Taro
“We got the eel rice casserole both times and they do not skimp on the eel for sure.”
“The portion of each clay pot rice can easily fill 10 people with refills!”
“His English wasn't the best but it was better than my non-existent Chinese language skills so I can't complain about that- we made ourselves understood to one another and that's what matters!”
Taro
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
7 reviews
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Came here to celebrate a birthday! Made reservations before hand for a group and had them specially prepare the eel hot pot rice in a bowl so when we arrive, we don't have to sit and wait for almost 30 minutes or so. They are famous that this bowl! Also has their other regular Chinese dishes which was not bad at all! Loved their oysters !!Great service and good pricing on the food as well!
First impressions: the service is slow. They didn't give us enough place settings, and just one menu for the table. There were also only two waiters and they have a party/VIP room upstairs, which they seemed to value more than the tables downstairs. The specials taped to the wall are also all in Chinese, so good luck with that. I overheard another table complaining they had waited over an hour for their food. A waitress also said that the typical wait time for the clay pot rice casserole (that they're known for) is about 40 minutes.
About 45 minutes after ordering, a waiter told us that the kitchen was out of the fish we ordered. Seriously? Most places do that within 2 minutes. It's not that hard to count WHOLE fishes.
But the food that did arrive was surprisingly decent. The crispy fried chicken was tender with tasty skin. The bok choy was also good, but you really have to go out of your way to screw that up.
Then after we got those two dishes, the same waiter came back and said they were out of the fatty beef dish that we ordered. That means they didn't even START thinking about that order until over an hour after we placed it. Our rice was cold at that point.
As a replacement, we ordered a shrimp dish with cashews. Instead, what we received was a different dish with walnuts. To add insult to injury, it was also more expensive.
Our last dish (eel casserole) arrived an hour and a half after we first sat down. The pot was actually smaller than a typical one, so the portions were tiny. They also decided we didn't need a spoon.
Basically, the food isn't bad. But the service was so horrendous that I could never recommend it for anyone.
FYI, if you're wondering how this review is so extensive, it's because the entirety of it was written while waiting for food. At least their WiFi is good for something…
My first judgement of this place was a typical takeout restaurant. Their take out menu screams "chinese takeout" you know? But it wasn't until I stepped into this place and saw a more nicer version of a chinese restaurant that I thought. Even though I only ordered beef and broccoli over rice, it tasted pretty good. I also enjoyed their buffalo wings. I love the hot pepper flakes they incorporate into the wings. There was a bit of a language barrier and my waiter didn't understand much english but for the most part, he understood everything I asked with a bit of my lackluster Cantonese kicking in. I enjoyed the oranges at the end of the meal.
Oh! and they have free wifi at this restaurant too. I'm a huge wifi geek so this made me quite happy.
I usually don't believe Yelp stars, but this time I have to say… the general consensus is right.
1) Wait time for a table was long.
2) Wait time for food was extremely long.
3) There was rice on the floor where we sat. That's disgusting.
4) Dishes came out in weird order, one by one, long stretch of time in between.
5) Food was tolerable, but it really shouldn't be that way…
Horrible horrible horrible service!!!!!! Don't ever come here. This is the worst place possible. Does not care about food customer service and sassy too! No one wants a frustrating dining experience. Zero stars if it was possible.
We had family dinner here last night. Long story short, it really was not the best Chinese family-style restaurant out there in Brooklyn. This restaurant aims to serve dishes from the Taishan (台山) county from the Guangdong (廣東) province in China. Some authentic Taishan dishes served here is the Yellow Eel Casserole. They also serve other famous Cantonese and Mainland China dishes as well. Staff is fluent in the Taishan dialect and Cantonese with a bit of accent (no biggie, though!). They can handle Mandarin as well.
I would recommend:
1. Sichuan Boiled Fish Fillets (水煮魚). It is simply fish fillets in spicy, chili oil broth. The fish tasted pretty fresh last night and the broth was pretty good when I scooped some into my rice bowl. I would like it a lot more if the spicy level was just a bit more.
2. Salt & Pepper Squid was good as well. It was deep-fried to the bright golden color and topped with salt, black pepper, green peppers, and red peppers. Very presentable dish at first sight.
I would NOT recommend:
1. Stir-fry Crab – Minced meat and egg on crab? I don't think so. Flavors do not compliment each other. The dish is supposedly dry but it was way too moist.
2. Chinese Watercress – AVOID! This is my family's favorite veggie whether we have it at home or at the restaurant. Watercress was overcooked and really tasted like it was melting in your mouth. No noticeable taste of the bean curd flavor we requested.
3. Clams with Black Bean Sauce. Clams were not fresh all. Very weak black bean sauce, it was way too watery.
Not the cleanest restaurant. You can see food stains on the white table cloth. I would say, wipe down your utensils before you use it. I would try to find another Chinese-family restaurant on 8th Avenue or along Bay Parkway.
This place is a solid 2 Stars…but I will be ordering pick-up food again.
I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken – this was pretty good. It was on par with other Kung Pao Chicken I've had from other restaurants.
Rice was great – cooked perfectly.
All of those stars got lost on the General Tso's Chicken that my boyfriend ordered. We always go half and half on dishes and I literally couldn't eat more than a bite. First of all, it was a PALE brownish color. It did not look or taste like General Tso's at all! We wound up throwing out the whole dish and just eating mine.
Maybe it was an off day, but I would NEVER order their general tso's again.
2 pints of white rice and 2 dinners cost $20.
I will update when I try food from here again. Note: this was a pick-up order. I did not eat-in.