[Milpitas, CA] - Taiwan Cafe

If there's a Taiwanese restaurant that looks pretty close to the real thing, best believe I'm going to give it a try. When picking restaurants, I look at blogs/articles first to see. Why reinvent the wheel? I know I'm definitely not the first to find these places especially with blogging being so mainstream and everyday. From there, I check out Yelp reviews and look for pictures. Again, I don't rely solely on Yelp reviews. Even after reading reviews and blogs, I would suggest checking places out that may not have the best reviews, or average reviews because you never know! I am a big proponent of check it out for yourself. 

I typically don't like menus that have too many options, but in this case, the pages of options that included Hakka food was too much to pass up. It just happened that we were in the Bay area for the CAAM Festival. Perfect opportunity to try a new place. 

 It was hard to choose what to order. Everything sounded so good. Firstly, I ended up ordering the pork hock. Everyone and their mommas said it's really good. They weren't kidding. No wonder it's their specialty. I ordered the ginger clam soup because it's something I love in general, and I like having soup with dinner. It just doesn't feel right without soup, veggies, rice/noodles, and meat/tofu (although I did not end up getting veggies on this trip). The soup was pretty good. I think it could have used a bit more flavor though. 

 The pork blood rice cake is something I figured I wouldn't be able to get in the States since I'm sure it creeps people out (it's one of the items I enjoy eating that people like to comment negatively on). This one was good. When I come back, I'll definitely be ordering it again. I wasn't the biggest fan of the sauce though, since it's sweet. Personally, I don't really like too much sweetness in my food.

 For some reason, I thought they had 麵線 and tried ordering it. They didn't have it. Instead, I ordered the large intestine noodles with pickled veggies. The intestines tasted clean, which not all places can do. I also ordered the rice cake. I'm pretty sure it's the same sweet sauce as the rice cake. It tasted just like the place I went to in Chiayi.

 The pig ears were also good. I like ordering it to much on and don't feel bad if I can't finish because it's easy to take to go and throw it in the fridge to save for the next day. Finally, the sauteed tofu. That was just a random extra order at the end because I knew I wouldn't be able to make it back for a few months. The flavor was really good and the tofu was tender.

 If you're in the mood for some Taiwanese food and you're in that Milpitas area, I would suggest giving Taiwan Cafe a try. 
薑絲蛤蠣湯  Ginger Clam Soup
萬巒豬腳  Wan Luan Pork Hock - their specialty.
台式豬血糕  Taiwanese Style Pork Blood Rice Cake
酸菜大腸  Large Intestine w/ Pickled Vegetable
米糕  Rice Cake
滷豬耳朵  Simmered Pig’s Ears
炸豆腐  Fried Tofu

Address:
568 N ABEL ST 
MILPITAS, CA 95035

 Phone: 408-586-8885

 Hours:
Closed Tuesdays

 Lunch:
Mon, Wed, Thurs 11am-2:30pm
Sat&Sun 11am-3pm

 Dinner: 
Sun, Mon, Wed, Thurs 5pm-9pm
Fri&Sat 5pm-9:30pm

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