stale too. The waitress wouldn't do anything about it, although if i made a scene i guess i could have gotten something. Come here only for their lu rou fan (minced pork rice bowl) or kong rou fan (stewed pork rice bowl), other than that everything else I've ordered is always below average.
(2)
Xun Y.
Worst food ever! We ordered wonton soup, cold noodle, Taiwanese sausage and one pan fried veg. Only the veg is ok (just ok). The wonton were all broken when it is served and the meat were all exposed in the soup, meat is dry as wax and no flavor at all! This is the worst wonton I've ever had! (I only had one bite)The cold noodle is too soft and can't believe they called it their signature cold noodle. The sausage, dry as hell! I have tried so many Taiwanese sausage in many places, they are always juicy and full of flavors. But this one is exceptional and you can tell they used very bad meat to make it... How can a restaurant serve food like this still in business? Please avoid!
(1)
Jennifer C.
Oh, hello soup dumplings. They're pretty good, but a little thick skinned and at least 2 of mine had already popped. The honey walnut shrimp was as good as it gets. The waitress acted like we were regulars (said she remembered what we liked from all the times we come in) but we have never been here before. She reminded me of an Asian version of a diner waitress. Anyways, would recommend if you want soup dumpling at dinner time and don't want to drive out of your way.
Due to the construction, this little gem is not easy to locate for a tourist (like me). Ordered the famous pork shop rice to go. -Pork chop is tender and savory with light gravy on the top. Comes with generous amount too -Rice is just cooked perfectly, soft and slightly chewy. With light ground meat &gravy on top -Sides also include some cabbage, pickled cabbage & a boil egg. The only downside is probably the cabbage, a little too raw/crisp. But seriously I'm not gonna complaint about it with the unbeatable $8 price!
(4)
Leo W.
I've been to this place years ago, even tough the food choice is good. But the service is not so good. If you're craving for a Taiwanese food place, this place is still okay if time isn't a problem.
(2)
Christina N.
Mm, another Taiwanese restaurant in Cupertino Village, whats new? This place here is supposed to specialise in Tainan food (south of taiwan), and I guess the dishes were decent. - Dan Zai Mian - This is *the* Tainan specialty dish and I ordered this to test the authenticity of the restaurant. It definitely did make the mark. - Fried egg with shrimp - Yummy. Shrimp was fresh and the eggs were scrambled, not too dry. Loved it. - Deep fried oysters - Oysters were decently fresh. Also, they werent dry despite being deep fried. Yum! - Sesame oil Chicken (ma you ji) - Strong cooking wine + ginger + sesame oil taste. So good! Would be even better with rice. - Wonton in red chilli oil - Ordered this under the recommendations of fellow yelpers. It was good, but not the best I've tried. Also, this dish was served much later when we've almost finished all our food :( I do see myself returning back here again! Also, the restaurant is mid-sized so I can see that there will definitely be a long line during peak meal times!
(4)
Amy H.
I came here for dinner around 8pm and it is sorta hard to find if you dont know exactly where it is. There are so many Taiwanese restaurants and google mapping will only take you to the general area. Park toward the front near 99 ranch and you will be solid. The place wasnt too packed on Sunday so service was somewhat quick. I was on that beef noodle high again so my friend and I shared the beef noodle soup with those thick chewy noodles and a xiao long bao. The beef noodle soup came first and the noodles are so thick and chewy. I think that was my favorite part of the dish. The veggies were scarce with a few pieces of beef scattered about. The beef was a little tough and not the best quality in regards to cut and flavor. The broth was actually not very MSG-y which was good because I wasnt super thirsty but it wasnt very flavorful either. The dish was pretty average so I wouldnt crave beef noodle soup from here. The XLB were pretty disappointing because no matter how much sauce you dip your XLB in, it is not very flavorful. The skin is thick and the meat is flavorless. I was quite disappointed. I probably wont come back here since there are better Taiwanese options. **TIPS** 1) Skip on the XLB. If you want beef noodle, choose the option with the thick, chewy noodles.
(3)
Jessica L.
They accept credit cards with 20.00 minimum. We came on a weekday mid afternoon and found Southland Flavor tucked towards the back corner of the mall. After all the positive reviews, I wanted to give it a try. Too hot of a day for noodle soup but I was surprised how comfortably air conditioned the place was. I could have had noodle soup and not feel overly not. Restaurant is a typical Asian eatery...mismatch prints, flat screen tv on the walls. Ladies room was clean and well stocked. Waitress' were kind, courteous but not ready to greet you with a smile. They would do well in Poker. But, they are nice and ready to oblige. Just flag them down, don't wait for any personal touches. XLB-not my favorite. The meat was bland and had a bamboo smell or taste to it. I'm wondering if they leave it in the bamboo steamer too long. Each bao has the right amount of juice inside but the taste is just off. Ohh, the sticky tofu is perfect. Not too hard on the outside and yet still soft on the inside. At other restaurants, the smell is not as pungent but that only means the pungent taste doesn't linger in the palette for long. As strange as it sounds, I, for one want the stinky taste to last in my mouth. That's how I remembered the tofu I had in HK. I will order this again. Spicy Beef shank appetizer isn't that fresh. It was cut thicker that I am used to and the beef was kind of dry. But, I will order again hoping it will be a newer batch. (QQ Noodle makes good spicy Beef Shank.) The On-Choy with garlic is good. You can't really go wrong on this dish. I wouldn't say it was full of explosions in your mouth, it was good. The veggie was fresh and it was cut into 2ins pieces making it easier to chew. Sha-Cha Pork chow mein was very good. The flavor reminds me of XO sauce. The pork were all sliced thin and small. I liked this dish. I can tell the sous chef and main chef cuts the meats with love and cooks the food with love. I will return since there is now a covered parking lot in back of the mall. Weekend parking is horrendous!
(3)
Linda X.
So much to like about this place! The food is homey, servers are friendly, and the prices are very reasonable. If you're a fan of stinky tofu, you'll be a fan of this place.
(4)
L L.
This place was supposedly serving authentic southern Taiwan style cuisine and they did not lie about it. Everyone of the dishes were as good as I remembered them when I was there for business frequently many years ago. Instead of getting the dishes, I ordered many of their "appetizers" (like Tapas)- and we went a bit crazy on the numbers of dishes. Wow, everything was good and we were totally stuffed to the point that it was painful. In any case, if you ever want to try some unique Taiwan local type food, this is the place to come!
(5)
Lulu L.
We eat there one a week. Rice plates are good. Reasonable prices. Other dishes are more pricy. Good service.
(4)
Sway M.
Been here handful of times now and always left happy. Today we ordered: Spicy stinky tofu - with steamed pork intestine, blood cake, and cabbage in sauce Stir fried on choi - with garlic Ground pork soup with rice noodles - with tea egg and chives Everything was yummy and service is always good!
(5)
Christine N.
THIS RESTAURANT IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. IF YOU LIKE TO COMPLAIN AND ARE USED TO THE SAME TYPE OF FOOD, DON'T EVEN BOTHER. Minus that dramatic rant, this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant is seriously a hidden gem. For those open-minded enough to try new dishes and tastes, it offers authentic Taiwanese cuisine. Personally, I've grown up eating asian cuisine so I am less hesitant to try taiwanese food, but I am so happy I did. Now, some people may disagree with my personal view - but that's okay, because the smell of the stinky tofu makes the weary extremely questionable. BUT THE STINKY TOFU IS THE BEST PART!!! I really enjoy that the dishes are so inexpensive (ranging from $4 to $8), yet a reasonable portion - so it allows me to try many different types of dishes. I'm the type to get sick of a large dish quickly, so I really like being able to sample many different flavors and have variety (nice to have soups, different textures, and a myriad of appetizers). I usually order: a side of the house made cucumber (it's addicting-ly sweet with a slightly sour tang and a nice crunch), spicy beef shank or tendon (the tendon has a soft, gelatinous texture and the tendon is more meaty both offering a nice hint of heat), the green onion pancake (fried to a crispy perfection, goes great with the vinegar and chili oil on the table), a noodle soup with ground pork, #605 I believe.. with a satisfying rich broth tasting like it's been simmered for awhile. FINALLY, OF COURSE THE STINKY TOFU. I don't know why.. but I always crave stinky tofu. My brother-in-law claims it's the only thing that smells better coming out than going in (LOL), but the smell doesn't bother me one bit. It's the fermented tofu that gives off the odor, but the sauce they provide compliments the tofu perfectly alongside the pickled veggies which is a nice palette cleanser. If you could appreciate good food, give this joint a shot.
(5)
Angelic L.
Just as everyone else has said, this place smells like stinky tofu, so if you're especially sensitive to stenches, don't even bother with this place. However, if you're looking for authentic Taiwanese food, you've stumbled upon the right place. Unfortunately, I'm just not a huge fan of Southland Flavor Cafe, as I've had better Taiwanese food at Red Hot Wok. Then again, Red Hot Wok is much more expensive so I guess you get what you pay for. If you do find yourself dining here, don't get the three cups chicken here... It's way too dry!
(3)
Wei Wei L.
High expectation to this so-called Taiwanese flavor restaurant. Feel it's not authentic Taiwanese style. Even all elements in that pork chop rice box are right, the flavors are not. I'll keep looking for the dreamy Taiwanese pork chop. Any recommendations? Also my hubby ordered chicken leg rice box and according to him the meat is way too dry.
(3)
Randy L.
I used to live 2 hours away from this place (in Sacramento)and we would always crave going here whenever we were down in the South Bay. We use to nickname this place "Blue Walls" due to the wall paper color but now it's remodeled with white walls but that name will always have a place in our hearts. Now that I live in the South Bay, I come here so much more and I never get tired of it. First off this is an authentic Taiwanese place so you are sure to get the real stuff. After ordering, you get your food very fast here so you don't need to worry about waiting at all. I will say that we have never gone to Southland without ordering the "deep fried tofu". It is the absolute best deep fried tofu you can get. Not only is it fried very well yet soft, the dipping sauce is to die for. I've no idea what the brown dipping sauce is but I always ask for extra sauce and dip my other orders into it like noodles or rice. Some good options are: -taiwanese pork chop with rice - you get a very healthy amount of pork chop with rice, some ground , and veggies, and an egg. The pork chop marinade is THAT good! It's sweet but goes well with the meat. -noodle with ground pork - this is another great dish but it's even better if you ask for extra brown sauce and mix it into your bowl. tips: -they accidently brought stinky tofu once and the way you can tell besides the obvious smell is that the stinky tofu is square shaped cubes while the deep fried tofu is triangular cut.
(5)
Lisha L.
Decent food for reasonable prices. Service is usually quick so I come when I'm looking for a quick meal - can be in and out within 30min.
(3)
SHN H.
We have passed by Southland Flavor Cafe so many times over the years, usually because Taiwanese is not our first choice, often because we're craving one of our three standards in this plaza, occasionally because it is too full to even hope for a table. But finally, last Wednesday, the stars and planets aligned and we had our first taste. Very good indeed. I had the Shrimp in Pineapple -- a Taiwanese dish similar to the more common HK Walnut Prawns. It was fantastic. She had noodle soup with ground pork. We shared the mala beef cold dish. The staff were pleasant and attentive. We really enjoyed the meal. I am sure we will be back, I hope we can get Southland Flavor Cafe in our regular rotation.
Beef chow main tastes as if its expired some time ago. Service is not bad, just doesn't exists. Price is too high for the quality. Tea was good because it tasted like a tea should taste like. And what a surprise, they won't tell you and there's no sign but they don't except debit and credit cards for under $20.
(2)
Benjamin L.
Came here with some friends to have a quick dinner before a movie. We had: 1. xiao long bao: It was ok. Skins broke so all the juice came out. Otherwise, good enough. 2. melon vegetable: It's vegetables. It did the job. 3. beef and bean curd: It's ok. Typical taiwanese dish. Nothing to write home about. 4. Fried pork intestine: If this is something you like, then by all means order it. I'm not a fan but it's supposed to be not bad. Had some other dishes when I came before but I don't quite remember. Nothing really stuck out. If you want Taiwanese food, you can come here or go to the few other Taiwanese restaurants. I think those may be better (i.e. Liang's kitchen, Mama Chen's) but don't quote me on that. #cantoneseFoodIsBetter
(3)
Cynthia L.
For some reason, I can't stop coming here! The appetizers I order are the best! (simmered beef tripe, simmered pig ear, simmered egg) I always order the ground pork egg noodle and it is always the most delicious thing ever! I like how this place has no MSG as well and the service is always pretty good. I honestly have no complaints about this place. It is one of the best restaurants in Cupertino Village no doubt. I'm starting to crave this place just from writing this review...YUM!
(5)
Helen L.
I come here when I miss Taiwan. The minced pork over rice always hits the spot and is the perfect combination of sweet and savory. The xiao long bao are good too. Service is quick and I love how their menu has pictures of all their dishes. It makes ordering so much easier.
(4)
Jessica L.
This is where I go for my go to Taiwanese fix. The food comes out fast, is flavorful, but not too overbearingly salty. I'm 99% sure they use MSG, but what Chinese restaurant doesn't? Service is not friendly, but is always fast and gets the job done. My all time favorite is the ground pork noodle soup #605. One of these babies on a cold rainy day is the BEST.. or even on a hot summer day, still the best! The eggplant basil #406 is DELICIOUS. This is one of the best eggplant basil I've had, and believe me, I've had my fair share. I like that the sauce is that too thick, and there's not an overbearing amount of it. The sauce complements the basil flavor nicely. The sauteed vegetables here are great as well because they are not super oily. My favorite is the sauteed on choy with garlic #402. This is a seasonal vegetable, so it is only offered in the warmer seasons. Shrimp pancake, stinky tofu, glutinous rice (tong zi mi gao), are great Taiwanese picks as well. They also have pork blood soup which is my (Taiwanese) parents' go to.
(4)
Tracy Joy K.
Great spot for a wide selection of Taiwanese food! I have come here a couple times now with the family and this is probably one of our favorite spots in the Cupertino Village. Service is good and pictures definitely help when you are selecting your items. Some of my favorites include their salt and pepper fish (fried to perfection and deliciously hits the spot with a side of rice) and their Sha-Cha chow mein. I have had a couple of their beef dishes and they were always cooked pretty tender! Their XLB is not my favorite but there is such a wide selection of other dishes that it didn't disappoint me too much. Worth a try! :)
(4)
Kaje Y.
I used to come here so much. I've slowed down a lot since I've slowly found less and less people to eat out with me. This used to be one of my favourite spots. They knew my mother from coming so often, and of course, they would start recognizing me. Well, I guess business was doing well. The management ended up changing, they upgraded to nicer menus, they upped their prices, but the food, quality, and quantity has not really changed. This place has pretty good taiwanese/chinese food. Portions and prices reflect american standards. Go to Taiwan or China and you'll get Rou Zao Fan for like 2 USD but you get a much smaller bowl. My favourite dish here is probably Rou Zao Fan, the cheapest rice dish, or the Kong Rou Fan, which has nice fatty pork pieces. So delicious. I would recommend either of those dishes to anybody. Service is very whatever. They take your order, give you your food, and leave you alone. This place is small enough that you can raise your hand and somebody will come to you very very quickly, so that's not an issue. Affordable and delicious food? Recommended and I'll be back!
This is my all-time-favorite spot for Taiwanese style food! I can eat this 3 times a week if my wallet allows me too. lol! We always order their boiled goose meats, pan fried pork blood, beef noodle soups, 3 cups chicken, sticky tofu and livers soups; everything was super yummy and full of flavors. They have so many choices on their menu that I would like to try, after coming here for years, I still haven't tried everything. lol... but honestly, their food can get very expensive; maybe because we always order and eat a lot, we always ended up with $60-$80 for just two people. lol! The female owner is very nice and friendly, she is always there 9 times out of 10 when we visit; most of their servers are nice and patience except one or two made us feel like they didn't want to be there.
(4)
Leslie C.
BF and I came here for lunch and ordered the Taiwanese hamburger, beef noodle soup, and pork feet vermicelli. The Taiwanese hamburger was amazing.. there was copious amounts of meat and pickled veggies inside a piping hot bun (seriously-- my BF almost burned his fingers). I wished my beef noodle soup was spicy though.. Most places that I've had it at make it spicy. But I guess it wasn't too bad because I just added hella hot sauce to the soup, which, by the way, was a very good base. The beef itself could've been a little more tender, but the noodles were on point. BF's pork feet vermicelli was good, too. Giant pieces of fatty pork feet.. just the way he likes it. The noodles though.. soo yummy. I would just come back here for their hamburger and a bowl of their soup with vermicelli noodles. It was so bomb. Definitely coming back.
(4)
Qi H.
Stopped by the 99 ranch market and I was like huh..I'm hungry...so I strolled around to see what was available and saw this southland flavor cafe. Of course, first thing to do as an yelper is to look it up on yelp! Lets just say, theres not much to complain about at this place. The place was packed and the waitress still came out to greet me and take my order for take out. I speak mandarin so they gave me the menu and let me choose and she even too k the time to offer me suggestions which is really cool. The food. I got some appetizers and their popcorn chicken and the lamb. The appetizers (pork ears and beef shank) were just absolutely delicious. I would definitely recommend especially if you like spicy, get the spicy one thats also yummy. The popcorn chicken lacked a little flavor and same with the lamb so overall this place still deserves a quality 4 stars from me
(4)
Maureen C.
My favorite thing to get here is the O-Ah mi-sua (oyster noodles) and the O-ah jian (oyster pancakes). I also like their beef noodle soup, but if everyone in your group wants beef noodle soup you should really go to A&J noodles (or is it Ai noodle now?) which is in the same plaza. Another thing that my mom loves to get is the soup that has what I think is slices of kidney? I know it sounds gross, but it's really yummy to me and perfect for cold winter nights. This is also just a good spot for other Taiwanese classics like the onion pancake, wonton soup, and rice dishes with minced meat. Also, the prices are pretty decent, which is getting more and more rare nowadays around here, unfortunately.
(4)
Kim l.
We usually go to joy luck but we wanted to try something new for lunch. Yelp led us to Southland. There is plenty to choose from. We ended up ordering: Beef noodle soup: 4/5 great flavor, tender beef, noodles had good texture. Wonton soup: 4/5 the base had a clean healthy taste. Wontons were small but tasted good. Onion pancake: 4/5 not too oily. Bottom line: quick service, good food, reasonable prices. Yay we found an alternative to JLP! We will be back.
(4)
Katherine C.
This is probably the closest place I can get Taiwanese food. I've been here a number of times over the past 13 years. Only 3 stars because I have high standards when it comes to Taiwanese food. The owner is really friendly, but I don't really like the waitresses--they aren't rude, but they're not nice either. Their menu is pretty extensive, a wide variety of appetizers, snacks, noodles (dry/soup), fried rice, rice plates, etc. Fried capelin fish: good, batter not thick. Oyster pancake: I've had a lot better. Would not get it again. Overwhelming green onion taste, which is weird because I've never had one with green onions in it before. Beef noodle soup: I liked it, but I've definitely had better. Beef was a little tough, but it wasn't bad. Stinky tofu: It's sub-par. They're very, very lightly deep fried, and their pickled cabbage is sad. I always get it because I love stinky tofu, and it's not that it tastes bad here; it's just that the quality isn't what I'm looking for. Pork liver with sesame oil: I know it sounds gross. And yes, it scares off a lot of people since it's an organ, but it's good. They make it just right so that it's not too tough. Any of their rice cake plates are okay. I wouldn't prefer it but it's not bad. Most of their noodle dishes are pretty good, whether they are dry or soups. Do not get the coffin bread; you will most likely be disappointed if you've had it in Taiwan before. I think most of the dishes are ok or not so good. The food comes out pretty fast.
(3)
Chiao-Yu T.
Authentic Taiwanese food. Their service is so fast it impresses me every time. Huge selection from main courses to street food. I go there regularly and would recommend to friends! They also sell frozen food like handmade frozen dumplings
(5)
Sandi C.
Located inside a huge Asian plaza, parking can be really bad on weekends. Southland Flavor Cafe has some pretty good authentic Taiwanese cuisine. Taiwanese Pork Chop Rice - portion was huge, large pieces of yummy pork chops, minced meat, mustard greens, and marinated egg. Everything was very delicious!! Oyster Pancake - of course we had to get this. Gooey eggs, green onions and oyster ... I think they can add a bit more oyster. Finally, forgot the name of this dish - Fish Vermicelli Noodle Soup - this is a regional Taiwanese dish, soup was thicker than usual. Fish filet with a bit of satay sauce I think, it was pretty good, boyfriend ate the whole thing. Oh, this place also has Stinky Tofu and Pork Blood Cake ... I am not a fan of those, but for those one wants to try, it might be a good place. I see a lot of people ordered Stinky Tofu, pretty smelly :P
(4)
T L.
What the hell. Did we all eating at the same place? This is one of the worse Taiwanese/chinese places I have ever eaten at. The wonton soup smelled funny, and tasted like water. The beef in the beef stew noodle soup was no where near tender. The milkshake was shameful. I've eaten a lot of bad food but any place would have been better than this one.
(1)
Derek S.
Came by for dinner the other night. Arrived for an early dinner and we were seated immediately. Started off with the spicy beef tripe. It was okay. Wasn't super fresh, nor super spicy. My friend did find a piece of hair on his tripe... Moved on to the Oyster Pancake and it was okay. It was rather oily. Lastly, ended with the sausage rice. Again, the sausage was okay. The sausage wasn't too fresh either. They do accept credit cards!
(3)
Elaine Y.
When we want something fast, flavorful and offers a lot of variety - then we head over to Southland! Actually there's a few dishes that end up being the ones we tend to "crave" - and the first is their shrimp with pineapple! So instead of shrimp and walnuts - it's shrimp with PINEAPPLES! What a delicious combination! We're always fighting over that dish - shrimp fried perfectly - not doused in sauce with FRESH chunks of pineapples! This is the only place that we've seen this at! The 2nd MUST have dish is the salt and pepper fish - chunks of flavorful fish - tender and moist! YUM! Then our comfort food of minced pork over rice or their pork chop over rice - can't go wrong with the staple - perfect with their pickled veggie and egg. And of course any veggie dish is perfect - just depending on your mood! Love this place and if it weren't for the fact that sometimes it's hard to find parking I think we'd be there more often!
(4)
Lena H.
My friend took me here to try stinky tofu for the first time. At around 1pm on a weekday, it was easy getting a table. We tried: Stinky tofu: I really liked that they didn't fry it to the point of being dry. I didn't mind the smell but the more I ate the more I could taste the fermentation of the tofu. The sauce definitely helped. Beef Cheek: Nice, chewy, and tender. Oyster Pancake: Mmmmmm! Gooey eggs with the crunch of green onions and oysters. Delish! I liked the sauce they had on top. Oyster with vermicelli: My fave! I had this but it was the instant noodle package version so this was definitely a step up for me. It was such a comforting dish. I could totally see myself eating this if I have a cold instead of my usual pho. Service was quick and friendly. They even pack up your food for you when you have leftovers. Although my friend treated, I was surprised by the bill. Pretty inexpensive for the items we got! Thanks, Selena!! Wait, I mean Mikey! :)
(4)
Claire K.
This place caught my eye because I love Taiwanese "snack" food, especially oyster pancake. Most of the food we ordered was ok. We got the following in order of yum to yuck: -salt&pepper fish -oyster pancake (could add a few more oysters) -green onion pancake and Chinese spaghetti (nothing special) -small snow pea leaves (like a cow chewing cud) I'd come back to try other items on their extensive menu.
(3)
Priscilla O.
My go-to for some good ol' taiwanese food. It's reasonably priced & delicious. I love to order the oyster pancakes, stewed pork rice, stinky tofu, and boiled intestines. Their ketchup fried rice & pork chop rice are also great choices. whenever I don't feel like cooking dinner, i'll stop by this place to pick up food & eat @ home in my jammies. It's total comfort food for me. (:
(4)
Edward W.
I decided to come here because it was hot outside and I noticed that they served cold noodles. Don't come here if you want your cold noodles to taste dry and full of peanuts. I'm used to a thick sauce mixed in with the noodles and lots of veggies. I guess that dish was a miss since everyone else loves their other dishes, so if I ever came back, I'll be sure to try them.
(2)
Enoch Q.
A couple of my friends and I decided to eat here after a nice hike. I must say, after being outside in the cold for so long, having beef noodle soup really hit the spot. I'd probably come back here if I were in the same situation. The noodles, beef, and broth all blend together for the perfect texture of having a warm and cozy meal.
(4)
Allie Y.
OK, maybe I just wasn't picking the right stuff at this place. Despite some lackluster plates last time, I found myself returning with a group of people that apparently just knew what to order. First, the stinky tofu - a polarizing dish already - is probably one of the better versions in the area for those with a hankering for such stuff. Other good choices include the sausage fried rice, pork chop rice, oyster pancake. The veggies are not too oily, and great with a bit of garlic. For starters, I am partial to the spicy cucumbers.
(4)
Tiffany H.
When I visited Taiwan, I made the mistake of eating oyster omelets in Lugang, an area famous for their seafood. It was so good I couldn't even eat oyster omelets in Taipei anymore because they simply did not measure up. So it goes without saying that Tainan Cafe's oyster omelets also stand pale in comparison to the real deal. One bite won't get you a lot oysters, just mostly starch. With that said, there are some decent Taiwanese eats to be had here. I like their stinky tofu and am a huge fan of their "tongzai migao" (pork and sticky rice steamed in bamboo). Try it and you'll see what I mean. The depth of the menu in it of itself warrants an extra half star (too bad Yelp won't allow it!). But A-OK pretty much encapsulates Tainan Cafe. You'll get decent Taiwanese food that is good enough to hold you over, but lacking enough oomph that you'll want to book that ticket to Taiwan as soon as you get home.
(3)
Philip L.
I went here with my parents, who really enjoyed the Taiwanese food here. The stir fried flat noodle dish we got was good, and the fried mantou (plain flour bun) with evaporated milk was surprisingly tasty for a such a basic dish. However, I wouldn't get the xiao long bao here - they didn't taste that good and weren't very soupy. Also we had a sauteed light green squash dish that was good but some of the pieces were bitter, and it was taking a chance everyone you ate a piece. I don't think it's the restaurant's fault though, I think we had the squash out of season. Anyway, my parents approve - which means this place is legit.
(4)
D. K.
Dinner here was fine the other night- nothing special. The bests were the appetizers and fried rice. I wasn't a fan of the eggplant or beef dish we ordered. Fine, but probably won't be back.
(3)
Kim N.
Always trying to familiarize myself with new Taiwanese places. Got the eel noodles, squid in basil sauce, sa cha cumin beef, stewed tripe, pig ear in spice oil, Taiwanese spinach and the anchovies with peanuts. They dont mess around here, the dishes are huge. Some of the flavors were really good, and others were ok. I think the snacks are best but the squid were well like too. At 9.30 on a weekend they close pronto so we saw them turn a few folks away. 3.5 stars
(3)
Monica A.
The lady messed up my order, blamed me, and proceeded to give me the death stare from above her cash register. And when my order was fixed, I found a strand of hair in my soup.
(1)
Lindy W.
Amazing, authentic Taiwanese food! Service is quick, and portions are reasonable. I've tried the oyster pancake and the pork chop with rice. Both are made very Taiwanese-tasting and is the next best thing besides going back to Taiwan.
(4)
Jana C.
Popcorn chicken---good. Chou doufu, not 'chou' enough!! The niurou mian with the xuecai on top... great! So is that san bei ji rou.. the 3 cups chicken... that was 5 stars alone. My taro pork noodles (thin)....meh. Fail---taro not cooked through and pork was all bones, and flavor-lacking. Someone in our group tried oyster soup? hm. Lunch'll run you $8 or so... $11 for us who corporately split a smattering of apps. PS LOCATION IS SOUTH IN THE CENTER, CLOSER TO ALL OF THE HOTELS!!! away from Starbucks and 99
(3)
Rahul G.
I came by around 9 pm on a Monday night. They're not very flexible in terms of adapting their dishes, but the food I ordered was tasty and the place was clean.
(4)
Joe M.
After a disappointing dim sum meal across the street, our little party wanted to fill up with some street-style food across the street at Southland. When we walked in to join some other friends there, we knew we were in a pretty goo place. The sound and smell of stir-fried stinky tofu really brought me back to the streets of Taiwan and you knew this place was legit. I shared a bowl of black bean noodles with my lady and, despite it being more brown than black, had some good flavors. Everything was piping hot and fresh, and the thinly sliced vegetables had great crunch. Service was speedy too, and we were in and out pretty quickly. Prices here are cheap, and I live it. Most meals are in the $4-7 range so it's easy to have a great-tasting bite on a budget. This was good news for us since this was our second meal in as many hours. Next time we think we want dim sum in the Cupertino area, we're coming here instead! Food: 8/10 Service: 7/10 Price: $ Atmosphere: 7/10
(4)
Katie C.
Southland is my go-to place for Taiwanese food whenever we are in the south bay. I wish there were more restaurants like this up in the city, but unfortunately, it seems like most Taiwanese restaurants in the bay area are concentrated in the south bay. This time around, we stopped by to get takeout before heading back home. I ordered my usual favorites (taiwanese meatball aka "bah-wan" (steamed, not deep fried), oyster pancake (great taste, less glutinous and with more veggies than in Taiwan), green onion pancake (thick and hearty!) and ground pork over rice (love the sides of picked veggies). Hubby added in an order of daikon/turnip cake and some shrimp and egg fried rice. Thank goodness we over-ordered and had leftovers the next day, I would've been super sad if we finished everything that evening! On a side note, I really need to brush up on my Chinese. It's embarrassing to order some dishes in mandarin, others in taiwanese and the remainder in english. The lady taking my order must've been thinking,"wow, she's all kinds of language mixed-up" Already thinking of when to plan my next visit. I want to try the beef noodle soup and chitterling soup!
(4)
Daniel H.
I ate here last night with my friend after 9pmish. We were eating a later dinner just before the Iron Man 2 premiere (it was good!) and my friend didn't get off of class until 8:30pm. We ate here because my friend said they had good food when he ate here with his parents in the past. I remember this place used to be another Taiwanese restaurant (unless it's the same one) that used to be in Milpitas Square where they had that doll's hand attached to the machine to mix the milk tea. Anyways, I didn't want what was good and we were running out of time for the premiere. We were thinking that the lines would be crazy long so we hurried up and ate dishes that we thought were safe to eat regardless of which restaurant you go to. What I meant by that was that certain dishes should taste okay to good wherever you go. I ordered the Beef and Egg Fried Rice ($6.25) and my friend ordered the Beef Special Noodle Soup ($7.50). There were a couple of other people eating and it wasn't long before our food was ready. The Beef and Egg Fried Rice was okay and nothing special which was exactly what I meant with what I said earlier in my review. My friend said his Beef Special Noodle Soup was okay but I did notice him spit out a lot of bones. This place closed at 9:30pm and we didn't pay the check since we were still eating. One of the waitresses came to our table and spoke chinese to us. We both didn't understand what she said but we knew she was telling us to pay the bill because they were closing up. Overall, this place was okay and it would be a good place to buy something quick and cheap to eat.
(3)
Sara T.
I quite like the food here. They offer such a variety. But I'm so shocked at what happened today. Normally, I tip 15% and above depending on the type of service I receive at restaurants. Today, given the special circumstances, the tip ended up being around 14.75% due to the rounding of the final total. I'm so surprised. The waitress literally chased us across the parking lot, SCREAMING at us in multiple languages. She said we incorrectly tipped saying we "forgot to add $1.something." All the while holding out our previously signed bill and pen at me. I was so stunned. I ended up giving her even more but I'm just... stunned? I like the food... but that was quite the experience..!
(3)
A C.
Still love this place, especially with jenny and her husband helping with food, seats... Good low prices taiwanese Reataurant that's been around forever. Fried pork chop with rice!
(4)
Charis B.
We met friends here today for a Sunday brunch and what a wonderful experience. There were six of us and we had no problem getting prompt seating at a table that was just right. We had a couple from Tainan so the challenge was on. The service from beginning to end was prompt and excellent. We had plenty of tea and never an empty cup. Someone was always available for those small things that we needed and promptly helped us. We ordered a lot of food and it all came out one after another and was enough to fill us up and take some home. The lamb with green onion was delicious. We had an eggplant dish with pork (can't remember the name) that had so much flavor that everyone cleaned that plate fast. Then there was the soy beans with shrimp, fried rice combo, fried bun, and steamed rice. Wow! All of it so good. Our friends from Tainan gave it two thumbs up. We will definitely come back and try again.
(4)
Katy K.
My favorite Taiwanese food place in the Bay Area. I'm from LA, so nothing beats LA but this is pretty good. There was a big selection and you get all of the normal stuff you see at Taiwanese restaurants. I ordered the oyster pancake which was good. I don't like to eat things THAT oily and this was kind of oily but it was pretty darn good. My hubby ate most of it though. I also got their crispy chicken which are like the ones from Tapioca Express. Those were really good with rice. We also had the xiao long bao that were really good. Last but not least, I ordered a green veggie plate just to balance all of the other fried stuff. Healthy food? Not really...Delicious? YES! The service was great and the prices were reasonable.
(5)
Katherine S.
My Mom took me here because I was craving Taiwanese food -- in particular, oyster noodle soup. We meant to eat here for lunch, but ended up having a snack. The stinky tofu was really disappointing...it wasn't stinky! My oyster noodle soup a bit let down -- it didn't taste like the real deal and didn't have the consistency it should (it was supposed to be thicker). I guess I have to go back to Taiwan...I was hoping I could get something to satisfy my craving close to home. This place just didn't do it for me. How can you be a Taiwanese cafe and not get the basic dishes right? I'm confused! I think I'll stick to Shinbala on Homestead Road. I don't remember what my brother ordered, but he wasn't satisfied with his dish either. We went to Ranch 99 to order some food from their cafe, which is cheaper and has bigger portions.
(2)
Cat H.
Southland Flavor Cafe has some really good Taiwanese comfort food. The food is tasty and is served quickly. I come here whenever I feel like having omelet rice, which comes in a pocket of egg. On a recent visit we got: *Beef Noodle soup ($6.95): thick noodles, pickled veggies, beef, bok choy *Omelet rice ($6.25): fried rice made with a tomato sauce underneath an egg pancake We were in and out fast, which was great since we were short on time. I like the beef noodle soup with its tender pieces of beef and flavorful broth. Their stinky tofu is also pretty good. Prices are reasonable, so it's easy to pick a variety dishes and try a little of bit of everything. Great food, fast service, and cheap prices: I will be a repeat customer!
(4)
Amy G.
If you are curious what death smells like, you should come here. The moment you walk through the door, the stench of stinky tofu will hit you so hard in your face you can't even open your eyes. It is certainly an acquired taste, one that I will never acquire. I almost want to leave but for some reason, I force myself to sit down. The menu is so intensive so it takes awhile to look over it but of course in an Asian restaurant you will be asked to order before you are ready. I ordered the squid as an appetizer because I noticed it was the pink squid I love. When it came out, tentacles and all, it was just boiled squid with a side of hoisin sauce. Literally BOILED squid. I could have done the same. But whatever, it was a crunchy, chewy squid and I got my fix. We also had the seafood soup in the brick toast. I wasn't a fan but he loves it. The toast is a bit sweet and the soup is basically a chowder. I ordered the beef noodle soup which was OK, nothing spectacular about it. He ordered a fried rice plate which was drier than the dessert. He had to use the hoisin sauce to mix with the rice just so it was edible. I wouldn't suggest it unless you have lost your sense of smell or you enjoy the smell. The food is not worth it in my opinion.
(2)
Wil P.
Great place for a quick meal. The ground pork rice, which comes with tea egg (yum!), pickles and veggies, is delicious and cheap! Most of the time, I have enough leftover for lunch on the following day. I like how the fried chicken comes in small pieces/bites. Food always comes out really fast, so when you are starving, this is the place to go. The only downside is when you don't like stinky tofu (like me) and you sit near someone who orders that... oh, yikes...
(4)
Jennifer N.
Went back again and I must say I've changed my mind. I am giving them another star. I dined in Saturday night and had numerous amounts of food. We had shimmered pork over noodles (rice noodles & thick noodles), kidneys, rice in a barrel ( sticky rice) and wontons n chili oil. Food was better this time around and I was impressed by the bold tastes that every dish had. I went delirious with the small dishes... the portions were perfect, price was great. Great company, excellent food. My palette was dancing, club style. YUM. I'd come again.
(4)
S F.
The pictures in the menu zipped me to a time I was living in Taiwan. There were super hits and super misses. Most of the items I tried were just on the sweet side. What was good: The ground pork rice (item 701) was fantastic. The simmered tofu is spot on. The oyster pancake was just right What was not spectacular: The house made cucumber was just a tad too sweet. The beef noodle soup was average. The fried smelt was bland. The eggplant with basil was average. What was NOT good: The steamed meatball was NOT good. The pork meat smelled and tasted rancid. a few yelpers recommended this but it was inedible. Oh how I wanted this place to be super tasty! my search continues....
(2)
Norman S.
Great go-to place for inexpensive food. The menu is ginormous with food that range from exotic (think organs, etc.), stinky tofu to standards like beef noodles which I had recently. Beef noodle broth has the nice dark brown color unlike the broth in beef pho which is clear. Thick slices of beef and noodles that had the right amount of "done-ness". The broth needs a bit more flavor though as it's somewhat bland compared to the beef noodles at Mama Chef's. Also, they need to provide larger bowls since the bowls they provide are usually packed to the brim. Other complaint is the noodle to broth ratio. Too little broth relative to noodles IMO. Service is super quick especially if you order the noodle or rice dishes. Also, if you want to avoid the wait, lunch times and dinner times between 7-8pm is when it gets most crowded.
(4)
Christine L.
AMAZING, TASTY, CHEAP food. A definite GO TO if you are A. taiwanese B. missing your mom's food C. want cheap eats. OMG. I love this place. I wish I could live at Southland and just eat and eat. I had yet to find a place that makes food as good as my mom's.. This place isn't exact but its pretty fucking damn close! Order the PAI GU FAN / PORK RICE and the NIU RUO MIEN / BEEF NOODLE SOUP. Sooooo cheap!! prices are great. I've also tried their SCALLION PANCAKES which are pretty tasty (and cheap). they have like almost EVERYTHING that you could ever ask for / miss from your taiwanese mother's kitchen. Fast service, and nice. Nothing bad to say about this place. Wish I could say more about their dishes,but you can't go wrong with either of the entrees that I mentioned above!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
(5)
Evonne L.
We ordered 2 papaya milks, and despite being out of papayas, the owner ran over to 99 Ranch Market in the pouring rain to make us fresh ones. How's that for service?! Plus, the papaya milks tasted amazing. The food was very yummy as well. We ordered green onion pancakes (delish), seafood udon (loved the little oysters in there); pea sprouts, and pork & egg fried rice. Delicious and affordable. The waitresses were friendly and funny (a refreshing departure from most of the restaurants in Cupertino Village, which are generally filled with ornery Chinese ladies who have no patience for the indecisive). We'll definitely be back to Southland Flavor Cafe!
(5)
Jenny L.
This is the remodeled version of Southland Taste. Although this is my default place for Taiwanese food, it's still not the best. I go here for the variety that they have, but the quality isn't always comparable to what I expect. However, the highlights are oyster crepes, beef encased in glutinous layer, stinky tofu, and braised pork over rice. Service is fast and perhaps not so friendly. The ambiance and decor has improved in terms of cleanliness, but be prepared for the smell. Parking is ample in the lot, but it can be tough because it is always packed.
(3)
John S.
Believe or not, Southland was the place we ate on our wedding day. We were so stressed out during our wedding, we couldn't even eat any of our wedding food. So as soon as it was over, and all our guests went their own way, we headed straight to Southland and pigged out on some good old fashioned comfort food -- while still dressed in our wedding clothes! We've probably been to Southland over 50 times over the past few years, so that's got to be be a testament to how much we love this place. They have a pretty large menu for a small place, but these are our favorites: - Salt & pepper fish - Mabo tofu - Omelette rice - Ground pork over rice - Pork chop over rice Now we live too far north to go here regularly, but we'll always have a place in our heart for good ol' Southland.
(5)
Soapfish G.
The xiaolongbao and beef noodle were just eh...okay. Pork chop and popcorn chicken were good though.
(3)
Esther S.
This place is a quick and easy stop for Taiwan food. Since its in Cupertino Plaza its a good location with lots of parking (if its not too busy) and quick service. I don't find the taste anything special but its got all the Taiwan goodies on the menu and it hits the spot when you've got the craving! Not expensive either so woohoo!
(3)
Audrey Y.
Talk about comfort food! Love me some Taiwanese cuisine, esp since I grew up (falsely) believing I was 100% Taiwanese. Which turned out to be untrue but whatever. Still got love for (half of) my roots. Oyster pancake is delicious here- def the bfs favorite. I love the stinky tofu! Fried perfectly and served with a little side of pickled veggies. When I'm feeling under the weather, I order the pork rib & lotus soup. Perfectly light, mmm. The menu here is really expansive so you can always find something you're craving :) My favorite part about southland flavor cafe, though, has to be the service. Attentive & efficient (what else do you need for service?!) and the owner is super sweet! One time, the bf and I came 10 min before closing (horrible, I know. But we were desperate!) and we were still served with a smile :) They only asked that we pay the bill first so they could close down the register but they went the extra mile to let is eat leisurely. Huge plus in my book!
(4)
Dorene S.
This is one of the "cheap eats" places that I know I'll try out almost EVERYTHING on their menu before the end of the year! They stole my stomach when I had the first taste of their crispy popcorn chicken with basil. It's the best I've ever had. Therefore, I may as well start a list and keep updating as I gobble more items in due time. Favorites: 1) Crispy popcorn chicken with basil - soooooo perfectly fried and just the right amount of pepper 2) Sliced dried tofu - this is drizzled with light sesame oil giving the tofu a more flavorful dimension 3) Rice bowl with pork hock, vegetables and egg - when in doubt, try this - the meat is tender and this dish will fill you up 4) Cold beef tendon with chilli - no complaints here - nicely made 5) Bitter melon and pork rib soup - I like this soup so I may be biased but it's made almost perfectly here Others: 1) Stir-fried Taiwanese spinach with garlic - if you don't like spinach, you may want to try this. The Taiwanese version coats your teeth a little less than the regular American species 2) Stir-fried pork kidney and liver - this is not bad but I've had tastier versions of this dish 3) Fried rice with chicken - very homey style. Very little MSG and therefore can taste a little bland to some who are used to restaurants that uses more of it. Tip: This is a Taiwanese place which means if you see one red chilli pepper next to the menu item, expect a level that's just barely noticeable. KPI (Key Performance Indicators) ratings (1-5, 5 - best): Quality: 4 Delivery/Service: 4 Cost: 5
(4)
Sherin L.
I heard many friends saying it tastes okay here, but Its been years and their quality hasn't change at all. Many restaurants here in the bay area didn't work out just because of the quality got worse when they get busier. It did not happen here and I'm glad they are not super busy or not busy at all. Anything I tried here hasn't really disappoint me at all. Recommend to everyone else! Great price, fast service, great food :)
(4)
Vivian Y.
Its a nice little restaurant. Cos I need takeout so I didn't order the noodle. The seafood rice is okay cause I hate the baby corn... The 麻辣猪耳 is not spicy but tastes good. I will try the noodle next time
(4)
Samuel Y.
I used to come here a lot more often than so with my family. It has probably been a year since I've came here and not too much has changed. Part of the reason I haven't been here is I don't go eat at asian restaurants often since my mom cooks delicious chinese food. Sitting down during this entire meal, I was surprised I didn't get a whiff of that stinky tofu that always seemed to be ordered by another table every time I ate here. I ate with a small group of four so instead of a family style meal, we each ordered our own. I ordered the pork chop rice which is exactly the same as I remembered(still delicious). I got to sample the oyster pancake which was good and fishball soup which was okay. The fishballs though, had zero flavor...this was very disappointing. Things I'm pretty sure that I will order if I do come back again would be the cold noodles, omelette rice, pork chop rice, ground pork rice, and fried spicy chicken. These were all dishes associated with this restaurant that I will hold on to fondly. Super cheap meal where you eat a fair amount for a small price. Parking is THE WORST on Sunday afternoons in this plaza.
(4)
Chris R.
Good food. Great service. Great price. They have lots of dishes, side dishes, and desserts. The food comes quickly if they are not too busy. I would come back again.
(4)
Kevin N.
Came here for lunch on a weekend, got here around opening time and there were plenty of seats available. We ordered four items for the two of us to share: soup dumplings, pork chop rice, sticky rice, and won ton in red chili oil. Didn't find anything particularly special, food is probably mediocre at best. The soup dumplings had a funky flavor to them, perhaps from the vinegar? There was very little soup in them and the whole thing was just not good, very disappointing. The pork chop rice was meh. I was expecting it to be fried but it came grilled. It was decent but just not what I was expecting. The sticky rice was so-so, I think they went overboard with the sauce and I've definitely had better elsewhere. The won tons were forgettable as well. It comes with crushed peanuts on top so be aware if you have allergies. Food comes out quick and the menu is extensive, but I haven't found anything on it that's worth a return visit. There are much more solid options in the area for Taiwanese food.
(2)
Simon C.
What I like about this restaurant is their wide variety of choices on their menu - all different kinds of rice, noodle, appetizers.... Etc. many pages on their menu and it does take time to go through it. Over half of the time when I come here I will order their marinated pork rice (not sure English name of it haha) but not only it tastes good it is also cost effective! Less than $6 with a big portion you really can't ask for more. Other recommendations will be their rice noodle; if you are from Taiwan I'm sure you must be able to find some authentic dishes here.
(4)
Tiffany C.
This restaurant holds a special place in my heart because it's one of those few restaurants my whole family can agree on without any sulking or making of faces (mainly me and my sister) and it's one of the few staples of Cupertino Village that hasn't changed names or locations or completely demolished and re-vamped their menu. It's familiar! And that's a good thing! I always get the rice bowl dish with cabbage, ground pork, pickled veggies and a tea egg. It's so filling and delicious and it warms my soul and brings me back to a narrow back alley in Taiwan sitting on a rickety plastic stool. One of the few true blue Taiwanese restaurants in South Bay, Southland Flavor will always be my go-to for Taiwanese food when I need that hit of homeland taste.
(4)
Brian L.
Southland Flavor Cafe is one of those Taiwanese restaurants you visit when you want something affordable, quick, and easy. You already know that the food isn't going to be the best, but hey that's okay. At least you won't leave with a big hole in your wallet. This cafe cooks up all your Taiwanese favorites but does so in a lackluster manner... don't expect to be wowed. +` Spicy Pig Ear - 3/5 - Pretty typical and could use a little more heat. +` Salt & Pepper Fried Fish - 3.5/5 - This was probably the best dish my friend and I shared. The fish was well seasoned, and the peppers added a little kick. +` Turnip Cake - 3/5 - The turnip cake itself was alright. The included sauce was cold, so when you dipped a freshly fried hot turnip cake into the cold sauce... well you can imagine the rest. +` Sticky Rice in Barrel - 1.5/5 - Whenever I go to a Taiwanese restaurant, this is my go-to, and let's just say Southland flopped on this. My little tower of sticky rice and the included sauce came to me cold, and it seemed like they held back on everything except the rice (where are the 'shrooms and meat?).
(3)
Alexander Y.
Is it the best place ever? No, so we can get that out of the way. But does it serve its purpose? If what you look for is cheap, inexpensive Taiwanese food, then yeah, you've hit the jackpot. Didn't want to write this review until I had been here a few times to sample the menu, which provides a great deal of options. Everyone says the pork chop rice is cheap and is huge, and they aren't lying. Always hits the spot. The beef noodle soup is passable, not great. The beef was pretty well done, but I'm not a fan of the noodles and the broth was rather bland compared to some of the better beef noodle soups I've had. The sauteed udon with seafood and sha-cha beef noodles are both very tasty. Oh, and they make good fried chicken and green onion pancakes. The reason this place is so awesome is that every time I feel like crap after work and I have no desire to work, I can walk over to this place and know that what I'm eating is going to give me a nice, full stomach and put a smile on my face. Taiwanese soul food, I suppose. It gets the job done for sure.
(4)
Gabriel B.
I've got to get out of the South Bay because there are so many good Chinese food places. This one was one of the better ones. I came in and ordered the Sausage fried rice. We were served within a few minutes after ordering. I don't understand why they brought my food out first and my friend had to wait for his. The rice was Superb. The flavors were well blended no particular one overpowered the other. The rice was moist (sometimes you get Fried rice that's dry, over fried) and well balanced. It had a good mixture of eggs, peas, onions and the sausage. All this was only $6.75 and it came with hot tea. As they say in China "Muy Bueno"
(4)
Farrah N.
3.5 stars... Such a godsend when you are looking for Taiwanese food. They pretty much have everything and the prices aren't too bad... Service is fast. Taste and textures could be better and prices could be better. I would recommend the Wontons in Hot Chili Oil, the Oyster Omelettes (I crave this all the time and come here just for this), Black Bean Sauce Noodles, and their noodle soups.
(4)
George P.
Keyword: Authentic Taiwanese food, Amazing pork chops. Having already eaten at some of the amazing restaurants in Taiwan, I must say this place has some pretty good Taiwanese food. Even though I've only tried a few items, my favorites are: Pork Chop w/ rice, A Vegetables, and Won Ton soup. The service is whatevers, but Eyy!! don't expect it to be great at Asian restaurants. Bonus point: They are open the entire day.
(4)
Peter K.
This place has great Taiwanese food! It is located inside the Cupertino Village Shopping Center. I love their beef stew noodle soup.
(5)
Albert L.
I got food poisoning here! We ordered the beef soup, ground pork soup with wide noodles, and xiao lum bao. I think it was the XLB because it tasted funny. At night, I was visiting the toilet a lot. My wife also had to take a few dumps to cleanse her stomach. I would not come back based on my experience here.
(1)
Sophie Y.
Been here twice recently for the fried stinky tofu, not sure where else in the South Bay to find it! Generally, I find the food here fine, not great but not inedible... probably won't be back soon unless I really want some more fried stinky tofu. On the plus side, the menu here is HUGE, so there's probably something for everyone. The food also comes out of the kitchens pretty quickly. Soup Dumplings - No soup in them! :( Bean Curd Appetizer - Good and simple. Stinky Tofu - Not as stinky as expected!! Decent fried tofu, not super oily. Comes with a side of pickled vegetables. Rice Cakes - Tried both the lettuce one and the salty vegetable one. Rice cakes were good in both of them, but the vegetables were not. The lettuce was in huge pieces and the "salty vegetable" was mostly napa cabbage even though I think the translation of the Chinese name of the dish means that it should be mustard greens. Black Bean Sauce Eggplant - Sounded really good was disappointing... the eggplant was cooked plain and the sauce was on top of it. The sauce didn't soak in at all so it was pretty bland. It was a bit more flavorful as leftovers the next day but definitely not the saucy eggplant dish I was expecting. Green Onion Pancake - Decent, some parts were a bit dry though.
(2)
Lin X.
My friend stopped eating after few bites of every dish and had to go to another restaurant. The menu looks nice with so many options, but we don't enjoy anything we ordered. The beef tripe was flavored with sesame oil, which was a little bit weird to me. The soup dumplings are so-so. I couldn't find soup in it at all. I had to put sal in the noodles with shacha sauce to make it flavorful. We also ordered stinky tofu since it's mentioned in so many review. They taste okay. I don't think I'll come back again....
(2)
Jeff J.
While I was perusing the menu, my work colleague commented that I looked like a kid in a candy store. I'm just glad he didn't record my excitement-- you would have heard an assortment of ooo's, mmm's, and nom's. I think I was so excited, my colleague relinquished all ordering rights and just told me to go wild. We ended up with Pig Feet (my uncle would be jealous), Stinky Tofu (cabbage could have been spicier, but tofu smell/taste spot on), Pork Potage Soup (consistency perfect, flavor good- maybe a little too much sacha sauce), Fried Chicken (dare I say better than Orenchi?), Fried Yinsijuan (perfect, maybe sans condensed milk), and Spicy Wontons (not enough oil - the only time you'll EVER hear me say that). My nitpicks were exactly that. Nitpicks. Are there maybe 20-30 other items on the menu I need to try? Absolutely. Pictures come with every single item, so if you're intimidated by Chinese menus, fear not-- you can point. Food comes out extremely fast, piping hot, and looking exactly like the photo. Service is as friendly as you're going to get in an Asian place. And the flavors are authentic. It's a worthy substitute for my inability to fly back to Taiwan this Xmas.
(5)
Mag C.
Our 1st tried and love it! It has many choices in their menu that I wanted to try. We had Xiao Lung Bao, Stir fried Pork's intestine, Stinky fried tofu, Taro Pork ribs rice noodle and Ducks meat noodle for tonight and they were delicious. Their portion were big enough and food were out pretty fast. I definitely will visit again.
(4)
Audrey T.
3.5 stars The menu is huge and I would definitely come back to try other dishes. Basil Eggplant: Although you can see the puddle of oil on the dish, the eggplant was surprisingly not greasy, and was perfectly cooked until tender with small strips of pork. Delicious with rice. Xiao long bao: Decent. The skin was the right thickness, and it had a good amount of meat, but having been spoiled by xiao long bao in SF, I would order something else. It is by no means terrible. Just ok. Wonton soup: Unfortunately this was very disappointing. The meat was tough, minuscule and had no flavor. We asked for hoisin sauce but the waitress did not know what that was. I was very sad. Despite the less-than-stellar review of the food, I am eager to come back and try their other menu items. Prices were reasonable.
(3)
Jack M.
Not many places to get decent Taiwanese food. We travel for an hour just to eat here. The quality is consistent and the flavors are just right (from what I've remembered living in Taiwan). Oh of course, they have Stinky Tofu!!!!! Can't beat this place. We've been coming here for the past 15 years.
(5)
Damian M.
We go often for oyster stew and stinky tofu. The food is really good and reminds *GF of growing up in Taiwan. Service is good for a Taiwanese/Chinese restaurant and the decor matches the price point
(5)
Bei B.
My husband and I love their food. My hubby likes the fried pork chop and salt and pepper fish, while I usually have their beef stew noodles. Their Sakura shrimp fried rice was the bomb! It is one of the best fried rice I've ever had. They also has a dish mixing flash fried salmon with basil sauce, it was sooooo good...too hard to explain it but you'll want to try this.
(5)
Patti I.
It would be fun to eat here with a group. They have a HUGE menu, with pictures to get your mouth watering before you order. But since I was here with only one other person, we had to settle on just three dishes: A cai with garlic--quite good, tasty, not too oily. We ate happily. Salt and Pepper fish slices--I can't believe I'm saying this about a Chinese restaurant, but it actually could have used a little more salt! Still, it came to the table super-hot, crispy, and tender, and not greasy. Lamb with green onions--tender, nicely seasoned. A couple of fatty/gristly pieces detracted, but we still ate the whole plate of it. The space is bright and airy but it's still a hole in the wall. There are multiple TVs on the wall broadcasting in Chinese, and it seems like a place where people show up and "everybody knows your name"--in Chinese, at least. Lots of boisterous conversation going on between staff and folks who dropped in. Other reviewers complained about small portions. They look small at the table, but those plates were heaped, and we still had enough to take home leftovers for two of the three dishes we ordered. We had friendly service, but that often happens when my big white husband and big white me speak to them in Chinese. Our waitress smiled and chatted and didn't chase us out to the parking lot asking for more tip.
(3)
Harvey F.
Nice little casual dining restaurant featuring the usual Taiwanese specialties. Staff is friendly and attentive. Perhaps it is because the owner appears to be a devout Christian. Food is good with appropriate sized portions, and is reasonably priced.
(4)
Ed C.
This is one of the most authentic Taiwanese restaurants in the bay area. Good food at good prices. Good service and simple easy food for those that miss home.
(5)
Debra L.
Hmm...just alright. I'm wavering between a 2/5 or 3/5. Maybe we didn't order the right stuff? Would go back to give it one more chance since the menu is so extensive We had: - green onion pancakes (3/5) - pork chop rice (3/5) - beef noodle soup (3/5) - xiao long bao (shanghai dumpling) (1/5)
(3)
Danny W.
Came here last night after a long ball sesh at the 24 hour down the street so we were exceptionally hungry. A+ for the speedy table service. When we first got to the door, there was a gang of people outside, all separate smaller parties but we were seated within seconds...how this happened, I'm not sure, not complaining though. For dinner we went with 4 items, 5 counting the delicious canned Tsingtaos with the frosty glasses. Our dinner choices were the following, stinky tofu, oyster egg omelette, spicy beef noodle soup, and salt and pepper crispy shrimp. The tofu was served with a sweet and savory dipping sauce and some picked vegetables, the stench was stinky and putrid and delicious. The oyster egg omelette was a massive portion of gelatinous and eggy delight, sweet sauce on top was clutch for that dish as it helped cut into the oyster flavor perfectly. The spicy beef noodle soup was delicious, nothing compared to the bowls we had in Taiwan but soupy goodness nevertheless. Finally, one of my favorite dishes, the salt and pepper shrimp were massive critters, head on of course, and the tails were at the perfect crunch, well done! Service was fast and the hot tea was just right, will be back!
(5)
Jana L.
Southland was yummy! I came here with a group, so I got to try many dishes. To be honest though, the dishes did look kind of small. I was expecting a bigger portioned dish since chinese food usually goes hard and not home. But within the tomato and egg dish, A-choy, sa-cha vege and meat, xiao long bao, fried rice, chow mein, radish cake, and a few others, I had some favorites. The tomato and egg was soooooo delicious! It was unbearable. The mushiness of the tomato sauce with the eggs was so good! I know that's probably really easy to make, but man, that was a good dish. I've missed my Chinese foods so eating chinese vegetables was DELICIOUS. I was all up on the A-choy. :) Overall, a good meal and I am still full from eating so much good food. Another experience I had was the chicken curry! It was a little spicy, which was a lot for me and my low tolerance spicy tongue, but very very good. The fried chicken was like tonkatsu chicken in Japanese foods, and the curry was absolutely amazing!!! So that's also good too. Service is okay. I mean, don't expect so much from Chinese restaurants!!! We just want to get the food out and make people's bellies full. So don't hate on the service because that's what it's like in every good chinese restaurant. Lastly, Cupertino village is just THE BEST. They have a Ten Ren milk tea shop there, and I cannot leave without a milk tea. Parking can be bad at lunch and dinner hours, but you have to use your "eagle eyes" and get lucky!
(4)
Peggy C.
My mother is from Southern Taiwan, so this restaurant is as close as I can get to my mother's home cooking. And I absolutely love that this is one of the few places where I can order stinky tofu. It reminds me of visiting my grandfather in Pingtung County in the southern tip of Taiwan, where a stinky tofu cart behind his house would wake us up every morning with the horribly delicious smell of deep fried fermented tofu. That said, order stinky tofu! There's more than enough and if you're not Taiwanese and you've never had it, I can't guarantee that you'll like it. But I've grown up on it and love it so much! It's not as good as authentic stinky tofu from Taiwan but it's the best we can get this side of the Pacific Ocean. I always order their ground pork noodle soup or the mustard green noodle soup. It really reminds me of my mom when I eat here, not to mention she HAS eaten here before and can attest for its authenticity in Taiwaneseness (not a word? Don't care. Taiwaneseness for the win!) The owners and waitresses are also really charming and friendly, but Taiwanese people are loud so don't be startled if it sounds like they're yelling at each other. That's just how we talk. This is my favorite Taiwanese restaurant in all of California. Yup, it's that good.
(5)
Cindy L.
Good place when you're desiring some Taiwan Xiaochi, not Taiwan, but beggars can't be choosers, especially considering the lack of choices in the bay. Enjoyed the oyster pancake and pork rib melon soup. Stinky tofu was okay, but could use more flavor.
(3)
Abby S.
When I was little, my family would come here pretty frequently. Now, we get the occasional noodle soup to go, so I hadn't eaten in for several years before I tried it again recently. We came in around 3 or 4, so we were seated right away and brought hot tea. Looking through the menu, my friend and I were really excited with the huge variety of dishes. We finally settled on xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings), zha jiang mian (egg noodles with black bean sauce), and vegetable tofu soup, which came out to about $22. The timing of the kitchen was really off. The noodles came 8-10 minutes before the soup, and the XLB came when we were practically done with the other dishes. Unfortunately, none of the dishes were very good. The vegetable tofu soup was sorely lacking in veggies, and the zha jiang mian was just okay. I was super disappointed with the XLB, though. They were lukewarm, with a dry thick skin that kept sticking to my lips. There was literally no soup inside either...just a dense ball of ground pork and shrimp. Also, there was this overwhelming smell of stinky tofu. When we were eating I kept smelling the stinky tofu and it got pretty annoying after the first couple minutes. Even after I left the scent was stuck in my nose :( With so many good Chinese restaurants in the area, I don't think I'll be back. Too bad -I remember it being so much better 10 years ago.
(2)
Doug C.
Taiwanese food: standard Chinese food, extensive menu. Hundreds of items. Crowded, everybody eating there was overweight. Pork kidney soup: kidneys little old, slightly bitter. Don't recommend Seafood Chow mein: imitation crab which was red colored dough. Inedible Cheaper than surimi. Never seen this before. Sauteed spinach: little oily, edible. Best of the 4 dishes. fried fish: crunchy, fish was old. about palm sized. oyster soup noodles: too salty dark brown. Didn't look right when it came out Something funny with the chef and quality control in the back kitchen. $42.00/4 dishes...cheap Chinese food, takes a couple iterations to figure out what is worth ordering. Probably safer to stick to the standard tofu, chicken, beef dishes. Didn't think the food was that good like other reviewers said.. Can't beat the price. Is ok if you know what to order. Veggies and soup noodles are good. Others are hit and miss. There are plenty of other better restaurants in the area at a similar price I like Liangs and Michelle's pancake house better.
(1)
Amy D.
Probably closer to 3.5 stars, but rounding down since some of the items were not very good. We came in around noon on a Saturday, and narrowly missed the lunchtime rush. Parking was still a nightmare at that time, but luckily was able to find a spot after circling a few times. We ordered- -Marinated Seaweed ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Delish! One of the best marinated seaweed dishes I've had in a long time. The seaweed was very tender, and there was the perfect amount of marinade. -Spicy Beef Tendon ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Pretty good. The tendon could have been more tender though. -Green Onion Pancake ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Nice and crispy, and not too oily. Highly recommended. -Beef Noodle Soup ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Eh.. This was just ok for me. I liked the consistency of the noodles, but the broth and beef were bland. I would skip. -Xiao Long Bao ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Meh.. Skip!! The skin was thin, but the meat/broth inside wasn't very flavorful. -Cha Chang Mein ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Gross and tasteless.. Skip!! -Won Ton in Spicy Sauce ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Another skip! The won tons had no flavor, even with the sauce on it. Overall, I would recommend eating at Southland Flavor Cafe, but you have to order the right dishes. The marinated seaweed and green onion pancake are must orders, and a lot of people ordered the seafood pancake, so that is probably a safe bet. Service is ok, not as bad as other places, but the tables are close together so it can be a bit squishy.
(3)
Mona W.
I have always enjoyed Taiwanese cuisine. One of the best Taiwanese food I had outside of Asia was in Boston Chinatown. I have had very little luck finding quality authentic eats after that. Mama Chen in Santa Clara excited me a bit but it is still not close. Unfortunately this is no exception with Southland Flavor Cafe. This Taiwanese restaurant has a menu the size of a dictionary. It could be fairly intimidating for novice to Taiwanese cuisine. For first timer I would recommend sticking to the basic staple dishes. (or just look at the pretty pictures and pick whatever you feel like) Oyster Pancake (2.5/5 stars) - There seems to be a real shortage of oysters here. Texture was too starchy and not firm enough (not enough eggs used). Flavors weren't there. The sauce was too sweet. Green Onion Pancakes (2/5 stars) - This one is a total failure. I could barely taste any green onions. It was too oily and a bit tough to chew on. Not good at all. Taro & Sparerib Soup (3/5 stars) - A little sweet but I like this soup. The taros could have been cooked a little longer but the soup is quite flavorful. Spareribs were tender. Steamed Meat Ball (3/5 stars) - Same sauce as the oyster pancake so it wasn't really that exciting. The chewy dough seems to work better here with the meat. Cumin Lamb (3/5 stars) - Some found it quite spicy but I enjoyed the extra kick. The lamb is flavorful and not too tough. A little heavy with the oil but nothing wrong with it. Sauteed Small Pea Sprout with Garlic (3.5/5 stars) - Your very typical sauteed veggie dish. It is hard to go wrong with it unless you overcook the pea sprout until they get stingy. Not the case here fortunately. Shrimps & Pineapple Sauces (3.5/5 stars) - Highlight of the mean I would say. If you ever had walnut prawns in other Chinese restaurants it is almost exactly the same as that. Just with the walnut replaced by the pineapples. The sauce is a bit sweet but the shrimps are lightly fried and quite delicious. Combination Chow Mein (2.5/5 stars) - Another very typical dish and nothing to rave about. The texture of the noodle was not that great. They break apart too easily and not chewy enough. The food here is very reasonably priced so it is a plus. The restaurant seems quite busy and there was a little bit of a wait for the table. Southland Flavor is still no rival to my favorite Taiwanese restaurants in the area (Mama Chen in South Bay, or Joy Restaurant in Foster City).
(3)
Angela D.
It's decent "real Chinese food". Friendly welcoming staff that were efficient and helpful.
(3)
Food H.
Oh my god... This is the worst good I ever had... And this is what we left with... I even told them that it is not good at all and they did not do any damage control... We paid the pricy bill and left... This is the worst food I have ever had... I don't suggest anyone going...
(1)
Gabriel C.
Ordered a few dishes, but don't remember their exact names but the numbers are 403, 468 (fish with pickled something), 470 (a spicy beef dish), tofu/scallions and pork belly with pickled vegetables. Overall, the dishes were quite delicious. They were lightly seasonsed and none of the dishses were heavy on oil. The downside is that the dishes were definitely on the small side.
(3)
Edward L.
The owner and her waitresses are extremely homophobic. They made very hurtful and bigoted comments towards the LGBT communities. They were agreeing on each other how mentally ill we are and we know it, how we shouldn't have kids and adopt because we are sick, how we shouldn't have visitation rights if our loved ones are sick and how fast the world and society are changing because it's the gays' fault. I couldn't finish my food I had to stop, I had ordered takeouts too and I returned them, I wish I could vomit...the whole thing makes the food I swallowed sick to my stomach. I am so bothered I can't stand it. Tell your friends and friends' friends. We need to boycott this place.
(1)
Melissa H.
The only reason I'm not giving this place five stars is that the last two times I've been here, they have messed up our order. Other than that, the service is prompt. It is good old Taiwanese food. I used to come here with my parents since I was a little kid, and I would always get the Omelette Rice. My family would always share a variety of appetizers, small dishes which included the seaweed, pork ears, tofu slices, and cucumbers. I am a shameless stinky tofu fanatic. I don't care that it smells like feet, it is hands down on of my favorite foods. I guess it's an acquired taste. I used to always order the fried version, but recently I've started to order the steamed one that they have. It's spicy and comes with intestines and pork blood. Soooooo good. I've also tried some of their vegetable dishes, including the eggplant with basil. I love eggplant too, so I guess I'm a little biased when I describe how good it is. The reason that it's so oily is because eggplant soaks up oil. Other than that, the flavor is just right. In Taiwanese night markets, there is usually a dish called oh ya jian (excuse my horrible pinyin), or Oyster pancakes. I don't really like oysters, so I opt for the xia ren jian (Shrimp pancake). It contains lettuce and eggs, and has delicious red sweet sauce over it. Delicious. I love this place!
(4)
Charlie G.
My comfort food place. Love pork chop rice and A-chai veggie. Their recent fish slices is out of this world!!
(5)
Andrew N.
Their menu is quite large, and while most dishes are non vegetarian, they actually have a vegetarian section. Some good offerings although when it comes to actual vegetables, they are more expensive then meat dishes from what I see when browsing the menu. Anyway, they have this dish called vegetarian chicken filet. It's really good. Comes with cabbage (lightly stir fried), sweet pickled mustard, and a tea egg. It can be somewhat plain by itself, but ask for this black sauce as it definitely makes the dish awesome! The pea sprouts are good too although it is 12 dollars or so. My suggestion though is only get it if you plan to eat there since once you leave, it's still good but more like a glob of soggy vegetables. Freshly out of the kitchen is the way to go I say!
(4)
May H.
Overall, I was very disappointed with the three dishes I ordered. 1) Minced pork rice: very average. 2) Pork pottage soup: biggest disappointment among the three dishes. They put way too much flour which made the soup too thick. The pork was not tender at all. I ended up only having 1/4 of the soup and couldn't continue to eat it because of the thickness. 3) Stir-fried pork kidney with sesame oil: a very salty dish! Also, this is place is over-priced. It's not worth going there. Mama Chen's food is very delicious compared to this place.
(2)
Diana W.
SO EXPENSIVE for TAIWANESE FOOD !!!! But it is newly my favorite Taiwanese food in the bay area so far !!! We ordered the eggplant dish (basil I think), which came with bits of ground meat chunks. So impressively purple when it came out!! Most places lose the purple color after cooking. Very delicious and generous portion size! The lamb/scallion stir fry was sooo good too.. They were pretty generous with the lamb, especially in comparison with my usual Taiwanese food joint I go to, Chi in Milpitas. I also had the Oyster pancake, which was more glutinous and mushy than I am used to but not bad. The oysters were very fishy though and probably canned .. The beef special house noodle soup was ok. The flavors were good and there was plenty of pickled greens, which I love, but the beef pieces were not tender like they usually are. The noodles were not knife cut or anything special either .. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience here and loved my next day leftovers !!!! Yay! But so expensive. Like average of 12-15 bucks per entree I think.
(4)
Edna C.
One of those places where you're tempted to order everything on the menu -__- First world problems... Southland specializes in legit TW food and is located in the giant and chaotic Ranch 99 plaza i.e. easy to find parking, but you have to wander around the maze of stores for awhile before finding your destination. The ambiance is simple and homey, service is efficient, and there is a backdrop of conversations in Chinese... feels like a portal to TW in California weather. The menu is huge (including adventurous traditional dishes involving organs) and n00b-friendly, as it is an extensive booklet of glossy pages with pictures of literally every single dish. We opted for classic TW food: (++) OYSTER PANCAKE: The boo thought it could have used more green onion, but I really like their rendition: crispy edges, the size of your face, and more egg-based so it's almost like a flat omelette (the oyster and eggs combo taste reminded me a little bit of the hangtown fry, the southern brunch guilty pleasure of fried oysters embedded in scrambled eggs) (++) TW GIANT DUMPLING: Snacky street food on point. A dash of Savory sauce with flavorful meat wrapped in thick, fresh, and chewy glutinous jelly (which sounds horrifying I know, but glutinous starch is neither gluttonous nor gluten-ful). (+/-) JAJANG MYEON: Not bad, especially since it's not swimming in oil like how some restaurants make it. However I was unimpressed by the plain noodles which tasted suspiciously like spaghetti, and the amount of shredded cucumbers and carrots was lacking....not to be that annoying health freak who complains about Asian restaurants not offering kale salads, but the veggies usually add a nice crunch to jajang myeon, so even from a purely culinary perspective it fell short. Overall the food was quite salty and I am skeptical for MSG because I ended up chugging copious amounts of water later... But in any case, the tasty meal was worth it :3 Also quite a good deal because the bill came out to just over $20 for a delicious and satisfying feast for two (though there was still room for dessert).
(4)
James S.
Hmmm I want to like this place. The dishes are more authentic and not as Americanized as many Chinese restaurants. My Taiwanese wife thought it was good and authentic... but I was a bit disappointed. Probably because I had to pay the 40 dollar lunch bill without feeling full. The chicken soup was an individual serving, not enough for two. The Kongxin Cai was OK, not too oily. And the fish was way overpriced at 16 bucks for a little thing. They even charge for rice, which would be ridiculous in many restaurants in Taiwan. Its just OK. Can't say we'll be back since my wife can basically cook all this at home for 1/4 the price. Still, it was nice to be around a predominantly Taiwanese crowd.
(3)
Kathy L.
I have been on the desperate search for good Taiwanese (or, Taiwanese, period) since moving to the Bay Area two years ago. Well, I am still on that hunt. Everything was mediocre, and just can't compare to places down in LA or Taiwan (duh). Stinky tofu and intestines, staples when i get Taiwanese small plates, were fine. But I'm looking for more than just fine! The oyster pancake was a joke. It was like a spinach and egg omelette drowning in chili sauce. Pork blood cakes were too soft. The only saving grace was the fact that they had gua bao (Taiwanese hamburger on the menu), which I haven't had since my summer in Taiwan three years ago. It was pretty good actually, with a good amount of peanuts and fatty meat. I would possibly come back just for this, since I don't know where else to find it.
(2)
Heather s.
Great selection of Taiwanese food. They have a very large menu, but we tend to just stick with Taiwanese classics. My favorite is a yummy bowl of ground pork over rice. Their stinky tofu is pretty good too (though not as stinky as from the night markets!) -- a little girl at the table next to us asked "daddy, what's that smell?" Awww, yeah! The best part? As an American-born Taiwanese raised in the Midwest, it makes me smile hearing Taiwanese out and about in the community. Love it. (Just watch out for all your stereotypical horrible Asian drivers in the crazy parking lot.)
(4)
A. W.
I have had four star meals here but also 2 star food at times. That's why it's a 3 star from me on average. I find myself going back to this place because: - they have decent beef noodles, taiwanese sausages, and lots of other taiwanese appetizers; i like to order their boiled goose meat, or boiled pork offals; - they offer a lot of rice plates, noodle soups, perfect for a quick week night meal for 1 or 2 - they're open during the post-lunch/pre-dinner hours; - they would take you in even it's just 15/20 minutes before their closing hours - they give you melamine chopsticks (instead of the single-use disposable chopsticks)
(3)
Frank C.
For Taiwanese style food this place is pretty decent but I can't say if it's truly a cut above as I don't have much experience with the style. The xlb & fried tofu is quite good tho.
(3)
Alan L.
The selection of food is huge and the servers are friendly. The food also comes out really quick. When i was there, i ordered 1 appetizer (simmered beef tripe), a plate of veggies and 2 different noodles and it literelly took about 5 mins before they came back with the food. If you ask me to rate the service i'll give them a 4.5/5. But what promped me give them a 3/5 overall is that the food there just fails to wow me. The food is okay. I will suggest this place if you're just looking for a place to look for lunch on a regular day.
(3)
Christine S.
Never coming back to this place again! We ordered the beef noodle soup, shanghai dumplings and spicy wontons. The beef noodle soup was luke warm, and the noodles didn't seem fully cooked, they were hard. The beef was tough and chewy and the broth just tasted like beef broth from a can. Then we had the shanghai dumplings which had an odd flavor and smell that I can't even describe. The meat was like a hard ball inside and it just grossed me out. The spicy wontons were bland and the meat was also tough. I'm not even sure if the meat inside was really even beef. All the meats had an odd smell to me and a strange texture. We took a bite of each item and left the restaurant because it was that bad!!
(1)
Peter Y.
This is one of our go-to restaurants in Cupertino Village. It has fairly decent Taiwanese food at low prices. The rice with ground pork is one of their most popular dishes. Other dishes that are good include the fried chicken, small dishes (e.g. beef tripe) and beef noodle soup. If you are feeling adventurous, also try the pig feet and stinky tofu.
Yum yum yum. I used to come here with my mom all the time for lunch when I was younger. The must gets are the noodle soups with vegetable and fish ball, steamed glutinous meat bun (it sounds appealing but it's really good), the innards if you like them like I do and the ground pork over rice. I tried the nien gao last time and it was okay. A little too salty for my taste but my friend didn't think so. The stinky tofu is smelly (duh) but the flavor is a little bland. Yes, I like to eat tofu that smells like nasty fire butt!
(3)
Omi Y.
Fried stinky tofu YUM...=) Reasonable prices...Yummy Taiwanese food... They have TVs streaming food items on the menu...
(4)
Sophia Y.
haven't been here in ages. but this place definitely has authentic Taiwanese food items on the menu. the "Bah won" which means meat ball but is really pork, with mushroom and bamboo covered in rice (like mochi but thicker) is authentic green onion buns good I liked the beef noodles generous portion on spinach and garlic.
(4)
Kevin L.
I'm from Taiwan and when I'm craving for Taiwanese dishes, I head to Southland Flavor Cafe. The fried oysters and pork chop are delicious and the stinky tofu is bearable, but still one of the best in the area. However, the oyster pancake felt cakey and didn't have as much flavor as I expected it to have. The menu is pretty intimidating and finding what to order is kind of difficult, but the waiters are friendly and make good suggestions! There's a lot of seating, but since it's so popular, you'll probably have to wait during busy hours. Service is quick and entrees arrive at our table within 5 minutes of ordering. It's fairly cheap and dishes can be easily shared.
(4)
Jen H.
If you think Panda Express is what Chinese people cook at home--think again! Come here to experience a true Chinese meal. Okay, don't get me wrong, but this is food you would experience in a typical Chinese family on a "special dinner night." Make sure to come with at least four people to dine family style so you get to experience all the varieties--they have over 100 dishes on their menu! (yikes, I was a bad yelper, didn't mentally take my notes, and I don't know the name of all the dishes we ordered). I would recommend the salt and pepper fried fish (cod?). Don't order the cumin beef.
(4)
Kalani K.
I've been here many times in the past two years that I've been in Cali, and I must say, I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! Most of my friends, aka The Fobs, are all Chinese and Taiwanese so naturally I eat at various Asian restaurants. Well they brought me here shortly after I moved from Hawaii to San Jo and I instantly fell in love! This place is extremely affordable, with one of their dishes only costing less than $5 but will make you full AND tastes really good. I'm Hawaiian so it isn't easy to get me full, though I will eat almost anything and think its good (for the most part)! I will usually get the Ground Pork w/ Rice bowl, which is cheapest rice dish on the menu. It's basically a large bowl filled with rice, ground pork that seasoned in a slightly salty anise flavor (common in Chinese dishes), cooked cabbage, pickled veggies, and a tea egg. its really good! Then for appetizers we get the Stinky Tofu (which Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods wouldn't eat), the sliced pig ears, fried intestine (comes with a salt&pepper mixture and pineapples), and the green onion pancakes. The Stinky Tofu is really good, despite the somewhat rotten smell it emits into the air. Its slightly salty and creamy but goes well with the sauce they provide, along with the pickled cabbage mixture it comes with. If you've never had it, try it! The sliced pig ears sounds gross but surprisingly very tasty. Its mostly the texture of somewhat soft cartilage flavored with a light dose of sesame seed oil, and a possibly soy sauce...or some other salty flavor. Fried intestine.... never thought I would eat this in a million years!!! I have to admit, I usually stay away from all dishes related to intestine, stomach lining, and stuff of the sort, but this dish is good! Its crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, balanced almost perfectly. The flavor that usually accompanies intestine is not as present as most places, meaning they clean the intestine very well before preparing. Dip it in the salt&pepper mixture and add a pineapple.... as we say in Hawaii "Broke Da Mouth!" Although its a primarily Asian (Chinese/Taiwanese) joint, and almost everyone that eats there and works there are not English-As-A-First-Language people, they are very patient when I order things in English... But my friends usually order for me since they speak the same language. =) They also have a super huge selection of meals, both family style and personal meals. All in all, great service, great food, excellent flavor! p.s. I will upload photos, so check them out once I do!
(5)
Annie C.
Awesome Taiwanese food! It's not the best, but it's what I can get in Cupertino for cheap. I've been coming here for years, and the consistency has been up and down but the latest owner has been keeping it steady. I always get the pork chop rice! Big portion, cheap prices. you can't beat that. Beware of people ordering stinky tofu!
(4)
Connie W.
I wish I lived closer to here, I'd come here all the time. What I like about this place is that their dishes are not too big. That means.... If you come with a small party. Say two or three people, you'd still be able to try many dishes without being super full. Food comes out SUPER FAST & is always HOTTTT. Dishes I loved: -seafood pancake -salt & pepper fish filets A dish never to order: -xiao long bao (shanghai dumpling) Waaay too much MSG. I could taste it right when I bit into it, even with all the vinegar I used. Food is cheap here, about less than $10 a person. Delicious.
(4)
Jenny Z.
Southland is a nice, casual taiwanese restaurant that is great for sit-down dinner with friends and family. I've been here several times because its conveniently in Cupertino Village and the ambiance is enjoyable and fun. They have a big menu, that offers entrees and snacks. The star, however, are the taiwanese small dishes. Prices are average. Normally between $4-8 for small dishes and a little higher for entrees like noodles and rice plates. A little goes a long way, I always have an issue ordering too much food so there's plenty leftover to take home. Their service is quick. If you can speak Mandarin, that's a bonus but it may be a little harder to communicate what you want if you don't, especially if you're picky about your food. One of my friends is a strict vegetarian who doesn't eat mushrooms for religious reasons. When we specifically asked for no mushrooms (in chinese), they still included mushrooms in his order. When we told them about, they just picked out the mushrooms instead of making a new dish. My friends was cool about it but I thought they could have at least remade the order for him. Despite that, I think their food is flavorful and is worth coming back, seeing that there are not many restaurant that serve authentic taiwanese food. My family always order: -clam chowder in toast block -stewed pork feet -taiwanese meat ball -zhu xue gao (pig's blood) -xiao long bao (shanghai soup dumplings) -deep fried stinky tofu (fyi, it's not stinky enough) -minced/ground pork over rice -gua bao (steamed bun "taco") -onion pancake -fried oysters Most of their dishes have meat in it, even if it isn't specified. So if you are vegetarian, I recommend making it very clear when you make your order. Overall, its a fun restaurant to take out the family or friends for a casual meal to have a conversation over.
(4)
Jessica H.
The food is just okay. I ordered meat ball gluten and meatball soup. (i dont know their names in English) The meat ball gluten was okay with the sauce. The wrapping was a bit too chewy. The meatball soup was favored weirdly, really different from what I thought.
(4)
Minako S.
I used to eat at this place frequently and used to love its food, but I just went recently and did not enjoy my meal at all. I didn't like more than half the stuff I ordered. The pork feet noodle was the best thing there. The pork feet was surprisingly fatty and tender and flavorful. However, the pork ears were disgustingly malayish flavor and that was it and wasn't well sliced. The pork cheek was just ok. And the oyster pancake was not crispy, was more eggy and slightly gooey. Not what I remembered it to be liked or liked about it. The papaya milk drink was too pulpy and not smooth.
(3)
Cindy T.
When I eat out, I never crave Asian food. Maybe because my motherbear is such a great cook and she cooks everyday. But my friends wanted to try out this place, so we did. First off, I can't get over how much I love the menu picture book. Since I don't read Chinese, it makes ordering that much easier. They have a picture for every single dish! We ordered about 7 dishes. All were quite good, savory and light. Nothing was too oily, so that's a plus for me. - chow mein - duck - fried tofu - beef w/ veggies - beef shanks - sausages - pork w/ sauce And this place definitely took my card since I didn't have any cash on me. Service was also good and food was ready in the quickness.
(4)
Christopher L.
Came in around 130pm on a Saturday afternoon and it was packed with a very short wait list. Three of us got seated after a few minutes and ordered ground pork over rice, oyster pancake, xlb, Taiwanese sausage, pork and dried mustard, and wonton in chili oil. The XLBs really weren't that great and definitely can be skipped. The wonton in chili oil was OK, but the filling could use more seasoning. The oyster pancake was good, but had very little oysters. The Taiwanese sausage is always good, but they were really crude with the slicing of it and the garlic; it was just messy and not very presentable. The ground pork over rice is one of my favorite dishes and I found it pretty satisfactory. The pork with dried mustard was really good, but you get only about 6 slices. Overall, it was OK, but since Taiwanese food is kinda hard to find, it's rated a bit higher than it deserves...
(3)
Veronica C.
I got shrimp and egg fried rice and fried luobuogao (turnip cake?). They were both very average. I usually love shrimp fried rice but it just wasn't hitting the spot here; it seemed on the blander side for some reason. And the luobugao was just not very flavorful at all. But it wasn't un-tasty, and their portion size for the rice was pretty generous - thus the 3-star rating.
(3)
Jack L.
Boy, I got fooled by the Chinese name of this restaurant as it means a city in southern Taiwan. So when I fully expected authentic Taiwanese flavored dishes (I was just in Taiwan in November 2012 on a biz trip and I visited this restaurant only last week), I walked away feeling stupid. Why did feel stupid...I ordered 5 dishes (by myself) thinking I would have stewed beef noodle soup, oyster omelette, stinky tofu, spicy tripe, and haka stirfry. All five turned out bad as compared to what I just had a month ago in Taiwan. So I don't know why they fooled folks with this name when none of the dishes had any taste of Taiwan.
(3)
Kevin V.
Decent food at an affordable price. The Taiwanese food here is decent. The menu is huge it sometimes gets overwhelming, but my favorite dishes here are the fried rice. Get the Sakura Shrimp Fried Rice its my favorite one. The restaurant makes you feel comfortable, but there is nothing super special on the menu other than the fried rice.
(3)
Daniel K.
Pretty standard restaurant you will find in this plaza. The service is typical "asian service" which means you'll likely need to flag someone down to get some attention. Food here is pretty decent but I wouldn't recommend the Shanghai dumplings. The omelette rice is good though. If someone orders the stinky tofu prepare to run.
(3)
Byron L.
For good old greasy Chinese bbq, this is the place to go. The meat quality is not great. There's no variety in the sauce. But you can smell the grill on the meat.
(2)
Julie T.
I love love love their fried tofu!!!not the stinky one.. But the normal fried tofu! The texture is so soft and silky on the inside and crunchy on the outside.. Dip it into the garlic sauce and omg! I've tried a lot of other things here as well but I can't say any were really memorable. It's not bad but it's not really good either. But their fried tofu!!! U must ordertheir fried tofu!!
(3)
David L.
It is 8:30 and my gf and I were looking for a late night dinner. Drove by this place and decided to give it a try. I am not sure if we caught the waitress on a bad day or she's tired. Given the circumstance that it is 9:00. She did not show much emotion when she's ordering food from us. That is the first negativity for this place. Besides her, all the other waitresses are friendly. So this is more of luck of a draw issue. Plus it's a Chinese restaurant, so I usually don't expect much service. So I ordered 4 dishes. The green onion and beef stir fry, pan fried fish, sesame oil with kidney, and stir fry small pea sprouts. The final bill came out to be around $44.00 something. Allow me to break down why I gave this place a 1 star for tonight's experience. The veggie dish: well done on the texture, but I think they forgot to add salt or didn't add enough salt to let me taste it. This is fine. I don't mind eating a veggie plate without salt. The beef dish: well seasoned, I like the flavor, but the beef were really really firm. Being a decent home cook myself, I can tell immediately that the beefs are going to be firm the moment the dish was presented on the table, and I was right. Chewy....... The fish: why don't you just feed me salt? Did they add the forgotten salt from the veggie to the fish and than another half a can of salt on top of it? Oh my god I don't even know why I finished it. Its probably really bad for my kidney. for those of you who have had salt fish before......it is actually a lot saltier than salt fish. I should've saved the other half for the restaurant owners and the chefs to know exactly what I mean when I told them its really salty. It literally just tasted like salt out of the can. Mon the other side, my fault for being stupid for not asking them to remake it or decline the dish after my initial bite. As for the kidney, it never came so I can't judge it. Again, the tired waitress forgot to put it down. So the total came out to be $44 something and I tipped $6. Now I think about it, I should NOT have tipped at all for the quality of the food I got tonight. But hey, I still packed the unfinished food and will eat them for lunch tomorrow.....I don't like to waste food. This is only for tonight's experience. I am willing to go again to try the things people say that are actually good. But Regardless of what I order, if you are going to offer an item on the menu, I expect better quality for the price I paid today. I could've just cooked the same dishes for half the price myself and actually enjoy them.
(1)
Liz L.
I really thought this place was terrible. I thought that maybe I just don't like Taiwanese food because the people I went with loved it, but upon asking around, it seems others share my opinion. My biggest complaint is it seems they add lobs of sugar to every dish. Too much sweetness in my savory dishes is a big no-no.
(1)
Kevin S.
Taiwanese cuisine is a delicacy that I have very few opportunities to eat so I was very happy to happen upon some at Southland. I'm giving Southland a very favorable review mostly out of nostalgic reasons. Obviously the food doesn't quite match up to the actual thing, but its the closest thing I'm going to get here in the Bay. Even the service reminded me of the summers I had spent in Taiwan. The waitresses are very no-nonsense and bee-line you to a seat before bring out a teapot and some menus. I was quite excited to see so many exotic dishes that I hadn't had the opportunity to see in quite some time. Three dishes that I ordered right away were the ba-wan, oyster omelet, and stinky tofu. The ba-wan was quite good (its meat and vegetables stuffed in a gelatinous dough ball and drowned in sweet savory sauce). Probably the most authentic dish I had there. The oyster omelet was okay, not much oyster, mostly egg and jelly. I was kind of disappointed in the stinky tofu, it wasn't nearly as flavorful as i remember it being. One last dish that I found really good was the fishball soup. The broth was light but savory with a hint of fish and green onion. The fishballs were fantastic, chewy with minced pork stuffed in the middle. Thanks Southland for allowing me to pretend that I was back in Taiwan, even if for just a few minutes.
(4)
Chia L.
The food here really isn't amazing, but it does offer a huge selection of Taiwanese food, everything that you could be craving. If you haven't had Taiwanese food for a while, this place would make you happy for sure~ I feel bad for such bad reviews because this place really isn't that bad at all, plus the owners are super duper nice. The service is fast and the food is good. Not all that expensive either, what's not to like?
(3)
Grace C.
Had dinner here on a busy Saturday evening. I was impressed with the: - Service: Pretty good for a Chinese (Taiwanese) restaurant - Speed: We got our first two dishes within 5 min of ordering, even though the restaurant was packed! - Price: Not bad, a meal for two + leftovers = $23 + tip Tip #1: Even if you sign in on the waiting list sheet, make sure at least 1 member of your party stands inside the restaurant. There were 3 parties ahead of us on the list, but the waitresses just seated us right away because we were the only ones standing there. Tip #2: Even if you're not Taiwanese & don't know any Chinese, you can eat here because the menu has pictures of every single dish, plus a loosely translated English description. - Fried spicy chicken bits: 5 stars, delicious bite-sized goodness - Dry noodles with pork: 5 stars, great flavor - Green onion pancake: 3 stars, too doughy & therefore not crispy enough - Stir-fried greens with garlic: 4 stars, flavor could be stronger
(4)
Eric Y.
Cheap Taiwanese eat out takes place here. you can order a lot and be decently satisfied with the craving of Taiwanese food in the Bay Area. Their food is 1-2 bars away from being authentically good. They do have a wide selection of food, but it's funny that everytime I go, I tend to hit the jackpot on something on their menu that wasn't ready that day for serving. If you order the usual stuff like oyster pan cake, pork chop rice, or Ground Pork over Rice you would be fine.
(3)
Rita V.
I came here for lunch to enjoy some Taiwanese food. At noon, this place was pretty empty, so I was skeptical if it was even a good place to eat. The menu is super huge, and there is just way too many dishes to choose from. The waitress kept stopping by the table to take the order, but I was never ready. I liked how there were pics for some of the dishes, but I wish all the items had pictures. On the menu, there was appetizers, noodle soups, rice plates, chow mein, regular soups, and snack items. I was so overwhelmed that I just chose a regular pork noodle soup ($4.95), since the picture looked good. It was pretty chilly outside, so I really wanted some soup, too. The food came out within 5 minutes. It was really way too fast! The soup was hot, and the noodles was chewy. There was tons of bean sprouts on the bottom of the soup. The pork noodle soup was ok. The pork was a bit fatty, and the soup was very oily. I probably wouldn't order this dish again. I also tried bamboo shoots, which was good. It had a nice crunch with each bite, but it was soaking in oil. The green onion pancake was crispy and tasty. It was definitely my favorite dish. Overall, the food here is ok. The price is really cheap, since most of the dishes are less than 7 dollars. The service is good considering that you get your food super fast. I'll probably come back if I'm in Cupertino village to try other dishes.
(3)
Randy S.
Used to come out here with my co workers all the time for lunch. The one and only dish I've ever had here and always order every time I swing by...... Pork Chops and Rice You can't lose with that!
(4)
Anna H.
The food here is not the best Taiwanese food i've ever had but is good enough to keep me from coming back. The staffs that work here are all pretty nice and friendly and the owner is super sweet and always has a smile on her face :) I love the fried tofu here! Make sure if you order it togo, you ask to leave the lid open so the tofu doesn't get soggy and will still have a crunch to every bite.
(4)
Jess C.
Less than $4 for a rice bowl filled with meat, egg, and veggies?! This place has been around for ages... the name, the owner, and the color of the walls have changed, but the food has remained just as good and cheap as it has always been. Squid Side Dish: Cheap but too chewy, and the sauce was too sweet.
(4)
Kailyn G.
On my recent trip to California, I obviously had to make time to get Chinese food (since it is lacking in my home state - WI). We ordered the scallion pancake, dumplings, some sort of pork in sauce and beef with wide rice noodles. This meal couldn't go wrong - those are all my favorite things. Everything was really good. Scallion pancakes I could probably pass on next time - this time, it was mostly just a craving. I had never had the pork dish before, and it was so good. Pork with watercress and a very tasty sauce - I would highly recommend. Prices were very reasonable. And their menu is really large. So it makes it easy for me to want to come back. Service: Fast. I think they were friendly, but all the interactions were in Chinese, so I didn't understand. Environment: Pretty generic. Bright and sunny with lots of windows though.
(4)
Will H.
I was at southland flavor for the first time when passing by the Cupertino wolfe mall, interested by its name which resembling dishes from southern part of the taiwan Island. I spent ~$35 with tax (1 person) ordered goose meat, steamed dumplings and egg pancake, and they were NOT even half decent. The goose meat was over-priced at ~$17 for small plate of over-cooked and tasteless meat, most of which filled with broken bone fragments (be careful when eating it), excessive skin and fat. From the taste and presentation, it seems to be the leftovers from the slow-cooked chinese soup. Meat was not edible and presentation was also an embarrassment. The steam dumplings at ~$10 taste like it had been grossly injected with butter or cream liked substance, which didn't mix well with the original taste of steaming bun meat juice. I am extremely open-minded and adventurous in trying creative food, but this grotesque mix of butter/creamy flavor and steam meat juice in buns made my stomach turn. It shows the "chef" has absolutely no talent or even common sense Oyster pan cake at ~$7 tastes ok, similar to any other Taiwan places that I had been to, which makes it the dish in cafe. My advise, don't waste your appetite for Southland, especially there are many good restaurant choices in the bay area.
(1)
Jen Y.
This is our go-to place for a reliably awesome, yet incredibly cheap, meal. Even though there are tons of other Chinese restaurants closer to us in Mountain View, we've decided none of them measure up and it's worth a couple extra minutes' drive to Cupertino. Our go-to dishes are the pork chop rice and cha-chiang mien. And, even though I don't usually expect friendly service at fast Chinese restaurants, everyone here is super nice, and still very efficient.
(5)
Agent X.
Boyfriends have come and gone through the years, but Southland Flavor Cafe has always been there for me. My favorite dishes: -Pork chop & rice (Every BF I've had loves this dish) -House made cucumber :) :) :) -Dry noodle w/ground pork -Sauteed on choy w/garlic -Sauteed beef udon noodles
(4)
Jennifer J.
This place is our default, go-to Chinese place when we're not sure what to cook OR we have guests that want good Chinese food. Price is really reasonable, $4-5 appetizers (small things like pig's ear or jellyfish) and then $10ish entrees. I love their soup, although they give you way too much noodle... Other dry dishes like the rice, chow mein are pretty Americanized. Greasy/lots of sauce, but very good for hungry college kids like me! Also good family place, a lot of round-tables and group seating.
(4)
Alissa M.
Our professor took us here for dinner one night. As poor students, we jumped at the chance and ordered a ridiculous amount of food. I don't remember everything we had, but it was all delicious. And then someone insisted we order the stinky tofu. None of us really knew what to expect, but I don't understand how people say it's not that stinky. It reeked like a combo of feet and vinegar that had been left to ferment for years. It smelled so bad that no one would even try it, so I stepped up to be the guinea pig. While thankfully it does not taste like it smells, I don't really think it tasted like anything and was kind of blah for me. But having to smell it while I ate it... let's just say I'm lucky I don't have a strong gag reflex. As soon as I tried it, we immediately asked for it to be cleared from the table, but the smell lingered the rest of the time we were there. Part of our group was sitting a few tables away, and they could smell it too. That stuff is pungent!
(4)
Aaron T.
1 star to start. Food (1.0 stars): The food here is very tasty! The Omelet Fried Rice has a perfect mix of tomato flavor and has the unique dome-shaped egg covering the rice. The Beef Noodle Soup can almost rival its counterpart at A&J, though I found the vegetables to be slightly undercooked and the beef lacking as much tendon. Nonetheless I was rather impressed with the dishes and the pop of the flavors. Service (0.5 stars): Service wasn't bad, considering the experiences I've had at neighboring restaurants. The staff is very friendly and greet you as you come in, and they constantly come by to check on you. Food is made at an average pace. Value (0.5 stars): Prices aren't dirt-cheap here, but they aren't sky-high either. A fairly common middleground for similar Chinese restaurants, this place is no exception. Portion sizes are also fairly average and you will definitely eat up everything you order, which is just about the right amount. Experience (0.5 stars): The restaurant is not extremely small but rather cozy. They tend to seat diners away from the door, which is a nice move, and I felt the interior to be rather bright and clean. All-in-all this is a good restaurant to go to if you want to try something other than A&J with similar food quality while having significantly better service. Overall: 1.0 - Baseline 1.0 - Food 0.5 - Service 0.5 - Value 0.5 - Experience ============= 3.5 stars
(4)
Vicky L.
Fairly authentic Taiwanese cuisine available here along with its sister restaurant in Milpitas. The food here is reminescent of the street food you can get in Taiwan. Prices are decent, utensils and plates can be a little sticky and could use a good washing. Food can be slightly on the greasy side. I highly recommend the vermicelli with pork or the dan dan mien. Servers are all friendly, and the restaurant can be slightly non-Asian friendly due to all their specials posted on the walls in Chinese.
(3)
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Address :10825 N Wolfe Rd,Ste 220
Cupertino, CA, 95014
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : No Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.
Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.
There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.
Hien L.
Been back for beef noodle soup and rice dishes. Delicious each time. Tried the stinky tofu and pork chop rice. Pork chop was flavorful. Sate chicken noodles was a bit greasy. The best bets here are the noodles and rice dishes.
(4)Jen L.
I love the veggie chicken and rice combo plate that comes with veggies and a hard boiled egg. I also frequently order the stinky tofu, and a number of sautee veggies with garlic. The service is exactly the way I like it speedy and accurate. The only reason they lost a star for me is that they insist on cash; it's to the point where I feel pressured to have cash if I'm only ordering food for myself or I likely should visit another restaurant. One time they suggested it was $10 and above for credit card only, and another time they had suggested it was $20 and above. Can we be on the same page please? I understand the credit card company takes a cut, however, address the problem in your business model and lets not make it an issue for the customers.
(4)Alice C.
This place has a huge array of Taiwanese dishes. Are they good? Um.... that depends on who you ask. I find the taste to be quite off comparing to the goodies I get in Taiwan. However, the huge menu means that if you have a craving for any Taiwanese food, you can probably find it here. While the taste is definitely just an imitation, the possibility of actually finding a restaurant that makes the dish makes this place desirable. That is, until the new, better restaurants run this place over ;) There seem to be a bunch of new Taiwanese restaurants in Cupertino now...
(3)Claire L.
The food is very nice. The service is good. The food is served pretty fast. The place is clean, moderately crowded. Been here twice and both experience were good. Will continue visiting this restaurant.
(4)Xander C.
Sometimes you need your Taiwanese cuisine fix, and sometimes the place to fix your fix is Southland. After numerous dines here, I can safely say that they don't have any amazing dishes, but they have a wide array of Taiwanese dishes that are good for reminiscing better meals across the Pacific. a breakdown based on my last meal there in August 2014: kelp appetizer (cold) - good flavor, cooked thoroughly and consistently. would order again, but hey, it's seaweed. it's never horrible and it's never mindblowing. stinky tofu (fried version) - good texture, although could have been slightly more crispy on the outside with better contrast versus the internal texture. was not quite stinky enough for my tastes, but i find this to be true of most stinky tofu in the US taiwanese hamburger (gua bao) - pretty good rendition of this classic, not overly sweet like some other places (ahem, i'm looking at you Mama Chen's). pork could be a bit more tender, but good ratio of cilantro, peanut powder, and meat oyster pancake (oya jen) - not that great here... far too few oysters, too thin, not gooey enough. they did add some cabbage in there for some additional texture, which I could see the appeal of, but not something I personally appreciated xiao long bao (soup filled steamed dumplings) - these are a disgrace to taiwan, the homeland. absolutely no soup in any of dumplings, with overly doughy skin. the meat filling was also lackluster, with the wrong texture and unimpressive flavor (no depth) A choy (aka - duck feed in taiwan :)) - i happen to like this vegetable, and it was prepared to standards... but how bad could it be? it's stir fried with garlic, nothing special here. this is usually my backup vegetable after morning glory / ong choy, or big pea sprouts (Southland only has small pea sprouts, which tastes like eating grass... i would recommend avoiding)
(3)Nguyen L.
Best taiwanese joint in the area. You can find this little gem right in cupertino village, although the seating arrangement isnt built for max capacity its worth the wait. Whether its noodles, soups, rice, lunch or dinner everything i have had is delicious here. The owners are a sweet couple who now remember me and my girlfriend when we come in. Its very welcoming and the portions are a decent size probably feeding 1.5-2 persons. I usually get sausage fried rice with some sautéed pork liver and kidneys and some bok choy with garlic sauce. My girlfriend orders all the noodles and soups here and has always been satisfied, the little dumplings with the soup inside is amazing! I highly recommend for a hearty meal. Do not come here if you plan on going to other taiwanese restaurants because they will make everything else obsolete Also they just built a sweet parking garage in the lot so the parking problem is now gone! Enjoy!!
(5)Sheena T.
A solid 3 for this place. The notable dish here is the oyster pancake and the Taiwanese chicken, but that's about it. The beef noodle soup is nothing special and Mama Chen's beef noodle soup is much better. It's pricey here, and a dish of vegetables were the most pricey item at $8.25! It was nothing special either, just sauteed veggies over a wok probably. Eh, probably would only come here for the oyster pancake and I may or may not give other dishes a shot. We'll see.
(3)Kitty K.
This restaurant is located in Cupertino Village Center towards the back where Fantasia is located. Parking in this center is always hard to find during lunch & dinner times. They finished building the free public garage, so it's helped a little bit but it's only two stories. A few tables for large groups but mostly tables for 4 are setup. Tables are a bit wobbly with sticky tabletops. One bathroom for each gender. Our Order: #214 Green Onion Pancake: $6.25 #216 Shanghai Dumplings: ($9.75) 8 pcs #510 Dry Noodles & Spicy Bean Sauce #629 Beef Special Noodle Soup $9.95 The XLB were decent but they didn't have too much broth in them. At least the skin wasn't too thick. The green onion pancake had crispy edges but on the thin side. There wasn't a lot of oysters either unfortunately. Loved the Beef Special Noodle Soup with the wide and slightly chewy noodles, pickled mustard greens, tender beef and baby bak choy. It was a bit spicy but not too much where I couldn't handle it. My BF liked my dish better than the dry noodles that he ordered. He actually had to add some soy sauce to his as they didn't put enough bean sauce in the dish. With such a huge menu, there's something for everyone. Definitely would come back for the Beef Special Noodle soup and to try more of their menu. Credit Cards accepted
(4)Jodi H.
They open until 9:30PM, so that's always a plus if you're looking for a late dinner or "small eats" in Taiwanese cuisine. I've been here multiple times over the past decade at least...with my family and friends, and Southland is definitely a fixture in Cupe Village. When I used to eat meat, I had their bamboo rice and beef noodle soup. But now that I am pescatarian, I've realized that their menu is pretty lacking in affordable veggie-friendly options. When you're here...and want some legit Taiwanese food, you GOT to get their stinky tofu. It's pretty pricey at $6-$7 for one plate, and each plate has like 6-7 tofu pieces on it--so don't waste any bit of it!! My mom and I really liked their oyster pancake (also another traditional Taiwanese dish)...I'd say it's probably one of the best in Cupertino (much better than PotSticker King's that's for sure). However, with these two must-order dishes, I wouldn't say that every other food item we've had is 5 stars. Their menu is pretty extensive, but not that cheap I'm sad to say. Portion size is pretty small, unless you order a rice or noodle dish that's about entree size. They give you complimentary tea, and service is pretty quick and hometown-feely with lots of Asian mom-ish servers milling about and the lady boss who sits behind the counter and watches her patrons eat. Southland is a Cupe Village fixture here, and I don't see them leaving anytime soon...so I'll probably find myself popping back in again from time to time if I am ever looking for some late-night noms.
(3)Ronny T.
I haven't been to this place for several years and it's been updated! Extensive menu for all palates but the appeal is to traditional Taiwanese. I had the cold noodles with spicy bean sauce and fried pork intestines on the side. Not the healthiest of options but quite tasty. Noodles were not spicy at all and intestines were kind of greasy, but what did you expect? Service was surprisingly very good given its a traditional Chinese place. I'd go back again and try different options. Appreciate the new menu too as there was a picture of everything on it.
(4)Shanise M.
I've been coming here for quite some time now - my favorite place to get Taiwanese food in the Bay Area. I always order the minced pork over rice (rou zhao fan), cucumbers (huang gua), tofu (dou gan), and eggs (lu dan). Those are the go-to dishes, then my family and I change between other dishes like some cold chicken noodles or green onion pancakes. Minced pork over rice is soooo good, we used to share it between my family members but I had to start ordering my own bowl! Some of their dishes are a bit different now and maybe even a little smaller. I came back recently after not having been back for at least a year, and the cucumber cold dish I usually order was now spicy! (Unless I ordered something different? But I really don't think so.) Well, that was still good but the original recipe was better! Will be back again and again anyway. :) The plaza this restaurant is in has some other great places too for desserts or snacks after your meal.
(5)Richard H.
Experience authentic Taiwanese cuisine in the heart of Cupertino. This strip mall adjacent to the 99 Ranch shopping center, has a vast assortment of eating choices: from bakery to bubble teas. This small restaurant appears to be a local favorite. Casual, Chinese comfort food, perhaps the equivalent of an American dinner. The staff was very friendly and patient with new comers. They serve several "hardcore" items; such as deep fried pig intestines. I will try that one on my next trip. For my first time, I selected the ground pork with vegetables, a shoyu boiled egg over rice. Great flavor and value for $6.25! I would be describe this item like a Chinese bibimbap.
(4)Henry L.
Overall a decent place for some chinese food The place is actually pretty decent. The soup dumplings were pretty good--they were all intact, hot, and served fresh. We also got sacha beef, which was heavily marinated with some veggies tucked underneath--good call! Since the veggie absorbed most of the sauce on top! The wait staff are pretty nice as well. The vibe inside is ok, with normal lighting/furnishing etc--nothing special. The menu had a lot of options, and a lot of them looked really good--it was too much to comprehend! Will definitely come back to try the other stuff
(4)Lynn C.
Holy moly choices galore. Pages and pages of taiwanese food all slammed into one single menu - the idea of it is tantalizing but the execution is meh - which is kinda expected when you dump every single taiwanese dish into one menu. My best friend, being Taiwanese himself too, asked me if I wanted some Taiwanese cuisine and i nodded a hard yes - his first choice wasn't open on a Sunday so we were relegated to Southland, which he thought was okay, but I have to admit that I probably made the bad choices. His girlfriend, who is more familiar with the place, chose a tofu dish with white fish and stewed eggs, which were great. But I picked the A vegetable, small intestine in black bean sauce, 3-cup chicken, and seaweed. Only the seaweed was good. The veggie was bland, the intestine not well cleaned, and the chicken over-fried. It might be worth a try to come back again and let my friends do the ordering, but based on the taiwanese dishes i love, this place isn't the best to be offered.
(2)Jeffrey C.
Silicon Valley Taiwanese food review three of three. My best description of Taiwanese food is "Chinese food, but blander." Which often sounds like an insult, but it really isn't. Taiwanese food utilizes relatively simple flavor profiles. That makes it easy to cook in the States, but also difficult to master. Good Taiwanese food reminds me of David Chang talking about how important it is to cook an egg correctly. It's not as simple as it seems. My barometer for Taiwanese food greatness is one of my favorite dishes of all-times, beef noodle soup (niu rou mien). Southland's was far and away the best I had in the area, and it became my go-to Taiwanese joint very quickly. The broth is simple, tasty and perfect. As are the noodles. There's an easy simplicity to them. Toss on a hearty scoop of bok choy, pickled veggies, and beef, and I'm in heaven. I've had a lot of other Taiwanese goodies here too, but it's hard to not keep coming back to the niu rou mien. As for other snacks, the ground pork rice (lu rou fan) is also good but not as good as Tea Era. The pork belly buns (gua bao) are borderline fantastic. And the dry pork noodles (a.k.a., Taiwanese spaghetti) is something I hadn't had in a super long time. My lack of photos just shows how fast I devoured everything. Truly, this felt like a trip back to Taipei. I'm already missing it.
(5)Bailey T.
The pork chop with tea egg plate is always my to-go dish. It's delicious and perfect for my taste bud. Beef and pineapple plate is savory, sweet, and tender. I am still not a fan of stinky tofu but it's their signature delicacy.
(4)Rochelle 'Shella' T.
We love coming here for their oyster pancakes. This a staple dish in our order. But always try to order something new on top of our favorites. In our last visit, we ordered their Crispy Fried Intestine, which my hubby lives. Surprisingly, our two toddlers loved 'em too. It's nice to see our kids willing to explore and expand their palate. I think having tasty and crispy intestine helped in making them try something new. This place serves typical Taiwanese dishes that we've always enjoyed from other cities that we've lived in. We're glad that we found this place. We like their Fried Chicken, Pork chop, Pork Pottage Soup, and the Rice that's topped with stewed Ground Pork with Preserved Vegetable.
(4)Susan M.
Ordered the beef noodle soup and stinky tofu. Never had stinky tofu before and boy did I get what I asked for. That shit smelled so bad. It didn't taste too bad, sort of like normal tofu. Nothing too special about it besides the fact that it smelled super bad. The beef noodle soup with their original thick noodles was just average. Also nothing too special about it. I was a little disappointed as I've been recommended a few times to come here for beef noodle soup. Don't think I will be coming back here again if in craving for beef noodle soup. It does look like they have a lot of other appetizers/small dishes on the menu that is like to try.
(3)Linda M.
This place is not authentic Taiwanese restaurant Its pretty sad and dirty plus no AC Came here with BIG group pretty much try all the popular taiwanese dishes Nothing was good !!!
(1)Marilyn T.
After studying abroad in Taiwan, I'm pretty picky about my Taiwanese food. One nice thing here is that they have pictures of all the items with the menus, labeled with numbers and the Chinese name. They have a lot of cold dishes, so we started with sliced bean curd (dou fu gan) and Taiwanese pickled cabbage (pao cai). Both had good flavor. The rest of the food came out super fast: - Shrimp pancake (instead of oyster pancake) - it wasn't all cornstarch, which I appreciate. I could have used more sauce - Kong xin cai (greens): ask for it with less oil - Rou zao mi fen (minced pork over rice stick noodles): the minced pork was very lean and seasoned well, but the dish needed more sauce/seasoning. Overall, they had a large variety on the menu, and it's easy to order from. I'm still looking for that perfect "reminds me of Taiwan" place, but this place will do in the meantime.
(3)Cindy M.
Everything is yummy! I have been coming here for the past four years, and everytime I come here, they remain the taste and food. It was a bit weird at first, since they have sooooo many things on the menu. How could a restaurant make so much in 15 minutes? Don't know how, but they did it. My favorites are the beef noodles, oyster pancake, fried fish cake. The restaurants not that crowded most of the time, so if you need that quick grab and happen to be in the area, this one is a good option since it's fast, has alot of options and won't break your wallet!
(4)Steven C.
This simple Taiwanese restaurant has been here forever, one of the staples of the Cupertino Village plaza. The original owner/chef has long since sold & remade two iterations of this restaurant, each one getting a bit better in quality & service. One of the perks compared to their competitors is that they're open all day till close, no lunch break. What to order? Depends on what you're in the mood for but you can't go wrong with bean curd or beef shank for appetizers, oyster pancake, moving onto a noodle or rice dish such as the ground pork rice or za ziang noodles. My childhood favorite glutinous rice with some oyster sauce is also here along with the "ba wan". Stinky tofu is also available if you're into that. Service is okay, it can get really busy & you might be forgotten but that's expected. Cheap & quick Taiwanese fix. You can probably order 5 dishes or so for less than $40. If you want better quality Taiwanese food there's nearby alternatives.
(3)Judith C.
I was very very excited when my high school friend told me that there was a decent Taiwanese place near where he lived. I grew up in an area with an abundance of Taiwanese restaurants, so I was very excited. I was blown away by the sheer variety of foods in the menu. From appetizers to snacks (which are different from appetizers) to entrees with rice, or noodles, or soup -- they have all the well-known Taiwanese dishes and then some. They even have entrees with intestines, kidneys, and hearts! That's the sign of a legitimacy, if ya ask me. My boyfriend, friend, and I even tried to impress our server by ordering in our heavily English-accented Mandarin. We wanted to fit in! I got the pork shop price, a tried and true favorite. It didn't disappoint! Obviously it's not going to taste the same as the same dishes you order in Taiwan -- but has it ever been? Portions were substantial, and with reasonable prices, I can definitely see myself coming here again. I want to try the beef noodle soup and maybe I'll even get my boyfriend to try stinky tofu.... heehee
(4)Jonathan K.
Southland Flavor Cafe is a Taiwanese restaurant in an Asian plaza with incredible variety. The food is pretty simple but familiar -- as someone else below me noted, it's basically Taiwanese comfort food. I thought it would specialize in Southern Taiwanese food, based on its name, but it's more of generic Chinese food. There are probably a few hundred items on the menu so if you don't know exactly what you want it might even be overwhelming, but the waitresses can give recommendations if you ask. The space is roomy and though we came on a weekday at noon, we didn't have to wait at all. The service is also quick but typically Chinese (meaning more efficient than friendly). Not that it was unfriendly, but just don't expect smiles and small talk. We had the green onion pancake, oyster pancake, salt and pepper fish, seafood noodles, and a-cai (what is that in English? A-vegetables?). My favorite was the sale and pepper fish, but everything else was just okay. The oyster pancakes were too thick and not very flavorful, and the green onion pancake was a bit hard. The food overall is quite cheap, with most dishes well under $10, and the portions are pretty generous too. Not bad for a generic Taiwanese place, with plenty of options on their menu, but the taste is average and not that memorable either. I'm not from the area but I've had better Taiwanese food at lots of places, but I've also had worse.
(3)Karen M.
Eew what the hell happen to this place?!? It used to be my go to spot when I get craving for Taiwanese food so imagine my disappointment when i went back for my Taiwanese food fix and it tasted nothing like I remembered. Hubby and I ordered the beef noodle soup, spicy chicken rice dish, spicy won tons, and onion pan cakes. All are very traditional dishes and they have managed to screw it all up!! The beef noodle soup came out less than a minute we ordered. I'm pretty sure it is pre made and they just scoop it into a bowl. No way they can prepare it that quickly!! The beef was too chewy and not tender for this dish. It was also too salty and broth tasted off. Too spicy to enjoy and maybe their strategy to fool your taste buds. The chicken dish was worst. We didn't even eat this dish but the barely there service discouraged me from Saying anything to the waitress. They were too busy congregating and chit chatting with each other. I had to flag them down to order our food then she went back to talking with the other ladies only returning to bring our food to us. The chicken had weird fat parts still attached and it tasted like it was going bad...weird sour taste. Gross!! We had a bite and did not eat it . She asked if we wanted it to go and we told her no. Most places seeing a full plate would ask what's wrong but not here. She just waltz away as if it is normal people order food to only have one bite. Don't bother coming here. Food is bad, as is service so what's the point!!
(2)Geoffrey W.
We have been here quite a few times over the years and just recently twice in one week (last week). I have to say nothing has changed. That's a good thing (except they did update the menue with pictures which is good for my boys to see what they are ordering). Other than that the food is as good as ever, the prices are true $ and I couldn't be happier eating here. We always order too much and we are forced to take home for next days meal, yum. Keep it up.
(5)Veronica C.
I have now been here twice, and both times, I've found the food to be meh, not so great... I thoroughly enjoy Taiwanese beef noodle soups, and so every time I go to Taiwanese restaurants, I would always order it. Their beef noodle soup was just average for me, though! Flavor was kinda bland and the beef was kinda gnawy... I did, however, love their portion size; it's generous and they top it with tons of vegetables (bok choy and green pickles)! Also had the green onion pancake. Now, this was delicious - it hade a nice crispy texture and was overall very tasty! I would recommend getting this as a side dish. Overall, not my favorite Taiwanese place in the plaza. However, If you appreciate good service, the ladies were very nice and accommodating...Well, most of the time anyway :)
(2)Christine S.
Wanting to grab a late lunch (think 3pm) with my sister, I started Yelping places and wanted to cry cause most of the restaurants in the area stopped serving lunch at 2:30pm! I saw that Southland Flavor Cafe was still open, so we headed over with empty stomaches. We've been here a couple of times with our family a few years back, but looking at the Yelp reviews, I guess they've changed management recently? It didn't really matter cause the food still tasted about the same! Surprisingly, we weren't the only ones grabbing food that late. The ladies spoke Mandarin to us right when we walked in and told us we could sit anywhere. Service here is like any Asian restaurant - they take your order, bring out your food, and you don't see them until they drop off your bill towards the end of your meal. The ladies did strike up a conversation with the family next to us though! - Oyster Pancake: they seem to use more egg in their batter so it came out to be more omelette-ish. I'd go elsewhere for oyster pancakes. - Beef Noodle Soup: I really wanted to get this dish because the menu showed that they used the really thick noodles. They told my sis that they ran out of the thick noodles, so they had to substitute with a thinner kind. It ended up tasting fine, but I still would've liked the thick noodles! The soup base was flavorful, but not overly salty. - Ba wan: didn't get to try this cause I was so full from the oyster pancake and beef noodle soup. The size may look a bit on the smaller side, but it looks like it was stuffed with a lot of meat! Prices are affordable, and they take credit card.
(3)Ming C.
Good for a craving for Taiwanese food cravings. The service is super fast, I think it didn't take even 5 minutes for food to start coming after ordering. The pig ears was a winner, I liked that the appetizers were small plates,which allowed you to try a lot of food. I also ordered the Cold Noodles which is made with a peanut sauce with cucumbers, cilantro,and ham. It's perfect for a hot day and it is huge amount of noodles for what you pay.
(3)Ee Vonn Y.
This is the definition of Taiwanese comfort food in all shapes, sizes, and color. Their menu has to be the greatest of all time. There are more than 400 items on this menu, each with their own picture thumbnail so you know exactly what you are getting. If the dish is spicy, it will be indicated by a chili icon on the side. However, some of the descriptions don't make sense because the spicy stinky tofu pot we ordered did not have that icon. The restaurant is cute and little. The minced pork over rice is so good and is meant to be shared. It's a giant bowl of delicious goodness. Apparently, my Taiwanese boyfriend thought this was just average for him. The spicy stinky tofu was also delicious and the sauces mixed well with whatever was left of the rice bowl.
(4)Joy L.
Today I had ordered pork chop over rice and it was semi good. I didn't like the pork chop because they seem to deep fry the whole pork chop without the batter. I'm from NYC and the place in NY I usually go to has deep fried pork chop with the batter and the batter itself is tasty; the batter isn't too heavy. However, their cabbage, pickled veggies, eggs and minced pork on rice hit home. I'd go back trying other dishes...
(4)Lulu C.
authentic Taiwanese food, tasty! Small restaurant, gets crowded and busy but the food comes quick & totally worth the wait!
(5)Mike Y.
Nothing fancy but rock solid authentic Taiwanese dishes. Plus very friendly servers from the Chinese ladies / waitresses.
(4)Avocado Donbur I.
In Cupertino Village, you can pretty much expect good Chinese restaurants and this was one of them. Southland Flavor Cafe is a Taiwanese restaurant from the city of Tainan. This was our first visit and we were happy we found this place. Hubby had the usual Pork Plate. The meat was so tender and it was delicious! I had Egg with Shrimp and it was full of flavor. I don't know what they use besides salt, but it was really tasty! The taste was very clean yet very flavorful (they must have secret ingredients). The servers were very polite and the place was clean and bright. We really liked it. Will come back!
(4)Kristie C.
While I'm not as well versed in Chinese /Taiwanese food - this place isn't too shabby. A bit oily for my taste, and not really enough meat in their dishes. Lots of noodle soup dishes and rice dishes here.
(3)Regina A.
My all time favorite Chinese food since i first got to US. These are the usual menu that I always order: 1. House Special Chicken 2. Garlic Sautee On Choy 3. Ground Pork Onion Roll (An appetizer menu but I always eat with rice) 4. Fried Pork Chop 5. Fried Calamari 6. Spicy Pig Ear (Appetizer) 7. Stinky Tofu (Not my favorite but My brother is really love them)
(4)Maggie G.
The oyster pancakes were not fresh.. the stewed beef cold plate tasted bland and stale too. The waitress wouldn't do anything about it, although if i made a scene i guess i could have gotten something. Come here only for their lu rou fan (minced pork rice bowl) or kong rou fan (stewed pork rice bowl), other than that everything else I've ordered is always below average.
(2)Xun Y.
Worst food ever! We ordered wonton soup, cold noodle, Taiwanese sausage and one pan fried veg. Only the veg is ok (just ok). The wonton were all broken when it is served and the meat were all exposed in the soup, meat is dry as wax and no flavor at all! This is the worst wonton I've ever had! (I only had one bite)The cold noodle is too soft and can't believe they called it their signature cold noodle. The sausage, dry as hell! I have tried so many Taiwanese sausage in many places, they are always juicy and full of flavors. But this one is exceptional and you can tell they used very bad meat to make it... How can a restaurant serve food like this still in business? Please avoid!
(1)Jennifer C.
Oh, hello soup dumplings. They're pretty good, but a little thick skinned and at least 2 of mine had already popped. The honey walnut shrimp was as good as it gets. The waitress acted like we were regulars (said she remembered what we liked from all the times we come in) but we have never been here before. She reminded me of an Asian version of a diner waitress. Anyways, would recommend if you want soup dumpling at dinner time and don't want to drive out of your way.
(4)David S.
One of my go to restaurants in Cupertino Village, besides Guan Dong, or Ai Noodle (formerly A&J). I don't come here for beef noodle soup because there are good alternatives at Ai Noodle and Mama Liang's Kitchen, and if after your experience here, you aren't happy try Mama Chen's which is within driving distance. With 100+ items on their menu, you are bound to find your go to dishes. Here are my tried-and-true dishes: Appetizers/Small Dishes: ç©ºå¿ƒèœ Garlic Sauteed On Choy Aèœ Garlic Sauteed Indian Lettuce è‡è±†è… Fried Stinky Tofu 糯米大腸 Glutinous Rice Sausage Entrees æ“”å麵 Minced pork noodle soup, garnished with cilantro 大腸麵線 Glutinous vermicelli with intestine 排骨飯 Pork chop rice. Served with mustard greens/pickled lettuce, a soy sauce egg, and veggies. Last time I came here, I got the seafood over rice, which was assorted vegetables including baby corn sauteed with shrimp. Food for the curious or cautious: Sauteed Hakka Special: assorted seafood and sauteed vegetables with some type of underlying seafood aroma and taste. Combination rice or noodles: Some of their combination dishes are served with pork blood, which is only palatable to a very specific type of person.
(3)Kiki W.
Due to the construction, this little gem is not easy to locate for a tourist (like me). Ordered the famous pork shop rice to go. -Pork chop is tender and savory with light gravy on the top. Comes with generous amount too -Rice is just cooked perfectly, soft and slightly chewy. With light ground meat &gravy on top -Sides also include some cabbage, pickled cabbage & a boil egg. The only downside is probably the cabbage, a little too raw/crisp. But seriously I'm not gonna complaint about it with the unbeatable $8 price!
(4)Leo W.
I've been to this place years ago, even tough the food choice is good. But the service is not so good. If you're craving for a Taiwanese food place, this place is still okay if time isn't a problem.
(2)Christina N.
Mm, another Taiwanese restaurant in Cupertino Village, whats new? This place here is supposed to specialise in Tainan food (south of taiwan), and I guess the dishes were decent. - Dan Zai Mian - This is *the* Tainan specialty dish and I ordered this to test the authenticity of the restaurant. It definitely did make the mark. - Fried egg with shrimp - Yummy. Shrimp was fresh and the eggs were scrambled, not too dry. Loved it. - Deep fried oysters - Oysters were decently fresh. Also, they werent dry despite being deep fried. Yum! - Sesame oil Chicken (ma you ji) - Strong cooking wine + ginger + sesame oil taste. So good! Would be even better with rice. - Wonton in red chilli oil - Ordered this under the recommendations of fellow yelpers. It was good, but not the best I've tried. Also, this dish was served much later when we've almost finished all our food :( I do see myself returning back here again! Also, the restaurant is mid-sized so I can see that there will definitely be a long line during peak meal times!
(4)Amy H.
I came here for dinner around 8pm and it is sorta hard to find if you dont know exactly where it is. There are so many Taiwanese restaurants and google mapping will only take you to the general area. Park toward the front near 99 ranch and you will be solid. The place wasnt too packed on Sunday so service was somewhat quick. I was on that beef noodle high again so my friend and I shared the beef noodle soup with those thick chewy noodles and a xiao long bao. The beef noodle soup came first and the noodles are so thick and chewy. I think that was my favorite part of the dish. The veggies were scarce with a few pieces of beef scattered about. The beef was a little tough and not the best quality in regards to cut and flavor. The broth was actually not very MSG-y which was good because I wasnt super thirsty but it wasnt very flavorful either. The dish was pretty average so I wouldnt crave beef noodle soup from here. The XLB were pretty disappointing because no matter how much sauce you dip your XLB in, it is not very flavorful. The skin is thick and the meat is flavorless. I was quite disappointed. I probably wont come back here since there are better Taiwanese options. **TIPS** 1) Skip on the XLB. If you want beef noodle, choose the option with the thick, chewy noodles.
(3)Jessica L.
They accept credit cards with 20.00 minimum. We came on a weekday mid afternoon and found Southland Flavor tucked towards the back corner of the mall. After all the positive reviews, I wanted to give it a try. Too hot of a day for noodle soup but I was surprised how comfortably air conditioned the place was. I could have had noodle soup and not feel overly not. Restaurant is a typical Asian eatery...mismatch prints, flat screen tv on the walls. Ladies room was clean and well stocked. Waitress' were kind, courteous but not ready to greet you with a smile. They would do well in Poker. But, they are nice and ready to oblige. Just flag them down, don't wait for any personal touches. XLB-not my favorite. The meat was bland and had a bamboo smell or taste to it. I'm wondering if they leave it in the bamboo steamer too long. Each bao has the right amount of juice inside but the taste is just off. Ohh, the sticky tofu is perfect. Not too hard on the outside and yet still soft on the inside. At other restaurants, the smell is not as pungent but that only means the pungent taste doesn't linger in the palette for long. As strange as it sounds, I, for one want the stinky taste to last in my mouth. That's how I remembered the tofu I had in HK. I will order this again. Spicy Beef shank appetizer isn't that fresh. It was cut thicker that I am used to and the beef was kind of dry. But, I will order again hoping it will be a newer batch. (QQ Noodle makes good spicy Beef Shank.) The On-Choy with garlic is good. You can't really go wrong on this dish. I wouldn't say it was full of explosions in your mouth, it was good. The veggie was fresh and it was cut into 2ins pieces making it easier to chew. Sha-Cha Pork chow mein was very good. The flavor reminds me of XO sauce. The pork were all sliced thin and small. I liked this dish. I can tell the sous chef and main chef cuts the meats with love and cooks the food with love. I will return since there is now a covered parking lot in back of the mall. Weekend parking is horrendous!
(3)Linda X.
So much to like about this place! The food is homey, servers are friendly, and the prices are very reasonable. If you're a fan of stinky tofu, you'll be a fan of this place.
(4)L L.
This place was supposedly serving authentic southern Taiwan style cuisine and they did not lie about it. Everyone of the dishes were as good as I remembered them when I was there for business frequently many years ago. Instead of getting the dishes, I ordered many of their "appetizers" (like Tapas)- and we went a bit crazy on the numbers of dishes. Wow, everything was good and we were totally stuffed to the point that it was painful. In any case, if you ever want to try some unique Taiwan local type food, this is the place to come!
(5)Lulu L.
We eat there one a week. Rice plates are good. Reasonable prices. Other dishes are more pricy. Good service.
(4)Sway M.
Been here handful of times now and always left happy. Today we ordered: Spicy stinky tofu - with steamed pork intestine, blood cake, and cabbage in sauce Stir fried on choi - with garlic Ground pork soup with rice noodles - with tea egg and chives Everything was yummy and service is always good!
(5)Christine N.
THIS RESTAURANT IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. IF YOU LIKE TO COMPLAIN AND ARE USED TO THE SAME TYPE OF FOOD, DON'T EVEN BOTHER. Minus that dramatic rant, this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant is seriously a hidden gem. For those open-minded enough to try new dishes and tastes, it offers authentic Taiwanese cuisine. Personally, I've grown up eating asian cuisine so I am less hesitant to try taiwanese food, but I am so happy I did. Now, some people may disagree with my personal view - but that's okay, because the smell of the stinky tofu makes the weary extremely questionable. BUT THE STINKY TOFU IS THE BEST PART!!! I really enjoy that the dishes are so inexpensive (ranging from $4 to $8), yet a reasonable portion - so it allows me to try many different types of dishes. I'm the type to get sick of a large dish quickly, so I really like being able to sample many different flavors and have variety (nice to have soups, different textures, and a myriad of appetizers). I usually order: a side of the house made cucumber (it's addicting-ly sweet with a slightly sour tang and a nice crunch), spicy beef shank or tendon (the tendon has a soft, gelatinous texture and the tendon is more meaty both offering a nice hint of heat), the green onion pancake (fried to a crispy perfection, goes great with the vinegar and chili oil on the table), a noodle soup with ground pork, #605 I believe.. with a satisfying rich broth tasting like it's been simmered for awhile. FINALLY, OF COURSE THE STINKY TOFU. I don't know why.. but I always crave stinky tofu. My brother-in-law claims it's the only thing that smells better coming out than going in (LOL), but the smell doesn't bother me one bit. It's the fermented tofu that gives off the odor, but the sauce they provide compliments the tofu perfectly alongside the pickled veggies which is a nice palette cleanser. If you could appreciate good food, give this joint a shot.
(5)Angelic L.
Just as everyone else has said, this place smells like stinky tofu, so if you're especially sensitive to stenches, don't even bother with this place. However, if you're looking for authentic Taiwanese food, you've stumbled upon the right place. Unfortunately, I'm just not a huge fan of Southland Flavor Cafe, as I've had better Taiwanese food at Red Hot Wok. Then again, Red Hot Wok is much more expensive so I guess you get what you pay for. If you do find yourself dining here, don't get the three cups chicken here... It's way too dry!
(3)Wei Wei L.
High expectation to this so-called Taiwanese flavor restaurant. Feel it's not authentic Taiwanese style. Even all elements in that pork chop rice box are right, the flavors are not. I'll keep looking for the dreamy Taiwanese pork chop. Any recommendations? Also my hubby ordered chicken leg rice box and according to him the meat is way too dry.
(3)Randy L.
I used to live 2 hours away from this place (in Sacramento)and we would always crave going here whenever we were down in the South Bay. We use to nickname this place "Blue Walls" due to the wall paper color but now it's remodeled with white walls but that name will always have a place in our hearts. Now that I live in the South Bay, I come here so much more and I never get tired of it. First off this is an authentic Taiwanese place so you are sure to get the real stuff. After ordering, you get your food very fast here so you don't need to worry about waiting at all. I will say that we have never gone to Southland without ordering the "deep fried tofu". It is the absolute best deep fried tofu you can get. Not only is it fried very well yet soft, the dipping sauce is to die for. I've no idea what the brown dipping sauce is but I always ask for extra sauce and dip my other orders into it like noodles or rice. Some good options are: -taiwanese pork chop with rice - you get a very healthy amount of pork chop with rice, some ground , and veggies, and an egg. The pork chop marinade is THAT good! It's sweet but goes well with the meat. -noodle with ground pork - this is another great dish but it's even better if you ask for extra brown sauce and mix it into your bowl. tips: -they accidently brought stinky tofu once and the way you can tell besides the obvious smell is that the stinky tofu is square shaped cubes while the deep fried tofu is triangular cut.
(5)Lisha L.
Decent food for reasonable prices. Service is usually quick so I come when I'm looking for a quick meal - can be in and out within 30min.
(3)SHN H.
We have passed by Southland Flavor Cafe so many times over the years, usually because Taiwanese is not our first choice, often because we're craving one of our three standards in this plaza, occasionally because it is too full to even hope for a table. But finally, last Wednesday, the stars and planets aligned and we had our first taste. Very good indeed. I had the Shrimp in Pineapple -- a Taiwanese dish similar to the more common HK Walnut Prawns. It was fantastic. She had noodle soup with ground pork. We shared the mala beef cold dish. The staff were pleasant and attentive. We really enjoyed the meal. I am sure we will be back, I hope we can get Southland Flavor Cafe in our regular rotation.
(4)Sophia H.
This place serves really good beef soup but the sautéed garlic spinach was bit too oily and the sesame oil pork kidney wasn't flavorful enough (according to my bf, who ordered the dish). My beef noodle soup had really tender meat and the mustard greens was surprisingly good. I usually pick those out but actually ate it all for first time. The broth was delicious and had a nice kick of spicy. The bill was pretty pricey, mainly due to the kidney dish. Service was also just okay. Overall, I would definitely come back for the beef noodle soup as it is both cheap and filling, but would skip the normal dishes that go with rice!
(3)Don D.
Beef chow main tastes as if its expired some time ago. Service is not bad, just doesn't exists. Price is too high for the quality. Tea was good because it tasted like a tea should taste like. And what a surprise, they won't tell you and there's no sign but they don't except debit and credit cards for under $20.
(2)Benjamin L.
Came here with some friends to have a quick dinner before a movie. We had: 1. xiao long bao: It was ok. Skins broke so all the juice came out. Otherwise, good enough. 2. melon vegetable: It's vegetables. It did the job. 3. beef and bean curd: It's ok. Typical taiwanese dish. Nothing to write home about. 4. Fried pork intestine: If this is something you like, then by all means order it. I'm not a fan but it's supposed to be not bad. Had some other dishes when I came before but I don't quite remember. Nothing really stuck out. If you want Taiwanese food, you can come here or go to the few other Taiwanese restaurants. I think those may be better (i.e. Liang's kitchen, Mama Chen's) but don't quote me on that. #cantoneseFoodIsBetter
(3)Cynthia L.
For some reason, I can't stop coming here! The appetizers I order are the best! (simmered beef tripe, simmered pig ear, simmered egg) I always order the ground pork egg noodle and it is always the most delicious thing ever! I like how this place has no MSG as well and the service is always pretty good. I honestly have no complaints about this place. It is one of the best restaurants in Cupertino Village no doubt. I'm starting to crave this place just from writing this review...YUM!
(5)Helen L.
I come here when I miss Taiwan. The minced pork over rice always hits the spot and is the perfect combination of sweet and savory. The xiao long bao are good too. Service is quick and I love how their menu has pictures of all their dishes. It makes ordering so much easier.
(4)Jessica L.
This is where I go for my go to Taiwanese fix. The food comes out fast, is flavorful, but not too overbearingly salty. I'm 99% sure they use MSG, but what Chinese restaurant doesn't? Service is not friendly, but is always fast and gets the job done. My all time favorite is the ground pork noodle soup #605. One of these babies on a cold rainy day is the BEST.. or even on a hot summer day, still the best! The eggplant basil #406 is DELICIOUS. This is one of the best eggplant basil I've had, and believe me, I've had my fair share. I like that the sauce is that too thick, and there's not an overbearing amount of it. The sauce complements the basil flavor nicely. The sauteed vegetables here are great as well because they are not super oily. My favorite is the sauteed on choy with garlic #402. This is a seasonal vegetable, so it is only offered in the warmer seasons. Shrimp pancake, stinky tofu, glutinous rice (tong zi mi gao), are great Taiwanese picks as well. They also have pork blood soup which is my (Taiwanese) parents' go to.
(4)Tracy Joy K.
Great spot for a wide selection of Taiwanese food! I have come here a couple times now with the family and this is probably one of our favorite spots in the Cupertino Village. Service is good and pictures definitely help when you are selecting your items. Some of my favorites include their salt and pepper fish (fried to perfection and deliciously hits the spot with a side of rice) and their Sha-Cha chow mein. I have had a couple of their beef dishes and they were always cooked pretty tender! Their XLB is not my favorite but there is such a wide selection of other dishes that it didn't disappoint me too much. Worth a try! :)
(4)Kaje Y.
I used to come here so much. I've slowed down a lot since I've slowly found less and less people to eat out with me. This used to be one of my favourite spots. They knew my mother from coming so often, and of course, they would start recognizing me. Well, I guess business was doing well. The management ended up changing, they upgraded to nicer menus, they upped their prices, but the food, quality, and quantity has not really changed. This place has pretty good taiwanese/chinese food. Portions and prices reflect american standards. Go to Taiwan or China and you'll get Rou Zao Fan for like 2 USD but you get a much smaller bowl. My favourite dish here is probably Rou Zao Fan, the cheapest rice dish, or the Kong Rou Fan, which has nice fatty pork pieces. So delicious. I would recommend either of those dishes to anybody. Service is very whatever. They take your order, give you your food, and leave you alone. This place is small enough that you can raise your hand and somebody will come to you very very quickly, so that's not an issue. Affordable and delicious food? Recommended and I'll be back!
(4)Layne K.
People, people, people! Reading the reviews of various restaurants, including Southland Flavor Café, I am absolutely amazed at how finicky we can be with regard to our culinary expectations. Please don't misunderstand me. I am just as finicky as most people. I have some basic expectations of all restaurants regardless of their epicurean fare or expense level category. I want my food to be well-prepared, cold, warm or hot (depending on the item obviously) when it is brought to the table; friendly, attentive and prompt service; A good value for the price; just to name a few. I judge a restaurant as an individual entity as opposed to comparing it to a larger grouping. You can't judge...let's say McDonald's to Morton's. Those two just don't seem to be in the same world. When I have a Big Mac attack I go to McDonald's! But, I would also enjoy a wonderful dinner, sinking my teeth into a beautiful steak at Morton's. Are the two establishments of the same caliber? Obviously not. So when I give a rating I'm basing it clearly on the individual establishment itself rather than comparing it to the entire world restaurants. A good friend and I dined at SFC recently and I have to say my expectations were rather mixed when I read the reviews here on Yelp. I wasn't sure what I was getting into and I must confess that when it comes to Asian food I am totally lost from one culture to the other. But this place was extreme friendly and the food was excellent! I would recommend this as a must try stop and give your tastebuds a whirl. The waitress was very helpful and even told us that we were ordering too much food! (Who knew?)
(4)Sammy C.
This is my all-time-favorite spot for Taiwanese style food! I can eat this 3 times a week if my wallet allows me too. lol! We always order their boiled goose meats, pan fried pork blood, beef noodle soups, 3 cups chicken, sticky tofu and livers soups; everything was super yummy and full of flavors. They have so many choices on their menu that I would like to try, after coming here for years, I still haven't tried everything. lol... but honestly, their food can get very expensive; maybe because we always order and eat a lot, we always ended up with $60-$80 for just two people. lol! The female owner is very nice and friendly, she is always there 9 times out of 10 when we visit; most of their servers are nice and patience except one or two made us feel like they didn't want to be there.
(4)Leslie C.
BF and I came here for lunch and ordered the Taiwanese hamburger, beef noodle soup, and pork feet vermicelli. The Taiwanese hamburger was amazing.. there was copious amounts of meat and pickled veggies inside a piping hot bun (seriously-- my BF almost burned his fingers). I wished my beef noodle soup was spicy though.. Most places that I've had it at make it spicy. But I guess it wasn't too bad because I just added hella hot sauce to the soup, which, by the way, was a very good base. The beef itself could've been a little more tender, but the noodles were on point. BF's pork feet vermicelli was good, too. Giant pieces of fatty pork feet.. just the way he likes it. The noodles though.. soo yummy. I would just come back here for their hamburger and a bowl of their soup with vermicelli noodles. It was so bomb. Definitely coming back.
(4)Qi H.
Stopped by the 99 ranch market and I was like huh..I'm hungry...so I strolled around to see what was available and saw this southland flavor cafe. Of course, first thing to do as an yelper is to look it up on yelp! Lets just say, theres not much to complain about at this place. The place was packed and the waitress still came out to greet me and take my order for take out. I speak mandarin so they gave me the menu and let me choose and she even too k the time to offer me suggestions which is really cool. The food. I got some appetizers and their popcorn chicken and the lamb. The appetizers (pork ears and beef shank) were just absolutely delicious. I would definitely recommend especially if you like spicy, get the spicy one thats also yummy. The popcorn chicken lacked a little flavor and same with the lamb so overall this place still deserves a quality 4 stars from me
(4)Maureen C.
My favorite thing to get here is the O-Ah mi-sua (oyster noodles) and the O-ah jian (oyster pancakes). I also like their beef noodle soup, but if everyone in your group wants beef noodle soup you should really go to A&J noodles (or is it Ai noodle now?) which is in the same plaza. Another thing that my mom loves to get is the soup that has what I think is slices of kidney? I know it sounds gross, but it's really yummy to me and perfect for cold winter nights. This is also just a good spot for other Taiwanese classics like the onion pancake, wonton soup, and rice dishes with minced meat. Also, the prices are pretty decent, which is getting more and more rare nowadays around here, unfortunately.
(4)Kim l.
We usually go to joy luck but we wanted to try something new for lunch. Yelp led us to Southland. There is plenty to choose from. We ended up ordering: Beef noodle soup: 4/5 great flavor, tender beef, noodles had good texture. Wonton soup: 4/5 the base had a clean healthy taste. Wontons were small but tasted good. Onion pancake: 4/5 not too oily. Bottom line: quick service, good food, reasonable prices. Yay we found an alternative to JLP! We will be back.
(4)Katherine C.
This is probably the closest place I can get Taiwanese food. I've been here a number of times over the past 13 years. Only 3 stars because I have high standards when it comes to Taiwanese food. The owner is really friendly, but I don't really like the waitresses--they aren't rude, but they're not nice either. Their menu is pretty extensive, a wide variety of appetizers, snacks, noodles (dry/soup), fried rice, rice plates, etc. Fried capelin fish: good, batter not thick. Oyster pancake: I've had a lot better. Would not get it again. Overwhelming green onion taste, which is weird because I've never had one with green onions in it before. Beef noodle soup: I liked it, but I've definitely had better. Beef was a little tough, but it wasn't bad. Stinky tofu: It's sub-par. They're very, very lightly deep fried, and their pickled cabbage is sad. I always get it because I love stinky tofu, and it's not that it tastes bad here; it's just that the quality isn't what I'm looking for. Pork liver with sesame oil: I know it sounds gross. And yes, it scares off a lot of people since it's an organ, but it's good. They make it just right so that it's not too tough. Any of their rice cake plates are okay. I wouldn't prefer it but it's not bad. Most of their noodle dishes are pretty good, whether they are dry or soups. Do not get the coffin bread; you will most likely be disappointed if you've had it in Taiwan before. I think most of the dishes are ok or not so good. The food comes out pretty fast.
(3)Chiao-Yu T.
Authentic Taiwanese food. Their service is so fast it impresses me every time. Huge selection from main courses to street food. I go there regularly and would recommend to friends! They also sell frozen food like handmade frozen dumplings
(5)Sandi C.
Located inside a huge Asian plaza, parking can be really bad on weekends. Southland Flavor Cafe has some pretty good authentic Taiwanese cuisine. Taiwanese Pork Chop Rice - portion was huge, large pieces of yummy pork chops, minced meat, mustard greens, and marinated egg. Everything was very delicious!! Oyster Pancake - of course we had to get this. Gooey eggs, green onions and oyster ... I think they can add a bit more oyster. Finally, forgot the name of this dish - Fish Vermicelli Noodle Soup - this is a regional Taiwanese dish, soup was thicker than usual. Fish filet with a bit of satay sauce I think, it was pretty good, boyfriend ate the whole thing. Oh, this place also has Stinky Tofu and Pork Blood Cake ... I am not a fan of those, but for those one wants to try, it might be a good place. I see a lot of people ordered Stinky Tofu, pretty smelly :P
(4)T L.
What the hell. Did we all eating at the same place? This is one of the worse Taiwanese/chinese places I have ever eaten at. The wonton soup smelled funny, and tasted like water. The beef in the beef stew noodle soup was no where near tender. The milkshake was shameful. I've eaten a lot of bad food but any place would have been better than this one.
(1)Derek S.
Came by for dinner the other night. Arrived for an early dinner and we were seated immediately. Started off with the spicy beef tripe. It was okay. Wasn't super fresh, nor super spicy. My friend did find a piece of hair on his tripe... Moved on to the Oyster Pancake and it was okay. It was rather oily. Lastly, ended with the sausage rice. Again, the sausage was okay. The sausage wasn't too fresh either. They do accept credit cards!
(3)Elaine Y.
When we want something fast, flavorful and offers a lot of variety - then we head over to Southland! Actually there's a few dishes that end up being the ones we tend to "crave" - and the first is their shrimp with pineapple! So instead of shrimp and walnuts - it's shrimp with PINEAPPLES! What a delicious combination! We're always fighting over that dish - shrimp fried perfectly - not doused in sauce with FRESH chunks of pineapples! This is the only place that we've seen this at! The 2nd MUST have dish is the salt and pepper fish - chunks of flavorful fish - tender and moist! YUM! Then our comfort food of minced pork over rice or their pork chop over rice - can't go wrong with the staple - perfect with their pickled veggie and egg. And of course any veggie dish is perfect - just depending on your mood! Love this place and if it weren't for the fact that sometimes it's hard to find parking I think we'd be there more often!
(4)Lena H.
My friend took me here to try stinky tofu for the first time. At around 1pm on a weekday, it was easy getting a table. We tried: Stinky tofu: I really liked that they didn't fry it to the point of being dry. I didn't mind the smell but the more I ate the more I could taste the fermentation of the tofu. The sauce definitely helped. Beef Cheek: Nice, chewy, and tender. Oyster Pancake: Mmmmmm! Gooey eggs with the crunch of green onions and oysters. Delish! I liked the sauce they had on top. Oyster with vermicelli: My fave! I had this but it was the instant noodle package version so this was definitely a step up for me. It was such a comforting dish. I could totally see myself eating this if I have a cold instead of my usual pho. Service was quick and friendly. They even pack up your food for you when you have leftovers. Although my friend treated, I was surprised by the bill. Pretty inexpensive for the items we got! Thanks, Selena!! Wait, I mean Mikey! :)
(4)Claire K.
This place caught my eye because I love Taiwanese "snack" food, especially oyster pancake. Most of the food we ordered was ok. We got the following in order of yum to yuck: -salt&pepper fish -oyster pancake (could add a few more oysters) -green onion pancake and Chinese spaghetti (nothing special) -small snow pea leaves (like a cow chewing cud) I'd come back to try other items on their extensive menu.
(3)Priscilla O.
My go-to for some good ol' taiwanese food. It's reasonably priced & delicious. I love to order the oyster pancakes, stewed pork rice, stinky tofu, and boiled intestines. Their ketchup fried rice & pork chop rice are also great choices. whenever I don't feel like cooking dinner, i'll stop by this place to pick up food & eat @ home in my jammies. It's total comfort food for me. (:
(4)Edward W.
I decided to come here because it was hot outside and I noticed that they served cold noodles. Don't come here if you want your cold noodles to taste dry and full of peanuts. I'm used to a thick sauce mixed in with the noodles and lots of veggies. I guess that dish was a miss since everyone else loves their other dishes, so if I ever came back, I'll be sure to try them.
(2)Enoch Q.
A couple of my friends and I decided to eat here after a nice hike. I must say, after being outside in the cold for so long, having beef noodle soup really hit the spot. I'd probably come back here if I were in the same situation. The noodles, beef, and broth all blend together for the perfect texture of having a warm and cozy meal.
(4)Allie Y.
OK, maybe I just wasn't picking the right stuff at this place. Despite some lackluster plates last time, I found myself returning with a group of people that apparently just knew what to order. First, the stinky tofu - a polarizing dish already - is probably one of the better versions in the area for those with a hankering for such stuff. Other good choices include the sausage fried rice, pork chop rice, oyster pancake. The veggies are not too oily, and great with a bit of garlic. For starters, I am partial to the spicy cucumbers.
(4)Tiffany H.
When I visited Taiwan, I made the mistake of eating oyster omelets in Lugang, an area famous for their seafood. It was so good I couldn't even eat oyster omelets in Taipei anymore because they simply did not measure up. So it goes without saying that Tainan Cafe's oyster omelets also stand pale in comparison to the real deal. One bite won't get you a lot oysters, just mostly starch. With that said, there are some decent Taiwanese eats to be had here. I like their stinky tofu and am a huge fan of their "tongzai migao" (pork and sticky rice steamed in bamboo). Try it and you'll see what I mean. The depth of the menu in it of itself warrants an extra half star (too bad Yelp won't allow it!). But A-OK pretty much encapsulates Tainan Cafe. You'll get decent Taiwanese food that is good enough to hold you over, but lacking enough oomph that you'll want to book that ticket to Taiwan as soon as you get home.
(3)Philip L.
I went here with my parents, who really enjoyed the Taiwanese food here. The stir fried flat noodle dish we got was good, and the fried mantou (plain flour bun) with evaporated milk was surprisingly tasty for a such a basic dish. However, I wouldn't get the xiao long bao here - they didn't taste that good and weren't very soupy. Also we had a sauteed light green squash dish that was good but some of the pieces were bitter, and it was taking a chance everyone you ate a piece. I don't think it's the restaurant's fault though, I think we had the squash out of season. Anyway, my parents approve - which means this place is legit.
(4)D. K.
Dinner here was fine the other night- nothing special. The bests were the appetizers and fried rice. I wasn't a fan of the eggplant or beef dish we ordered. Fine, but probably won't be back.
(3)Kim N.
Always trying to familiarize myself with new Taiwanese places. Got the eel noodles, squid in basil sauce, sa cha cumin beef, stewed tripe, pig ear in spice oil, Taiwanese spinach and the anchovies with peanuts. They dont mess around here, the dishes are huge. Some of the flavors were really good, and others were ok. I think the snacks are best but the squid were well like too. At 9.30 on a weekend they close pronto so we saw them turn a few folks away. 3.5 stars
(3)Monica A.
The lady messed up my order, blamed me, and proceeded to give me the death stare from above her cash register. And when my order was fixed, I found a strand of hair in my soup.
(1)Lindy W.
Amazing, authentic Taiwanese food! Service is quick, and portions are reasonable. I've tried the oyster pancake and the pork chop with rice. Both are made very Taiwanese-tasting and is the next best thing besides going back to Taiwan.
(4)Jana C.
Popcorn chicken---good. Chou doufu, not 'chou' enough!! The niurou mian with the xuecai on top... great! So is that san bei ji rou.. the 3 cups chicken... that was 5 stars alone. My taro pork noodles (thin)....meh. Fail---taro not cooked through and pork was all bones, and flavor-lacking. Someone in our group tried oyster soup? hm. Lunch'll run you $8 or so... $11 for us who corporately split a smattering of apps. PS LOCATION IS SOUTH IN THE CENTER, CLOSER TO ALL OF THE HOTELS!!! away from Starbucks and 99
(3)Rahul G.
I came by around 9 pm on a Monday night. They're not very flexible in terms of adapting their dishes, but the food I ordered was tasty and the place was clean.
(4)Joe M.
After a disappointing dim sum meal across the street, our little party wanted to fill up with some street-style food across the street at Southland. When we walked in to join some other friends there, we knew we were in a pretty goo place. The sound and smell of stir-fried stinky tofu really brought me back to the streets of Taiwan and you knew this place was legit. I shared a bowl of black bean noodles with my lady and, despite it being more brown than black, had some good flavors. Everything was piping hot and fresh, and the thinly sliced vegetables had great crunch. Service was speedy too, and we were in and out pretty quickly. Prices here are cheap, and I live it. Most meals are in the $4-7 range so it's easy to have a great-tasting bite on a budget. This was good news for us since this was our second meal in as many hours. Next time we think we want dim sum in the Cupertino area, we're coming here instead! Food: 8/10 Service: 7/10 Price: $ Atmosphere: 7/10
(4)Katie C.
Southland is my go-to place for Taiwanese food whenever we are in the south bay. I wish there were more restaurants like this up in the city, but unfortunately, it seems like most Taiwanese restaurants in the bay area are concentrated in the south bay. This time around, we stopped by to get takeout before heading back home. I ordered my usual favorites (taiwanese meatball aka "bah-wan" (steamed, not deep fried), oyster pancake (great taste, less glutinous and with more veggies than in Taiwan), green onion pancake (thick and hearty!) and ground pork over rice (love the sides of picked veggies). Hubby added in an order of daikon/turnip cake and some shrimp and egg fried rice. Thank goodness we over-ordered and had leftovers the next day, I would've been super sad if we finished everything that evening! On a side note, I really need to brush up on my Chinese. It's embarrassing to order some dishes in mandarin, others in taiwanese and the remainder in english. The lady taking my order must've been thinking,"wow, she's all kinds of language mixed-up" Already thinking of when to plan my next visit. I want to try the beef noodle soup and chitterling soup!
(4)Daniel H.
I ate here last night with my friend after 9pmish. We were eating a later dinner just before the Iron Man 2 premiere (it was good!) and my friend didn't get off of class until 8:30pm. We ate here because my friend said they had good food when he ate here with his parents in the past. I remember this place used to be another Taiwanese restaurant (unless it's the same one) that used to be in Milpitas Square where they had that doll's hand attached to the machine to mix the milk tea. Anyways, I didn't want what was good and we were running out of time for the premiere. We were thinking that the lines would be crazy long so we hurried up and ate dishes that we thought were safe to eat regardless of which restaurant you go to. What I meant by that was that certain dishes should taste okay to good wherever you go. I ordered the Beef and Egg Fried Rice ($6.25) and my friend ordered the Beef Special Noodle Soup ($7.50). There were a couple of other people eating and it wasn't long before our food was ready. The Beef and Egg Fried Rice was okay and nothing special which was exactly what I meant with what I said earlier in my review. My friend said his Beef Special Noodle Soup was okay but I did notice him spit out a lot of bones. This place closed at 9:30pm and we didn't pay the check since we were still eating. One of the waitresses came to our table and spoke chinese to us. We both didn't understand what she said but we knew she was telling us to pay the bill because they were closing up. Overall, this place was okay and it would be a good place to buy something quick and cheap to eat.
(3)Sara T.
I quite like the food here. They offer such a variety. But I'm so shocked at what happened today. Normally, I tip 15% and above depending on the type of service I receive at restaurants. Today, given the special circumstances, the tip ended up being around 14.75% due to the rounding of the final total. I'm so surprised. The waitress literally chased us across the parking lot, SCREAMING at us in multiple languages. She said we incorrectly tipped saying we "forgot to add $1.something." All the while holding out our previously signed bill and pen at me. I was so stunned. I ended up giving her even more but I'm just... stunned? I like the food... but that was quite the experience..!
(3)A C.
Still love this place, especially with jenny and her husband helping with food, seats... Good low prices taiwanese Reataurant that's been around forever. Fried pork chop with rice!
(4)Charis B.
We met friends here today for a Sunday brunch and what a wonderful experience. There were six of us and we had no problem getting prompt seating at a table that was just right. We had a couple from Tainan so the challenge was on. The service from beginning to end was prompt and excellent. We had plenty of tea and never an empty cup. Someone was always available for those small things that we needed and promptly helped us. We ordered a lot of food and it all came out one after another and was enough to fill us up and take some home. The lamb with green onion was delicious. We had an eggplant dish with pork (can't remember the name) that had so much flavor that everyone cleaned that plate fast. Then there was the soy beans with shrimp, fried rice combo, fried bun, and steamed rice. Wow! All of it so good. Our friends from Tainan gave it two thumbs up. We will definitely come back and try again.
(4)Katy K.
My favorite Taiwanese food place in the Bay Area. I'm from LA, so nothing beats LA but this is pretty good. There was a big selection and you get all of the normal stuff you see at Taiwanese restaurants. I ordered the oyster pancake which was good. I don't like to eat things THAT oily and this was kind of oily but it was pretty darn good. My hubby ate most of it though. I also got their crispy chicken which are like the ones from Tapioca Express. Those were really good with rice. We also had the xiao long bao that were really good. Last but not least, I ordered a green veggie plate just to balance all of the other fried stuff. Healthy food? Not really...Delicious? YES! The service was great and the prices were reasonable.
(5)Katherine S.
My Mom took me here because I was craving Taiwanese food -- in particular, oyster noodle soup. We meant to eat here for lunch, but ended up having a snack. The stinky tofu was really disappointing...it wasn't stinky! My oyster noodle soup a bit let down -- it didn't taste like the real deal and didn't have the consistency it should (it was supposed to be thicker). I guess I have to go back to Taiwan...I was hoping I could get something to satisfy my craving close to home. This place just didn't do it for me. How can you be a Taiwanese cafe and not get the basic dishes right? I'm confused! I think I'll stick to Shinbala on Homestead Road. I don't remember what my brother ordered, but he wasn't satisfied with his dish either. We went to Ranch 99 to order some food from their cafe, which is cheaper and has bigger portions.
(2)Cat H.
Southland Flavor Cafe has some really good Taiwanese comfort food. The food is tasty and is served quickly. I come here whenever I feel like having omelet rice, which comes in a pocket of egg. On a recent visit we got: *Beef Noodle soup ($6.95): thick noodles, pickled veggies, beef, bok choy *Omelet rice ($6.25): fried rice made with a tomato sauce underneath an egg pancake We were in and out fast, which was great since we were short on time. I like the beef noodle soup with its tender pieces of beef and flavorful broth. Their stinky tofu is also pretty good. Prices are reasonable, so it's easy to pick a variety dishes and try a little of bit of everything. Great food, fast service, and cheap prices: I will be a repeat customer!
(4)Amy G.
If you are curious what death smells like, you should come here. The moment you walk through the door, the stench of stinky tofu will hit you so hard in your face you can't even open your eyes. It is certainly an acquired taste, one that I will never acquire. I almost want to leave but for some reason, I force myself to sit down. The menu is so intensive so it takes awhile to look over it but of course in an Asian restaurant you will be asked to order before you are ready. I ordered the squid as an appetizer because I noticed it was the pink squid I love. When it came out, tentacles and all, it was just boiled squid with a side of hoisin sauce. Literally BOILED squid. I could have done the same. But whatever, it was a crunchy, chewy squid and I got my fix. We also had the seafood soup in the brick toast. I wasn't a fan but he loves it. The toast is a bit sweet and the soup is basically a chowder. I ordered the beef noodle soup which was OK, nothing spectacular about it. He ordered a fried rice plate which was drier than the dessert. He had to use the hoisin sauce to mix with the rice just so it was edible. I wouldn't suggest it unless you have lost your sense of smell or you enjoy the smell. The food is not worth it in my opinion.
(2)Wil P.
Great place for a quick meal. The ground pork rice, which comes with tea egg (yum!), pickles and veggies, is delicious and cheap! Most of the time, I have enough leftover for lunch on the following day. I like how the fried chicken comes in small pieces/bites. Food always comes out really fast, so when you are starving, this is the place to go. The only downside is when you don't like stinky tofu (like me) and you sit near someone who orders that... oh, yikes...
(4)Jennifer N.
Went back again and I must say I've changed my mind. I am giving them another star. I dined in Saturday night and had numerous amounts of food. We had shimmered pork over noodles (rice noodles & thick noodles), kidneys, rice in a barrel ( sticky rice) and wontons n chili oil. Food was better this time around and I was impressed by the bold tastes that every dish had. I went delirious with the small dishes... the portions were perfect, price was great. Great company, excellent food. My palette was dancing, club style. YUM. I'd come again.
(4)S F.
The pictures in the menu zipped me to a time I was living in Taiwan. There were super hits and super misses. Most of the items I tried were just on the sweet side. What was good: The ground pork rice (item 701) was fantastic. The simmered tofu is spot on. The oyster pancake was just right What was not spectacular: The house made cucumber was just a tad too sweet. The beef noodle soup was average. The fried smelt was bland. The eggplant with basil was average. What was NOT good: The steamed meatball was NOT good. The pork meat smelled and tasted rancid. a few yelpers recommended this but it was inedible. Oh how I wanted this place to be super tasty! my search continues....
(2)Norman S.
Great go-to place for inexpensive food. The menu is ginormous with food that range from exotic (think organs, etc.), stinky tofu to standards like beef noodles which I had recently. Beef noodle broth has the nice dark brown color unlike the broth in beef pho which is clear. Thick slices of beef and noodles that had the right amount of "done-ness". The broth needs a bit more flavor though as it's somewhat bland compared to the beef noodles at Mama Chef's. Also, they need to provide larger bowls since the bowls they provide are usually packed to the brim. Other complaint is the noodle to broth ratio. Too little broth relative to noodles IMO. Service is super quick especially if you order the noodle or rice dishes. Also, if you want to avoid the wait, lunch times and dinner times between 7-8pm is when it gets most crowded.
(4)Christine L.
AMAZING, TASTY, CHEAP food. A definite GO TO if you are A. taiwanese B. missing your mom's food C. want cheap eats. OMG. I love this place. I wish I could live at Southland and just eat and eat. I had yet to find a place that makes food as good as my mom's.. This place isn't exact but its pretty fucking damn close! Order the PAI GU FAN / PORK RICE and the NIU RUO MIEN / BEEF NOODLE SOUP. Sooooo cheap!! prices are great. I've also tried their SCALLION PANCAKES which are pretty tasty (and cheap). they have like almost EVERYTHING that you could ever ask for / miss from your taiwanese mother's kitchen. Fast service, and nice. Nothing bad to say about this place. Wish I could say more about their dishes,but you can't go wrong with either of the entrees that I mentioned above!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
(5)Evonne L.
We ordered 2 papaya milks, and despite being out of papayas, the owner ran over to 99 Ranch Market in the pouring rain to make us fresh ones. How's that for service?! Plus, the papaya milks tasted amazing. The food was very yummy as well. We ordered green onion pancakes (delish), seafood udon (loved the little oysters in there); pea sprouts, and pork & egg fried rice. Delicious and affordable. The waitresses were friendly and funny (a refreshing departure from most of the restaurants in Cupertino Village, which are generally filled with ornery Chinese ladies who have no patience for the indecisive). We'll definitely be back to Southland Flavor Cafe!
(5)Jenny L.
This is the remodeled version of Southland Taste. Although this is my default place for Taiwanese food, it's still not the best. I go here for the variety that they have, but the quality isn't always comparable to what I expect. However, the highlights are oyster crepes, beef encased in glutinous layer, stinky tofu, and braised pork over rice. Service is fast and perhaps not so friendly. The ambiance and decor has improved in terms of cleanliness, but be prepared for the smell. Parking is ample in the lot, but it can be tough because it is always packed.
(3)John S.
Believe or not, Southland was the place we ate on our wedding day. We were so stressed out during our wedding, we couldn't even eat any of our wedding food. So as soon as it was over, and all our guests went their own way, we headed straight to Southland and pigged out on some good old fashioned comfort food -- while still dressed in our wedding clothes! We've probably been to Southland over 50 times over the past few years, so that's got to be be a testament to how much we love this place. They have a pretty large menu for a small place, but these are our favorites: - Salt & pepper fish - Mabo tofu - Omelette rice - Ground pork over rice - Pork chop over rice Now we live too far north to go here regularly, but we'll always have a place in our heart for good ol' Southland.
(5)Soapfish G.
The xiaolongbao and beef noodle were just eh...okay. Pork chop and popcorn chicken were good though.
(3)Esther S.
This place is a quick and easy stop for Taiwan food. Since its in Cupertino Plaza its a good location with lots of parking (if its not too busy) and quick service. I don't find the taste anything special but its got all the Taiwan goodies on the menu and it hits the spot when you've got the craving! Not expensive either so woohoo!
(3)Audrey Y.
Talk about comfort food! Love me some Taiwanese cuisine, esp since I grew up (falsely) believing I was 100% Taiwanese. Which turned out to be untrue but whatever. Still got love for (half of) my roots. Oyster pancake is delicious here- def the bfs favorite. I love the stinky tofu! Fried perfectly and served with a little side of pickled veggies. When I'm feeling under the weather, I order the pork rib & lotus soup. Perfectly light, mmm. The menu here is really expansive so you can always find something you're craving :) My favorite part about southland flavor cafe, though, has to be the service. Attentive & efficient (what else do you need for service?!) and the owner is super sweet! One time, the bf and I came 10 min before closing (horrible, I know. But we were desperate!) and we were still served with a smile :) They only asked that we pay the bill first so they could close down the register but they went the extra mile to let is eat leisurely. Huge plus in my book!
(4)Dorene S.
This is one of the "cheap eats" places that I know I'll try out almost EVERYTHING on their menu before the end of the year! They stole my stomach when I had the first taste of their crispy popcorn chicken with basil. It's the best I've ever had. Therefore, I may as well start a list and keep updating as I gobble more items in due time. Favorites: 1) Crispy popcorn chicken with basil - soooooo perfectly fried and just the right amount of pepper 2) Sliced dried tofu - this is drizzled with light sesame oil giving the tofu a more flavorful dimension 3) Rice bowl with pork hock, vegetables and egg - when in doubt, try this - the meat is tender and this dish will fill you up 4) Cold beef tendon with chilli - no complaints here - nicely made 5) Bitter melon and pork rib soup - I like this soup so I may be biased but it's made almost perfectly here Others: 1) Stir-fried Taiwanese spinach with garlic - if you don't like spinach, you may want to try this. The Taiwanese version coats your teeth a little less than the regular American species 2) Stir-fried pork kidney and liver - this is not bad but I've had tastier versions of this dish 3) Fried rice with chicken - very homey style. Very little MSG and therefore can taste a little bland to some who are used to restaurants that uses more of it. Tip: This is a Taiwanese place which means if you see one red chilli pepper next to the menu item, expect a level that's just barely noticeable. KPI (Key Performance Indicators) ratings (1-5, 5 - best): Quality: 4 Delivery/Service: 4 Cost: 5
(4)Sherin L.
I heard many friends saying it tastes okay here, but Its been years and their quality hasn't change at all. Many restaurants here in the bay area didn't work out just because of the quality got worse when they get busier. It did not happen here and I'm glad they are not super busy or not busy at all. Anything I tried here hasn't really disappoint me at all. Recommend to everyone else! Great price, fast service, great food :)
(4)Vivian Y.
Its a nice little restaurant. Cos I need takeout so I didn't order the noodle. The seafood rice is okay cause I hate the baby corn... The 麻辣猪耳 is not spicy but tastes good. I will try the noodle next time
(4)Samuel Y.
I used to come here a lot more often than so with my family. It has probably been a year since I've came here and not too much has changed. Part of the reason I haven't been here is I don't go eat at asian restaurants often since my mom cooks delicious chinese food. Sitting down during this entire meal, I was surprised I didn't get a whiff of that stinky tofu that always seemed to be ordered by another table every time I ate here. I ate with a small group of four so instead of a family style meal, we each ordered our own. I ordered the pork chop rice which is exactly the same as I remembered(still delicious). I got to sample the oyster pancake which was good and fishball soup which was okay. The fishballs though, had zero flavor...this was very disappointing. Things I'm pretty sure that I will order if I do come back again would be the cold noodles, omelette rice, pork chop rice, ground pork rice, and fried spicy chicken. These were all dishes associated with this restaurant that I will hold on to fondly. Super cheap meal where you eat a fair amount for a small price. Parking is THE WORST on Sunday afternoons in this plaza.
(4)Chris R.
Good food. Great service. Great price. They have lots of dishes, side dishes, and desserts. The food comes quickly if they are not too busy. I would come back again.
(4)Kevin N.
Came here for lunch on a weekend, got here around opening time and there were plenty of seats available. We ordered four items for the two of us to share: soup dumplings, pork chop rice, sticky rice, and won ton in red chili oil. Didn't find anything particularly special, food is probably mediocre at best. The soup dumplings had a funky flavor to them, perhaps from the vinegar? There was very little soup in them and the whole thing was just not good, very disappointing. The pork chop rice was meh. I was expecting it to be fried but it came grilled. It was decent but just not what I was expecting. The sticky rice was so-so, I think they went overboard with the sauce and I've definitely had better elsewhere. The won tons were forgettable as well. It comes with crushed peanuts on top so be aware if you have allergies. Food comes out quick and the menu is extensive, but I haven't found anything on it that's worth a return visit. There are much more solid options in the area for Taiwanese food.
(2)Simon C.
What I like about this restaurant is their wide variety of choices on their menu - all different kinds of rice, noodle, appetizers.... Etc. many pages on their menu and it does take time to go through it. Over half of the time when I come here I will order their marinated pork rice (not sure English name of it haha) but not only it tastes good it is also cost effective! Less than $6 with a big portion you really can't ask for more. Other recommendations will be their rice noodle; if you are from Taiwan I'm sure you must be able to find some authentic dishes here.
(4)Tiffany C.
This restaurant holds a special place in my heart because it's one of those few restaurants my whole family can agree on without any sulking or making of faces (mainly me and my sister) and it's one of the few staples of Cupertino Village that hasn't changed names or locations or completely demolished and re-vamped their menu. It's familiar! And that's a good thing! I always get the rice bowl dish with cabbage, ground pork, pickled veggies and a tea egg. It's so filling and delicious and it warms my soul and brings me back to a narrow back alley in Taiwan sitting on a rickety plastic stool. One of the few true blue Taiwanese restaurants in South Bay, Southland Flavor will always be my go-to for Taiwanese food when I need that hit of homeland taste.
(4)Brian L.
Southland Flavor Cafe is one of those Taiwanese restaurants you visit when you want something affordable, quick, and easy. You already know that the food isn't going to be the best, but hey that's okay. At least you won't leave with a big hole in your wallet. This cafe cooks up all your Taiwanese favorites but does so in a lackluster manner... don't expect to be wowed. +` Spicy Pig Ear - 3/5 - Pretty typical and could use a little more heat. +` Salt & Pepper Fried Fish - 3.5/5 - This was probably the best dish my friend and I shared. The fish was well seasoned, and the peppers added a little kick. +` Turnip Cake - 3/5 - The turnip cake itself was alright. The included sauce was cold, so when you dipped a freshly fried hot turnip cake into the cold sauce... well you can imagine the rest. +` Sticky Rice in Barrel - 1.5/5 - Whenever I go to a Taiwanese restaurant, this is my go-to, and let's just say Southland flopped on this. My little tower of sticky rice and the included sauce came to me cold, and it seemed like they held back on everything except the rice (where are the 'shrooms and meat?).
(3)Alexander Y.
Is it the best place ever? No, so we can get that out of the way. But does it serve its purpose? If what you look for is cheap, inexpensive Taiwanese food, then yeah, you've hit the jackpot. Didn't want to write this review until I had been here a few times to sample the menu, which provides a great deal of options. Everyone says the pork chop rice is cheap and is huge, and they aren't lying. Always hits the spot. The beef noodle soup is passable, not great. The beef was pretty well done, but I'm not a fan of the noodles and the broth was rather bland compared to some of the better beef noodle soups I've had. The sauteed udon with seafood and sha-cha beef noodles are both very tasty. Oh, and they make good fried chicken and green onion pancakes. The reason this place is so awesome is that every time I feel like crap after work and I have no desire to work, I can walk over to this place and know that what I'm eating is going to give me a nice, full stomach and put a smile on my face. Taiwanese soul food, I suppose. It gets the job done for sure.
(4)Gabriel B.
I've got to get out of the South Bay because there are so many good Chinese food places. This one was one of the better ones. I came in and ordered the Sausage fried rice. We were served within a few minutes after ordering. I don't understand why they brought my food out first and my friend had to wait for his. The rice was Superb. The flavors were well blended no particular one overpowered the other. The rice was moist (sometimes you get Fried rice that's dry, over fried) and well balanced. It had a good mixture of eggs, peas, onions and the sausage. All this was only $6.75 and it came with hot tea. As they say in China "Muy Bueno"
(4)Farrah N.
3.5 stars... Such a godsend when you are looking for Taiwanese food. They pretty much have everything and the prices aren't too bad... Service is fast. Taste and textures could be better and prices could be better. I would recommend the Wontons in Hot Chili Oil, the Oyster Omelettes (I crave this all the time and come here just for this), Black Bean Sauce Noodles, and their noodle soups.
(4)George P.
Keyword: Authentic Taiwanese food, Amazing pork chops. Having already eaten at some of the amazing restaurants in Taiwan, I must say this place has some pretty good Taiwanese food. Even though I've only tried a few items, my favorites are: Pork Chop w/ rice, A Vegetables, and Won Ton soup. The service is whatevers, but Eyy!! don't expect it to be great at Asian restaurants. Bonus point: They are open the entire day.
(4)Peter K.
This place has great Taiwanese food! It is located inside the Cupertino Village Shopping Center. I love their beef stew noodle soup.
(5)Albert L.
I got food poisoning here! We ordered the beef soup, ground pork soup with wide noodles, and xiao lum bao. I think it was the XLB because it tasted funny. At night, I was visiting the toilet a lot. My wife also had to take a few dumps to cleanse her stomach. I would not come back based on my experience here.
(1)Sophie Y.
Been here twice recently for the fried stinky tofu, not sure where else in the South Bay to find it! Generally, I find the food here fine, not great but not inedible... probably won't be back soon unless I really want some more fried stinky tofu. On the plus side, the menu here is HUGE, so there's probably something for everyone. The food also comes out of the kitchens pretty quickly. Soup Dumplings - No soup in them! :( Bean Curd Appetizer - Good and simple. Stinky Tofu - Not as stinky as expected!! Decent fried tofu, not super oily. Comes with a side of pickled vegetables. Rice Cakes - Tried both the lettuce one and the salty vegetable one. Rice cakes were good in both of them, but the vegetables were not. The lettuce was in huge pieces and the "salty vegetable" was mostly napa cabbage even though I think the translation of the Chinese name of the dish means that it should be mustard greens. Black Bean Sauce Eggplant - Sounded really good was disappointing... the eggplant was cooked plain and the sauce was on top of it. The sauce didn't soak in at all so it was pretty bland. It was a bit more flavorful as leftovers the next day but definitely not the saucy eggplant dish I was expecting. Green Onion Pancake - Decent, some parts were a bit dry though.
(2)Lin X.
My friend stopped eating after few bites of every dish and had to go to another restaurant. The menu looks nice with so many options, but we don't enjoy anything we ordered. The beef tripe was flavored with sesame oil, which was a little bit weird to me. The soup dumplings are so-so. I couldn't find soup in it at all. I had to put sal in the noodles with shacha sauce to make it flavorful. We also ordered stinky tofu since it's mentioned in so many review. They taste okay. I don't think I'll come back again....
(2)Jeff J.
While I was perusing the menu, my work colleague commented that I looked like a kid in a candy store. I'm just glad he didn't record my excitement-- you would have heard an assortment of ooo's, mmm's, and nom's. I think I was so excited, my colleague relinquished all ordering rights and just told me to go wild. We ended up with Pig Feet (my uncle would be jealous), Stinky Tofu (cabbage could have been spicier, but tofu smell/taste spot on), Pork Potage Soup (consistency perfect, flavor good- maybe a little too much sacha sauce), Fried Chicken (dare I say better than Orenchi?), Fried Yinsijuan (perfect, maybe sans condensed milk), and Spicy Wontons (not enough oil - the only time you'll EVER hear me say that). My nitpicks were exactly that. Nitpicks. Are there maybe 20-30 other items on the menu I need to try? Absolutely. Pictures come with every single item, so if you're intimidated by Chinese menus, fear not-- you can point. Food comes out extremely fast, piping hot, and looking exactly like the photo. Service is as friendly as you're going to get in an Asian place. And the flavors are authentic. It's a worthy substitute for my inability to fly back to Taiwan this Xmas.
(5)Mag C.
Our 1st tried and love it! It has many choices in their menu that I wanted to try. We had Xiao Lung Bao, Stir fried Pork's intestine, Stinky fried tofu, Taro Pork ribs rice noodle and Ducks meat noodle for tonight and they were delicious. Their portion were big enough and food were out pretty fast. I definitely will visit again.
(4)Audrey T.
3.5 stars The menu is huge and I would definitely come back to try other dishes. Basil Eggplant: Although you can see the puddle of oil on the dish, the eggplant was surprisingly not greasy, and was perfectly cooked until tender with small strips of pork. Delicious with rice. Xiao long bao: Decent. The skin was the right thickness, and it had a good amount of meat, but having been spoiled by xiao long bao in SF, I would order something else. It is by no means terrible. Just ok. Wonton soup: Unfortunately this was very disappointing. The meat was tough, minuscule and had no flavor. We asked for hoisin sauce but the waitress did not know what that was. I was very sad. Despite the less-than-stellar review of the food, I am eager to come back and try their other menu items. Prices were reasonable.
(3)Jack M.
Not many places to get decent Taiwanese food. We travel for an hour just to eat here. The quality is consistent and the flavors are just right (from what I've remembered living in Taiwan). Oh of course, they have Stinky Tofu!!!!! Can't beat this place. We've been coming here for the past 15 years.
(5)Damian M.
We go often for oyster stew and stinky tofu. The food is really good and reminds *GF of growing up in Taiwan. Service is good for a Taiwanese/Chinese restaurant and the decor matches the price point
(5)Bei B.
My husband and I love their food. My hubby likes the fried pork chop and salt and pepper fish, while I usually have their beef stew noodles. Their Sakura shrimp fried rice was the bomb! It is one of the best fried rice I've ever had. They also has a dish mixing flash fried salmon with basil sauce, it was sooooo good...too hard to explain it but you'll want to try this.
(5)Patti I.
It would be fun to eat here with a group. They have a HUGE menu, with pictures to get your mouth watering before you order. But since I was here with only one other person, we had to settle on just three dishes: A cai with garlic--quite good, tasty, not too oily. We ate happily. Salt and Pepper fish slices--I can't believe I'm saying this about a Chinese restaurant, but it actually could have used a little more salt! Still, it came to the table super-hot, crispy, and tender, and not greasy. Lamb with green onions--tender, nicely seasoned. A couple of fatty/gristly pieces detracted, but we still ate the whole plate of it. The space is bright and airy but it's still a hole in the wall. There are multiple TVs on the wall broadcasting in Chinese, and it seems like a place where people show up and "everybody knows your name"--in Chinese, at least. Lots of boisterous conversation going on between staff and folks who dropped in. Other reviewers complained about small portions. They look small at the table, but those plates were heaped, and we still had enough to take home leftovers for two of the three dishes we ordered. We had friendly service, but that often happens when my big white husband and big white me speak to them in Chinese. Our waitress smiled and chatted and didn't chase us out to the parking lot asking for more tip.
(3)Harvey F.
Nice little casual dining restaurant featuring the usual Taiwanese specialties. Staff is friendly and attentive. Perhaps it is because the owner appears to be a devout Christian. Food is good with appropriate sized portions, and is reasonably priced.
(4)Ed C.
This is one of the most authentic Taiwanese restaurants in the bay area. Good food at good prices. Good service and simple easy food for those that miss home.
(5)Debra L.
Hmm...just alright. I'm wavering between a 2/5 or 3/5. Maybe we didn't order the right stuff? Would go back to give it one more chance since the menu is so extensive We had: - green onion pancakes (3/5) - pork chop rice (3/5) - beef noodle soup (3/5) - xiao long bao (shanghai dumpling) (1/5)
(3)Danny W.
Came here last night after a long ball sesh at the 24 hour down the street so we were exceptionally hungry. A+ for the speedy table service. When we first got to the door, there was a gang of people outside, all separate smaller parties but we were seated within seconds...how this happened, I'm not sure, not complaining though. For dinner we went with 4 items, 5 counting the delicious canned Tsingtaos with the frosty glasses. Our dinner choices were the following, stinky tofu, oyster egg omelette, spicy beef noodle soup, and salt and pepper crispy shrimp. The tofu was served with a sweet and savory dipping sauce and some picked vegetables, the stench was stinky and putrid and delicious. The oyster egg omelette was a massive portion of gelatinous and eggy delight, sweet sauce on top was clutch for that dish as it helped cut into the oyster flavor perfectly. The spicy beef noodle soup was delicious, nothing compared to the bowls we had in Taiwan but soupy goodness nevertheless. Finally, one of my favorite dishes, the salt and pepper shrimp were massive critters, head on of course, and the tails were at the perfect crunch, well done! Service was fast and the hot tea was just right, will be back!
(5)Jana L.
Southland was yummy! I came here with a group, so I got to try many dishes. To be honest though, the dishes did look kind of small. I was expecting a bigger portioned dish since chinese food usually goes hard and not home. But within the tomato and egg dish, A-choy, sa-cha vege and meat, xiao long bao, fried rice, chow mein, radish cake, and a few others, I had some favorites. The tomato and egg was soooooo delicious! It was unbearable. The mushiness of the tomato sauce with the eggs was so good! I know that's probably really easy to make, but man, that was a good dish. I've missed my Chinese foods so eating chinese vegetables was DELICIOUS. I was all up on the A-choy. :) Overall, a good meal and I am still full from eating so much good food. Another experience I had was the chicken curry! It was a little spicy, which was a lot for me and my low tolerance spicy tongue, but very very good. The fried chicken was like tonkatsu chicken in Japanese foods, and the curry was absolutely amazing!!! So that's also good too. Service is okay. I mean, don't expect so much from Chinese restaurants!!! We just want to get the food out and make people's bellies full. So don't hate on the service because that's what it's like in every good chinese restaurant. Lastly, Cupertino village is just THE BEST. They have a Ten Ren milk tea shop there, and I cannot leave without a milk tea. Parking can be bad at lunch and dinner hours, but you have to use your "eagle eyes" and get lucky!
(4)Peggy C.
My mother is from Southern Taiwan, so this restaurant is as close as I can get to my mother's home cooking. And I absolutely love that this is one of the few places where I can order stinky tofu. It reminds me of visiting my grandfather in Pingtung County in the southern tip of Taiwan, where a stinky tofu cart behind his house would wake us up every morning with the horribly delicious smell of deep fried fermented tofu. That said, order stinky tofu! There's more than enough and if you're not Taiwanese and you've never had it, I can't guarantee that you'll like it. But I've grown up on it and love it so much! It's not as good as authentic stinky tofu from Taiwan but it's the best we can get this side of the Pacific Ocean. I always order their ground pork noodle soup or the mustard green noodle soup. It really reminds me of my mom when I eat here, not to mention she HAS eaten here before and can attest for its authenticity in Taiwaneseness (not a word? Don't care. Taiwaneseness for the win!) The owners and waitresses are also really charming and friendly, but Taiwanese people are loud so don't be startled if it sounds like they're yelling at each other. That's just how we talk. This is my favorite Taiwanese restaurant in all of California. Yup, it's that good.
(5)Cindy L.
Good place when you're desiring some Taiwan Xiaochi, not Taiwan, but beggars can't be choosers, especially considering the lack of choices in the bay. Enjoyed the oyster pancake and pork rib melon soup. Stinky tofu was okay, but could use more flavor.
(3)Abby S.
When I was little, my family would come here pretty frequently. Now, we get the occasional noodle soup to go, so I hadn't eaten in for several years before I tried it again recently. We came in around 3 or 4, so we were seated right away and brought hot tea. Looking through the menu, my friend and I were really excited with the huge variety of dishes. We finally settled on xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings), zha jiang mian (egg noodles with black bean sauce), and vegetable tofu soup, which came out to about $22. The timing of the kitchen was really off. The noodles came 8-10 minutes before the soup, and the XLB came when we were practically done with the other dishes. Unfortunately, none of the dishes were very good. The vegetable tofu soup was sorely lacking in veggies, and the zha jiang mian was just okay. I was super disappointed with the XLB, though. They were lukewarm, with a dry thick skin that kept sticking to my lips. There was literally no soup inside either...just a dense ball of ground pork and shrimp. Also, there was this overwhelming smell of stinky tofu. When we were eating I kept smelling the stinky tofu and it got pretty annoying after the first couple minutes. Even after I left the scent was stuck in my nose :( With so many good Chinese restaurants in the area, I don't think I'll be back. Too bad -I remember it being so much better 10 years ago.
(2)Doug C.
Taiwanese food: standard Chinese food, extensive menu. Hundreds of items. Crowded, everybody eating there was overweight. Pork kidney soup: kidneys little old, slightly bitter. Don't recommend Seafood Chow mein: imitation crab which was red colored dough. Inedible Cheaper than surimi. Never seen this before. Sauteed spinach: little oily, edible. Best of the 4 dishes. fried fish: crunchy, fish was old. about palm sized. oyster soup noodles: too salty dark brown. Didn't look right when it came out Something funny with the chef and quality control in the back kitchen. $42.00/4 dishes...cheap Chinese food, takes a couple iterations to figure out what is worth ordering. Probably safer to stick to the standard tofu, chicken, beef dishes. Didn't think the food was that good like other reviewers said.. Can't beat the price. Is ok if you know what to order. Veggies and soup noodles are good. Others are hit and miss. There are plenty of other better restaurants in the area at a similar price I like Liangs and Michelle's pancake house better.
(1)Amy D.
Probably closer to 3.5 stars, but rounding down since some of the items were not very good. We came in around noon on a Saturday, and narrowly missed the lunchtime rush. Parking was still a nightmare at that time, but luckily was able to find a spot after circling a few times. We ordered- -Marinated Seaweed ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Delish! One of the best marinated seaweed dishes I've had in a long time. The seaweed was very tender, and there was the perfect amount of marinade. -Spicy Beef Tendon ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Pretty good. The tendon could have been more tender though. -Green Onion Pancake ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Nice and crispy, and not too oily. Highly recommended. -Beef Noodle Soup ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Eh.. This was just ok for me. I liked the consistency of the noodles, but the broth and beef were bland. I would skip. -Xiao Long Bao ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Meh.. Skip!! The skin was thin, but the meat/broth inside wasn't very flavorful. -Cha Chang Mein ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Gross and tasteless.. Skip!! -Won Ton in Spicy Sauce ( yelp.com/biz_photos/sout… ): Another skip! The won tons had no flavor, even with the sauce on it. Overall, I would recommend eating at Southland Flavor Cafe, but you have to order the right dishes. The marinated seaweed and green onion pancake are must orders, and a lot of people ordered the seafood pancake, so that is probably a safe bet. Service is ok, not as bad as other places, but the tables are close together so it can be a bit squishy.
(3)Mona W.
I have always enjoyed Taiwanese cuisine. One of the best Taiwanese food I had outside of Asia was in Boston Chinatown. I have had very little luck finding quality authentic eats after that. Mama Chen in Santa Clara excited me a bit but it is still not close. Unfortunately this is no exception with Southland Flavor Cafe. This Taiwanese restaurant has a menu the size of a dictionary. It could be fairly intimidating for novice to Taiwanese cuisine. For first timer I would recommend sticking to the basic staple dishes. (or just look at the pretty pictures and pick whatever you feel like) Oyster Pancake (2.5/5 stars) - There seems to be a real shortage of oysters here. Texture was too starchy and not firm enough (not enough eggs used). Flavors weren't there. The sauce was too sweet. Green Onion Pancakes (2/5 stars) - This one is a total failure. I could barely taste any green onions. It was too oily and a bit tough to chew on. Not good at all. Taro & Sparerib Soup (3/5 stars) - A little sweet but I like this soup. The taros could have been cooked a little longer but the soup is quite flavorful. Spareribs were tender. Steamed Meat Ball (3/5 stars) - Same sauce as the oyster pancake so it wasn't really that exciting. The chewy dough seems to work better here with the meat. Cumin Lamb (3/5 stars) - Some found it quite spicy but I enjoyed the extra kick. The lamb is flavorful and not too tough. A little heavy with the oil but nothing wrong with it. Sauteed Small Pea Sprout with Garlic (3.5/5 stars) - Your very typical sauteed veggie dish. It is hard to go wrong with it unless you overcook the pea sprout until they get stingy. Not the case here fortunately. Shrimps & Pineapple Sauces (3.5/5 stars) - Highlight of the mean I would say. If you ever had walnut prawns in other Chinese restaurants it is almost exactly the same as that. Just with the walnut replaced by the pineapples. The sauce is a bit sweet but the shrimps are lightly fried and quite delicious. Combination Chow Mein (2.5/5 stars) - Another very typical dish and nothing to rave about. The texture of the noodle was not that great. They break apart too easily and not chewy enough. The food here is very reasonably priced so it is a plus. The restaurant seems quite busy and there was a little bit of a wait for the table. Southland Flavor is still no rival to my favorite Taiwanese restaurants in the area (Mama Chen in South Bay, or Joy Restaurant in Foster City).
(3)Angela D.
It's decent "real Chinese food". Friendly welcoming staff that were efficient and helpful.
(3)Food H.
Oh my god... This is the worst good I ever had... And this is what we left with... I even told them that it is not good at all and they did not do any damage control... We paid the pricy bill and left... This is the worst food I have ever had... I don't suggest anyone going...
(1)Gabriel C.
Ordered a few dishes, but don't remember their exact names but the numbers are 403, 468 (fish with pickled something), 470 (a spicy beef dish), tofu/scallions and pork belly with pickled vegetables. Overall, the dishes were quite delicious. They were lightly seasonsed and none of the dishses were heavy on oil. The downside is that the dishes were definitely on the small side.
(3)Edward L.
The owner and her waitresses are extremely homophobic. They made very hurtful and bigoted comments towards the LGBT communities. They were agreeing on each other how mentally ill we are and we know it, how we shouldn't have kids and adopt because we are sick, how we shouldn't have visitation rights if our loved ones are sick and how fast the world and society are changing because it's the gays' fault. I couldn't finish my food I had to stop, I had ordered takeouts too and I returned them, I wish I could vomit...the whole thing makes the food I swallowed sick to my stomach. I am so bothered I can't stand it. Tell your friends and friends' friends. We need to boycott this place.
(1)Melissa H.
The only reason I'm not giving this place five stars is that the last two times I've been here, they have messed up our order. Other than that, the service is prompt. It is good old Taiwanese food. I used to come here with my parents since I was a little kid, and I would always get the Omelette Rice. My family would always share a variety of appetizers, small dishes which included the seaweed, pork ears, tofu slices, and cucumbers. I am a shameless stinky tofu fanatic. I don't care that it smells like feet, it is hands down on of my favorite foods. I guess it's an acquired taste. I used to always order the fried version, but recently I've started to order the steamed one that they have. It's spicy and comes with intestines and pork blood. Soooooo good. I've also tried some of their vegetable dishes, including the eggplant with basil. I love eggplant too, so I guess I'm a little biased when I describe how good it is. The reason that it's so oily is because eggplant soaks up oil. Other than that, the flavor is just right. In Taiwanese night markets, there is usually a dish called oh ya jian (excuse my horrible pinyin), or Oyster pancakes. I don't really like oysters, so I opt for the xia ren jian (Shrimp pancake). It contains lettuce and eggs, and has delicious red sweet sauce over it. Delicious. I love this place!
(4)Charlie G.
My comfort food place. Love pork chop rice and A-chai veggie. Their recent fish slices is out of this world!!
(5)Andrew N.
Their menu is quite large, and while most dishes are non vegetarian, they actually have a vegetarian section. Some good offerings although when it comes to actual vegetables, they are more expensive then meat dishes from what I see when browsing the menu. Anyway, they have this dish called vegetarian chicken filet. It's really good. Comes with cabbage (lightly stir fried), sweet pickled mustard, and a tea egg. It can be somewhat plain by itself, but ask for this black sauce as it definitely makes the dish awesome! The pea sprouts are good too although it is 12 dollars or so. My suggestion though is only get it if you plan to eat there since once you leave, it's still good but more like a glob of soggy vegetables. Freshly out of the kitchen is the way to go I say!
(4)May H.
Overall, I was very disappointed with the three dishes I ordered. 1) Minced pork rice: very average. 2) Pork pottage soup: biggest disappointment among the three dishes. They put way too much flour which made the soup too thick. The pork was not tender at all. I ended up only having 1/4 of the soup and couldn't continue to eat it because of the thickness. 3) Stir-fried pork kidney with sesame oil: a very salty dish! Also, this is place is over-priced. It's not worth going there. Mama Chen's food is very delicious compared to this place.
(2)Diana W.
SO EXPENSIVE for TAIWANESE FOOD !!!! But it is newly my favorite Taiwanese food in the bay area so far !!! We ordered the eggplant dish (basil I think), which came with bits of ground meat chunks. So impressively purple when it came out!! Most places lose the purple color after cooking. Very delicious and generous portion size! The lamb/scallion stir fry was sooo good too.. They were pretty generous with the lamb, especially in comparison with my usual Taiwanese food joint I go to, Chi in Milpitas. I also had the Oyster pancake, which was more glutinous and mushy than I am used to but not bad. The oysters were very fishy though and probably canned .. The beef special house noodle soup was ok. The flavors were good and there was plenty of pickled greens, which I love, but the beef pieces were not tender like they usually are. The noodles were not knife cut or anything special either .. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience here and loved my next day leftovers !!!! Yay! But so expensive. Like average of 12-15 bucks per entree I think.
(4)Edna C.
One of those places where you're tempted to order everything on the menu -__- First world problems... Southland specializes in legit TW food and is located in the giant and chaotic Ranch 99 plaza i.e. easy to find parking, but you have to wander around the maze of stores for awhile before finding your destination. The ambiance is simple and homey, service is efficient, and there is a backdrop of conversations in Chinese... feels like a portal to TW in California weather. The menu is huge (including adventurous traditional dishes involving organs) and n00b-friendly, as it is an extensive booklet of glossy pages with pictures of literally every single dish. We opted for classic TW food: (++) OYSTER PANCAKE: The boo thought it could have used more green onion, but I really like their rendition: crispy edges, the size of your face, and more egg-based so it's almost like a flat omelette (the oyster and eggs combo taste reminded me a little bit of the hangtown fry, the southern brunch guilty pleasure of fried oysters embedded in scrambled eggs) (++) TW GIANT DUMPLING: Snacky street food on point. A dash of Savory sauce with flavorful meat wrapped in thick, fresh, and chewy glutinous jelly (which sounds horrifying I know, but glutinous starch is neither gluttonous nor gluten-ful). (+/-) JAJANG MYEON: Not bad, especially since it's not swimming in oil like how some restaurants make it. However I was unimpressed by the plain noodles which tasted suspiciously like spaghetti, and the amount of shredded cucumbers and carrots was lacking....not to be that annoying health freak who complains about Asian restaurants not offering kale salads, but the veggies usually add a nice crunch to jajang myeon, so even from a purely culinary perspective it fell short. Overall the food was quite salty and I am skeptical for MSG because I ended up chugging copious amounts of water later... But in any case, the tasty meal was worth it :3 Also quite a good deal because the bill came out to just over $20 for a delicious and satisfying feast for two (though there was still room for dessert).
(4)James S.
Hmmm I want to like this place. The dishes are more authentic and not as Americanized as many Chinese restaurants. My Taiwanese wife thought it was good and authentic... but I was a bit disappointed. Probably because I had to pay the 40 dollar lunch bill without feeling full. The chicken soup was an individual serving, not enough for two. The Kongxin Cai was OK, not too oily. And the fish was way overpriced at 16 bucks for a little thing. They even charge for rice, which would be ridiculous in many restaurants in Taiwan. Its just OK. Can't say we'll be back since my wife can basically cook all this at home for 1/4 the price. Still, it was nice to be around a predominantly Taiwanese crowd.
(3)Kathy L.
I have been on the desperate search for good Taiwanese (or, Taiwanese, period) since moving to the Bay Area two years ago. Well, I am still on that hunt. Everything was mediocre, and just can't compare to places down in LA or Taiwan (duh). Stinky tofu and intestines, staples when i get Taiwanese small plates, were fine. But I'm looking for more than just fine! The oyster pancake was a joke. It was like a spinach and egg omelette drowning in chili sauce. Pork blood cakes were too soft. The only saving grace was the fact that they had gua bao (Taiwanese hamburger on the menu), which I haven't had since my summer in Taiwan three years ago. It was pretty good actually, with a good amount of peanuts and fatty meat. I would possibly come back just for this, since I don't know where else to find it.
(2)Heather s.
Great selection of Taiwanese food. They have a very large menu, but we tend to just stick with Taiwanese classics. My favorite is a yummy bowl of ground pork over rice. Their stinky tofu is pretty good too (though not as stinky as from the night markets!) -- a little girl at the table next to us asked "daddy, what's that smell?" Awww, yeah! The best part? As an American-born Taiwanese raised in the Midwest, it makes me smile hearing Taiwanese out and about in the community. Love it. (Just watch out for all your stereotypical horrible Asian drivers in the crazy parking lot.)
(4)A. W.
I have had four star meals here but also 2 star food at times. That's why it's a 3 star from me on average. I find myself going back to this place because: - they have decent beef noodles, taiwanese sausages, and lots of other taiwanese appetizers; i like to order their boiled goose meat, or boiled pork offals; - they offer a lot of rice plates, noodle soups, perfect for a quick week night meal for 1 or 2 - they're open during the post-lunch/pre-dinner hours; - they would take you in even it's just 15/20 minutes before their closing hours - they give you melamine chopsticks (instead of the single-use disposable chopsticks)
(3)Frank C.
For Taiwanese style food this place is pretty decent but I can't say if it's truly a cut above as I don't have much experience with the style. The xlb & fried tofu is quite good tho.
(3)Alan L.
The selection of food is huge and the servers are friendly. The food also comes out really quick. When i was there, i ordered 1 appetizer (simmered beef tripe), a plate of veggies and 2 different noodles and it literelly took about 5 mins before they came back with the food. If you ask me to rate the service i'll give them a 4.5/5. But what promped me give them a 3/5 overall is that the food there just fails to wow me. The food is okay. I will suggest this place if you're just looking for a place to look for lunch on a regular day.
(3)Christine S.
Never coming back to this place again! We ordered the beef noodle soup, shanghai dumplings and spicy wontons. The beef noodle soup was luke warm, and the noodles didn't seem fully cooked, they were hard. The beef was tough and chewy and the broth just tasted like beef broth from a can. Then we had the shanghai dumplings which had an odd flavor and smell that I can't even describe. The meat was like a hard ball inside and it just grossed me out. The spicy wontons were bland and the meat was also tough. I'm not even sure if the meat inside was really even beef. All the meats had an odd smell to me and a strange texture. We took a bite of each item and left the restaurant because it was that bad!!
(1)Peter Y.
This is one of our go-to restaurants in Cupertino Village. It has fairly decent Taiwanese food at low prices. The rice with ground pork is one of their most popular dishes. Other dishes that are good include the fried chicken, small dishes (e.g. beef tripe) and beef noodle soup. If you are feeling adventurous, also try the pig feet and stinky tofu.
(3)David E.
NOTE: This restaurant is also known as "Tainan Café". We dine on items such as: hollow heart green veggie, beef chow fun, steamed pork soup dumplings, papaya shake. The food is good and the "pa-poop-ea" shake is very smelly and tasty. Many people can't stand the smell of fresh papaya but the smellier it is the tastier it is.
(4)Catherine L.
Yum yum yum. I used to come here with my mom all the time for lunch when I was younger. The must gets are the noodle soups with vegetable and fish ball, steamed glutinous meat bun (it sounds appealing but it's really good), the innards if you like them like I do and the ground pork over rice. I tried the nien gao last time and it was okay. A little too salty for my taste but my friend didn't think so. The stinky tofu is smelly (duh) but the flavor is a little bland. Yes, I like to eat tofu that smells like nasty fire butt!
(3)Omi Y.
Fried stinky tofu YUM...=) Reasonable prices...Yummy Taiwanese food... They have TVs streaming food items on the menu...
(4)Sophia Y.
haven't been here in ages. but this place definitely has authentic Taiwanese food items on the menu. the "Bah won" which means meat ball but is really pork, with mushroom and bamboo covered in rice (like mochi but thicker) is authentic green onion buns good I liked the beef noodles generous portion on spinach and garlic.
(4)Kevin L.
I'm from Taiwan and when I'm craving for Taiwanese dishes, I head to Southland Flavor Cafe. The fried oysters and pork chop are delicious and the stinky tofu is bearable, but still one of the best in the area. However, the oyster pancake felt cakey and didn't have as much flavor as I expected it to have. The menu is pretty intimidating and finding what to order is kind of difficult, but the waiters are friendly and make good suggestions! There's a lot of seating, but since it's so popular, you'll probably have to wait during busy hours. Service is quick and entrees arrive at our table within 5 minutes of ordering. It's fairly cheap and dishes can be easily shared.
(4)Jen H.
If you think Panda Express is what Chinese people cook at home--think again! Come here to experience a true Chinese meal. Okay, don't get me wrong, but this is food you would experience in a typical Chinese family on a "special dinner night." Make sure to come with at least four people to dine family style so you get to experience all the varieties--they have over 100 dishes on their menu! (yikes, I was a bad yelper, didn't mentally take my notes, and I don't know the name of all the dishes we ordered). I would recommend the salt and pepper fried fish (cod?). Don't order the cumin beef.
(4)Kalani K.
I've been here many times in the past two years that I've been in Cali, and I must say, I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! Most of my friends, aka The Fobs, are all Chinese and Taiwanese so naturally I eat at various Asian restaurants. Well they brought me here shortly after I moved from Hawaii to San Jo and I instantly fell in love! This place is extremely affordable, with one of their dishes only costing less than $5 but will make you full AND tastes really good. I'm Hawaiian so it isn't easy to get me full, though I will eat almost anything and think its good (for the most part)! I will usually get the Ground Pork w/ Rice bowl, which is cheapest rice dish on the menu. It's basically a large bowl filled with rice, ground pork that seasoned in a slightly salty anise flavor (common in Chinese dishes), cooked cabbage, pickled veggies, and a tea egg. its really good! Then for appetizers we get the Stinky Tofu (which Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods wouldn't eat), the sliced pig ears, fried intestine (comes with a salt&pepper mixture and pineapples), and the green onion pancakes. The Stinky Tofu is really good, despite the somewhat rotten smell it emits into the air. Its slightly salty and creamy but goes well with the sauce they provide, along with the pickled cabbage mixture it comes with. If you've never had it, try it! The sliced pig ears sounds gross but surprisingly very tasty. Its mostly the texture of somewhat soft cartilage flavored with a light dose of sesame seed oil, and a possibly soy sauce...or some other salty flavor. Fried intestine.... never thought I would eat this in a million years!!! I have to admit, I usually stay away from all dishes related to intestine, stomach lining, and stuff of the sort, but this dish is good! Its crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, balanced almost perfectly. The flavor that usually accompanies intestine is not as present as most places, meaning they clean the intestine very well before preparing. Dip it in the salt&pepper mixture and add a pineapple.... as we say in Hawaii "Broke Da Mouth!" Although its a primarily Asian (Chinese/Taiwanese) joint, and almost everyone that eats there and works there are not English-As-A-First-Language people, they are very patient when I order things in English... But my friends usually order for me since they speak the same language. =) They also have a super huge selection of meals, both family style and personal meals. All in all, great service, great food, excellent flavor! p.s. I will upload photos, so check them out once I do!
(5)Annie C.
Awesome Taiwanese food! It's not the best, but it's what I can get in Cupertino for cheap. I've been coming here for years, and the consistency has been up and down but the latest owner has been keeping it steady. I always get the pork chop rice! Big portion, cheap prices. you can't beat that. Beware of people ordering stinky tofu!
(4)Connie W.
I wish I lived closer to here, I'd come here all the time. What I like about this place is that their dishes are not too big. That means.... If you come with a small party. Say two or three people, you'd still be able to try many dishes without being super full. Food comes out SUPER FAST & is always HOTTTT. Dishes I loved: -seafood pancake -salt & pepper fish filets A dish never to order: -xiao long bao (shanghai dumpling) Waaay too much MSG. I could taste it right when I bit into it, even with all the vinegar I used. Food is cheap here, about less than $10 a person. Delicious.
(4)Jenny Z.
Southland is a nice, casual taiwanese restaurant that is great for sit-down dinner with friends and family. I've been here several times because its conveniently in Cupertino Village and the ambiance is enjoyable and fun. They have a big menu, that offers entrees and snacks. The star, however, are the taiwanese small dishes. Prices are average. Normally between $4-8 for small dishes and a little higher for entrees like noodles and rice plates. A little goes a long way, I always have an issue ordering too much food so there's plenty leftover to take home. Their service is quick. If you can speak Mandarin, that's a bonus but it may be a little harder to communicate what you want if you don't, especially if you're picky about your food. One of my friends is a strict vegetarian who doesn't eat mushrooms for religious reasons. When we specifically asked for no mushrooms (in chinese), they still included mushrooms in his order. When we told them about, they just picked out the mushrooms instead of making a new dish. My friends was cool about it but I thought they could have at least remade the order for him. Despite that, I think their food is flavorful and is worth coming back, seeing that there are not many restaurant that serve authentic taiwanese food. My family always order: -clam chowder in toast block -stewed pork feet -taiwanese meat ball -zhu xue gao (pig's blood) -xiao long bao (shanghai soup dumplings) -deep fried stinky tofu (fyi, it's not stinky enough) -minced/ground pork over rice -gua bao (steamed bun "taco") -onion pancake -fried oysters Most of their dishes have meat in it, even if it isn't specified. So if you are vegetarian, I recommend making it very clear when you make your order. Overall, its a fun restaurant to take out the family or friends for a casual meal to have a conversation over.
(4)Jessica H.
The food is just okay. I ordered meat ball gluten and meatball soup. (i dont know their names in English) The meat ball gluten was okay with the sauce. The wrapping was a bit too chewy. The meatball soup was favored weirdly, really different from what I thought.
(4)Minako S.
I used to eat at this place frequently and used to love its food, but I just went recently and did not enjoy my meal at all. I didn't like more than half the stuff I ordered. The pork feet noodle was the best thing there. The pork feet was surprisingly fatty and tender and flavorful. However, the pork ears were disgustingly malayish flavor and that was it and wasn't well sliced. The pork cheek was just ok. And the oyster pancake was not crispy, was more eggy and slightly gooey. Not what I remembered it to be liked or liked about it. The papaya milk drink was too pulpy and not smooth.
(3)Cindy T.
When I eat out, I never crave Asian food. Maybe because my motherbear is such a great cook and she cooks everyday. But my friends wanted to try out this place, so we did. First off, I can't get over how much I love the menu picture book. Since I don't read Chinese, it makes ordering that much easier. They have a picture for every single dish! We ordered about 7 dishes. All were quite good, savory and light. Nothing was too oily, so that's a plus for me. - chow mein - duck - fried tofu - beef w/ veggies - beef shanks - sausages - pork w/ sauce And this place definitely took my card since I didn't have any cash on me. Service was also good and food was ready in the quickness.
(4)Christopher L.
Came in around 130pm on a Saturday afternoon and it was packed with a very short wait list. Three of us got seated after a few minutes and ordered ground pork over rice, oyster pancake, xlb, Taiwanese sausage, pork and dried mustard, and wonton in chili oil. The XLBs really weren't that great and definitely can be skipped. The wonton in chili oil was OK, but the filling could use more seasoning. The oyster pancake was good, but had very little oysters. The Taiwanese sausage is always good, but they were really crude with the slicing of it and the garlic; it was just messy and not very presentable. The ground pork over rice is one of my favorite dishes and I found it pretty satisfactory. The pork with dried mustard was really good, but you get only about 6 slices. Overall, it was OK, but since Taiwanese food is kinda hard to find, it's rated a bit higher than it deserves...
(3)Veronica C.
I got shrimp and egg fried rice and fried luobuogao (turnip cake?). They were both very average. I usually love shrimp fried rice but it just wasn't hitting the spot here; it seemed on the blander side for some reason. And the luobugao was just not very flavorful at all. But it wasn't un-tasty, and their portion size for the rice was pretty generous - thus the 3-star rating.
(3)Jack L.
Boy, I got fooled by the Chinese name of this restaurant as it means a city in southern Taiwan. So when I fully expected authentic Taiwanese flavored dishes (I was just in Taiwan in November 2012 on a biz trip and I visited this restaurant only last week), I walked away feeling stupid. Why did feel stupid...I ordered 5 dishes (by myself) thinking I would have stewed beef noodle soup, oyster omelette, stinky tofu, spicy tripe, and haka stirfry. All five turned out bad as compared to what I just had a month ago in Taiwan. So I don't know why they fooled folks with this name when none of the dishes had any taste of Taiwan.
(3)Kevin V.
Decent food at an affordable price. The Taiwanese food here is decent. The menu is huge it sometimes gets overwhelming, but my favorite dishes here are the fried rice. Get the Sakura Shrimp Fried Rice its my favorite one. The restaurant makes you feel comfortable, but there is nothing super special on the menu other than the fried rice.
(3)Daniel K.
Pretty standard restaurant you will find in this plaza. The service is typical "asian service" which means you'll likely need to flag someone down to get some attention. Food here is pretty decent but I wouldn't recommend the Shanghai dumplings. The omelette rice is good though. If someone orders the stinky tofu prepare to run.
(3)Byron L.
For good old greasy Chinese bbq, this is the place to go. The meat quality is not great. There's no variety in the sauce. But you can smell the grill on the meat.
(2)Julie T.
I love love love their fried tofu!!!not the stinky one.. But the normal fried tofu! The texture is so soft and silky on the inside and crunchy on the outside.. Dip it into the garlic sauce and omg! I've tried a lot of other things here as well but I can't say any were really memorable. It's not bad but it's not really good either. But their fried tofu!!! U must ordertheir fried tofu!!
(3)David L.
It is 8:30 and my gf and I were looking for a late night dinner. Drove by this place and decided to give it a try. I am not sure if we caught the waitress on a bad day or she's tired. Given the circumstance that it is 9:00. She did not show much emotion when she's ordering food from us. That is the first negativity for this place. Besides her, all the other waitresses are friendly. So this is more of luck of a draw issue. Plus it's a Chinese restaurant, so I usually don't expect much service. So I ordered 4 dishes. The green onion and beef stir fry, pan fried fish, sesame oil with kidney, and stir fry small pea sprouts. The final bill came out to be around $44.00 something. Allow me to break down why I gave this place a 1 star for tonight's experience. The veggie dish: well done on the texture, but I think they forgot to add salt or didn't add enough salt to let me taste it. This is fine. I don't mind eating a veggie plate without salt. The beef dish: well seasoned, I like the flavor, but the beef were really really firm. Being a decent home cook myself, I can tell immediately that the beefs are going to be firm the moment the dish was presented on the table, and I was right. Chewy....... The fish: why don't you just feed me salt? Did they add the forgotten salt from the veggie to the fish and than another half a can of salt on top of it? Oh my god I don't even know why I finished it. Its probably really bad for my kidney. for those of you who have had salt fish before......it is actually a lot saltier than salt fish. I should've saved the other half for the restaurant owners and the chefs to know exactly what I mean when I told them its really salty. It literally just tasted like salt out of the can. Mon the other side, my fault for being stupid for not asking them to remake it or decline the dish after my initial bite. As for the kidney, it never came so I can't judge it. Again, the tired waitress forgot to put it down. So the total came out to be $44 something and I tipped $6. Now I think about it, I should NOT have tipped at all for the quality of the food I got tonight. But hey, I still packed the unfinished food and will eat them for lunch tomorrow.....I don't like to waste food. This is only for tonight's experience. I am willing to go again to try the things people say that are actually good. But Regardless of what I order, if you are going to offer an item on the menu, I expect better quality for the price I paid today. I could've just cooked the same dishes for half the price myself and actually enjoy them.
(1)Liz L.
I really thought this place was terrible. I thought that maybe I just don't like Taiwanese food because the people I went with loved it, but upon asking around, it seems others share my opinion. My biggest complaint is it seems they add lobs of sugar to every dish. Too much sweetness in my savory dishes is a big no-no.
(1)Kevin S.
Taiwanese cuisine is a delicacy that I have very few opportunities to eat so I was very happy to happen upon some at Southland. I'm giving Southland a very favorable review mostly out of nostalgic reasons. Obviously the food doesn't quite match up to the actual thing, but its the closest thing I'm going to get here in the Bay. Even the service reminded me of the summers I had spent in Taiwan. The waitresses are very no-nonsense and bee-line you to a seat before bring out a teapot and some menus. I was quite excited to see so many exotic dishes that I hadn't had the opportunity to see in quite some time. Three dishes that I ordered right away were the ba-wan, oyster omelet, and stinky tofu. The ba-wan was quite good (its meat and vegetables stuffed in a gelatinous dough ball and drowned in sweet savory sauce). Probably the most authentic dish I had there. The oyster omelet was okay, not much oyster, mostly egg and jelly. I was kind of disappointed in the stinky tofu, it wasn't nearly as flavorful as i remember it being. One last dish that I found really good was the fishball soup. The broth was light but savory with a hint of fish and green onion. The fishballs were fantastic, chewy with minced pork stuffed in the middle. Thanks Southland for allowing me to pretend that I was back in Taiwan, even if for just a few minutes.
(4)Chia L.
The food here really isn't amazing, but it does offer a huge selection of Taiwanese food, everything that you could be craving. If you haven't had Taiwanese food for a while, this place would make you happy for sure~ I feel bad for such bad reviews because this place really isn't that bad at all, plus the owners are super duper nice. The service is fast and the food is good. Not all that expensive either, what's not to like?
(3)Grace C.
Had dinner here on a busy Saturday evening. I was impressed with the: - Service: Pretty good for a Chinese (Taiwanese) restaurant - Speed: We got our first two dishes within 5 min of ordering, even though the restaurant was packed! - Price: Not bad, a meal for two + leftovers = $23 + tip Tip #1: Even if you sign in on the waiting list sheet, make sure at least 1 member of your party stands inside the restaurant. There were 3 parties ahead of us on the list, but the waitresses just seated us right away because we were the only ones standing there. Tip #2: Even if you're not Taiwanese & don't know any Chinese, you can eat here because the menu has pictures of every single dish, plus a loosely translated English description. - Fried spicy chicken bits: 5 stars, delicious bite-sized goodness - Dry noodles with pork: 5 stars, great flavor - Green onion pancake: 3 stars, too doughy & therefore not crispy enough - Stir-fried greens with garlic: 4 stars, flavor could be stronger
(4)Eric Y.
Cheap Taiwanese eat out takes place here. you can order a lot and be decently satisfied with the craving of Taiwanese food in the Bay Area. Their food is 1-2 bars away from being authentically good. They do have a wide selection of food, but it's funny that everytime I go, I tend to hit the jackpot on something on their menu that wasn't ready that day for serving. If you order the usual stuff like oyster pan cake, pork chop rice, or Ground Pork over Rice you would be fine.
(3)Rita V.
I came here for lunch to enjoy some Taiwanese food. At noon, this place was pretty empty, so I was skeptical if it was even a good place to eat. The menu is super huge, and there is just way too many dishes to choose from. The waitress kept stopping by the table to take the order, but I was never ready. I liked how there were pics for some of the dishes, but I wish all the items had pictures. On the menu, there was appetizers, noodle soups, rice plates, chow mein, regular soups, and snack items. I was so overwhelmed that I just chose a regular pork noodle soup ($4.95), since the picture looked good. It was pretty chilly outside, so I really wanted some soup, too. The food came out within 5 minutes. It was really way too fast! The soup was hot, and the noodles was chewy. There was tons of bean sprouts on the bottom of the soup. The pork noodle soup was ok. The pork was a bit fatty, and the soup was very oily. I probably wouldn't order this dish again. I also tried bamboo shoots, which was good. It had a nice crunch with each bite, but it was soaking in oil. The green onion pancake was crispy and tasty. It was definitely my favorite dish. Overall, the food here is ok. The price is really cheap, since most of the dishes are less than 7 dollars. The service is good considering that you get your food super fast. I'll probably come back if I'm in Cupertino village to try other dishes.
(3)Randy S.
Used to come out here with my co workers all the time for lunch. The one and only dish I've ever had here and always order every time I swing by...... Pork Chops and Rice You can't lose with that!
(4)Anna H.
The food here is not the best Taiwanese food i've ever had but is good enough to keep me from coming back. The staffs that work here are all pretty nice and friendly and the owner is super sweet and always has a smile on her face :) I love the fried tofu here! Make sure if you order it togo, you ask to leave the lid open so the tofu doesn't get soggy and will still have a crunch to every bite.
(4)Jess C.
Less than $4 for a rice bowl filled with meat, egg, and veggies?! This place has been around for ages... the name, the owner, and the color of the walls have changed, but the food has remained just as good and cheap as it has always been. Squid Side Dish: Cheap but too chewy, and the sauce was too sweet.
(4)Kailyn G.
On my recent trip to California, I obviously had to make time to get Chinese food (since it is lacking in my home state - WI). We ordered the scallion pancake, dumplings, some sort of pork in sauce and beef with wide rice noodles. This meal couldn't go wrong - those are all my favorite things. Everything was really good. Scallion pancakes I could probably pass on next time - this time, it was mostly just a craving. I had never had the pork dish before, and it was so good. Pork with watercress and a very tasty sauce - I would highly recommend. Prices were very reasonable. And their menu is really large. So it makes it easy for me to want to come back. Service: Fast. I think they were friendly, but all the interactions were in Chinese, so I didn't understand. Environment: Pretty generic. Bright and sunny with lots of windows though.
(4)Will H.
I was at southland flavor for the first time when passing by the Cupertino wolfe mall, interested by its name which resembling dishes from southern part of the taiwan Island. I spent ~$35 with tax (1 person) ordered goose meat, steamed dumplings and egg pancake, and they were NOT even half decent. The goose meat was over-priced at ~$17 for small plate of over-cooked and tasteless meat, most of which filled with broken bone fragments (be careful when eating it), excessive skin and fat. From the taste and presentation, it seems to be the leftovers from the slow-cooked chinese soup. Meat was not edible and presentation was also an embarrassment. The steam dumplings at ~$10 taste like it had been grossly injected with butter or cream liked substance, which didn't mix well with the original taste of steaming bun meat juice. I am extremely open-minded and adventurous in trying creative food, but this grotesque mix of butter/creamy flavor and steam meat juice in buns made my stomach turn. It shows the "chef" has absolutely no talent or even common sense Oyster pan cake at ~$7 tastes ok, similar to any other Taiwan places that I had been to, which makes it the dish in cafe. My advise, don't waste your appetite for Southland, especially there are many good restaurant choices in the bay area.
(1)Jen Y.
This is our go-to place for a reliably awesome, yet incredibly cheap, meal. Even though there are tons of other Chinese restaurants closer to us in Mountain View, we've decided none of them measure up and it's worth a couple extra minutes' drive to Cupertino. Our go-to dishes are the pork chop rice and cha-chiang mien. And, even though I don't usually expect friendly service at fast Chinese restaurants, everyone here is super nice, and still very efficient.
(5)Agent X.
Boyfriends have come and gone through the years, but Southland Flavor Cafe has always been there for me. My favorite dishes: -Pork chop & rice (Every BF I've had loves this dish) -House made cucumber :) :) :) -Dry noodle w/ground pork -Sauteed on choy w/garlic -Sauteed beef udon noodles
(4)Jennifer J.
This place is our default, go-to Chinese place when we're not sure what to cook OR we have guests that want good Chinese food. Price is really reasonable, $4-5 appetizers (small things like pig's ear or jellyfish) and then $10ish entrees. I love their soup, although they give you way too much noodle... Other dry dishes like the rice, chow mein are pretty Americanized. Greasy/lots of sauce, but very good for hungry college kids like me! Also good family place, a lot of round-tables and group seating.
(4)Alissa M.
Our professor took us here for dinner one night. As poor students, we jumped at the chance and ordered a ridiculous amount of food. I don't remember everything we had, but it was all delicious. And then someone insisted we order the stinky tofu. None of us really knew what to expect, but I don't understand how people say it's not that stinky. It reeked like a combo of feet and vinegar that had been left to ferment for years. It smelled so bad that no one would even try it, so I stepped up to be the guinea pig. While thankfully it does not taste like it smells, I don't really think it tasted like anything and was kind of blah for me. But having to smell it while I ate it... let's just say I'm lucky I don't have a strong gag reflex. As soon as I tried it, we immediately asked for it to be cleared from the table, but the smell lingered the rest of the time we were there. Part of our group was sitting a few tables away, and they could smell it too. That stuff is pungent!
(4)Aaron T.
1 star to start. Food (1.0 stars): The food here is very tasty! The Omelet Fried Rice has a perfect mix of tomato flavor and has the unique dome-shaped egg covering the rice. The Beef Noodle Soup can almost rival its counterpart at A&J, though I found the vegetables to be slightly undercooked and the beef lacking as much tendon. Nonetheless I was rather impressed with the dishes and the pop of the flavors. Service (0.5 stars): Service wasn't bad, considering the experiences I've had at neighboring restaurants. The staff is very friendly and greet you as you come in, and they constantly come by to check on you. Food is made at an average pace. Value (0.5 stars): Prices aren't dirt-cheap here, but they aren't sky-high either. A fairly common middleground for similar Chinese restaurants, this place is no exception. Portion sizes are also fairly average and you will definitely eat up everything you order, which is just about the right amount. Experience (0.5 stars): The restaurant is not extremely small but rather cozy. They tend to seat diners away from the door, which is a nice move, and I felt the interior to be rather bright and clean. All-in-all this is a good restaurant to go to if you want to try something other than A&J with similar food quality while having significantly better service. Overall: 1.0 - Baseline 1.0 - Food 0.5 - Service 0.5 - Value 0.5 - Experience ============= 3.5 stars
(4)Vicky L.
Fairly authentic Taiwanese cuisine available here along with its sister restaurant in Milpitas. The food here is reminescent of the street food you can get in Taiwan. Prices are decent, utensils and plates can be a little sticky and could use a good washing. Food can be slightly on the greasy side. I highly recommend the vermicelli with pork or the dan dan mien. Servers are all friendly, and the restaurant can be slightly non-Asian friendly due to all their specials posted on the walls in Chinese.
(3)