MuLan
228 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) 441-8812
- Hours:
Tue-Thu 11:00 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Fri-Sat 11:00 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Sun 11:00 a.m.-9:30 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: None
41 Reviews for MuLan
Mulan is no-frills, authentic Asian dining at its best. In recent days, the inside of the restaurant has been improved significantly, but as recently as a few months ago, the atmosphere was similar to that of a harried Chinatown restaurant.
That being said, the food is affordable, delicious, and feels a lot healthier (less oilier) than many other Asian restaurants. My favorite dishes: Shredded pork with baby bamboo and shredded beef with crispy well veggie. You have not lived until you eat these with some white rice :)
One huge problem is the precarious parking situation - definitely plan on finding street parking and try and carpool when you go!
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In the GPS, MuLan is listed as "Hua mulan restaurant", which threw us for a loop (even though I KNEW it was on Broadway but hubby didn't believe me....). Found street parking right across the street, and walked in to zero wait and some very bored waitresses. After being seated immediately, we were bombarded with attentiveness: "What would you like?" times 1,000.
I ordered a MuLan recommended dish, the Bean curd with Dried Bean (#137). When the dish came out, I was a little surprised with the presentation: four huge chunks of tofu covered by this brown, crunchy sauce, topped with cilantro, and accented with bright green broccoli. Now what I thought it would be, but when I tasted the dish, the crunchy sauce perfectly complimented the tofu, with a nutty salty flavor that zinged with the cilantro flavor. My mother and husband both loved my dish, and we were all disappointed with theirs.
They ordered the shredded pork with bamboo and the beef with crispy well vegetables, both because of articles and reviews (on yelp) they had seen. Neither of those dishes were good. Both lacked some serious flavor, and essentially were just the meat and vegetables steamed on a plate with zero seasoning. We were all really disappointed, because those dishes had been highlighted and recommended. We cried all the way home. :(
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Mulan is a classic Taiwanese "small dish" family restaurant. Their hot pots warm your heart on a cold day, the homemade dumplings are made with an extra serving of love, and their spicy fish is for real spicy (you will be reminded 8 hours later just how spicy it was). They even give you those stupid peanuts/preserved cabbage things when you sit down. Just like back home.
I love the place and all that it stands for.
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I go here once or twice (actually sometimes three times) a week for lunch after I leave the tech corporate hive.
Excellent authentic cheap Taiwanese food. Love the way they bring a fresh pot of tea immediately to the table as you sit down. My favorite is the lunch special "home-style tofu" (note not all tofu is vegetarian - ask). If I am with a friend I sometimes split this with the garlic green beans. Good vegan/vegetarian options.
To avoid the crowds at lunch come after 1pm. Fridays are particularly busy.
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I love Mulan, probably because I am from Taiwan. The price is right for lunch and the portions are great. The flavor is probably the closest to what I had back at home. The spicy fish dish is good, and so is the lamb chops.
The only problem with this place is that it is always packed at lunch time, because apparently everyone else also loves Mulan.
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Good choice for Taiwanese in this area. It can get crowded during lunchtime and you might have to wait 10min or so for a table, but that only reflects the quality of the food (as does the fact that it is mostly frequented by Asians).
The food is fresh, spicy and very reasonably priced (especially the lunch menu). Dishes come out in the order in which they are prepared and ready, so if you're in a group it's a good idea to just order many different things and share.
Portions are big, so that we often can't finish everything. Food comes with complimentary hot tea, and I love the cabbage and peanuts they give you as "appetizers" while you wait for your mains.
Service is usually very friendly and fast, although it can be a little slow on occasion.
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Food = Mulan serves Taiwanese cuisine. Scallion pancakes were mediocre for the price. Their boiled handmade dumplings are delicious and they have five different fillings. Orders of their dumplings include 12 pieces, and you have the option of ordering a bag of 50 frozen dumplings to take home. Their "Beef with Leek Wrapped in Pancakes" was OK in flavor, but definitely not worth $10.95. The "Kao Fu" is a cold tofu appetizer and is a lovely refreshing dish especially on a hot summer day. It has a texture many people are not accustomed to - it has a spongy texture. The "Pork Chop with Sweet and Sour Sauce" is delicious, and the meat is very tender and juicy. The "Roasted Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables" and the "Brasied Pork Shin in Brown Sauce" are two of my favorite dishes and although Mulan does a nice job with these dishes, there are restaurants in Chinatown that do a much better job. The "Beef and Asparagus" as well as the "Lamb with Hot Chili" were nicely done, but they weren't spectacular. My favorite dish of this restaurant, and the most unique dish considering the other Chinese restaurants in the Boston area, is the "Shredded Duck, Pig's Tripe and Squid with Baby Chives." This dish is playful with the different flavors and textures of the ingrediants and is a must-order for all first timers of Mulan. The "Bean Curd in Spicy Sauce" is mediocre. The "Chinese Squash with Dried Shrimp" is terrible. The squash was not cooked well enough, and was still hard and very fibrous. Something that Mulan excels in are the Hot Pots. I have had almost all the hot pots and all of them are good. Be careful with the "Hot and Spicy Fish Fillet Hot Pot." If you cannot tolerate spicy foods, do not order this dish. If you love spicy, this dish will be heavenly for you.
Service = Service is what you would expect from the average Chinese restaurant. Waitresses are attentive to when tea pots need to be refilled, and when empty dishes need to be taken away from the table.
Ambiance = The decor is typical of a Chinese restaurant. Tables are spaced out decently, and the overall feel is homey.
Overall Opinion = Most of the dishes at Mulan are average and at times overpriced, except the few unique dishes you can't find in other restaurants (eg. "Shredded Duck, Pig's Tripe, and Squid with Baby Chives" and the Hot Pots). Their appetizers seem to be more expensive than the prices you will find in Chinatown, and the flavors are either the same or worse. In the end, If you're tired of the Cantonese cuisine which dominates the Boston area, or if you are craving Taiwanese cuisine, then Mulan is certainly an option...but not the best option.
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After going to Wisteria (because Mulan is closed on Monday).. headed here last night. Finally great food without traveling down to Chinatown. The only drawback.. it will cost you a little more.
I am usually not a fan of Taiwanese food but I thought this place was great. This place was popular too. Their three car parking lot obviously did not suffice for the many people that were waiting by the door for a table. We did wait about 20-30 minutes for a table but it wasn't too bad.
The portions are big.. so it makes it totally worthwhile.
I suggest bringing somebody who is Chinese.. makes it easiest to choose things. If you can't figure out what to order.. the green beans were really good and the pork flavored with Pekingnese sauce was terrific as well.
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I've only had MuLan for catering, so I cannot really speak to the restaurant itself. However, one of the msot important things I noticed about Mulan's food is that the food speaks for itself: I didn't feel like it was overdoused in the various sauces/broths/etc. On top of that, the food is fresh and well-made, and they're good on time, which is also helpful.
I also learned the word for "he" in whatever dialect the fortune cookies are made, which if I remember correctly, is "ta". So, yeah.
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Don't take this review the wrong way, I just wanted to tell everyone that MuLan is shut down for renovations until further notice. I came here on 05/20/08 and it looked like they had a ways to go... boo, and I was so looking forward to trying it out too.
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Love this place. Especially love the pumpkin noodle. Portions are big. We purchased two orders of noodles for brunch.Seven of us ate it for brunch then three of us ate for dinner and the day after two of us ate it for dinner. The food isn't too flavorful but it is not bland either. We've also eaten at the restaurant and it is almost always packed in most cases by Asians (sorry I don't know the PC way to reference this fact)
Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that if it is good enough to eat by the people that have grown-up eating this type of cuisine then it must be great for everyone else.
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It's really nice to find a Chinatown-level chinese restaurant that isn't in Chinatown. The crispy chicken is outstanding. Spicy and salty and crunchy and not at all greasy. I love the sour cabbage and peanuts they offer as a snack.
I would recommend getting spicy entrees, or ones with the little flower next to them on the menu (house specialities).
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Really 3.5 star. There are better restaurants out there, but this is pretty good.
Ambiance: Located near a Pizza place, Mulan's been recently renovated. There's a small parking lot for about 4 cars but off-street parking is available. For those who are lazy like me, the EZRide drops you off just steps away from the restaurant. EZRide costs less than $1 for most people and is free to anyone with an MIT id.
Food: The food is fairly authentic. It's not the BEST I've ever had, but certainly not Americanized (disclaimer: I hate that sweet and sour, sesame seed covered, fried lumps of meat). Their menu has 2 sections, the front for more authentic Chinese dishes, the back for American dishes + lunch special.
You get complimentary peanuts and cabbage appetizers. Yay for free!
Appetizer:
Dumplings: I like to buy the 50 dumplings to go and cook it at home. These dumplings are hand-made. Most restaurant may buy frozen dumplings or make the filling but use pre-made wrapper. At Mulan, they hand-make the wrappers, so the taste difference is huge. It's relative pricy in comparison to your frozen dumplings from the store, but hey, it's well worth it.
Zhua Bing aka hundred layered pancake: I thought they actually made these in the stores, but somehow, I'm not too sure. The pancake does have many layers and it's delicious to eat.
Scallion Pancakes: I think these are deep fried. Not the kind my mom makes, but nonetheless, tasty.
Scallion Pancakes with Beef: I've never tasted these, but my friends seem to like it. The portions of beef are much bigger and te pancakes are thinner than what you can get from Taiwan Cafe. It's about $10 for 9 pieces.
Entree:
Their hot pots are quite delicious. The one with the spicy fish really is very, very spicy. I usually don't eat rice, but I have to with this dish. Speaking of rice, Boston restaurants like to charge for rice! So sometimes, I get the stewed minced pork served over rice. It's pork with tea-leaf egg and 2 slices of pickled daikon.
Chicken and Cuttlefish Casserole: Very tasty indeed. It's a Mulan favorite so it's recommended to everyone.
Shredded Pork with Baby Bamboo: A tasty dish.
Chinese Squash with Gluten: A refreshing dish. I didn't know what glutens were and still can't tell you what they are, but it wasn't like anything weird.
Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce: Pretty good. Uses Chinese eggplant. Better than Americanized dish, but I don't know if this is super outstanding. Oh yeah. Filled with LOTS and LOTS of greasy-nongoodness. I bet they must fry those eggplants in a vat of oil.
Service:
Service is pretty good, especially for a Chinese restaurant. They always rip open my one-time use chopsticks for me. The waitstaff is fairly attentive.
Tip: At least during the Chinese new year time, they had a special menu written in Chinese (sometimes you have to know to ask for it). Yeah, there are no English translations of any of the dishes. Take a Chinese-reading kid with you during Chinese New Year time (around Jan-Feb). I'm not sure if they have a special menu for the rest of the year.
Lunch delivery requires you to order $40 worth of food but dinner delivery requires only $20.
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though it doesnt look like much on the outside, this is my most favorite Taiwanese place around. the food is delicous and affordable.
vegetarians, be warned, not everything in the "vegetable" section of the menu is meat-free. for example, one or two of the bean curd dishes are cooked with pork, so if that kind of thing is important to you, make sure to tell yr waiter that you are a vegetarian.
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It's not even 9 o'clock and halfway through our house noodle soup (okay) and our wonton soup (not up to much), the bill and two fortune cookies are slammed down on our table.
What? You want us to leave quickly because you're so busy serving the other 2 people in your establishment for the next hour and 10 mins??
Well the bill was cheap, but then the food we ordered didn't merit much moolah. It was in truth a disappointment after our beef noodle soup cravings had not been sated (it wasn't even on the menu!) and the staff had been surly.
My fortune cookie said "Tell Someone About It".
So that's what I'm doing.
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Recommended to me by a fellow volunteer who said that the dumplings from MuLan were fabulous and that this opinion is backed up by a genuine Taiwanese friend.
And so I ordered myself some dumplings, and got 12 big, plump, and meaty pieces of happiness for 5 something. Really great for a windy, rainy day. Also, if you choose you can order 50 in a frozen pack to make yourself.
ps. it's a 20 dollar minimum for delivery.
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Superb Taiwanese food. Flavors are largely mild and fresh, and not as funky/strange as a lot of Taiwan food can be. Dishes are prepared as well as Shangri-La in Belmont, and the dumplings are way better.
Don't get takeout or delivery- the quality is significantly poorer than eating in.
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Great local Taiwanese restaurant without having to make a long trek into Chinatown. Also small and a little humid, Mulan really satisfied my craving for Asian food. They start you off with a cabbage salad that has been soaked in vinegar and peanuts. We started off with the crispy salty chicken appetizer that is deep-fried and then tossed with basil. It had the right amount of salt but could have used more spiciness. We also had the green onion pancake. I think that this was the worst dish out of our four. Green onion pancakes are suppose to be crispy on the outside yet flaky on the inside and they failed to deliver with this dish. Next we had garlic stir-fried snow pea leaves which were good but tasted a little old. This dish is generally a little more expensive then most vegetables because the staff has to pick away the old parts of the plant. If not, the customer starts to have a hard time chewing and swallowing this dish. Our last dish was the fish with dried bean sauce. It need a little more salt but overall this was a fine dish.
They have a tiny parking lot and most people tend to double park. If you do decide to double park you should let the owner know so that she can ask you to move it in the middle of your meal when someone needs to leave. Overall the quality of this restaurant was pretty good especially with the fact that it isn't in the middle of Chinatown.
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I don't have a Taiwanese mother, but I do have have a Taiwanese mother-in-law, if god forbid my wife and I ever did split, part of the settlement would have to include visitation and dining rights for me. At Mulan what they offer is solid Taiwanese comfort food. While every dish may not be up to my mother-in-law's standards (or perhaps your ma's or ama's) they are in the ballpark. Lunch is an exceptionally good deal. When you sit down they give hot and sour soup (wimpy), spiced peanuts, pickled cabbage with peppers and tea. The lunch special combos are not particularly Taiwanese, they are more generic fare you would see in just about any Chinese restaurant in greater Boston. The list of lunch special contains a few gems like Octopus with dry bean curd, but you really need to go over to the regular menu to eat Taiwanese proper. I can't be sure but the chili oil looked like it was made/mixed on the premises, it was better than average. The also have the black vinegar but you have to ask for it. It's a reasonably large room and they have some larger round tables.
Things to try:
* anything with mustard greens, totally underrated veggie.
* duck tongue with baby chives
* Taiwanese sausage
* Taiwanese stir fried noodles
* vegetarian leak pie, 100 layer pancake
* lamb with pickled napa cabbage
* spicy beef tendon, pork chitlins
* Chinese squash
* one of the many spicy fish choices
* any of the hot pots
if you just want beef and broccoli, they have it but you'll be missing out...
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3 buddies and I came here for dinner last week and we pigged out as much as we could've. Sure it's cheap if you order a plate per person, but we went all out and spent $24/person.
The favorite dish of the night was the salt+pepper pork chop thing. It's really flavored like it's supposed to! Almost reminded me of the Train Iron Lunch Boxes from Taiwan from years ago.
Other dishes we had -- stir fried veggie (spinach) - it's not the greatest I've had, but I'd order it again! The problem is with the price... in Taiwan, such a dish would've been like... a dollar. But, meh, whatever. Eggplant in... a really dark sauce - if you like egg plants, it's good. Eel with sticky rice - I wouldn't order this again ~ not worth it for the price. Lamb with satay sauce - it's alright, but the veggie that came with it didn't go with lamb at all. Seafood soup - it's like they put the soup through a blender, can hardly find any seafood chunks ~ kind of disappointed. Cuttle fish with... something, forgot what... this is pretty good ~ but the cuttle fish was from the dried type so wasn't the best possible. The dish that I looked most forward to was the Taiwanese Stir Fried Noodle. In Southern Taiwan, there is a special way to stir fry noodle ~ and I've been looking for the favor ... since I was little and moved to America. Unfortunately, MuLan's stir fried noodle is just generic and nothing special.
Anyway, if it was only closer to the #1 bus stop, I'd come here more often ~ but since I have to walk like 10 minutes after getting off at Mass & Front St, it's too much of a hassle to come.
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Mulan helped keep me warm during the chilly winters in Boston. I probably ate there at least 4 -5 times a month and had take out delivery for about 35 people without any issues. Of course you want to call a day or two in advance for large catering orders.
The cuisine is perhaps the most authentic Taiwanese that I have had in the US, except for in San Gabriel, CA. The restaurant can be a little bit difficult to find in Cambridge, MA and I have been yelled at by the pizza man next store for "parking illegally." Parking can be a bit difficult to manage.
My favorite dish there is the Cod Fish with Dry Bean Sauce, which comes with watercress.
Other notable items include the following:
Lamb and Pickled Napa Hot Pot
Scallion Pancakes
Shredded Pork with Dry Bean Curd
Shredded Beef with Scallions
House Special Pork Chop on Rice Platter
Stir Fried Snow Pea Leaves
Ma-Bo Bean Curd
Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce
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I am going to eat here again and again and again.
I love the chef's pepper fish with it's spicy rich brown sauce
The beef is super tasty when fried with onions and peppers
The atmosphere is functional and is full of words I don't understand so I am not tempted to eavesdrop or be distracted by anything but my friends and our hot yummy food.
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Alright, I have been to MuLan once and ordered take out once for very different experiences.
When I went with a group from my lab, I honestly quite enjoyed it. Perhaps a portion of this was due to being present with quite of number of native speakers who knew what to order and how to order it. I remembered the scallion pancakes, house fish, and spicy beef dish as especially tasty.
I decided to give delivery a try last night as I was hankering for such tasty asian fair. Unfortunately the experience was a disaster. 45 minutes after I ordered, the delivery guy called completely lost. I basically ended up giving step by step directions over the phone to my house (even though i had mentioned major cross streets to the guy who answered the phone.) The food arrived over an hour after ordering and was entirely mediocre. The scallion pancakes this time were underdone. The house pork chop plate was very ok and the beef and crispy vegetable was almost beef-less. The dried bean sauce with tofu did have a nice flavor, but overall this experience cancelled out a review that would have been closer to 4 stars.
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Yummy and great service. Very clean, well prepared. I like their spicy chicken as appetizer. The dumpling is also very decent. The fish and long string bean is also a good bet for the diner. This is one of my regular frequents. Two Thumbs up!
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Mu Lan is a decent choice for Taiwanese food in Cambridge. The pork chop/rice plate is an excellent value, at $5.95. We also had the spicy doufu (not ma bo style), which was indeed spicy, and very yummy. We will return.
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Since the restaurant we wanted to go to ended up being closed, MuLan was a desperation choice. I am not a fan of Chinese food (too many calories, too greasy, too fried), but thought that since this was Taiwanese I would try.
As we were seated I noticed that we were the only non-Asian people in there. This could be a good sign that the food is authentic and it made me feel a little better. The dcor is very much like that of any Chinese restaurant.
Right as you sit down the bring you a little bowl of cabbage and some sort of beans. They were good but tasted a little too much like vinegar.
The menu is split in two parts. A Taiwanese part and a Chinese food part. The Taiwanese part involved a lot of noodles, soups, dumplings etc.... I wanted to get the least fattening thing so I got a spinach and noodle dish. We also had some dumplings for appetizer. The dumplings were good I have to admit. My spinach meal was good and tasty, but somehow they still manage to make even spinach greasy.
The service was average enough.
Whilst waiting for the bathroom I noticed that the carpet was a ratty and somewhat dirty. I could also see into the kitchen a little and the floor in there was filthy. But then again, it is a floor. Also, this isn't a fine dining establishment so I am not sure what I was expecting here.
The bathroom itself wasn't overly clean, but believe me I have seen worse and for that it was actually okay.
I was an okay dining experience. I probably wouldn't come here again though.
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12/23/07: family of seven for dinner, last night before they closed for the holidays. parents are taiwanese, rest of us taiwanese american. we enjoyed the food very much, salty crispy chicken, smoked duck taiwanese style (authentic, alittle fatty, leave the skin/fat on your plate), assorted hot pot (with veggies, fish and clams), salt and pepper shrimp (ive had better elsewhere), chicken casserole (three cup sauce, very good and authentic), chinese veggies (doh-meow), sauted fish fillet (EXCELLENT), shredded pork with baby bamboo (big ole plate of bamboo, great taste) - even the rice was good.
Parking tough, grab any street spot you can. Make reservations, bro' says it gets busy during peak periods.
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They keep screwing up orders and taking forever to do takeout. They accept cards but only for orders above $15 which is a pain. They randomly change what soup comes with lunch combos. Not anymore.
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I haven't been here for dinner but this is a great place to go for lunch with a big group of people. The service is fast and huge lunch menu has big portions, all with a small price tag. And their home made dumplings were juicy and delicious! Just be sure to arrive early for lunch of plan on taking out since it can get very busy.
Good quality taiwanese food. However, they're closed Mondays! Argh. Their website leads you to believe otherwise though, so be aware.
Forget the aggressive and sometimes rude service and revel in the delicious bean curd and mushroom dish, the bean curd with dry bean sauce and the chicken and cuttlefish casserole. The cuttlefish look dubious but remember that good things sometime come in odd packages.
I really enjoy this place and yes, I did force my Taiwanese and Chinese friends of mine to vouch for its authenticity and quality before I posted this review.
Me: "Hey, I'm trying to become an Elite member of this er..local website. Isn't Mulan super-authentic and doesn't it remind you of home and Mom's cooking?"
Friend: "Elite member of local website?" *cocks eyebrow suspiciously*
"Yeah, Mulan is pretty authentic, I guess."
Me: *curls arm around laptop and finishes review at work*
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I've only ever had food delivered from Mulan, and it's always great. Granted, these deliveries usually occur after a couple hours of happy hour... none the less, the dishes offered are different from the usual Chinese fare. Beef with cilantro, fish with black bean sauce, eggplant... don't recall everything, but lots of intriguing choices. I'm told the food is pretty authentic, but I can't attest to this myself.
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I just came across this place by accident and what a gem! The food is pretty high quality and very reasonably priced. I had the "pork chop noodle soup". This consisted of yellow egg noodles in light broth, with 4 pieces of breaded pork chop on the side. The noodles were al dente with just the right degree of firmness, the broth was very tasty and came with a soy egg, but it was the pork chop that won me over. Juicy and soft, yum! And all this for the reasonable price of $5.95 which is even cheaper than Chinatown. The location is out of the way: between Kendall and Inman Square (just around the corner from Garment District), but that just adds to the "hidden gem"-ness of MuLan.
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Another place that offers Taiwanese food besides Taiwan cafe in Chinatown and Wisteria House on Newbury Street. Being a Taiwanese myself, I think the food here was worse than average - not flavorful and not very authentic. I got one of the most traditional Taiwanese dishes - pork chop over rice, and was disappointed. The pork chop was not marinated and deep fried the way it should have been done, and the minced pork poured over the rice was cooked with just ground pork instead of belly. Bamboo shoots + pork had 5% pork without much of a taste. The fried pig intestines (appetizer) was great though... even though also not done the "traditional" way. I would have given this place a 2 star if it werent for the intestines.
Note: the parking lot is awfully small (~5 cars) yet its pretty far from the nearest T station...
Really fantastic food! I was taken here by my Taiwanese friend who ordered for me and obviously made good choices because the food was so good. My two favorite dishes were House Special Fish and Tofu with fermented black beans (I don't even like tofu normally). The hot pot, served at the end, was also very good. The only reason this place is getting 4 stars from me is that the decor is really blase. It's not a place to go if you are trying to romance or impress someone. - unless they are Taiwanese and homesick!
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Mulan is one of the very few Chinese restaurants that's close to being authentic and offers something other than the Cantonese cuisine that's overflooded the Boston area. The hot pot dishes were great and the wild vegetables are unique too. I especially like the lamb dishes, which can't really be found at most Cantonese restaurants. It's definitely a good place to go for Mandarin speaking homesick Chinese, and for those who want to branch out to try some non-americanized Chinese dishes.
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not that familiar with taiwanese food, but everything was well done - not too salty like the other taiwanese places in the area. smoked meats were done very well with good flavor....
short story: tasty. they tend to loop the Titanic theme song over and over again but that is good as it keeps the rabble out which means mroe food for you ;)
edit: tried out taiwan cafe in chinatown...Mulan seems better foodwise. Menu at Wisteria at Super 88 is different so not sure if a comparison is warranted.
In the past week I've tried Shangri La and Mulan for the first time, and ordered roughly the same things. I thought Shangri La was way better.
At Mulan I ordered the fish fillet in dried bean sauce and the shrimp with chive and bean curd. I thought the latter dish was awful. It was slimy little shrimp with lots of soggy bean curd skin drowned in a clear, flavorless, watery sauce. Considering the poor quality of the shrimp, this was an absolute ripoff at $13. (especially compared to the exciting green-bean tofu appetizer I tried at Shangri La for half the price)
The fish dish wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good either. I had the same dish and Shangri La, for roughly the same price, and there is no comparison. Mulan used what I think was catfish, whereas Shangri La used fresh salt-water fish (might be seabass). Mulan's version was covered in dried beans, but they had a rather dull flavor. Like the shrimp dish, this one was soaking in a rather bland sauce as well.
So I was as disappointed by Mulan as I was excited by Shangri La.
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This restaurant is tucked away in a sort of out of the way location on Broadway in Cambridge. Don't let that stop you from trying it out. They advertise themselves as a Taiwanese Restaurant. And it's such a nice change to have Chinese food that is a little more authentic and also different than the typical westernized Chinese food. What's nice is that the style is also a little different from authentic Cantonese food. Really worth checking out. The staff is very friendly too.
Excellent Chinese restaurant, real Chinese cooking. Convenient to the Kendall Square Cinema, though a bit of a walk to the Kendall Square T station.
Be sure to order from the Chinese menu (first half of the menu), which has all the good stuff, not the Chinese-American part, which has the usual sad General Gau's Chicken and all that.
Mu Lan does serve wine and beer, but as with almost every Chinese restaurant in town, the choice is poor. No Sam Adams, just a choice between Heineken (OK), Tsingdao (not so OK), and Budweiser (no comment). And not a single good wine. Oh well.
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