Taiwan Tea House

3.5 stars. This is a no frills Chinese/Taiwanese restaurant in the Keystone area. Excellent value and we felt all our dishes were of quality ingredients.

Both trying to watch our calorie intake but tired of salads, I suggested we try out TTH for dinner the other night.

We were bummed that TTH was out of the edame, so we settled on the crispy green beans as an app instead. They were crunchy and full of flavor! I would categorize them more as sauteed than fried, but they were seasoned with salt and garlic and were super fresh. Yum.

We also shard a pot of decent green tea and slurped some  miso soup (comes with most entrees). It was really tasty soup, and it was the right temperature! Perfect for a cold winter day.

We were happy to hear that for any entree, one can sub out the meat for tofu OR extra veggies! I ordered the Lemon Chicken, and my friend had... a tofu dish with a brown sauce. Buddha something or other. We enjoyed both dishes a lot. For less than 7 bucks you get a good sized portion of food with rice, 2 small crab rangoons, and miso soup. Great value.

Annnnd, unlike typical Chinese takeout, the veggies and meat/proteins weren't drowning in a syrupy mystery sauce.

Things to improve upon: we were given the green bean app and our soups at basically the same time, and about 3 minutes after that our entrees were served. Needless to say, the entrees got cold as we tried to eat the app and soups quickly. Slow. It. Down. Thanks!

Second, our server was really awkward. Freakishly smiley, but barely spoke to us. He abrasively took plates without warning or communication, and gave us our entrees by yelling at us, "chicken?" and "brown?"

Almost every one eating in the restaurant was Asian, which is always a good sign.

Wouldn't call it "Taiwanese" or a tea house exactly, perhaps more pan-Asian although the young husband and wife duo are starting their business venture off right in the food industry. But to shine, you've got to debut some new and exciting dishes!

When it's cold outside, I have a craving for spicy noodles and wonton. If you've seen Kung Fu Panda, it reminds me of Po and his father's famous noodle restaurant. From looking at the diners, consisting mostly of black-haired and various Chinese dialect speaking customers - it's gotta be half decent. Whether you think it's good or not, you be the judge.

The menu is small, and there's many things I would skip over such as Orange Chicken, General Tso, and Sesame Pork. Heck, how can people eat that stuff? Then again, you'd probably ask the same if I ordered something disguised in a fancy name to make it sound more appetizing. It's ok, none of the weird stuff here. Just plain comfort food.

Recommendations:
Super Spicy Wonton Noodle:
+ delicious Szechuan-like style hot chili pepper and garlic oil mixture
- portion a bit small, and heavy non-kissable garlic breath afterwards (dating no-no)

Minced Pork Noodle (comes with a house soup)
+ Dan Dan noodle-like (not as chewy)
+ lovely dressed and seasoned minced pork with tiny tofu cubes in savory sauce
+ topped with diced chives and julienned cucumbers to cool the spiciness

Coconut Green Milk Tea with boba
+ good thirst quencher, like Venti sized for $3.25!

Definitely a little gem in this town with potential. Zai jian (See you again!)

I've taken my daughter her many times, and we have always enjoyed our food and time. We especially enjoy the fruit smoothies (elegantly packaged) and the edamame  hors d'oeuvre. But everything we've tried has been tasty and healthy. The decor is simple and nice, and we have been treated well in this mom and pop establishment. The prices are moderate.