Day O Deli

Had no idea the Unilocal reviews were this negative. Stopped in here while waiting for Boiling Point. Checked the menu and their meat counter and ended up walking to a nearby ATM to get cash.
I love meat, and the meat here was the BOMB. I got a half smoked duck, pork tongue, and pork intestine. For $ 32 I left with a ton of meat (shrink wrapped, the items look deceptively small); will be sharing it with friends.
I tasted my purchases right away (the owner should consider offering samples to entice waiting Hotpot customers). The meat is superb. Lots of Asian places that sell prepared meats are too fatty, greasy, or salty. The meat here was fairly lean, moist, evenly textured, and seasoned just right. The cross sections of the duck was good porn.
Definitely coming back.

First the guy at the counter took his time smoking out front and then said the new owner will no longer honor the pre-​paid bento card I bought. Just pass this place up. Not a pleasant experience at all.

This placed should be called, «Day Old Deli». $ 6.95 for a big box of greasy stale rice and fried chicken steak that was just a soggy battered piece of fat. FYI, the asshole owner charged us $ 6.75 for 3 cans of Sprite and had nerve to say, «soda is very expensive now.» LOL!

Day O Deli still has the «Won Stew House». posters up. specialty here is taiwanese bento boxs and premade taiwanese side dishes
eats: pork chop bento box (6.99?)
–pork chop was breaded, fried, almost burnt, thin, chewy, not juicy
should have returned it but didn’t
–felt stomach ache coming. took motrin type med. later had a few runs to the john
shit stank!
meat obviously not fresh, spoiled?
–fried tofu, ½ boiled egg, steamed bok choy, steamed rice, spicy radish ok.
take outs:
–pork chop fried to order
–they weren’t busy,
how could they not watch the meat and let it burn?
–not returning for sure.
–only one cook in kitchen,.
–cash only?

First time in the area and decided to come into Day O Deli since I saw they were selling Taiwanese marinated meat. To my disappointment, these were all premade, packed and chilled in a refridgerator. To be fair, the taste is decent but I just wish they were fresh ones.
I’d probably pick Ranch 99 over this. I do want to come back again to try their bento though.

Liked the taste of chicken steak. However, it was oily, mushy and wet, not dry enough like in Taiwan. The popcorn chicken was breast meat and not too much batter, not a fan. Would like the stwe pork and their cold meat next time. The sausage fried rice was great tho!

I used to frequent Won Stew House by my home. But they got bought out by Day O Deli and closed the location by my home. So now I visit Day O Deli in Fremont on my way home from work. I had a prepaid card which they honored. But due to Bart construction, Warren Ave is closed for 1 year, making my route difficult during rush hour.
I think the new company name is not very appealing because it sounds like day-​old-​deli-​food. But perhaps the Taiwan translation does not see that point of view. BTW, they do sell premade meats in frig, so perhaps that could be their intended message.
The food is exactly the same as previous company but prices have increased; Bento box used to be $ 5.50 but is now $ 6.95. Maybe that’s why previous company got bought out. My kids love their pork chop as well as the side fixings except the spicy pickled veg, so I eat that with supplemental rice. Usually one order can feed 2 kids or 1.5 adults in my home. Their fried rice is also pretty good, they put shredded lettuces in there, giving it a refreshing crunch to every bite. However, their milk tea cannot compare to 2 other competing restaurants in this same plaza. So I usually order their yummy pork chop as take out, and while that is being prepared, I walk a few doors down for really good milk tea.

Actually, 3.5 stars from me; 4 stars for food, 3 stars for everything else. This is not a normal deli. This a a Taiwanese to go place with ~3 tables; one of them a four top, the other two for two people and a small bar style seating facing the wall. Known mostly for bento style boxes served in to go containers that cost ~$ 6.95, or you can buy a prepaid card for $ 65. There are a few cold cases where you can pick up pre-​packaged items. I usually order the smoked duck bento. You get not only the sliced duck, but also extras like a veggie side that changes (bok choy, sauteed cabbage among some), a piece of fried/​braised tofu, marinated hard boiled egg and a little bit of pickled vegetables and/​or a little braised ground meat on top of the rice. I really like those extras too, feel like there is enough food and usually don’t finish all of the rice, although if given more duck, I would be able to eat it. You can also buy the smoked duck by the half that is wrapped and offered in one of the two cold cases. Both of my kids also like this so much, they usually get it. My husband likes the grilled chicken which is boneless and also very good. I’ve tried just a couple of other items, but like the duck so much, I usually get that if we are in the area. There are bones, so just be sure to eat around the bones. Yes, service is hit and miss and if you are Asian, they assume you know the language. The menu is extensive, but NOT ALL items seem to ever be available. You can always get the black milk tea, but have not been able to try the green tea version. Bentos, I stick to the bentos :)

Food is good service kinda boo boo if you get the $ 65 card. They «all of a sudden» have less items available on the menu. Day to day paying customers, pretty good cheap quick lunch

They do a great job with «oily rice,» a classic Taiwanese dish. This dish isn’t made to order; it is stored and reheated. If you happen to catch a fresh batch, definitely order one!
Everything else is okay. Bento boxes are cheap and they offer good variety for less than $ 7.

Grew up in Cupertino, LOVE their Cupertino location. Their food is always awesome for a fellow Taiwanese myself. Can’t Complain. HOWEVER, we recently relcoated to Fremont temporarily and wanted to grab food from a place that we will like for sure.
First off, the lady who greeted us tonight (we just visited this location about an hour ago) She was a little standoff-​ish but very friendly toward their usual patrons that stop in, saying hi and warmly greeting their usuals. I turned down her offer for the bento box card and she was NOT in the mood for chatting. Mind you, the entire conversation was in Mandarin so it was not due to the language barrier.
Next thing I knew all these people swarmed in, phone orders and pick ups all showed up. She started looking very anxious.
That’s when I noticed that she handed drinks that other customers ordered while they wait for their bento orders but not me. She did not make my milk tea for the whole 10 mins we waited there. (we ordered 2 bento boxes, 1 tea)
Then as a courtesy, hubby & I decided to stop by Safeway really quickly before we head home and so I went over to inform her that we’ll be right back. «Hi Ah-​yi (aunty, as polite as I can put it) I will run over for some groceries and will be right back oh!» She basically stared at me, did not respond whatsoever. It was kind of embarrassing but we were like ok she looked at me so I’m sure she heard me.
When I came back for the food, she pushed my orders toward me and walked away. I still felt the need to say thank you as my mama has taught me well. But where are her manners? As I said «Thank you (xie xie oh!)» She never even once acknolwedged me.
From the get go, food here is solid but her service attitude needs some update. I am still a customer no matter what, maybe I looked younger than she’s used to but that is not a way to treat anyone.
I read from another fellow reviewer that he also received similar treatment, perhaps he was right. If she’s discriminating people before we’re from different areas although we’re all Chinese then she should be fired.
Sadly, I will be back to my usual Cupertino location.
(SEE ATTACHED PICS for their $ 2.50 milk tea, she didn’t even fill it to the top…)

Pros: Smoked Duck, pork chop, yummy stewed eggs, fast service.
Cons: Sometimes they give you the free drink and sometimes they don’t depending on their mood. They practically force you to buy the bento card which I think is a good deal, but one time I told the lady I didn’t have enough cash, but she just kept asking anyway like cash would miraculously appear in my wallet. Probably she thought I was giving her an excuse for not buying, but still, it’s the customer’s choice to not want to fork over $ 70 all at once right?

Sigh. Keep going back and it will dissapoint. I got the cao mi fen (rice noodle stir fry). Very little meat, and smaller portions.
I noticed that the portions have gotten smaller and the prices are still increasing. The «extras» in the bento are not as tasty as before, and the vegetables are no longer cooked with deep fried shallots (a delicious and quite delightfully savory addition to stir fried vegetables).
I will still remember the good days, but can’t really keep it at 5 stars :(. I will still also return for my favorite fried chicken bento though.

Food 4… maybe 4.5 for comfort food vibe
Service 3 (counter service but they are quick in making the food)
Ambiance N/​A
If you want to get the taiwanese bento/​lunch boxes, this is the place. And, for most folks that means they order some of sort fried meat… porkchops or fried chicken cutlet. It comes w/​the typical sides dishes, which in this case is… tea egg, vegetable sauteed w/​garlic, and the oh-​so delicious minced pork.
Their prices have increased quite a bit over the years but so has food inflation… now a box is $ 6.50 but extremely filling.
The batter they use isnt the traditional taiwanese specific batter. more like the panko batter but the porkchop still has a subtle sweetness to it that makes it authentic.
If i ever moved back here… i would be hitting it up every week

I look at the reviews that have already been posted, and then I think back upon all of my experiences at Day-O-Deli…from back when my mum would take me there, all the way to the present, when I take visiting friends there once in a while… and all I can say are good things about this place.
I mean, YES, it is true that the food is not healthy (especially the fried items… obviously), but you go to this place if you want a quick, authentic, and NOMNOM DELICIOUS Taiwanese-​styled bento box to go.
Honestly, this is one of my favorite Taiwanese/​Chinese shops to visit on this side of the bay. Let’s clear up two things first: 1) this is not a place you go to sit down and eat (although there are two skinny long tables with bar stools if you need to; but this is definitely a to go deli), 2) don’t come here if you’re watching your calories.
With that being said, I definitely recommend getting the Fried Chicken Steak bento box. It’s AMAZING! My favorite. Of course there are a lot of other really tasty bento boxes, such as the hoc meat one… but … ohh mann… so not healthy for you. (BUT HEY, that’s why it tastes so damn good!)
Bring cash! And don’t buy a bento card unless you plan on frequenting this place often. (If you do frequent it, the bento card is worth it.)
God. Just thinking about the bento boxes from this place makes my mouth water.
p. s. the staff speaks chinese but they’ll understand english too… the main menu on the wall has english.

This is one of those places that’s accessible for the adventureous (i hate spelling; you’d think by now software would just autocorrect you by now… sheeesssh!). That said, this is a typical bento box place. I remember back in the day it was $ 4.50 a plate. Now it’s $ 6.61.
THEY WILL ALWAYS TRY TO SELL YOU THEIR BENTO CARD.
I’m sure the register people are sick of doing the sales pitch. I used to go here hardcore till I gained 50 lbs and now can’t get out of my chair without calling Fremont Fire Department.
Once in a while’s good. Porkchop rice. Can’t go wrong. Dependable quality and taste.

Tried Day-​O today for the first time; will NOT be returning.
I had the box lunch special, smoked chicken. After picking through fat, bone, and marrow, there was very little meat left to actually eat, and it was horrible. I can feel the grease on/​in my mouth, and will undoubtably be tasting this all day now.
The bock choy was simultaneously hard yet slimy, and cut way too big to be eaten with chop sticks.
The rice had something dumped in a small pile on top that was inedible.
There is a catering truck (roach coach) that comes to my work that serves chicken and rice dishes; it is far superior, and it is nothing special.
For seven dollars, Fremont has many better options.
Find somewhere else to eat.

This is a great place to grab a lunch for one! It’s quick, it’s cheap and it tastes alright (for the price you pay). I probably would not walk into this little «hole in the wall» place for lunch if my friend didn’t introduce this to me. For $ 6.50, you get a huge «bento» box with your entrée (I tried the fried pork chop… it’s very reminiscent of A&J’s with very similar service), rice with little grounds of meat and preserved vegetables, a small side of vegetable, a slice of tofu and a soy marinated hard boiled egg. If I were really hungry, I could probably gobble that mess down, but since I had company and it was during work hours, it was best not to. The fried pork chop was a bit hard to eat since they only provide you with chopsticks (you will have to do double duty and go from chopstick to knife and back again). With all the different restaurants around this plaza, I’m willing to bet that this is the cheapest and quickest eat. Only come here for a quickie — don’t expect anything other than to-​go service.

Three stars for what it is. The food is not memorable (I usually get the BBQ pork-​charsiew), but the portions are great. The lunch box is $ 6 and you get rice, pickled vegetables, meat stuff on the rice, a soy sauce egg, and the entrée. You’ve got to take this to go, unless you want to sit at the sticky counter on a stool. Fast and cheap, what’s not to love for a workday lunch?

I’ve been coming here for years and this place has always been great. They have a selection of boxed meals that you can get, but I usually get the fried chicken. Yum The hot sauce is soOooooo good too, make sure you ask for it!