This is everything I want in a restaurant serving Taiwanese/ Chinese cuisine! Chop Chop is family-run, modern with well-thought out and minimal decor, and serving the classics. The location lets a lot of natural light in and the space is lofty, which allows for a comfortable location to have a long lunch or dinner.
We ordered:
Smashed cucumber salad - Cucumber salad is a classic accompaniment to many Chinese dinners and Chop Chop's version had a spin on it but still really reminded me of the salads my mother and grandmother would make. My friend worked in Beijing for a year and was looking forward to trying this dish again. It was crunchy, savoury and did not disappoint.
Mapo tofu - Another dish I grew up eating and a favourite of my friend. The tofu was delicious and not extremely spicy to suit a more Western palate.
Taiwanese basil fried chicken - It came with fried basil leaves and was my favourite dish of the meal. The chicken was super crunchy and seasoned well with 5-spice flavour.
Taiwanese beef noodle soup - This is a favourite of mine but I've definitely had better versions elsewhere. Even though the soup and udon noodles were perfect, the beef wasn't braised enough and the colour of the meat was very light.
Besides the food, service was extremely attentive (but not overbearing) even though the restaurant was somewhat busy. I really appreciated the open kitchen and would definitely forgo Chinatown to come here again.