Good Taste Restaurant

 

0

5

Carolyn S.

Portland, OR

Oh my.  This place is wretched.  I went on the recommendation of Yelpers,  and I hate to say that I disagree with everyone who said it's good.  I'm not trying to be an ass, but it was horrible.   "Crispy" fried tofu that was soggy and sloppy.  Super heavy-on-the-pepper-and-MSG hot and sour soup.  Almost good roast duck. Super nasty seafood fried rice - shimp that tastes like floor cleaner.  Yes, it's typical chinese food, but it was SUPER BAD.  Service was fine, but the food was gross.

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Elite '08

49

117

Olivia T.

Portland, OR

Good Taste is one of my favorite places in Portland. It's a hole in the wall place in Chinatown. They serve authentic Chinese food and their BBQ meats are spectacular. Roasted ducks, roasted pork, and bbq pork are their best dishes here.

Try their dry noodles with the bbq meat of your choice. For $5.25 per plate is really good price. If you aren't that hungry and love porridge/congee, try their porridge. With a price of $4 per HUGE bowl, it's a perfect dish when your pocket is tight.

Definitely a perfect place when you are on a budget. :-)

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Elite '08

18

192

Brian M.

Beaverton, OR

For simple won ton soup and other real Chinese dishes this is the place to go.

Roast duck.  BBQ Pork.  Greens.  Won tons.  Black beans spareribs with rice.  All excellent meals here and remind of my childhood trips to Vancouver BC back when there was no decent Chinese food in Portland.

On top of all that it has the one feature that makes a place truly Chinese....its cheap!

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0

2

Frank L.

Portland, OR

Wontons, must have GoodTaste wontons...
Generously stuffed inside the paper-thin wonton skin is amazingly delicious pork fillings with half a fresh shrimp.  The flavor so wonderful it bursts out inside the mouth before you had a chance to chew.  The soup so tasty it makes you want to gulp down.  If you get one of the combo wonton noodle soups, like with BBQ pork or roast duck, remember to drizzle the soup over all ingredients--it'll make the sometimes-a-bit-dry meat a lot more flavorful.
Although I often suspect it's because they put quite a bit of MSG in the soup which makes everything taste better...
The roast baby pig is also a must-have.  On limited availablity every day, the crispy skin is one thing you'll never get anywhere else in Oregon.  The cooks follow traditional Chinese recipes and make everything the old way.  Perhaps not the most sanitary place in town judging from the way they transport roast duck/pig/BBQ pork from front-of-restaurant to the back kitchen, and the reusing of the same big-o-block-of-stump cutting board... But hey, everythign's got MSG in it so you'll likly feel sick from that before the stomach reacts to not-so-clean food.
Oh and if you get baby bokchoy (the white veggie with green leaf) remember to peel each leaf off the stem first since GoodTaste doesn' really wash those and there are usually some little black bugs in between the leaves.  Harmless but just a bit crunchy sometimes.
Nontheless this is one of my favorite places in ptown and I have been eating here for about 9 years.  Usually twice or thrice a week.  And I've never gotten sick from their food.  My cravings for GoodTaste wontons really out-weigh the fear of the potentially-carcinogenic MSG.  That's how good they are.

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6

7

alex w.

Portland, OR

I ordered the roast duck over rice. Shared the chinese broccoli. We eventually received service but the waitress did not look happy about taking our order. I kind of like that, though. She definitely had attitude. You rarely see attitude like that in a Portland restaurant. A colleague had the wonton soup. He approved. I had a bit of order envy when I saw those plump wontons floating in its broth. Great spot. And I love the restaurant's name. Awesome.

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6

74

Shawn S.

Portland, OR

Some of the best BBQ duck and cantonese style wonton noodle soup in Portland.

Don't be put off by the sparseness of the restaurant or the duck and pork hanging in the window.  This will be some of the best soup you will ever have.

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1

37

R M.

Chicago, IL

If you want a hole in the wall Chinese noodle shop that can make you wonder what continent you're on, this is the place.

Try a dish with one of their BBQ meats.  The broth in the wonton soup will warm you up.  And the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce is just about perfect.

Head down the back hallway to the bathroom and you might get a glimpse into the kitchen.  Very cool.

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1

30

Crayon S.

Beaverton, OR

The best place in Portland for bbq pork,  roast duck, and cantonese style wonton noodle soup. Comparable to the best places I've gone to in Los Angeles for this stuff.

They actually have two locations now. The other is across from Easgate on 82nd ave. Parking is much easier and the restaurant is cleaner on the inside at the other location.

I find the food to be more consistent in the china town location tho. The 82nd location is great too, but every once in a while when I go to that location, the bbq pork isn't as flavorful as it usually is.

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24

183

chelley L.

San Jose, CA

Located in between vegetarian house and an adult bookstore, some how i never ventured in here.  the roasted ducks and pigs hanging at the window should've called my name years ago, since i love to eat the quack and the oink and i haven't found anywhere else with this kind of advertising.  if you know of another, please let me know.    

the place itself reminds me of a bigger version of the hole in the walls in san francisco, except more than 6 people can sit in the restaurant.  the prices are awesomely cheap and the portions are huge.  i had the bbq pork wonton noodle soup for $5.95 and they were not shady with the meats at all!  the bbq pork flavorful and the wontons were fat little golf balls with egg noodle and soup.  we also ordered a small side order of cai lan (chinese broccoli with oyster sauce) and it was delicious, especially for $3.95.  they have specials posted around the walls so be on the lookout for those.

if you want a waiter/waitress to consistently ask you if everything is ok and slave over your big head, don't go here.  if you can't stand the sight of flies flying around the restaurant (its not in my food so thats ok), don't go here. if you feel you need dim lights and some kind of decor to keep you entertained, again don't waste your time and the cook's time.  keep away.... then people like me who are just there to eat can just eat.  thanks!

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2

8

Dave K.

Portland, OR

I come to Good Taste because it is one of the few places in the Portland metro area that makes me feel like I could be in Monterey Park, CA.  For those of you in the know, Monterey Park is a suburb of L.A. and is THE place to go to for world class chinese food.  Better than San Francisco;  better than Vancouver.  Good Taste doesn't measure up to the best in MP, but it gives you a few glimmers of what you can experience there.  Be advised, though, that  not everything on the menu is worthwhile, so you'll have to be vigilant.  The won-ton soup is satisfying and generous, with each meaty won-ton the size of a ping pong ball.   The char siu (Chinese BBQ pork) is the correct crimson-red color with flavorful, charred edges and the sweet, lovely aftertaste of star anise.  The BBQ pork ribs taste even better, with a chewiness that is not at all to be confused with being tough.  Roast duck is pleasing in all its greasy red-brown glory (lets face it---duck is greasy, that's why its good).  Anointed with the murky brown au jus or sweetened with plum sauce, this tasty bird begs for white rice (and only white rice).  The noodles are solid, but not great. I especially like the beef stew noodles, with tender pieces of brisket in a dense broth.  The remaining dishes are passable, but you'll get better at Wongs King or Chinatown Restaurant and pay more, too.  Oh, by the way.  The other Good Taste outpost on 82nd, just north of Division is a little better than this one.  There they do a nice chow mein with crispy pan-fried noodles. Just remember to order the right way and you'll be satisfied.

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3

114

h m.

Sunnyvale, CA

good wonton noodles and Best BBQ pork in PDX

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