- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
A & J Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Taiwanese Restaurants Chinese Taiwanese, Chinese [Edit]
10893 N Wolfe RdCupertino, CA 95014
(408) 873-8298
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 9 pm
Sat-Sun 9 am - 9 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Price Range:
-
$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
469 reviews for A & J Restaurant
Review Highlights
-
"Great beef noodle soup with homemade noodles." In 252 reviews -
"The green onion pancake was delicious." In 42 reviews -
"Friends of mine also love their Pork Chop Rice." In 25 reviews
Loading...
469 reviews in English
-
Review from Joanna T.
Redondo Beach, CA
5/18/2012
I love this place. I take all of my non-Chinese speaking friends here to show them what Taiwanese food is like and all of them have left with a favorable impression (despite the not super great service).
My favorites and what I get pretty much every single time I go there:
Beef Noodle Soup
Za Jiang Mian - I think it's the minced pork noodles?
niu rou shao bing - so funny story with these things...every single time I go to this place I ask my family for what we got last time that was super tasty that is basically the meat sandwich in this flaky thing. My parents kept saying it's the xian bing. so every time I order them and it's never what I wanted...then finally we got the right one when I went with some friends and they were delicious. But the xian bing is also delicious.
niu rou xian bing - I would say that you should get these over the potstickers. Potstickers you can get anywhere, and it's not like the ones here are all that special in any way. These buns however, are quite tasty. Just be careful when biting into them because they are filled with hot juiciness. yummmm! -
Review from Marilyn T.
Palo Alto, CA
5/10/2012
A Cupertino village classic - one of the original restaurants that opened there and one of few to survive through all this time.
Like most Chinese places, you don't come here for customer service. The menu is relatively small for a Chinese place, and there are no pictures, but you'll notice that every table he the same thing - a bowl of beef (+/- tendon) noodle soup. Mark your choices on the paper they give you, and turn it in at the counter.
If you don't do beef, try the noodles with minced pork or dan dan noodles (sesame peanut soy sauce, dry noodles). Always go for the thicker hand made noodles over the thinner ones.
Cold appetizer dishes to get include the marinated cucumbers and if tolerable, stinky tofu. Other Northern dishes they do well include the niu rou xian bing - pan fried buns filled with meat and lots of soupy goodness. Potstickers are done traditionally, with the ends left open. Scallion pancakes are thick and flaky (mmm lard), and they also have the hand grabbed pancake (zhua bing), but both need some soy sauce for extra flavor. I'm not too sure on their stir fried dishes, since I usually stick to the above.
The place is clean and efficient and my go to recommendation for beef noodle soup (yes, I drink all the salty beefy soup). They sometimes seat you at a large communal table when it gets busy. Cash only. -
Review from Subrosa I.
Palo Alto, CA
5/7/2012 1 Check-in Here
FOOD: Decent tasting dishes. The beef noodle soup is okay. The fried chicken over rice is pretty good.
SERVICE: Shockingly dreadful. I'm used to deplorable services from Chinese restaurants. But this place takes horrendous services to a new low. Avoid the waitress with the mustache and the death glare.
PRICE: Average. About $8~10 per person. Cash only. -
Review from Erik D.
San Jose, CA
4/23/2012
This is the kind of place that you probably wouldn't just wander into off the street, because it's hidden in the middle of a shopping center. I'm glad I had a Taiwanese friend to bring me to this restaurant.
They do have English menus as well, but their order form (where you write down how many of each dish you want) is in Chinese. Because of this, among other things, I'd like to think that this place is less Americanized Chinese food than a lot of other places.
We ordered three bowls of the spicy noodles (thick) with beef, and it was fantastic. I don't often think of a bowl of noodles as being tasty, but the broth was great. It had a nice kick to it, and with the thick noodles and beef, it was really filling. On top of that, it was only $7.00 per bowl, making it a better deal than its equivalent at other places for the price.
When I'm in the area I'd definitely like to come back here and try out the rest of their menu. -
Review from kim n.
4/22/2012
Came here for an early lunch on a Sunday. What a difference makes when you show up 15 min from prime time..it went from empty to a huge line. Seems to be a hit with the local Taiwanese crowd. Got:
-Beef Tripe with hot oil sauce
-Onion Pan Cakes
-Sauteed Pork Chop
-Pan fried noodles
Flavors were good but nothing super special. The language barrier is sometimes tough but we got our food and points across. I think this is more of a comfort food joint than a destination one (unless we ordered all the wrong things). -
Review from Ingrid C.
Berkeley, CA
4/18/2012
I love coming here especially when I'm in the mood for Asian noodles. They have a lot of different types of Asian noodle dishes and this satisfies my carb cravings. This places reminds me of a local vendor in Asia somewhere. The food is comforting and fills my stomach.
When I'm in Cupertino and when I want asian food this is the first place that I come to. The price is also inexpensive. -
Review from Princess Pompom Patootie W.
San Francisco, CA
4/26/2012
You are super yummy... until I discovered that the pinkish tint in my beef bun was because the meat was uncooked. And I was wondering if the beef was supposed to have that mushy consistency... OH.
But if you were cooked, you'd be getting 4.5 stars as I ate half of you before forcing myself to investigate more closely. Scary thing is I wouldn't be surprised if this happened again and somewhat expect it to. -
Review from Phuc B.
San Jose, CA
5/6/2012
potstckers - nasty
peanut noodles - not that great
beef stew - not that great
service sucks - didn't really mind this one since I saved some tip money
this area has plenty of better places, not really any reason to go here -
Review from Tiffany H.
La Jolla, CA
3/13/2012
The first time I came here was for Taiwanese breakfast (y'know, Chinese donuts, scallion pancakes, sweet soy milk, dumplings, the whole shebang) on a weekend. Nothing was bad although nothing stuck out as particularly good either. But it was decent and fell within a reasonable range of my expectations.
The last time I came here will be...well, my last. I've been to A&J in Irvine and it's hard to believe these restaurants share the same name and menu because there is such stark difference in the food quality.
The beef noodle soup is a disgrace. Tough meat, an old-tasting piece of bok choy, no pickled cabbage, and flavorless noodles. The broth was probably the only redeeming factor but it wasn't enough to make up for everything else we ordered.
One of my favorite things about dim sum-inspired Taiwanese dishes is the radish pastry ("loubuo sou"). When made properly, the texture is flaky, the filling is hot, and the shreds of radish leave a punch of flavor in your mouth. At A&J? Apparently they like to serve it COLD. Sure, the outside was slightly warm...but the inside was about the same temperature as the fridge that they put it in. When we demanded why, 15 minutes later we got the same sou but now hot and charred. Nice.
The 1000 layer pancake? Completely void of flavor. It was like eating cardboard, I kid you not. It was beyond the hope of even soy sauce.
The service--or lack thereof--was just the poisoned cherry on top of this spoiled sundae. Now, I'm Chinese and I have high tolerance for poor service. But here, you literally have to get out of your seat and walk right up to them and demand they bring the check and boxes or else they'll never do it. They act entitled, as if it isn't their job as servers in a restaurant to take your order and then bring it to your table.
To sum up--this particular A&J sucks. Anyone who says otherwise has either not been back to Taiwan recently and/or is desperately clinging onto nostalgic memories of when A&J was pretty good.Listed in: Bay Area Chinese
-
Review from Tina H.
Santa Clara, CA
4/29/2012
I have been coming to this restaurant for years as I really enjoy the Beef Noodle Soup. However, every time I go to this restaurant, I shudder with the poor, rude service.
I have a high tolerance for bad service, but this restaurant is absolutely HORRENDOUS. They act as though they are doing you a favor when you order.
I now refuse to eat at this restaurant after a recent visit. The waitress was too cheap to give me a napkin to clean my dirty seat. She proceeded to lecture me and was very sarcastic when I was ready to place my order. Rather than continue to deal with the poor service, I will no longer be going to this restaurant.
The noodle soup isn't worth the horrendous behavior of the wait staff. I highly discourage folks from continuing to support such a terrible business. -
Review from Melissa S.
Cupertino, CA
3/29/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Can't believe I haven't written a review for this place. It's located in Cupertino Village, next to Quickly.
I always order their standard, most popular dish - beef noodle soup. Make sure to ask for the thin instead of thick noodles if you don't plan on feeling super bloated afterwards. Their onion pancakes and small appetizers are great too (shredded tofu with carrots and celery, pickled cucumbers). Another entre I recommend is the fried pork chop over rice - love the pickled veggies that come with it.
Just a note, their beef noodle soup can get a little spicy and if you know you can't handle the spice, ask for non-spicy soup.
Two things that you should not expect from your dining experience here are:
- good service
- nice smelling utensils (they often smell like detergent)
but other than that, food's great and if you have to wait in line, the line goes by pretty quickly. -
Review from Danika Z.
Oakland, CA
5/20/2012 2 Check-ins Here
My bf loves this place so we come often. I think the soup is savory. Overall I give it a thumbs up. I like it more and more now. But do not expect good service though. I speak mandarin so I can get by and get there attention. but i can see a non chinese being frustrated with their service though.
-
Review from Remy S.
Brooklyn, NY
2/22/2012
Too much hair in their beef noodle soup.
Pot stickers we were decent although it looked like they didn't have time to seal the edges.
Chairs are sticky, you definitely don't want to eat here on a hot summer day. -
Review from Aron M.
Saratoga, CA
2/19/2012
You first have to get past the dangerous parking lot. once thru that, i think you're safe. The 2 ladies definitely do not buy expensive jeans. They are chubby ( i think the term is muffintop). Anyways, I got the beef noodle soup. But I recommend geting the one w/ the dark broth, I believe its spicier, but it has more flavor. It also comes with bok choy instead of some leaves like some minty stuff. Saw my co worker there. that was cool.
overall, I think this place is bomb, but not very chill. If you ask for water, do it early, before the meal comes. when i asked the muffintop for water, she gave me this face that kinda made my day 2% crappier. But its all good.
Oh yea, its cash only. So bring some
Oh, and it helps to learn chinese, so listen to some Jin before you come.
k. now i do HOPR. bye -
Review from Jonathan P.
Foster City, CA
5/4/2012
If you want me to reaffirm that their noodle soup is good: yes, it's the best you can find.
That being said, the wait staff is ruder than one can imagine. IMO, not worth it at all given the attitude you can CONSISTENTLY expect.
But people love the beef noodle soup. What is it worth to you, I guess?
A consideration: tableware seems unclean to me. The *additional* flavor in the water and tea cups is suspect to me.
I've been here about 20 times in the past 3 years. Might wonder why I go back. My partner loves the noodles. I can say that my experiences are all consistent: they are very rude, the place feel very unclean, and the noodles are very good. -
Review from Erika C.
2/27/2012 1 Check-in Here
They seemed to lack effort. There's something to be said for that.
Chinese donut. Receipt said "Chinese churro"...I'm going to be presumptuous and say that I saw a Hispanic chef in the kitchen who may have had something to do with that. This donut was super oily, and tasted like it was refried. One bite and I tagged out of that one.
Tofu with thousand year old egg. The tofu came in a block and the egg came uncut. No soy sauce, no soy paste, no bonito flakes. Some places serve it with minced garlic, but I don't think that's the norm, so I won't deduct that point. But c'mon. Did they just buy this from Ranch 99 next door and plop it down on a plate?
Breakfast rice roll. This was decent; no complaints here.
Beef noodle soup. This is the piece de resistance of any Taiwanese joint. A&J serves it with handmade noodles. Unfortunately, the noodles weren't that great, and dish was served with only tendons for meat. One stalk of vegetable swimming sadly by its lonesome. And no pickled vegetable. BOOOO! -
Review from Jessie H.
Fremont, CA
1/20/2012
I grew up going to the original restaurant every Saturday after Chinese School. That makes it... gosh, 20 years now? (Maybe I shouldn't have written that, now you all know how old I am.)
This place brings back memories. Sure it's gone through various management changes, name changes, but the menu is still the same. The same spicy beef noodle soup with thick noodles - an instant classic. Our other must get was what my parents lovingly dubbed "Chinese hamburgers." I really don't know what the actual name is, but it's basically like a giant xiao-long-bao, but pan seared. You bite into it and the amazing juices flow right now (make sure you have your soup spoon ready to catch it all - it's the best part). If you speak Chinese, just ask for "niao-ro-xian-bing."
Downside: tables are kind of small, and when it's busy, you might have to share one of the larger round tables with complete strangers. -
Review from Annie C.
Berkeley, CA
2/19/2012
Good place to chow down when you're craving some authentic Chinese noodles and cold dishes.
The beef noodle soup is good but not great. I enjoyed the broth and thick noodles although the pieces of beef were not soft and melt in your mouth. The pieces I received had quite a bit of tendon in them so they were more chewy in texture.
We ordered a number of cold side dishes and I enjoyed them all. The edamame mixed with seaweed, spicy pickled cucumbers, and dry bean curd tofu took me back to Taiwan where these dishes are staples at most Chinese restaurants.
I tried the thousand layer pancake and thought it was just okay. I wish it had more of a doughy taste to it than just pure oil.
I like A&J and would come back when a craving for Chinese food hits but this isn't the best quality Chinese food out there. -
Review from Claudia S.
Sunnyvale, CA
4/10/2012
Ok food, I wasn't impressed.
-
Review from David L.
12/23/2011 1 Check-in Here
Food: 4
Decor: 3
Service: 2
3.5 stars, rounding down.
1. Beef noodle soup with thick noodles, 7
Pretty good. Clear broth had good flavor, had plenty of meat and veg, and the noodles were good.
2. Green onion pancake, 3
Mediocre. Bit too oily, not enough onion, not crispy enough. -
Review from Yu W.
Cupertino, CA
5/12/2012
I bought ten vegetable buns. They gave me 8 out of 10 broken one. I even have hard time to steam them. What kind of business this is!!????
-
Review from Katherine S.
Los Angeles, CA
When I come home for the holidays, this is my family's go-to place for dinner.
+Beef Noodle Soup -- a bit spicy (to met at least), chewy noodles (get the thick noodles!), tender beef pieces, bok coy
+Layered pancake -- crisp on the outside, rip it apart the layers and dip is in the beef noodle soup
+Potstickers -- they're a little different from your usual potstickers in terms of the way they're wrapped, but there's lots of meat inside and they have a nice crisp bottom
+Appetizer: bean curd stips with carrots...hmmm I'm not sure about the English on this one...but it's a classic cold appetizer dish
+Appetizer: seaweed strips with garlic...another cold appetizer dish
+Fried chicken cutlet over rice -- their breading is different, which I like and it isn't too greasy
+Good portions for a decent price
-You really have to bother them about getting you stuff...water, extra plates/bowls...they can be a little absent-minded at times.
Regardless of the service, I still love this place for its mom and pop feel. It can get busy sometimes too during meal hours...that's when you have to wait to be seated and when the service really goes downhill...something they should work on. But the food is BOMB! -
Review from Alex S.
Santa Clara, CA
12/22/2011
You go for the food, not the service ...
Onion pancake, mabo-dofu, thousand layered pancake, beef noodle soup, yay. It was delicious and very fresh. Yes, the place looks ugly and the service is minimal, so what! You're there for the food. And yes, most of their dishes are listed on an English menu, too. -
Review from Lyn L.
12/19/2011
I had a craving for some spicy beef noodle soup on Friday and came here with my co-worker for lunch around 12:30pm. Parking at Cupertino Village is always hard to find and we ended up circling the lot for about 5-10 minutes before we found any parking.
The place was packed when we walked in, but luckily we didn't have to wait too long for a table. We ordered the green onion pancake as an appetizer and I have to say it was one of the better ones I've had lately. Nice and thick with a little crunch on the outside.
I ordered the beef noodle soup with the thick noodles and there was just the right amount of beef and noodles. At some places you may get more noodles than beef, but today the combination was just right. I also like that they don't use a lot of msg in their food, if any at all. -
Review from Kilo L.
San Jose, CA
Updated - 3/18/2012
Knocking down the stars.. Whichever chef that was good has obviously left building. 2nd time I've found short hairs in the noodle soup. Won't be back.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
9/24/2011
Seems like they got a new chef? I hadn't been here in months, the food had always been ok but this… Read more »
-
-
Review from Billy V.
San Jose, CA
2/14/2012
Horrible. Horrible. Did i mention horrible? I usually liked A&J's in irvine but i can't say the same here. Horrible food and HORRIBLE service! Too bad the stars go as low as 1 because this place deserves a negative!
-
Review from Tanya N.
11/15/2011 1 Check-in Here
I came here with my husband for a late lunch.
We had the beef noodle soup which was somewhat of a disappointment. The broth lacked flavour though the beef was tender. He really liked the noodles and the beef itself so that in a way made up for the broth.
I had their dan dan noodles, which I had the option of getting it with thin or thick noodles. I opted for the thick ones which it always my preference. It was great. Simple noodles in a thick peanut-y sauce. Probably one of the better places for dan dan noodles that I've tried (though, I have to say, I've only been to a couple of other places in the Bay Area for this).
We also ordered the green onion pancakes that came much later than our noodles which was surprising considering the restaurant was pretty empty and all you really have to do it fry them up. Anyway, it came piping hot and oily. It was okay but I've had others that weren't as oily and more flakey.
Service is okay but generally, I don't go to a Chinese restaurant expecting great service. -
Review from Czarina B.
Washington, DC
11/17/2011
This is an international chain that started in Taiwan. I was surprised that this is a chain known for their beef noodle soups because my friends and are regular brunch customers at their Annandale location in VA. At first I was disappointed my non-Asian friends suggested 'dim sum' and then we came to A&J (forgive them, they didn't grow up in the bay). Ummm, hello, this is not a dim sum joint. But, as a Taiwanese brunch place it was good. The fried chicken with a side of mustard greens is AMAZING and comes with broth! So comforty and delicious. Add a sweet soy milk and 'morning roll' (sticky rice rolled in a bread stick covered in granulated sugar) if they aren't sold out. My friends are big fans of the peanut noodles (dan dan noodles?) but it's too starchy for me.
Having said all that, I've never tried any of their beef noodles and this Cupertino location is really poor compared to the VA location I've frequented. First, there is a really rude server here. I know, it's a Chinese hole in the wall joint, what do you expect. But even by those standards for the south bay the service is like f-bomb rude. I think it's worse for me because I don't speak the language. I never had problems like this in the VA location or at other Chinese restaurants in the south bay.
Their soy milk is pretty poor too. I'm used to ordering it sweet or plain and it will come heated but I ordered it sweet here and they gave me a plain cold bowl of soy milk and told me to add table sugar to it. Bah. I came shortly after they opened too so it's not like they ran out of and it wasn't busy.
This location doesn't seem as busy as what I'm used to in VA, I realize there's lots of competition in this shopping center and right around the corner at the super market there's superior, cheaper, and faster greasy comforty starchy brunchy fare. I kicked myself for staying through such poor service here when I could've gotten a better meal at the supermarket.
I will still grudgingly go if I'm craving the fried chicken and mustard greens (if Yelpers have rec's for other places to get this dish, please let me know!) otherwise I will avoid. -
Review from Jenn W.
10/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
Basically this is Chinese comfort food for anybody and everybody. Everything is cheap and you get what you ask for. I've got qualms with the tea, because it always smells like soap (but it tastes fine) but it kind of goes with the package of deliciousness.
Shanghai rice cakes, beef noodle soup, fried chicken with rice.... the best!
And after dinner, head to TenRen for some pearl tea :) -
Review from Jon Y.
Sunnyvale, CA
9/28/2011
Still solid after all these years. An HP employee's (or ex-HP employee) top choice for quick and cheap lunches.
Try the pork chops, spicy beef noodles, heck...everything... -
Review from Jasmine S.
Santa Clara, CA
9/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place was alright... The service really wasn't that great...
Service: One woman kept giving my coworkers and I dirty looks anytime we asked her for an extra serving spoon or fork, but the man at the place was a little hospitable.
Food: had their wonton soup, spicy beef noodle soup, bean curd with 3 mushrooms, and the beef dumplings.
-won ton soup: wonton meat was very flavorful! Great Ginger taste! The broth itself sucked though... Totally no flavor! I had to add my own soy sauce...
-beef noodle soup: again, the meat was very well flavored and the homemade noodles had great texture. And again, the flavor really was lacking for the broth... Very watery.
-bean curd: never had this before so I'm not quite sure what it should taste like, but it was ok... Again, not something I'd order again...
-beef dumplings: the dumplings skin was sucky (I think they over cooked the dumplings), but the meat inside was pretty flavorful
So the two stars are for the flavorful meat bits. Definitely not my first choice of restaurants in the Wolfe plaza... -
Review from Alex H.
San Jose, CA
12/7/2011
Delicious spicy beef noodle soup with thick noodles. The thousand layer and the green onion pancakes are both good. I'm Chinese, so this food is delicious and flavorful for me. Having taken friends of other ethnicities, their general comments have been that the broth was flavorless and the pancakes were too oily.
Waiters are more rude than dive-y pho restaurants, which is saying something. Come by once for your order, and that's it. Their English is also very bad, so if you don't speak Mandarin, expect to order doing a lot of pointing.
As for ordering anything other than the spicy noodle soup or pancakes... Do stay away from the generic "Asian restaurant" dishes, like kung pao *blank*, sweet and sour *blank* - you know what I mean. -
Review from Esther S.
8/22/2011
Mmm can't ever go wrong with Taiwanese food! Was debating between a 3 or 4 star but thought this place needed a boosting. Our group ordered a whole bunch of beef noodles soup and various side dishes.
"light" beef noodle soup- served in a clear broth- didn't try
"hou sau" beef noodle soup- more spices in a darker beef based soup
- noodles come in either skinny or "hand pulled". I preferred the hand pulled but they were a bit thick and chewy for my tasting but still yum
side dishes:
- the cold seaweed is is SO GOOD- we kept ordering more
- pork buns- so so
- green onion cake- so so (on the ticker side)
- hand grab cake- nice and airy
Overall this place is fairly simple- not a place I would frequent often but it is a tasty treat every once in a while.Listed in: Noodle me
-
Review from Becky W.
San Jose, CA
11/6/2011
I've tried their spicy beef noodle soup, stewed beef noodle soup, dan dan noodles, hot and sour noodles, beef buns, zua bing (pulled pancake?) soymilk and they are all pretty tasty. Definitely a great place to come when you have cravings for beef noodle soup or noodle dishes in general.
A&J is a pretty in n' out kind of restaurant, definitely not the best place to catch up with friends. Service isn't the best, but I don't have much problem with it. Price is fairly cheap and the portion is decent. -
Review from Dani L.
Sunnyvale, CA
10/10/2011
The tables are dirty, the service is nonexistent, it is cash only, and the waitstaff is rude.
Why am I giving this place three stars despite all that?
The hong shao niu rou mien...spicy beef noodle soup...no place makes it better than A&J, and believe me, I've tried it at many other places. It totally hits the spot when the weather turns cold. The noodles are fresh and chewy, the beef just falls apart, and the broth is flavorful and delicious. Yummm...I'm craving a bowl right now. I've ordered other items off the menu, but they were just ok. Its all about the spicy beef noodle soup. -
Review from Karen L.
7/10/2011
A&J certainly has earned itself some major respect within my family and the Chinese community as well, I would imagine.
I admit that although we used to visit this restaurant a lot when I was small, it's been quite a while since we've been back-- at least 3-4 years actually. Coming back here for lunch today was a treat and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Their house spicy beef noodle soup is the best I've had here in the States; it's comparable to how the street vendors and stalls make it in Taiwan. All these years and it's never changed in quality or taste. They allow you to choose your noodle type as well, from thick to thin to the crystal noodles. Mmm.. it's ridiculously satisfying.
I also like to order their onion pancakes and the crispy fried pork over rice. I did order the thousand layer pancake today, but felt that my meal would've been better off with the onion pancake alone. The thousand layer pancake was doughy and tasted bland with hints at the large amount of butter that was probably used while making it (which is very unusual in Taiwanese cooking). I would also recommend the stinky tofu and the bean curd with celery and green beans. I'm a huge fan of the mu shu pork dish here too.
I regret not visiting this place more in the past, but will definitely be back very soon. -
Review from Joe C.
Los Gatos, CA
12/13/2011
The first thing I like about this place is that when I go in there I'm the only white guy in the place. Forget the service, don't go if that's what your looking for. The food is so good and so inexpensive it neutralizes the poor service factor. It's the type of place Anthony Bourdain would like. The chili oil tripe is brilliant ($4.00) and the fish in white wine sauce with wood ear mushrooms ($7.00) is so light and balanced it could easily fetch $30.00 in an upscale restaurant. Don't be shy when your ready to order wave down the staff and don't expect to make drinking buddies out of them. Go for the food.
-
Review from Jennifer S.
Redwood City, CA
8/18/2011 11 Check-ins Here
Great food, shitty service.
The people who own this place are not Taiwanese..which i found interesting..but what they are is very rude and short with the customers. I've been here a couple of times and its always the same few people rotating around.
That being said, I keep coming back because of the friggin' pai gu fan! (pork chop rice)...this place really does know how to cook it to make me keep braving the grumpy wait staff.
Plus, it is right around the corner from Fantasia!! (mmm..boba..)
This place is cash only..so good to know before you come in! -
Review from Jean Y.
7/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
A & J serves solid green onion pancake and beef noodle soup - two of my favorite Chinese/Taiwanese food items.
The green onion pancake is thick with a soft interior, which I personally prefer over the thinner or flakier style.
The beef noodle soup is not very spicy, although the menu labels it as such. The beef is tender. The broth could use less chili oil and more beef flavor, and the soup could come with more greens, but it still gets an A.
Don't expect much service. Cash only. -
Review from Jen Y.
San Ramon, CA
7/25/2011
This place isn't for everybody, and it definitely wasnt the place for me. We came here because one of my brothers wanted beef noodle soup. Being that this was my first time here, I wasn't sure where the distinct but definite smell of dog poop was coming from. My entire family commented on the smelliness with my older brother saying it smelled like really rank feet while my little brother started breathing through his mouth and quickly ate his noodles so he could get out of there. As for me, I was intrigued. Surprised. In a disgusted way. I've never eaten in a restaurant where the putrid smell of cow manure wafted under my nose as I ate. Where was this smell coming from??? Ahhh, the infamous stinky tofu...heard of it, but wouldve never intentionally wanted to be anywhere near it.
But hey, judging from the other people shoveling the tofu into their mouths with pleasure, it must be good...? Meh. I can live with never knowing.
Beef noodle soup=2 stars. Came out piping hot, tons of noodles and slices of meat floating on a layer of greasy broth. It tasted okay though, but my father makes better spicy beef noodle soup.
Xio long bao=1 star. Wasn't juicy AT ALL.
But hey, if you don't mind the smell of an unwiped ass on a person who hasn't showered in 6 mths whilst suffering from a chronic perspiration disorder, then come eat their stinky tofu! Hear it's pretty darn good!
