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We come back year after year to Tai Lake. When my wife and I got married, and her dad wanted to get a Chinese banquet for all his Korean friends and relatives, this is where we had it.
I brought my dad here yesterday because the food is reliably excellent. You are not going to get fish any fresher; it is swimming in tanks in the vestibule and they cook it to order. I like to get it steamed Cantonese style, with ginger and scallions, but sometimes I have it fried with black bean sauce.
We also had spicy pork with little eggplants, one of our favorites, and lemon chicken. Total cost for three adults and two kids was around $40.
The restaurant was full, and my dad and I were the only white people there. Service was good.
I go to China several times a year. While no restaurant is exactly like what I visit in Southern China, Tai Lake is a lot closer than most.
This is a place for real seafood lovers. A little crowded, and not huge, you may. Wait a few minutes. But if you love fish, crab, and various shellfish, this is what you are looking for.
Good seafood is both tasty and has a lightness and freshness that is impossible to fake. They send out to the fresh seafood shop two doors up when they need something not on their tanks.
I especially recommend the scallops in black pepper sauce - and no, it is not very spicy, but you will be smiling.
People thought this was:
*Hands Down* for great food + generous portion and GREAT price!
Either I was starving from our walking tour or this place really has amazing food. I enjoyed all the dishes we ordered (a total of 9 dishes I believe) Thus, whatever that is on the menu, it should be save to order. Their seafood and vegetable dishes were fresh. Ahhh.. talking about it makes my mouth water. If I have a chance to visit Philly again, I'd love to revisit this place.
People thought this was:
Excellent authentic Chinese food. I come here with my parents (along with Jade Harbor) to eat dinner sometimes. They make my favorite dish beef short ribs with peppers and onions very well.
I'm not particularly sure what we order, I just know it tastes quite good. Don't be scared away by the seafood in the window either. It's a sign that it is fresh!
People thought this was:
Went here after graduation with my family, and 2 other friends' family + our guests. The adults took up 1 round table, and us 'kids' took up another.
Overall it was a really nice night. The service was good and the food was good ! i loved the crab meat & fish maw soup, i would so go back there again just to have a bowl of that. and the shrimp & broccoli in coconut sauce (?) was really good even though i didn't eat the shrimp because i'm allergic.
So basically both tables were served family style & the price wasn't that bad. Our table was $15 per person and the night was very enjoyable.
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For a late-night meal (or anytime), this is the place. The food is great--offering whole, fresh fish anytime (and they even bring the flailing little guy by you in the plastic sack for your "approval"), delicious apps and soups, they cater to large groups, and if you're nice to them and frequent them--you get recognition. Again, as (almost!) anywhere in C-town--drinks are cheap!! Try the whole striped bass with ginger and scallions, the clams with black bean sauce for sure. Soups are OKAY. I'm a big fan of hot-and-sour soup, and prefer mine to be nice and...soupy. Whether that is right or not, I don't know. The one here is very viscous and thick--just my personal pref.
Wanna know a big secret that will probably get me banned from there???
They offer no desserts, but you can ask for the bean soup--made from red beans or mung beans--and IT. IS. AWESOME. Not too sweet. Just right.... Just be prepared for the waiter/waitress to give you a nasty look... can anyone tell me why???
They close at 2am most nights, I think. So skip David's, and Chen's, unless your night overflows......
People thought this was:
Ever since I heard Tai Lake took fish from the front of the store and turned it into dinner, I was excited to go. Fresh fish in Philly is a rarity and this is about as fresh as it comes.
The interior is tacky and confused: plastic chandeliers and neon blue club lighting. Do you want to be trendy or faux-classy? Pick one and run with it.
We were seated promptly and had to wait a few minutes to see our waiter. When this happens to me, I generally believe we won't see the waiter much during the night and I try and put my whole order in at once.
The first thing that popped out to me were the alcohol prices. Maybe I am just so used to be gouged in Old City, but paying $2 for a Coors Light and $4.50 for mixed drinks was so crazy to me! I felt like I was at a dive bar happy hour. So, we ordered some drinks. The melon ball was terrible. Garbage vodka, the Midori tasted funny, and there was no pineapple juice! The strawberry daquiri literally tasted like it had zero alcohol.
The appetizers were fairly priced but not excellent. The steamed dumplings were soggy and the spring rolls were too greasy.
The peking duck entree was good but my cod in spicy sauce was smothered in sugary, not spicy, sauce and it was battered and deep fried. Now, I know that this may be "traditional" Chinese preparation, but I had hoped for somthing a bit nicer. The entrees were brought out about 15 minutes apart. Not good.
Overall, I won't go back.
People thought this was:
Fantastic seafood. The front of the place might be a bit disturbing when you walk in and see all the tanks of your dinner while it's living. I think it's awesome but it bothers some.
They've got a really huge menu full of all kinds of weird seafood combination. I got salted squid last time I went and it was delicious. I wish I was more adventurous, but I live so close that I will be back and get some crazzzzy seafood.
People thought this was:
Really good, really authentic Cantonese food is really hard to come by in Philadelphia. Since I can trace my ancestral roots to Guangdong province and have grown up eating in Cantonese restaurants in the Chinese food meccas that are the San Gabriel and Santa Clara Valleys of California, I have decently high standards for these kinds of places. While Tai Lake isn't the best Cantonese restaurant I've been to, it gets the four stars for being the only good one that I've found in Philadelphia.
People thought this was:
Booooooo.
We got the recommendation for this place from our family friends who had yet to steer us wrong. So we ventured from our normal haunt of Joy Tsin Lau around the corner, and tried Tai Lake out.
We should've been scared off by the whitey-yellow ratio (too many whites!). But nonetheless, we braved ahead and tried out dinner on a weekday night which didn't seem overly busy.
But apparently the reason the white:yellow ratio was off was because they treat their Caucasian patrons with respect.
My family, however, was left waiting almost an hour for our food.
The reason? One of the staff in the kitchen "misplaced" our order and it got shoved to the side.
Of course, this wasn't found out until our _multiple_ requests to check on our food.
On top of that?
The food wasn't even that well-seasoned and over-priced at that.
Final thoughts:
If you're Asian, stay away.
But if you're white, you'll love the new interior and clean bathrooms. Oh, and I'm sure you'll love their service too.
Because I was so pissed off, I counted out the change on my bill and forgot the tip.
Oh, that's probably why they hate us Chinese.
People thought this was:
I have always wanted to try Tai Lake, so my friend took me there for dinner. It's right across the street from the Chinatown fire station. While it is a modestly sized place and there aren't a ton of seats, since it was a late (8pm) weeknight, we were seated quickly. It wasn't deserted by any means.
The food we ordered was pretty good - we shared delicious pepper steak dish and a tasty, relaxing seafood soup... I think it was seafood, anyway (see my photo and you tell me). Prices were reasonable, especially considering we were sharing.
Service was fine, food came to our table quickly, and we enjoyed ourselves - basically, reasons I would return! Recommended.
People thought this was:
you can pick your own frog! how great is that??
well, sure..it would certainly be greater if i actually dug frog, but eh...i find it too greasy.
make of that what you will... tai lake is alright.
People thought this was:
The menu is HUGE! Have an idea of what you want before you lose yourself in the menu. If you want chicken stay within those menu items otherwise you will spent an hour looking at the menu.
Language barrier - none for the servers. They can understand you perfectly, however you may not understand them. Just shake your head and pretend you understood.
If you order something and it comes out completely different than you ordered (thought you ordered). Just eat it, lesson learned.
I prefer the eel dish. However I never know how it will be cooked. Eel cooked and sliced whole (scary), Eel deboned and deskinned (oo la la). Tasty none the less.
In the foyer there are serveral fishtanks filled with soon to be eaten fish, lobsters, frogs, ells, etc.
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It's always a good sign when the Chinese restaurant you're going to is full...of Chinese people. I often end up here late on weekday evenings (after 10) and it always blows me away how busy it is, and how many kids are in the place.
Not entirely for the faint of heart -- you pass the fish tanks on the way in, and also notice the tank with all the frogs. I've never had the frog here,. but I'm sure it's fresh.
One of the other reviewers mentioned the dumplings, and they are superb here. I've also had a variety of whole fish and squid dishes -- each reveals the subtle, skilled hand of a first-rate chef.
I consider this my go-to place in Chinatown.
People thought this was:
I've eaten here twice in my entire life.
The first time was when my boyfriend tricked me into meeting his parents. Needless to say that night ruined my appetite.
The second time was for my after-prom dinner. It was 2 AM in the morning, we were hype and running around in formal wear, and we were on the second floor. I was surprised that they didn't kicked us out for constantly changing our mind on our orders and sending them up and down for one pina colada at a time.
My friends being the difficult slackers that they are, forced me to order for the table, we had:
Wonton Soup (cut down from 9 person to 3)
BBQ Ribs (for the only white guy in the group who devoured it in 2 mins)
Jumbo Shrimp with Walnut in Cream Sauce (yumm)
Chicken Fried Rice
Beef Lo Mein
Seafood Basket
[ I attempted to kill one of every animal to ensure everyone's happiness]
We ate a tad more than half before declaring stuffed.
The bill came to $19 bucks per person including tips.
Which was pretty awesome. Even more awesome when my friends declined their share of the food so I end up with enough leftovers for lunch and dinner the next day.
People thought this was:
This place is usually pretty packed and it's well deserved. they offer plenty of Fresh seafood dishes, and they even have rare things like conch and sea cucumber! The tea that they dish out with your meal is really good, they have plenty of big bowls of soup that can serve up to four people, and they have a bar! this is one of my new go to spots in Chinatown.
The only thing that really turns me off are the tanks of fish and frogs that eventually become someones dinner. you walk by them on the way in and it can be a good moment of culture shock. but if you can look by that then your in for some good eating.
People thought this was:
Absolutely delicious food. Try the stuffed peppers.
People thought this was:
This place is ALWAYS PACKED, but it's well worth the wait. The ONLY Chinese restaurant my family and i frequent for dinner in Chinatown. We normally order the set menus. I don't know if they have their one great signature dish, but everything is so yummy here. My personal favorites are the shrimp and walnuts, steamed fish is ALWAYS good, beef short ribs on a sizzling skillet, and there's this clay pot thing that has napa cabbage on the bottom, and on top there's fish and an assortment of tofu and shitaki mushrooms, YUMMM-IE. If you go enough and befriend the manager ( who's a great guy by the way) you might not even be charged for the beers. We've never have to pay for ours, no guarantees of course! ENJOY!
People thought this was:
Often chosen for a special occasion, such as a Father's Day celebration. Good food- and affordable. Good service. Clean silverware, plates, and cups. Decent restrooms. Appropriate to bring your big family to.
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This is a good chinese restaurant. I know because my grandparents like this place and I'm pretty sure they're chinese.
People thought this was:
This was the first chinese restaurant I've eaten in philly and since the past 4 years I've been living here, it's still awesome. I keep coming back mainly for their shrimp dumplings, they are that good. And they close at 3am in the morning which is great if you need to grab a yummy late night meal!
People thought this was:
i love that tai lake is open late. i can't tell you how many times i've stumbled into tai lake after a night of debauchery. there's rarely a wait during their late hours and i like that it's not packed to the gills with other drunken people. everything i've ordered from their humongous menu was really good and affordable.
People thought this was:
eh, it's fairly good. but the narrow small restaurant made me feel claustrophobic. staff was average. food was slightly above average. decor was horrible. i don't think I'd go again. well, i would, if i wasn't paying =D
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Chinese
Philadelphia, PA
Category: Chinese
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