Taiwan Cafe

Stopped to get take out today. It’s a good cheap takeout. The steamed egg with prawn hit the spot. Spicy fish was good but greasy. Will be trying the weekend breakfast menu soon.

Better than the cafeteria selections available at supermarkets like Ranch 99. Great value meal deal for 3 entrée portions plus rice. Even better if you dine-​in because you can have free soup. Bubble tea is half off too when ordering a meal.
4 Stars — Better than most Chinese take-​outs and food is more pleasing for «native» palettes.

Are your folks afraid that they’ll get cancer from hidden chemicals in Asian restaurants? HAVE NO FEAR!!!
Word for word– the owner, a close family friend, takes pride that his food is «100% MSG and chemical free, and he NEVER reuses frying oil, as does several Asian restaurants.»
I personally am family friends with the owner of TC and have been for be past 6 years, as he is one of the most genuine and hardworking people we know. In order to perfect his work, he spent 9 months from 9am-​4pm in 1998 experimenting to craft the perfect «Chinese donut». It’s not hard to tell because TC’s food is the most authentic Taiwanese food my family has ever been to in the Dallas metroplex– possibly even Texas.
Regarding the taste of the food– it’s unexplainable by just a review. You’d just have to go there yourself to see! The food is almost never «too much» of anything– and never «too little», besides the free soup. But, I mean– it’s as good as free can get. For the price that’s offered– the food exceeds expectations and reminds you of a home cooked meal straight from Mama.
You can also top off your meal with their wide selection of milk teas and drinks, as well as tradition shaved ice.
¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

This is affordable, delicious, cafeteria style Chinese food from all regions of China. There’s Szechuan, Hunan, and I’ve seen shanghai style dishes. The Szechuan is some of the best I’ve had in the DFW metroplex, especially the mokpo tofu.
The price is great, there’s no difference between dinner and lunch, and you can get three selections plus rice for $ 6.50. Place is always packed especially on Sunday nights but most of the orders are to go. I’d say about 75% of the people eating there are Asian, and it seems especially popular with young people.
The flavors of the food are fantastic though I wouldn’t say anything is super spicy. The Szechuan dishes have authentic Szechuan peppercorns on them, which is something you don’t always see.
The food is fresh and hot, and you can see them change out the dishes as soon as they empty out, but not always with what it was before so sometimes you’ll miss out if something runs out before you get to the front of the line.
All-​told this is probably the best deal for dinner in Plano. Sadly I don’t actually see a whole lot of Taiwanese food here but everything is great.

If you are a college student on a budget or just looking for a cheap meal, this is the place for you. I came here with my sisters and got to try a few of their food options since you get to get three items and two scoops of rice for $ 6. The items they serve varies day to day but pretty much the same options for the most part and the seasoning for the options are all about the same too. The eggplant and Kung Pao chicken was probably my favorite. Not the best food out there but defiantly a bang for your buck because you’ll most likely not finish. The dumplings here are a little soggy but holds a good flavor. Most likely won’t be dying to come back any time soon but worth a shot in trying if you’ve never been plus free soup for dine ins.

I like the very original, down-​to-​earth set up of this place. Great for some comfort homy food.

Just a quick update — Food is still A+, portions, taste and variety still on point.
Atmosphere has not changed one bit. CASH ONLY and BYOB, still and it gets super busy at peak times.
The lady owner is still as grumpy as ever. Not bad grumpy, just borderline rude. Again I attribute this to the fact that I do not speak Chinese. No warmth, no nonsense. The other ladies though are nicer now to me, I have been going there for years, it is about time.
Give it a try! Learn a few phrases in Chinese, don’t ask me if it is Mandarin or Cantonese. Perhaps it is Taiwanese dialect, since the joint is called Taiwan Café.
Damn I am a genius!

So glad I stopped by. This place reminds me of the Taiwan buffet places that I had the pleasure of experiencing. I lived in Taipei for 5 ½ years and I often frequent those Taiwanese buffet lines. The food is Taiwanese. The price is absolutely affordable. I ordered the $ 7.00 take away without rice and with two choices. The portion is definitely for more than one person. The eating area is very casual and typical Taiwanese cafeteria style; not for a romantic date night. The only draw back is I wish they would eliminate all MSG in all their dishes or advertise that there is no MSG. In Taiwan, many owners like to boast about no MSG or being a vegetarian buffet place.

Great authentic offerings, reasonable prices and fantastic food. After living in Asia for the past 10 years I am always on the look out for the «real deal» and this is it. If you want to taste real Chinese food then look no further. My wife and son keep asking when we will go back!

Being Taiwanese I’m constantly missing authentic chinese dishes, but this place seriously reminds me some of the food back home!
$ 6.50 for rice and 3 sides, they usually at least 15 different options for the sides and it’s gonna be yummy whatever you decide to pick. I usually add in a pearl milk tea for just $ 1.25 more. Can’t forget the free soup with entrée purchase if you decide to dine in!
This is the most affordable tasty, filling, and satisfying chinese food around, can’t beat it! I know it’s a little weird for Americans to eat cafeteria style but give it a try and guaranteed you won’t regret it!

The food and the service were both little cold… Was better a few years ago (I haven’t come here for awhile).
Food tastes great still! I ordered two veggies and a fish. They were authentic and flavorful but I paid $ 6.50 for the 3 entrees+rice. Back in the days I only paid $ 5 for this to go.
(Papaya milk was $ 3. It didn’t count in the lunch discount because it wasn’t the original boba milk tea but I totally recommend it! It’s rich & creamy! Not to mention that milk and papaya have beautifying properties)

Taiwan Café has great prices but I wasn’t exactly blown away. I guess it’s a case of you get what you pay for. Or I just ordered the wrong dishes.
Everyone seems to recommend the double basil chicken but I didn’t have time to check Unilocal because the lady behind the counter was giving me severe attitude for not knowing what I wanted! So I just ordered what looked good.
The items I ordered were just ok. They were either super oily or really dry. And there seemed to be more bones than meat. Also, the men’s restroom was extremely nasty.
I ordered a bubble tea which only an extra dollar but again, I didn’t really think it was on par with a good bubble tea.
One positive is they also have free unlimited soup which was not bad tasting.
Overall, unless I just ordered the wrong items, I can take or leave this place. I might try it some other time and order basil chicken since there seem to be so many positive reviews.

This is one restaurant my family frequents a lot. A good variety of dishes and drinks. All very authentic Chinese cuisine. It’s cafeteria style, but you can order from the menu on the walls.
Tonight we ordered one of our favorites. To make it sound nice, we call it «black bean curd.» But if you want to sound native, you can simply call it «pig blood.» Yummy! They don’t always have it. Give it a try next time you see it.

If you’re in the area, you go for their cheap lunches!
$ 6 lunches! Rice with 3 sides! Add boba for 50 cents!
Its served on metal lunch trays, just like school lunches in Taiwan. So there isn’t much in décor but its all about the food at places like this! The owners do a good job of quality control, and the food is always good!
Its pretty legit Taiwanese/​Chinese, you should check it out!

Like many reviewers, I’ve been coming here for years with my family for lunch and the place reminds me of my childhood. Why, back in my day you could get the lunch plate for $ 4.50, you could. Yessum. I remember you could even pay a buck more to add in a pearl milk tea. *pushes up reading glasses* Why, papa would give me a Hamilton and I would still have change leftover for a papaya milk drink at the end.
Although the price has jumped up a bit, you can eat very well for 7 bucks (cash only). I love the metal tray, the free salty soup and the homemade dishes that reminds me that my mom so can’t cook like them. I like the fact they always blast the Chinese news on volume 200 on their tv and the fact the workers look at you cockeyed if you don’t hurry up and choose your sides during the busy lunch rush. (To avoid this, please come no later than 11:45) And finally, I love that while some of the sides are pretty much always there, others are just random and like seeing an old friend, will leave me feeling so very happy once I discover them in the crowd of delciousness.
For some, the restaurant might not be much, but this place will always be a 5 to me.

With it being owned by a family friend, you could imagine I came here quite a bit when I lived in Dallas. It’s a great go-​to place for lunch joint that serves up some delicious authentic Taiwanese food.
You walk in and basically it’s a-​la-​carte style where they give you rice and you pick 3 items. You can throw in a milk tea and the whole meal is under $ 8.
Some of my favorite items of mine are the pigs feet, mapo tofu, thin sliced pork belly in this red spicy sauce (sorry I only know the Chinese name), eggplant, and more!
If you do come here for lunch, come early because during the weekdays it fills up quick with people on their lunch breaks and on weekends, with family.

Food is great. I love the meal trays. It’s like being in a Chinese prison. Hahahah jk
Food is great! Prices are great and I was given a boba tea of choice half off with my meal. Holla!
They were very generous with their portions. It was too much food for me. I had to take half of it home! Nice ppl working there. Can’t wait to go again. I just need to go when I’m more hungry :)

I’ve been desperately craving Taiwanese food since I’ve moved to Dallas and I just didn’t know where to go. Of course I’m not Taiwanese so it would be difficult for me because of the language barrier.
Read all the english signs when you first walk in, this becomes very helpful when you decide to order. I don’t have to tell you it’s CASH ONLY because they have it all over the walls. You can order a la carte or go with the three sides and rice combo.
BF and I decided on the 3 combo with rice. There are no signs to tell you what each dish is… you could ask whoever is helping you but it may be still hard to understand. I picked whatever looked good to me and I was happy with my choices. BF on the other hand might have not picked the best items. His wasn’t bad but mine was better and we had to trade plates (LOL). You have the choice of milk or thai tea with or without tapioca. Thai tea was good and the bubbles were cooked well. Plus you get unlimited soup!
2 combos were $ 6 a piece and add 2 thai teas to make our lunch only $ 14.50.
I know where I’m going for my Taiwanese fix!

I have been coming here for about 10 years and I have nothing but good things to say.
They have good classic Taiwanese breakfast dishes such as green onion pancake, soy bean milk, and pourrage.
The main winner though is the lunch and dinner options. When you enter into the R
Restaurant you are greeted with displays of food that you get to choose from. You can choose to have three main dishes and rice or just two main dishes (more meat). Just the amount of pure variety of choices that you get to pick nay be overwhelming at first, but you will find your favorites soon enough. The meal comes with soup (usually a vegetable egg drop soup) and bubble tea if you want.
The sweetest part of this deal is that it only cost around $ 7, $ 7 for 3 dishes, rice, bubble tea, and soup is really a great deal. It has been keeping me coming back here for years (that and the consistency of the food).
They also have traditional Taiwanese shaved ice but they rarely make my favorite topping any more which was glutinous rice balls. (It was the only place in the Dallas area that I could find that had shaved ice and glutinous rice balls, although big bowl shaved ice use to but they stopped making them also, they only have the store bought kind).
Long story short, great food and really great price.

I grew up with Taiwan Café. It’s not brilliant, but it’s always there when you’re lazy on a weekday evening and are in need of a cheap quick meal to fill you up. So I don’t know if I’d call this place ‘good’ so much as ‘easy and fast and familiar.’
Asian-​style Luby’s, kind of. If you come here on a Sunday evening it’s usually packed with Asian families ordering take out for lunch the next day. A very homely joint, so please don’t expect great service. You walk in and can pick three entrees with two scoops of rice, add boba for a dollar. All for under seven bucks! And please BRING CASH because this place does not accept card. There’s also complementary egg drop soup in the back, although it tends to be quite salty most of the time.
People don’t realize that you can order a bunch of other dishes, but the options are all listed out on the wall. They make an assortment of drinks and different rice and noodle soup dishes, so you also have that to choose from if you don’t wanna go cafeteria-​style. And shaved ice, the traditional kind, they got that too. (Instead of fruit and condensed milk, it’s more traditional toppings like red/​green bean, peanuts, tapioca balls and jellies with brown sugar water.)
On weekend mornings they offer Chinese-​style breakfast! Soymilk (sweet or salty) with fried dough, chive pockets, seared pork buns that you dip in a jalapeño-​soy sauce mixture. There’s a little sheet of paper on which you fill out how many orders of whatever dish you want, hand it in, and get a number in exchange. My family sometimes comes here for breakfast since it’s one of the few places in Plano that does something like that (when we can wake up early enough, that is.)
If you’re hungry and aren’t looking for gourmet food, this place does the trick.