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| - Some coworkers and I ordered lunch from Tai Pei many years ago, and I remember not being all that impressed. So despite living right down the road from this place, I haven't ever eaten here aside from that one time. However, Groupon can usually convince me to try just about anything (thanks Groupon!), so when I saw that I could grab some food here at a discount, I decided that it was high time to give this place another go.
And I'm really glad that I did! We came for dinner on a busy Saturday evening, and while it took awhile for someone to acknowledge us, once we were seated, we had very warm and friendly service from our waitress Rose. They begin each meal with complimentary wonton-type fried crisps served with homemade duck and spicy mustard sauce. I'm not a mustard fan, but my husband declared it the most delicious mustard he's ever had at a Chinese restaurant. For our meals, we ordered the chicken with broccoli and general tso's (their menu is largely geared toward the typical Americanized Chinese offerings, which I'm unabashedly a fan of....assuming they are executed well, of course). The food came out in short order and it was surprisingly delicious. The sauce in the broccoli chicken dish was flavorful and not overly oily, which a lot of sauces of this nature tend to be. The broccoli was fresh, plentiful, and cooked to a perfect texture. As for the general tso's, the chicken was crispy and high quality (no grisly, fatty, or otherwise questionable pieces of meat here). The general tso's sauce was fairly well-balanced...I would've liked a little more heat, but compared to most general's tso's sauces, it managed to avoid being overly sticky sweet and one-note.
The portions were generous....in fact, they are kind of in a gray area where one meal is almost too much for one person (unless you have a really big appetite), but it's not quite enough for two (unless you each want a light dinner). And that's my biggest complaint about Tai Pei....it feels a little overpriced for Chinese food because their prices reflect their larger portions (e.g., I think we paid $16 or $17 for the general tso's, which is much higher compared to similar restaurants). I wish they would offer their dinners in smaller sizes with corresponding lower prices. I don't need a quart of chicken with broccoli for dinner...why can't I order a pint like at other Chinese restaurants? And yes, I know you can obviously take leftovers home, but I think the food is best eaten fresh. Note that they do offer cheaper and smaller sizes for lunch, so my complaint here only applies to dinner.
So I'm taking one star off for the higher prices and lack of size options on their dinner menu. But other than that, this a great choice for this type of cuisine. I'll definitely be back. I periodically see a lot of coupons for this place floating around...Groupon, Clipper Magazine, and even on the back of Market District receipts. So if you want to save a few bucks, make sure you search around for a coupon before you go!
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