Roslindale to get Taiwanese food
By adamg - 10/4/09 - 5:21 pm
Look what's hanging from the front of one of Rozzie's gazillion nondescript Chinese take-out places (on Belgrade Avenue near Walworth):
So could be cool, although that's what I said when Roslindale's only Vietnamese take-out place opened at that location, too.
Just yesterday:
Roslindale to get jazz cafe.
Comments
WOW!
WOW!
This could be interesting
I wonder when this will open?
At least two Taiwanese restaurants in town. Are there more?
The other Taiwanese restaurant I know of is Taiwan Cafe, in Chinatown on Oxford Street.
Are there others?
Mulan in Cambridge. Jo Jo
Mulan in Cambridge. Jo Jo Taipei in Allston.
More Taiwanese
May's Cafe on Glenville Avenue, also in Allston.
Another one
Shangri-La in Belmont is another one.
Can anybody provide some
Can anybody provide some description of how Taiwanese food might differ from, say Szcheshuan? I need to know whether to be excited, or whether this will just be one more place that fails to adequately compete with Golden House.
Indeed
I should have specified that Roslindale has a gazillion nondescript Chinese takeout places AND GOLDEN HOUSE, to which none compare.
Different
Hard to say - Taiwanese food is DIFFERENT from Szechuanese, so whether you should get excited will depend on whether Cheerful Kitchens serves good Taiwanese food, not on whether it serves good Szechuanese food.
Based on my own experiences at Jo Jo Taipei, which is very good indeed, you should in fact AVOID Szechuanese-style dishes that might appear on their menu - they're likely to be disappointing. Jo Jo Taipei has really bad ma po tofu, for example. For that matter, so does Shanghai Gate - but guess what? Their Shanghainese dishes are terrific!
What Boston restaurant-goers really need...
A guide to the various regional cuisines of China -- with (well-informed) recommendations as to what restaurants do the best job for each.
;~}
Where to find out
Here's where you can get that:
http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/12
Some searching of the Boston board on Chowhound will give you lots of well-informed opinions (as well as some pretty uninformed ones), or you could start a new thread.
I know about Chowhound
But using it can take lots of searching (and winnowing).
What we need is a nice clear list. ;~}
That's what I figured. I
That's what I figured. I used Szechuan as just an example of a Chinese style. I wouldn't order it at a Taiwanese restaurant. But more to the point, what constitutes Taiwanese food? What should I look for in it? I did a little googling, and found that it has a higher reliance on seafood than some mainland cuisines, along with a Japanese influence stemming from the imperial era. Still didn't find any serious descriptions of signature dishes or anything. Oh well, I'll be sure to check Cheerful Kitchens when it opens. Always exciting to try a new cuisine.
You really should check out Taiwan Cafe....
...as a reference point. But bring cash (at least, last time we were there, they were still cash-only).